view raw text
PROSPECTS BRICHT FOR STEEPLECIIASING. Close to 200 Jtv.npcrs Will Be Seen Under Colors at the Fimiico Meeting. New York. Ai ril 2J. — Never in tlie history of M« ptnhsii1ac il Hi-5 ecuntry have prospects heea brighter for las I raid interest and better sport. Reports from limlieo. which b:is long been recognized as tlie headquarters of cross-country racing, show th:it IfgllllBlhllH already made put the number of jumpers tli:it will be quartered there for the sprite meeting of the Maryland Jockey Club, which opens May 1. :it close to 2M horses, most of which i will be seen under colors during the meeting. The only :ibsentees will be the threo-yo;ir-olds which. under the rides, cannot be raced through the field until August 1. and the ailing ones, winch are fewer than ever. When on" considers that at many private training grounds, pretentious strhaga are also quartered and. that still another division is being held in reserve for tlie early Hunt me "tings or, Long Island, it is easy to appreciate tin marked increase of interest in this branch of racing. The gooil that will com • from this aoiunianee of material will be in evidence all summer, and tin" ililTorcnt associations should make ample provisions to provide for it by increasing tlie member of .jumping races. Tlie two or three a week plan will not do under present conditions, and eaojrses must be made more suitable than heretofore. Tlie time when it was thought to answer all purposes to simply put up a frame and fiil it with brush that brought the appearance of a real jump has pas-oil. Tin- men interested in sieeplechasing are. with lew exceptions, practical nnd in it without theagM of profit. They have brought into their stables sound horses, well-bred and perfectly capable of winning races on the flat. Their ambition is to make a horse that will be able to boat the best of their neighbors. Many have man based abroad the best that money can buy. Jumping Race Values Increased. Throuirh the elTorls of those interested in the limit meetings, some material chances for the bolter have been made, and we find at lirook.iuo. Piping liock. Ilelniont Park Terminal. While .Marsh, Reee Tree. Warrenton and many other point-., the races with greatest value are those of the jiimpers. and the plea is a good one. for each year the list of owners is growing stronger and the newcomers lire men of prominence that can afford to get the sort of horses they want. And with intimate connection with racing, they soou drift into the owning of high-class flat performers and to breeding as well. A review of the ivcruits to racing within the last five years, that is those whose names are pointed to as real supporters of racing. vill show that a great majority made their initial haw with a hamper or two at ■ limit meeting. This would seem to argue that the management of the regular track, in New York and elsewhere should give the sauir care nnd attention to their steeplechase comses. that they do to the circuit for the flat performers. Winn tliey do, they will find their fields of better grade and starters more numerous. They will bring to their tracks new blood, men and women thoroughly interested without thought of financial gain, and best of all. they will lie encouraging the breeding and development of a class of horse that will certainly prove of the greatest good in filling the want of horses for the country, not alone for the army, but for industrial purposes.
