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LAST DAY AT CHURCHILL DOWNS Successful Autumn Meeting Ends Today with Run ¬ ning of the St Leger Handicap HandicapLouisville Louisville Ky October 4 Only one day of tlie local autumn racing season remains and tomor ¬ row the New Louisville Jockey Clubs meeting at Churchill Downs will close There will be an interim of four days including Sunday on tlie Kentucky circuit before the sport is resumed with the opening of the Latonia Jockey Clubs fall meeting of twentyone days daysThe The Churchill Downs meeting has been an unquali ¬ fied success in spite of tlie lowering clouds of local opposition that loomed up menacingly In a futile effort to stop racing In this city Happily for the racing and breeding interests all such opposi ¬ tion was dissipated before the tracks opened their gates and both local meetings went along just as they have done in the past The agitation it was feared would affect the attendance at Church ¬ ill Downs and cause the club to operate the meeting at a loss These fears however have proven groundless as shown by tlie fact that the daily attendance has been fully up to the standard of former fall seasons while the same keen enthusiasm has been exhibited in the racing Speculation has also been up to tlie average of former years The ideal weather prevailing all week has aided ma ¬ terially in the success of the meeting in fact a better brand of weather could not have been wished for forThe The St Leger Handicap the principal fixture of the fall season has been reserved for the closing day its running is expected to bring out the full strength of the racegoing public as it has done in the past when getaway day has been the banner day of the meeting Kentucky race patrons are keen for long distance races like the St Leger and Louisville Cup and it is unfortunate that more of these kinds of contests are not staged No blame however should attach to tlie racing associations for this lack as they are willing to do all in their power to provide the public with what they want The fault lays at the door of the horsemen who show a disinclina ¬ tion to train their horses for long distance events This was strikingly shown in the last running of the Louisville Cup in which but three horses were engaged engagedIn In order to attract a larger field than those that have engaged in the St Leger in former years the New Louisville Jockey Club this year has reduced the distance of the race from two miles and a quarter to two miles It is believed that this dis ¬ tance will be of sufficient length to afford the public the kind of a contest that they want to witness and at the same time bring cut a repre ¬ sentative field of competitors For the approaching renewal of the St Leger there are fifteen eligibles including Williams Bros El Rey winner of the Louisville Cup at Douglas Park last week Lncky B which ran a good second in that stake Mos cowa which finished third in the same evenf Beaverkill Herald Tumbler Dragoon Cheer Leader and Mistress Polly The field to be named will comprise largely the foregoing giving promise that the contest will be a race thoroughly in keeping with the best traditions of this stake which numbers among its winners such sterling racers as King Alfonso Luke Blackburn Apollo Montrose Kings Daughter and Embroidery the last named being the only one to win the stake on two occa ¬ sions
