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COMMANDER ROSS STABLE Formidable Aggregation of Stars Will Carry His Colors. List Includes Cudgel, Billy Kelly, War Pennant, Motor Cop and Others. NEW YORK, December 31. Just to Rive owners of horses who intend to nice next year an idea of the contention they will have from one stable, a list of the most prominent horses in the string of-Commander .1. K. L. Ross is appended: Cudgel. Hilly Kelly. Milkmaid, Dramaturge. War Pennant. Sir I.arton, Slonomoy, Foreground, Damrosch, Pris ; cilia Slullens, Dottie Vandiver, Canso, Boniface-r Motor Cop and War Slarvel. These constitufiJ about the cream of the establishment and, when looked over as a whole, will loom up powerfully as applicants for turf honors in 1919. That Cudgel is the headliner in the handicip .division is almost assured now that John Sanfords stallion George Smith lias been retired. The nearest opponents in the handicap division to Cudgel are Omar Khayyam, AYesty Hogan, Sunny Slope, Wfik-Cloud and Koamer, and most of these he Irs; heat ii decisively some time or other in the paM. Hi nee there is little question that Cudgel will coif-cede weight to them when they are put to lis; acid test of the official handieapper, Sir. W. j. Vo-dmrgh. This does not mean that Cudgel jls going to will every handicap on the racing mei , but he is surely the horse that will have to k re koned with in all events in which he starts. 1 .Should Omar Khayyam return to his form if two years ago, then he will have something to Km-hi fore handicaps and stakes .are handed tjrCurigR. 5 i ilieficnet oriiu3aacRWhfrit?S!Bffc of i.nnr Khayyam, that his charge will "coiae back." as he claims to have located the cause of his failing form this year. This he intends to iemovp,iJt-.loisible, ere the year -of 1919MS far ndvnuefrd. As a three-year-old Omar Khayyam was considered superior to Cudgel by the majority, iliut this was never proved in contest. That Cudgel holds We,sty. Hogan safely was demonstrated at .Saratoga"," "when he beat him in the Schenectady Handicap giving him six pounds. On these deductions Cudgel has but Omar Khayyam to fear in the handicap division and there is the attaching proviso to Omar Khayyam "if lie comes back." Commander Itoss three-year-olds are the ices in the stable. Headed by Hilly Kelly, this star I followed by War Pennant, Sir Harton and Slilk-maid. The latter is a filly that showed to bej.far better than the average last autumn and one ;hat will surely go a long route. Her victory over the speed v -Pen Hose is convincing evidence she Ifi a good filly. There is every promise of Milkmaid being the star of the three-year-olds of the feminine sex. She went into winter quarters in good f condition, while other youngsters like Elfin Qtieen, Terentia and Pen Hose have been shelved at one time or another for cause. Should Elfin Onecn return to her early form of this year, then the chances are that Milkmaid wilL have to show jfome- , ihing letter than she has shown to cope with her worthy antagonist from the stable of II. K. Kiiapp. BILLY KELLY AND WAR PENNANT BET. XU Jug back to the colts and geldings iii the three-year old class. Hilly Kelly and War Pennant, unquestionably the two best in the Itoss string, will have as oimosition in the stakes for that clasl such horses as "Eternal, Dunboyne and possibly, but not probable, one or two: others. With two such masters as Hilly Kelly and War Pennant to draw from, both of which have indicated to be long route horses, Commander Hoss holds a strong hand in the three-year-old division. He also ma; have a strong addition in Sir Harton, which Mr. Bcdwell claimed prior to Sir Bartons running second ;n the Futurity bad outworked Hilly Kelly. Sir Bartons being beaten by Dunboyne with an advantage in weight of teii pounds would indicate Duiilmynes being a most formidable opponent to Hilly Ktjly, if not better. But it is racing that is the trulj test mill not work., There is one more horse in the stable of tsirs to carry the colors of Commander Hoss tliiit is, Motor ilop. It is generally conceded that Motor Cop is more of a sprinter than a long-dhtance liorse, but performances show that he can at; least go a mile in good company, though his victories at a mile were over horses confined to thf.three-,vear-old division. He was beaten by Sunny Slope in the Jerome Handicap at Belmont, and wvn the Saranac at Saratoga, in which he beat The l.orter, the star of tiie SIcLeau stable. His effort Li the Withers in the spring of the year was probably his best performance, when he beat Johna. Sun Briar and War Cloud, but there were excuses for all three of these in the Withers of one tort or jinother. as all three subsequently proved their races in the Withers were not their trui? form. While Motor Cop may . develop into a really good horse under the tutelage of such an expert as Guy Bedwell. there is a wide gap for him to close up before ho can be classed with Cudgel, Johren. uunv Slope, War Cloud and, possibly, one or two others. Vet he will have tq be considered well up in the handicap division, especially in sprint races. . . That Commander Hoss went into winter Quarters with the. strongest stable of the year :is not only conceded, but records prove such to 1 the case. Should he have the good luck to brit the same band out in the spring as good and possibly better than thev retired, the Hoss stnble U;ms up decidedly the dominant factor in all stp,;es and important races for the year 1919. t
