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LATEST METROPOLITAN TURF GOSSIP Kajor Belmont Said to Favor Excluding Geldings from Important Stake Events. NEW YORK, N. Y.. February 1. From general conversation among some of the members of the Jockey Club it is gathered that Major August Rel-mont is in favor of excluding geldings from some of the most important stake races, including the Saratoga hip for three-year-olds and over. Tim question will be put to the officers of the Saratoga Racing Association at its next meeting whether geldings shall be permitted to start in the Saratoga Cup or not. Quite a number of racegoers who contemplated a trip to Havana and New Orleans by boat this month are unable to procure accommodations on account of the scarcity of desirable ships. Thomas Monahan, once a part owner of Roamer and other horses in conjunction with Andrew Miller, has been confined to his home for the past two weeks with a complication of troubles, due chiefly to colds and grippe. Colonel Matt Winn, manager of the New Louisville Jockey Club, has not yet heard from Mr. Granger or anyone else in authority regarding the acceptance of the option on the Churchill Downs track by the recently -organized syndicate to buy all four of the Kentucky courses. Word has been received here that H. D. Rrown, general manager of the .Cuba-American Jockey Club, has been ailing for some time, suffering from rheumatism of the heart. Trainer Preston Rurch has let John Sanfords Tippity Wifchet run out all winter and expects to see the little gelding show a return to his sensational two-year-old form. Tippity Witehet is as sound as ever, has taken on some weight, but is still the same short-bodied horse that raced so well in the fall of 1917. Trainers here are arranging to begin their preliminary training about March 1, predicting a mild spring, which they claim usually occurs after a mild winter. All the horses hereabouts are quite forward, and holies are expressed for favorable weather this coming spring, as a turn to winter blasts would interfere considerably witli their work and probably make every horse late getting to the post.
