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GOSSIP OF THE TURF. W. L. Oliver, Dr. H. E. Rowell and Preston Burch left San Francisco for Bennings last Tuesday. Mr. Oliver tok Lord Badge, Gaviota, Aledo and Hazel Wood. In the Rowell string are Yellow Tail, Bon Mot, St. Sever and the jumpers Imperious and John Farley. Mr. Burch is without a horse through losing Andrew Ring. Mr. Oliver sold Lone Fisherman to Al Martin for 00. G. B. Morris says he Is willing to match Old England against Kenilworth or any other horse in California at seven furlongs, weight for age. He also expresses a willingness to match a two-year-old in his string against any youngster at Oakland at four furlongs for any amount, or have them meet in a purse and that any . kind of a track would do for both races. J. L. Richards, a wealthy Boston publisher, accompanied by his trainer, Frank Lightfoot, and Dr. F. T. Arbuckle, of Brookline, Mass., are in Lexington, Ky., looking at the two and three -year-old thoroughbreds at the various stock farms, with a view of buying a number of promising horses. Mr. Richards has decided to join the ranks of .the running turf, and the horses he buys will be raced in the east this season. He has closed a deal with J, W. Ewing for his two-year-old chestnut filly by Lamplighter Startle, by Onondaga, and also secured from M. Donohue, Covington, the three-year-old colt Antagonist, by Fitz James Kawach, by Darebin; the three-year-old bay colt Royal Pirate, by Pirate of Penzance Betty Wilson, for ,500; a chestnut two-year-old colt by Russell Maggie B., for ,500. The last two were bought from J. C. Milam. He also bought of his trainer the four-year-old bay filly Julia Junkin, by Likely Adieu, by Himyar, for ,500 and of J. B. Ewing the bay two-year-old by King Eric Red Cap, by Blue Eyes. He also bought New York from H. M. Ziegler for a good price. J. E. Madden is a great admirer of Hon. Perry Belmonts horse Ethelbert, now in the stud at Arbordale Farm of J. C. Graves. He has just sent six of his choice mares, as follows, to be mated to the son of Eothen Maori. They are: Divide, by Rossington Unite; Monte Rosa, by Mr. Pickwick Mountain Range; Fleur dOr, by Rayon dOr Blandona; Lady Golfer, by Bramble Ballyhoo; Hathor, by Himyar Puffer; Anecdote, by Tom Ochiltree Lizzie Tabor. The first work of the season on the track near Lexington in 1903, is reported from J. E. Maddens private training track at Hamburg Place, where several two-year-olds have gone a half in fifty-four seconds, and a three-year-old has cantered seven furlongs in 1:41. Since January 1, no tracks in that section have been at any time in a condition for fast work, even if the horses were ready for an eye-opener and most of the trainers have been using grass paddocks and the city boulevards for ther winter training. Julius Bauer has a miniature straw track at Kenmore farm for the Featherstone horses to walk, trot and canter on, and at Senorita Stud Captain Browns horses are worked on a covered course about three-eighths of a mile around. A cinder path at the Kentucky Association "course is much used by trainers there. Severe as the winter has been, all the horses in training are looking unusually forward in their preparations, which is accounted for by the fact that there has been no sickness among the stables in training in that section this season. The stewards of the Crescent City Jockey Club have lifted the suspension against jockeys Landry and H. Booker. This means that the boys are in good standing again and that they can accept mounts if they so desire. Landry was suspended on account of the inconsistent running of the horse Belvino. It was supposed at the time that Landry had placed Belvino. After developments, however, it put an entirely different aspect to the matter, andjhus the reinstatement. F. R. Hitchcock, Esq., steward of The Jockey Club, spent last Friday morning at Bennings, carefully going over his stable in charge of trainer W. P. Burch. He seemed generally pleased with the way his horses wintered. Mr. Hitchcock is en route to New York from Aiken, S. C. Starter Mars Cas-sidy was also present to make arrangements for schooling the two-year-olds at the barrier as soon as the weather permits. Trainer W. T. Baldwin has arrived at Bennings and has his horses, the property of J. G. Long of Buffalo, at the Havener place, just outside the track proper. This string includes Circus. If Circus can be gotten as fit as he has been in the past, and he looks good and hard, he may repeat his Montgomery Handicap victory of 1902 in some of the condition races or possibly in the Bennings Handicap. It will be remembered he won the feature event at Memphis last spring at odds of 100 to 1 Another arrival of interest is the stable of Thomas Crooks, of Hamilton, Canada. Tip Gallant is the principal object of interest in this stable, and from the way he looks he will be a hard horse to beat in the steeplechases. It does not fall to the loVof every horseman to have at some time during his career owned or trained a really great race horse, and the men of the turf who have owned or trained two thoroughbred kings are few and far between indeed. And yet in one short summer Howard Oots owned McChesney and trained Hermis, the greatest two horses on the American turf today. Hermis, the idol of the eastern tracks, and McChesney, the star of the west, are rivals for first honors. Mr. Oots had them both when the were two-year-olds, and he seems well qualified to express an opinion on this subject. Mr Oots and his brother have been on the turf for a number of years and have always had a winning string, if a match race between Hermis and McChesney were run tomorrow Mr Oots would back the latter, which he believes, to be the better horse.
