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GOSSIP OF THE TURF. The following highly sensational and imaginative statement appeared in the St. Louis Republic recently : " I was speaking to a high official of the firm of E. J. Arnold and Co. recently, said a prominent turfman and member of the Missouri Legislature. " The gentleman told me that the company would incorporate with a capital of 5.0C0,0C0 during this month. He also said that in addition to its book-making, racing stable and stock farm enterprises, the company was considering the advisability of purchasing several race tracks. In fact, he told me that he had under consideration the purchase of three race tracks. We may purchase the St. Louis race tracks, too, the gentleman said to me. " Whj I Baid, the present owners will not sell. " Oh 1 said the gentleman, they will sell if they get their price. We may pay them their price. If we do they will sell. " When it is understood that ,000,000 represents the combined value of all the St. Louis and Chicago, tracks, said the gentleman, it will be understood what an immense thing the company proposed by E. J. Arnold and Co. is. The biggest book ever made on the American turf had but 00,000 behind it. With a capital of ,000,000, of which about 50,000 is invested in stock farm and racing stable, Arnold and Co. will have almost ,0C0,000 left to sustain their booking operations. " The firm is one of the co-operative concerns which have become so much of a fad lately. From what their man told me their scheme of operation is immense. They could probably buy the St. Louis, New Orleans and San Francisco tracks for less than $,000,000. " They could also buy the Cincinnati and Memphis tracks, and thus control racing in the middle west. They have now a pool room at Hot Springs, stables at New Orleans and San Francisco and books at both these tracks. If the scheme fructifies, there is no telling where it will end. A concern with a capital of ,000,000 can do a lot of things on the turf, such as buying entire circuits, endless stables running many rings and in every way exerting a tremendous influence on the money-making end of the sport, or business, as it may be. " 25 Through his visit to Kentucky it has leakedjout that trainer E. Wishard ownB an interestjinltthe imported son of St. Simon, Kingiof Coins, which is now located at the McGrathianaStud of.M..Young. While there he went out to see the horse,,and it is surmised that he looked him over with;thelview to training him again as he is now only four years old. Lady Minting, dam of King of Coins, isone of the highest priced mares owned by J. B. and F. P. Keene. They paid 5,750 for her at auction at Newmarket, England, in December, 1901. King of Coins is a remarkably large horse, standing 16 hands high and measuring seventy-six-inches in the girth. E It is not thought that he hasdonejenough stud service to injure him as a future racingjlpossi-bility. Announcement has been made that as asequel to the recent visit of "Lucky" Baldwin, the million-aire California horseman, to his birthplacelat Mill-ville, O., the old house in which Mr. Baldwin was born seventy-four years ago is to be dismantled and shipped to California. It will be reconstructed on the original lines on Baldwins noted Santa Anita ranch, in the San Gabriel Valley ,:near Los Angeles. In a letter Baldwin sayB that ho has conceived a great wish to pass his last days in the house in which he was born. It is assumed that he will fit the place for a residence though his ranch house is palatial. The old house which the horseman is spending his money to remove has a history. Part of it once stood in Virginia and was brought to Ohio by Baldwins grandfather when he came out, about 1790. The elder Baldwin carried mail from Hamilton to Cincinnati, O. P. J. Gorman has purchased from J. J. McCafferty the yearling brown filly, by Gotham Mollie Mc. She is entered in the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga next year and is said to be aTery promising youngster. "Gotham is the best horse I ever rode in all the twenty years I was in the saddle," said Mr. McCafferty Saturday. "I won with him. over the Withers mile with 140 pounds up and finished the six furlongs in 1:14. I believe that had the race been at a mile that day he could have done it in 1 :40, and he is the only horse I ever straddled that I ever thought could carry 140 pounds and do a mile in such time." J. J. McCafferty says he had not made up his mind as to what he will do next year, and that he probably would not reach a conclusion until the first of January. "I have an offer to go to Russia at a salary of 0,000 for next year to train th5 horses of one of the best known racingfirms in that country," he said recently. "The offer carries with it the stipulation that in addition to training I can ride if I like and that I will be paid extra for my mounts in addition to receiving a percentage of the winnings of the horses I would train. I have also an offer equally as good from- "parties in the east. But it may be that I will carry a stable of my own, as I did this year. I would like very much to visit Russia and for that reason the offer is very tempting to me." Before the races at Bennings last Saturday after" noon there was a Bale of horses in the paddock, but the most of them went cheap, the best prices being secured for the following: Criterion, blk. c, 4, by Faraday Alta Blue ; OConnor and Co 00 Cornwall, b. c, 4, by Faraday Alta Blue ; J. Slack 150 Latrobe, b. c, 2, by Rossington Helena ; A. E. Gates 300 Honeybrook, ch. c, 3, by Dr. Hasbrouck Mendicant; F. L. Graves 250 Patronymic, b. g, 3, by Pirate of Penzance Miss Cody ; Buckley and Bailey 575 Captain Conover, ch. g, 6, by Elve Lady F. ; E. C. Gray 175 The interruptions to railway travel that have been caused by the floods in northern and eastern Texas caused delays in shipping Texas horses to New Orleans for the winter race meeting until Sunday. Among the Texas horsemen in Dallas Sunday were Messrs. Finley. Davenport, Watkins, Scott, Medlin, Flowers, McLemore and Batcheler. Mr. Finley will send Apple BloBSom, Welcome Light, Doctor Marsh, Antonius and Ignis. All excepting Ignis are two-year-olds. Mr. Davenport will be represented in Registrar and Bummer II. Henry Medlin will send W. L. George and Bart Howe. R. E. Watkins has made an entry of nine horses, among which are Cast Iron, Kaloma. Lady Winkle, Enhance, Zack Ford and Blitheful. Doctor Flowers, of Dallas, will be represented by Whitmore. Quite a sensation was sprung at Lexington, Ky., last Saturday, when John Skain, administrator of the dead turfman James Murphy, opened his vate box in the vault of the trust company there and discovered that it contained securities, cash and bank stock to the amount of 0,000. and In it were also the deeds to two valuable pieces of city property held by Murphy, and free of all incumbrance, which will swell his estate to fully 5,000. The investigation; turned out a big surprise, for while it wasjknown that Murphy had made a great dealTof money on the turf, it was believed a large portion of his fortune had been squandered in the last few years and a few thousand dollars was all he !had left to his heirs, a brother, Patrick Murphy, a poor rivorman at Memphis, and his".sister, Mrs. Houlihan, of Urbana, Ohio. John Skain, KMurphys administrator, will begin settling up the estate at once. The famous trainer had a few deb-RH
