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: : f : HOPEFUL STAKES AND SARATOGA CUP THE CLOSING DAY FEATURES OF SARATOGA RACING By C. J. Fits Gerald. Saratoga Springs, N. Y., August 27. The most brilliant year in the annals of racing at this point should reach a fitting climax on Thursday, the closing day of the meeting, when the aristocracy of the thoroughbred families in the United States imported and home-bred will struggle for victory in the Hppeful Stakes and Saratoga Cup, the former for two-year-olds and the latter for the more mature racers. Each is a test that will call for the supremest effort and the laurels will not be worn until a battle calling for the maximum of courage and speed has been fought and won. The Hopeful, which is of a guaranteed value of 25,000, is the most valuable prize in the Saratoga program and the indications at present are that it will not be exceeded by any other juvenile award in 1917. This stake was framed by the management of the Saratoga Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses to bo its best offering for two-year-olds and in keeping with their policy its value has been increased as racing grew in popularity. It is framed on generous lines and has been in the past productive of some superb sport, its great value, appealing to breeders and owners to such an extent that the pick of the youngsters have, year after year, been so trained that the top of their form would be slipwn in the Hopeful of at Sheepshead -Bay or Belmont Pnrk, when that other great race, the Futurity, is- decided. War Cloud May Prove Dangerous. In the past suclvxoqd colts as Commando, Novelty, Delhi and Camptife and that sterling "filly Regret have taken up the extremest penalty demanded by the conditions and won .it. If Papp,. Sun Briar, Escoba, Lucullite or Rosie OGrady can win pnder like conditions, they, too, will be entitled to rank among the great, and there are good judges of thoroughbreds who think that this years winner, will come out of this quintet, altlibnghv the neW-oonlert War Cloud, from the Macomber stable, is of stake calibre and will be decidedly dangerous should he be sent for the Hopeful, for which he will have an allowance. Will Young, who trains Escoba, . maintains that his charge has as yet riot tound the footing here to his liking and that the son of Broomstick is a much better colt than he has shown in the cast. This opinion is shared by many who saw Escoba race in Kentucky. Papp has done all that has been asked of him, both in the way of racing and training and he should be ready for the supreme test on Thursday. There were those who questioned the wisdom of Max Hirsch in putting up a jockey of as little experience as Allen, but that young man has won race after race, or been knocking at the door of victory witli the big chestnut and on the theory that a wise man never quarrels with a success", the unfashionable jockey will continue as Papps pilot. Sun Briar is another candidate that is as fit as hands can make him. This Englishman has a large and devoted following, who say that no two-year-old seen this year has duplicated his meteoric p flight of speed, when he ran around his opponents and caught the flying Rosie OGrady in the Saratoga Special. He not only caught her, but ran that good filly into defeat and still had speed enough to score a decisive victory. Witli the track soft or heavy, Sun Briar will be the colt that must be beaten. Racegoers are proverbially fickle. They eagerly acclaim the reigning sensation as the best. Last spring it was Lucullite which occupied the center of the stage. A couple of defeats followed by an attack of the prevailing skin ailment, which caused the temporary retirement of the handsome son of Trap Rock, has placed the Belmont representative in partial eclipse. No two-year-old showed more brilliant trails last spring than Lucullite, and in the hands of a past master like Sam Hildreth, a two-year-old may be expected to repeat if conditions are normal. Lucullite is taking his work most kindly and is a certain starter in the Hopeful. Rosie OGrady is a miss that has a temper of her own and up to date it has been costly to her owner and the public alike. She possesses keen speed and seems to have the courage and bottom to carry it three-quarters of a mile, which is the route of the Hopeful. She is easily the queen of the fillies and some of her admirers regard her as the equal of any two-year-old in training. Of the other candidates Tracksend, Drastic, Nutcracker, War Machine, American Eagle, The Spinner, Ultima Tliule and Subahdar, appear to be the most formidable. Kashmir, a colt of more than ordinary merit, as his recent races attest, was declared out of the race early in June. Omar Khayyam and Old Rosebud May . Meet. The Saratoga Cup will have a more potent attraction for the old-time type of turfmen, and for the breeder than the Hopeful, as it is at a mile and three-quarters and is at weight-for-age. The field will no doubt be a small one, the prowess of Omar Khayyam and Old Rosebud being so pronounced that few trainers will care to test their charges in such company. There are too few weight-for-age races on the programs of our racing associations and there is not that incentive to buy the best or keep horses of quality training for long distance racing under the present system. A rattling good race horse in the three-year-old Friar Rock won the Cup last year and there have been some comparisons between him and Omar Khayyam. Thursdays race should show just how good the colt is, as Old Rosebud is the recognized champion of the older division and will go to the post fit as the proverbial fiddle. Roamer, winner of the cup in 1915, a gelding of wire and whalebone, is among the eligibles this year, as are also Clematis II., Spur, The Finn, George Smith, Crimper and others, that have shown their quality over a considerable distance of ground. The chief interest, however, will be centered in the contest between Omar Khayyam and Old Rosebud, and at the end they should have the battle to themselves.
