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DATES NOT FULLY DECIDED WHY METROPOLITAN TRACKS ARE KEEPING THEIR PLANS IN ABEYANCE. Possibility of Changing Conditions Causes Jockey Club Officials to Postpone Final Announcement — Little Change Probable. By Ed Com. New York, February 14. — The schedule of dates for tin- coming Sew Turk racing scmui is net likely to he ssade public until the first or second wick in .March. From what can he learned, emanating from ■ rather reliable source, the season Will not begin much arlier. if any. than it did last year, bur in all probability it will last longer — in fact, it may run to the end of September. It was generally believed lntil a few days ago that the o|Miiing day would be early in May. but conditions bare changed that prospect somewhat. Still there may be development* which would alter matters all around, meaning, of course, favorable legislation which some folk believe is not only possible, but probable. If such were the case then there would be material changes, as the old Brooklyn track would be proi ided for. It might also create applications for longer meetings at all tracks BOW doing business. Itut that stage of proceedings has not yet developed. Aa one stockholder in Aqueduct put it: "Let us get favorable legislation first before we begin building sites from plans we would like." Wltk the old conditions prevailing there will be so little change in affairs that it will hardly be noticeable excepting that the purses may be in-creased a trifle to keep in line with the progression in the way of stake*, many having been increased in monetary value and new ones added. Every year since the resurrection of racing there have been Improvements in every department of the s|Kirt. In the first place the attendance has grown materially ami that fact caused an ini reuse in purses. It ias .uly natural that the several associations complied v.i:h the timet; and jumped the prizes as th: gate receipts warranted ami will do so again as long a* tie- patrons continue to pay homage. Better anil more horse* have been raced every season and the prospects for a b inner year are bright for 1917, • •wing to the enormously increased foreign purchases. I; is almost safe to say that this year every stake uill show something like twenty per cent of foreign blood. This fact will cleat. new interest not only from a breeders view, but from a contesting point to which everybody buds a thought. Doubt as to the Opening. Then seems to !»■ a question where the opening race will be run. Some think Jamaica will be the scene: others that Belmont Iark is more likely to raise the first flags, [mat year the racing began : i Jamaica on May is. on Thursday. This year May 17 is on Thursday, and if there is to be little change in the spring allotment it is Jowl as probable that the first race will be run on the 17th. as well as to wait for Saturlay. May 19. The first Saturday will unquestionably be a big day. and to have a COOple of days rehearsals would not be objectionable to the management of any track at tiie beginning of the season. But. as before intimated, there might lie some sort of soothing powder udminsterod by the legislative doctor- ere the time comes for a resumption of the sport, in which case the whole schedule ■would have to be changed. Then. too. there is the impending international troubles to lie weighed iu the balance. These matters might cause many a revision of the prospects, so there is little use going further than accepting the tentative ideas for the present, which indicate similar conditions to those of last year. It must have brought smiles to the member- of 1h Louisville Jockey Club to see the excellent collection of entries for the Kentucky Derby, lioth in numbers and quality. Hud the names of Campfire anil Hornless beea added, the list would have been complete in every detail. It is presumed that, owing to the engageiient* of this pair of stars in the "features" for three-year-olds, they were advisedly omitted from the Derby, due to the strain on horses ill early preparation. But there are enough stars in the event without that pair to make a race of the ilia SSt consequence to horsemen. All told, there are seventy si entries, of which one -third are foreign bred. This makes the event one of interna -tion:l importance more so than any race ever run in this country. Kentucky Derby Prospects. All the fashionable stables, with one or two exceptions, are represented, ami if the foreigners get away with the rich prize, it will not be without a horse race, for there are several domestic stars to nvercome. Among these are Ivory Black, which was • inly beaten a length by llourless at Belmont Park, anil which afterwards beat Campfire at even Weights, though he was subsequently beaten by Campfire when conceding the Wilson horse fifteen nomads la weight. Ivory Black went amiss shortly afterward and was retired for the year. Then there is Ticket to be reckoned with — a colt •.hat showed last autumn he was far better than the average. Koh-i-Noor. too, must be considered, notwithstanding she is a filly. She will go the route, and demonstrated her value at Laurel when she was b Bte« "lily a head by Capra. She is also a good weight carrier. Harry Kelly has but I i nt Ted, among others, by John Schorr, but there is a doubt about his going the route. If he should develop into a staying horse, he will be hard to beat. 11. 1. Whitney has a group of four among the ■entries in Ilwfa. Bellringer. Tumbler and Rickety. All are stake horses, and while they did not achieve much aa two-year-olds, there is no telling bow jiiiich they will improve under the watchful eye of that most astute wizard trainer. James Kowe. • Westy Megan is a horse that must not be forgot- ten. lie is what horsemen c; 11 a "real horse" — one that never knows when to give up an argument. He might prove decidedly the best of the western contingent. Of the foreigners little is known, excepting here Mini there, and they have not shown sufficient to j;i .- them a preference over those lrom the home parase. The only one on which all eyes will be tuned is .North Star III., which Mr. Macomber ini -parted. It is said by those who haw seen this horse that he may prove a better Derby proposition than «n.] Star Hawk, which was nosed out by George oawMh last year for this event. If North Star III. turns out as anticipated and predicted, then he will be the one to settle with from the other side, as there is not a domestic-bred volt shown so far that tan be considered the equal of George Smith.
