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GOSSIP OF THE KINGS PLATE Toronto Ont May 1 There is a strong disposl tion abroad to discredit Amberites chances in the Plate writes Francis Nelson in the Globe She Is the only one that has been backed to any extent yet there are offers to hack this and that horse against her and even at good odds to wager that she will not he in the money No good ground can IK found for such opposition and her owner and his friends have never missed a chance to show their faith in her Other horses in the Plate Heresy and Tropaeolium for instance showed a faster mile last fall than Amberite but she has done all that was wanted of her and her people have expressed their faitli iu her in the way that is understood around the world by putting down their money Her best mile last fall was 145 at Woodbine while tlu Dyment pair named above did 143 on the sandy track at Br K kdale Farm Thus none of the Plat ¬ ers have this year been a mile as fast as they showed as twoyearolds Not that the winner of the Plate is indicated by the fastest work of the previous autumn St Bass worked a mile only once as a twoyearold awl that was in 145 But he ran the first mile of the race the following spring in 142 and won the Plate In the record time of 208 It is in just such a year as this that the winner of the Kings Plate may come from a totally unex IKjcted quarter There is not among the twenty horses which are today likely starters a single out ¬ standing figure and not a thing is known about their capabilities today that was not a matter of knowledge last fall They have come through the intervening months satisfactorily and have made the normal improvement due to the fact that they are that much older Before going into winter quarters some of them worked as well as desired or ex ¬ pected by their trainers while others were not equal to the task that Is supposed to indicate their possi bilities in the following season In public Mr Sea ¬ grams Bustling gave probably the best performance of any and she ran but once In company with some of the best twoyearolds on the Canadian cir ¬ cuit she held her oppositiousafe as far as she was in condition to run against seasoned horses Condi ¬ tion will bo the great deciding factor in the mile and a quarter race on the eighteenth of May and that is a rather elusive thing With such a brief period of preparation as is allowed this year the Plate may go to a horse that could not be in tho lirst half dozen were the raca run a few weeks later We need not go back far in the record of the race to find instances of that and condition accounts for most of the surprises of the last twenty years Some horses are more easily fitted than others and do not show it until actually in the race with the result that their trainers are the most surprised of the spec ¬ tators Nor Is this remarkable with horses that have never been most of them at leastsover a dis ¬ tance of ground at racing pace paceThe The mare nominated by Dr Septimas Thompson of London in the Kings Plate has been recorded and registered as Pliilis Phllis is new to the race course though now seven years old She is a thor ¬ oughbred that Dr Thompson has used as a hack and which he had no idea of racing until she was tried for speed last fall She was sent to trainer Ed Gleason at Woodbine and after a few gallops her showing was so unexpectedly good that it was decided to have her trained Her appearance among the Plate entries naturally followed She is a well made and wellbred mare and should win races whatever the outcome of her Plate effort Philis is by the Longfellow stallion Philosophy brought over by Dr FitzGerald of London some years ago and which was a successful sire of halfbreds and show horses in that part of the country Yellow Jacket II her dam is by imported Whistle Jacket son of Hermit from Charity by Sensation Charity was also the dam of Widows Mite MiteTrainer Trainer Jim Clay is coining on as a handler of Kings Platers and this spring has in charge three candidates for the guineas belonging to different owners Knowd a sixyearold mare from St Thomas had but little training before she came here but has a good turn of speed and is said to have worked half a mile butter than in 50 seconds over the halfmile track at home last fall Her breeding is quite up to the standard of winning a Plate Kangaroo her sire now dead was a young horse by Hamburg from the imported mare Cock erouy She was by Friars Balsam Irony dam of Vampire and graiiddam of Flying Fox Crocus Knowds dam was by the Scottish Chief horse im ¬ ported Kantaka and one of her progeny Wilduower II was in the Plate a few years ago agoIrene Irene Sweeney is the property of a Kings Plate enthusiast Though Mr Newell has vet had noth ¬ ing encouraging to his prospects of finding a winner he means to keep on This year his candidate js the fouryearold filly Irene Sweeney whicli ran twice last vear without getting in the money She is by Kananga Horse and her dam Bonnie Earn was by Versatile from Nancy Lee who was also the dam of Kelvin The third of the Platers in the Clay stable Mr J old Bon1 Boil BoirTolbas adno racing experience Recent workouts at Woodbine Amberite Threequarters in 12 25 3S 53 107 122 Calumny Mile in 150 Delectine Half mile in 54 Heresy Mile in 140 Marcovil Half mile in 54 Marybnd Mile in 147 Sail Mile in 150 Sealed Orders Half mile in 4 Toplet Half mile in 54 Tropaeolium Mile lu 140
