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WHAT MADDEN HAS TO SAY. J. E. Madden, the well known eastern owner and trainer begs leave to differ from Mr. Galway, who maintains that two-year-olds are raced too early. Mr. Madden has this to say about the subject: "I am surprised to find that Mr. Galway favors not starting two-year-olds until August. If I understand, he maintains that ; racing as early as May and June, or premature racing, as he calls it, is responsible for the lack of material to fill our three-year-old I and aged fixed events such as the Annual I , ; . ! ; I I Champion, Brighton Cup, Realization, Tidal, etc. Any expression from a man of Mr. Galways character and experience is worthy of consideration, but I must differ from him in the conclusions he has reached. The lack of starters to the fixed events for three-year-olds and upward is not due to abuse of two-year-olds by premature racing, but to the fact that owners and breeders do not enter largely, but try to select from their lot what looks to be the best as yearlings, and in most cases these horses prove of no account as racers. "For instance, Whorl er was entered instead of Irish Lad, and the former is now a maiden where the latter is a triple stake winner. The two crack three-year-old racers of 1902 Hermis and McChesney were not starters in the Realization and other three-year-old events because they were not eligible, and not because they had been injured by early racing in their two-year-old form. "From the entries in the big handicaps just closed Metropolitan, Brooklyn, Suburban and Brighton I d6 hot see thatT many" horses have suffered from excessive early racing as two-year-olds. We have no track to accomodate half of them should they start. "Just refer to the turf records of some of our great horses: "Advance Guard started thirty-seven times as a two-year-old, beginning April 17 and ending December 27. "McChesney started twenty-six times as a two-year-old, his first race being May 14. "Ben Holladay started ten times as a two-year-old, his first race being May 6. "Gold Heels started twenty times as a two-year-old, beginning May 8. "Hamburg started sixteen times as a two-year-old, beginning June 8, and worked half a mile as early as March in 49 seconds. "Mr. Galway started Ethelbert thirteen times as a two-year-old. His first start was on May 18, and this did not prevent his winning the Brighton Cup as a four-year-old, when he defeated the great Imp and beat Springbok and Preakness time six seconds. "Imps first start .as a two-year-old was on May 22, and she ran in eleven races in that year. This did not prevent her winning twenty-one races as a four-year-old and she raced on until she was seven years old. "Ornament began his first two-year-old form in a race on April 24, and started twelve times that year. As a three-year-old he won the Clarke Stakes," St. Louis Derby, Latonia Derby and Oakley Derby, and as a four-year-old the Brooklyn and Brighton handi-! caps. "Morello started seventeen times as a two-year-old, commencing at Washington April 25. He won fourteen of these races. As a three-year-old he started fifteen times and won ten, including the Wheeler Handicap, one mile an a quarter, in 2:05. "The greatest evil of the turf is the abuse of the two-year-old with the whip and spur. Since the introduction of the barrier there is very little delay at the post, and this saves the two-year-olds very much. "Meltonian started nine times as a two-year-old, his first start being the third day of the Sheepshead Bay meeting in June. These races I consider will be more beneficial to him than had he not started until August. "Mr. Galways experience with Ethelbert and the subsequent career of this horse should have shown him the advisability of the early racing of two-year-olds."
