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EASTERN STAKE VALUES INCREASED. New York, November 2. Secretary Earlocker is already making ready for the racing next August. The two-year-old stakes for 1917 will close November 27, and, as has already been announced some of them show a material increase in value. The Hopeful will be of 5,000 guaranteed and will be the richest of the juvenile races of the year. Tho United States Hotel Stakes and the Grand Union Hotel Stakes each have a value of ,500 guaranteed; the Spinaway, for fillies, will be ,000 guaranteed, and the Grab Bag Handicap will be of ,000 guaranteed. The other Saratoga stakes will not be closed until early in March of next year. Stakes that are a bit closer to Broadway are almost due to close. These are the stakes of the Westchester Racing Association to lie decided at the big Belmont Park course next year. These stakes are to close November 15, and some of them show a material increase in value. The Metronolitan, from ,000 added, becomes a stake of ,000 guaranteed: the Toboggan is raised from ,500 added to ,000 added; the Suburban from ,500 added to ,000 added; the Harlem, llollis and Amateur Cup are changed from 00 added to ,500 guaranteed, and the Bouquet is raised from ,000 guaranteed to ,500 guaranteed. The other stakes remain of a like value with that of last season. For the Belmont and Withers of 191S there has been a material increase, when the first named is raised from ,000 to ,500, and the Withers from ,000 to ,000. Guaranteed stakes do not appeal to the horsemen as do the added money, fixtures,, but the figures are such for the first Belmont Park meeting of 1917 that they should be appreciated. The Lawrence Realization, . one of the stakes that the Westchester Racing Association inherited from the Coney Island Jockey Club, is coming back to its original distance, and value. For the running next year the distance will be a mile and a half and there will be ,000 added. In 1918 it will be a mile and five-eighths and there will be ,000 added, while for the 1919 running it will be a mile and five-eighths with an added value of ,000. The nominations for all of these runnings ate to close with the other Belmont Park stakes, November 15. Then there will be a second closing of the 1918 running next November for yearlings. All of this reflects the present healthy condition of racing and the confidence the associations have in a continued prosperity. Just what money will be added to the overnight races at Belmont Park and Saratoga lias not yet been decided upon, but it is a question that is under consideration, and it is safe to predict that there will be a material increase all along the line.
