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WINTER RACING TN SOUTHERN FRANCE. Rich Events for Jumpers at- the Pau and Nice Meek 1 ings National Breeding Subvention. Paris, November 25. Racing on the sunny shores of the Mediterranean begins to loom up. alluringly, to lovers of the sport. The jumping races at Autcuil and St. Ouen will not keep the great majority of race-goers in Paris, and many have left for sunnier parts of France and Italy. The last number of the Bulletin des Steeple Chases sets forth the programs for Pau and .Nice, so that owners, and trainers hayc plenty of material to study, and they are determine ing which of the big prizes they will go for. The j Christmas meeting at Pau -will start on December 20 and will continue until December .27. Marseilles will follow on January- 1 and 3. and Nice has been given a line succession of dates from Thursday, January 7. to Thursday, January 2S; and then the. claims of Pau have again been recognized. i The big races at Pau will be run at the. February 1 meeting. These include the Grand Prix de Pau, a i steeplechase with 0,000 added, which is fixed for Sunday. February 7. Entries must be, made be- : fore January 12, and the weights will be published a fortnight later after the Nice results are known. The iPrix Gaston-Phoebus. a hurdle race at Pau. j with ,000 added, is made this year a weight-for- , age race1 instead of a handicap. The Grand Prix de la; Villc do Nice, to give the! race its full title. Is fixed for Sunday, January 17. This is a steeplechase with 0,000 added. The entry is 00. half forfeit There will bo ,000 : for the second horse. ,000 for the third and 0O- ; for the fourth. Surely this race ought to attract : some entries from England. It closes on December , 8. The Prix de Monte Carlo Hurdle Race, with 0,000 -added, will be run on Sunday, January 10. and the Prix du Grand Cercle de Nice, a steeplechase with ,000 added, on Sunday. January 24, The minor events, steeplechases and hurdle races are all worth from 00 to ,000. and are open to English horses. It should be noted that the distance of the big steeplechase has been reduced from three miles and a furlong .to two miles and three-quarters. This concession has been, made on behalf of the four-year-olds that are so frequently engaged. The total of the prize money at Nice this year will be over 2,600. M. Camille Blanc is the president of the Race Society. Last week the sum of ,375,820 was voted by the Chamber of Deputies under the heading of "Remounts for the Army." Nearly the whole of this money will be spent with French breeders, and a very small perccntage will go out of the country. M. Engerand. the deputy for Calvados, moved the reduction of this amount by 0, so as to put himself in order to criticise certain purchases that have been made from foreigners in the past. "These purchases of foreign horses." he said." "were directly contrary to the intentions of parliament." The Minister of War having given fresh assurances on the subject, the amendment was subsequently withdrawn. Of course, this did not refer to the thoroughbred stallions that the government buys from time to time, but to the horses bought for the army. The object of the government is to provide stallions thoroughbreds. Anglo-Arabians, hackneys, and the best .breeds of draught horses which are placed at the disposal of farmers having approved mares for a nominal fee. The mares must be the absolute property of French subjects and the government Is prepared to treat for the produce. In this way a big industry is being built up, and the French army is getting a supply of the finest horses that the world can produce. In the event of a great European war the resources of France in this respect will astonish the other powers.
