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BROOKLYN STAKES. Secretary Fred Rehberger, of the Brooklyn -Jockey Club, has completed his labors on the stake program of the club, and the result is a general advance all along the line of the added money, with many changes of conditions that cannot fail to meet with the approval of horsemen generally. In speaking of the changes that will appear in the new stake list, Mr. Rehberger said, through Morning Telegraph: "Our star feature, the Brooklyn Handicap, will have a guaranteed value of 20,000, as against 0,000 added money last year. When Irish Lad won this stake in the spring it was worth just 4,950 to him, and in 1904 it will be worth 7,000 under the guarantee. In this stake the club will give an increase of 00 to both the second and third horses, making the second and third moneys respectively ,500 and ,500. "Another most important change has been made in the Standard Stakes. This is a three-year-old fixture and it has formerly been at a mile and a half. It was agreed that if the distance was reduced to a mile and a quarter it would result in a better contest, as a mile and a half is undoubtedly a severe task for three-year-olds at that time of the year. Accordingly it has been reduced to that distance. It has also been increased in value from ,000 to ,000 added, with 00 -to second and 00 to third, as against 00 and 50, as it was last year. "The only change that has been made to the Brookdale is the. addition of 00 to the added money, making it a ,000 fixture. A like increase has been made in the Parkway Handicap, the Clover and Manhanset, for two-year-olds, and in the Empire State and Greater New York Steeplechase Stakes. In the Preakness, for three-year-olds, there has been an increase of ,000 in the added money, making it a ,000 fixture. "No stakes have been added to the list, but there has been a general remodeling of the old fixtures, and with the increases in the money to be distributed they are old in name only. In both the Brookdale and the Parkway, for instance, the penalty for winners after the publication of the weights has been reduced from 5 to 3 pounds. This reduction is one that will have a tendency to keep the candidates racing up to the time of the stake, and ought to please all the candidates. "In the Broadway there has been a change in the penalties that should bring a better field to the post than ever before. Last year non-winners of ,500 were allowed 12 pounds, and those which had not won ,000 received an allowance of 15 pounds. Next year the 12-pound allowance will be given to non-winners of ,000, while non-winners of ,000 will have a 15-pound advantage. In the Preakness the same policy has been carried out, and the non-winning allowance has been raised from ,000 to ,000, while maidens will be allowed 18 pounds, as against an allowance of 15 pounds last year. "In both the Clover and the Manhanset, in addition to the increase in the added money, there is a raising of the allowance scale that will let in coirs of a better class and generally improve the complexion of the probable field. "The 00 increase in the Empire State and the Greater New York steeplechases is an additional inducement that will beyond doubt be appreciated by the owners of jumpers. Many of the owners who turn their efforts fa this department of racing; have long been agitating better purses to race after, and two fixtures at ,000 and ,000 respectively, and a third at ,500, ought to please."
