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GOSSIP OF THE TURF. j During his recent visit to Nashville, Enoch Wishard sold to J. W. Russwurm, secretary of Cumberland Park, two promising two-year-olds that have never been raced. One is a St. George colt called Protection, for which Wishard paid 00, as a yearling, and the other is Clyde, an imported horse by the English stallion Clyde Miss Jumbo II., which cost 51,600 as a weanling. They both went amiss at Nashville last spring. The colts will be trained for 1904. Scott Harlan will have Clyde in charge. Protection will be handled by John Ferris. Mr. Russwurm has also purchased from Wishard Arrow, for breeding purposes. She started thirty-seven times in England and was never outside the money. Arrow may be bred to The Commoner. Lady of the West, ch. m, 8, by Chorister Daphne, owned by John Ferris, is another mare to join the secretarys band of matrons. Mr. Russwurm purchased her at the close of last season. The Lady is now in foal to Handcuff, a son of Hanover Black Maria. The racing stable of H. J. Perry, including besides the good mare Coruscate, Mandamus, Lode Star and Bourbon King, has arrived at Cumberland Park from Cincinnati. The string will remain at Nashville a few days and then go to New Orleans for the winter campaign. Mr. Perry was on the Canadian circuit most of the season, where his horses were fairly successful. Coruscate was probably one of the best mares that raced across the border. She is the holder of the Canadian record for one mile, having negotiated the distance in 1:38 at Fort Erie in August. Perry purchased her from Jules Garson for 54,000. Word comes from Hot Springs that work is progressing on the new track there, and that a score of additional workmen have been put to work. There are now 500 stalls for occupation, while the foundation of the stand is laid and the fences are being put up. Evidently the promoters are making plans to present a real track to the Western Jockey Club stewards when the next meeting of that body is held in January. Philip Chinn has bought privately at a good price of Matt Simpson, the following six weanlings: Bay colt, by The Pepper Antidote, sister to Anthracite. Chestnut filly sister to Frances M., by Cayuga Iron Mistress. Bay colt, by Onondaga Marie Decca. Bay filly, b"y Cayuga Purity. Brown filly, by Griffon Becky Sharpe. Chestnut colt, by Cayuga Offering, by Onondaga. This constitutes Simpsons entire crop of weanlings for 1903. J. W. Brooks, manager of the Ascot track at Los Angeles, says: "We will positively open on the 24th. Everything will be in readiness before that date and there will be racing at Ascot Park the day before Christmas, rain or shine. The stakes have filled better than I expected. There are more than 700 entries, including some of the best horses in the country. There will be a splendid class of riders, including ONeill, DeSouza, Odom, T. Burns, Troxler, Redfern, Wonderly and others. The track will be in the best possible condition and we expect to" have it as fast as any in the United States for the opening day." Dave Gideon announces that he will have about thirty horses in training next year. This is a considerable increase over the number he raced during 1902, and is an Indication of his renewed interest in the sport he has so lone been identified with. The horses are at his place in Holmdel, N. J., and while Mr. Gideon has not visited his farm since the close of the racing season, he has had reports that all of the horses are in excellent condition. In the lot that will be prepared for the coming season there are a number of yearlings, and the "navy blue" will be seen in most of the important stakes for two-year-olds. Capt. S. S. Brown leaves New Orleans for Lexington on Thursday, where he goes with his trainer. Bob Tucker, for a thorough inspection of the yearlings that will sport the cherry with the blue cap next spring and summer. Tucker will return to New Orleans, and remain for the entire meeting, which means that he will not take up the summer division until late in March. During this period of activity he will supervise not alone the doings of the yearlings, but of the older horses that are quartered at Sheepshead Bay. Three times each week he gets reports from his men, and the work at the stables is all done under his direction. Captain Brown will go to Pittsburg for his Christmas dinner, then will go pack on his yacht, and spend the best part of the winter at New Orleans, taking short shooting trips with his friends. He has been won over to an enthusiastic view of winter racing. The victory of Safety Light in the highweight handicap has enhanced him much in the estimation of his owner, who already had a high opinion of the son of Lamplighter. Safety Light is certainly a grand looker, and appears to have all the requisites of a good racehorse. Captain Brown was so well pleased with his performance that he has decided to have him prepared for the American Derby. Word has been received from Hamilton, Canada, that Tip Gallant, the game little cross-country horse, will be back at the races next season. Trainer Sykes was wonderfully successful with the sturdy black son of Top Gallant Vesper, and it was while being fitted for a stake en-I gagement at Brighton Beach at the j midsummer meeting that he broke down. I He was nursed along carefully for some time, artd there was a hope of sending him to the post in some of the later races in the fall. However, when he was let down for the serious preparation his lameness returned to such an alarming extent that he was thrown out of training. At the time Sykes despaired of ever bringing him to the post again. The latest report from Hamilton is that the leg which filled up is regaining all its strength, and the gelding is taking daily gallops in a manner that gives promise of his training on for the next season. Corkscrew, another of the horses of Thomas Crooks, the Canadian turfman, handled by Sykes, is also at the Hamilton place, and he may give a good account of himself in the season that is to come. This one gave great promise early in the season, but was never brought to a race in the condition he exhibited in his trials through the field. Joe Scherrer, who a few years ago occupied a front position in the jockey ranks, promises to blossom out as an owner on the metropolitan circuit. Scherrer intends visiting New Orleans this winter, and while he has not yet bought any horses for his contemplated campaign in 1904, he promises to gather a stable that will be thoroughly useful among the best of them. James McLaughlin received word last Thursday of the death of his two-year-old filly, M. Theo, at Bennings. M. Theo started at Bennings a few days before the close of the meeting, and in the skirmishing at the post was thrown against the fence and a bad gash cut in her side. The wound was treated and the filly was apparently getting along all right. It was believed to be safer to leave her at Bennings when the other horses of the string were shipped to Morris Park. The filly died from blood poisoning as a result of this wound. There will be no steeplechasing at Jamaica next season. Ever since the building of the course of the Metropolitan Jockey Club the question of whether or not there would be a steeplechase course constructed in the infield has been under discussion. At first it was announced that while it was not possible to have the course for this, the first season of racing over the course, it would surely adorn the field in 1904. This has been confirmed and denied several times, and now there is a positive announcement from President W. H. Reynolds, of the club, that there will be no course.
