Lacked the Snap of Former Years: Nothing Brilliant About Saratoga Sport, but Attendance Greater than Ever, Daily Racing Form, 1917-08-31

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LACKED THE SNAP OF FORMER YEARS Nothing Brilliant About Saratoga Sport, hut Attendance Greater than Ever. By .T. L. Dempsey. Saratoga. N. Y., August 30. The season iust terminated lacked the snap of last year, out according to authoritative information there vere more in attendance for this term of !ng than ever before. There was nothing particularly brilliant about the sport at any time this rear and the failure of the starts to meet more requently was keenly disappointing. This failure an probably be attributed to the fact that many of the cracks have been in forced retirement, on ccount of ailments, or to their trainers aversion :o sending them over the track. Why all the fuss :his year in regards to the track is a mystery. The same going was raced over last year and in pre-ious years and there was no serious complaint then. The one outstanding drawback that has been noticeable was the excessive number of starters permitted to contest in some of the dashes, particularly in short sprints. Half of the starters where the fields were so unwieldly, were eliminated as contenders at the start, cither through a bad send-Dlt, or by the crowding that immediately developed. In the latter respect there was more interference in races this year at this track than there has been in a long while. The question of two-year-old superiority is still a moot question, though many incline to give the crown to Sun Briar. The running of the. Futurity at Belmont Park will prob-ibly be the determining factor to decide the premiership of the youngsteis. Omar Khayyam Reigns Supreme. Omar Khayyam fully established his right to the three-year-old crown, but the supporters of Hour-less are pot ready to concede him superior to the Belmont crack. That the latter is well thought oi by his connections, is shown in the fact that trainer Hildreth, when questioned if the colt was for sale, replied that lie thought Mr. Belmont would part with him for 8100,000. The westerners, while not. having blazed much of a trial, did not fare so badly and in Olive Wood and Plum, at least showed the best two-year-old fillies. Escoba-ind Free Cutter were not seen at their best here, on account of the track conditions, when they were under colors. Kseoba will have another eastern trial in the Futurity. Financially it was the great-sst meeting ever hold here. Tho many new converts that the sport added this year through the yearling sales promise most auspiciously for the future. There was a frantic scurrying during the afternoon to make arrangements for the departure by most of the visitors here. Special trains and steamers from Albany were numerous, but owners of jiore than half the immense number of horses here, :iad to remain passive and are marking time until ars can be had to transport their valuable stock to ither tracks. It. will be well toward the end of next week before they will be able to ship. After Peep Sights victory in the opener, he was advanced from an entered price of S600 to ,505 and bought in. J. O. AVhitlow doing the bidding. The Grader, winner in the second race, was in for 00 and was advanced by Harry Fink to SS05 and kept by his stable. The excess money accruing from the run-ups will be added to the purses of the second day at Belmont Park, according to Andrew .Miller.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1917083101/drf1917083101_1_6
Local Identifier: drf1917083101_1_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800