view raw text
END OF RACING CARNIVAL 1 Saturday Brings to a Close Saratogas Most Successful Season. : Climax to Come with Decision of Rich Hopeful Stakes and the Saratoga Cup. BY C. J. F1TZ GERALD. SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y., August 20. Championship form among the American thoroughbreds lias as a rule been pretty well established year after year at the meetings of the Saratoga Association. It looks as if history would repeat itself in 1919, as the running of the Hopeful Stakes and Saratoga Cup on Saturday next, when the greatest racing carnival that the Spa has even known will be terminated, is expected to bring to the post the cream of the juvenile and maturer horses in training at the present time. The great army of racing enthusiasts from all parts of the Union have found much to admire during the twenty-six days of sport, and they will leave for their respective homes conscious that they have witnessed the highest quality of racing tests given in an environment that is unsurpassed anywhere. By their generous patronage they will have spurred president R. T. Wilson and his fellow members in the Saratoga Association for the- Improvement of the lifeen of liorsesfTo1itinf urther" emieavor, "Ine purchase of additional ground on Union avenue being an indication of a policy of expansion and beauti-fication of the already splendid plant. While the program for every day of the closing week is promising, that for Saturday, August 30, should furnish the climax to the season at this point. The Hopeful Stakes, at three-quarters of a mile, which has a guaranteed vnlue of 0,000, will have all the crack two-year-olds with the exception of Miss Jemima among the contestants, while the Saratoga Cup, with ,000 added, for three-year-olds and over, at one mile and three-quarters, should bring to the post at least four of the greatest horses seen this year. MAN O WAR SURE STARTER. Man o War, if all goes well, is a certain starter in the Hopeful. He will have to carry 130 pounds, but there is ample evidence in the history of the race to indicate that he is capable of doing it. In the fourteen years since the stake was inaugurated right two-year-olds have carried the extreme penalty to well-earned victories. Tampa, in the colors of the late H. B. Duryea, won with 127 pounds in 1!04. She was followed by John Sanfords Mohawk II. in 1905, this home-bred youngster shouldering 130 pounds and giving conclusive proof that champion thoroughbreds can be bred in the Empire State. He was followed by James R. Keenes Peter Pan vthe next season. Novelty won with the top weight for S. C. Hildreth in 1910, and later gave further proof of his class by racing in France and winning in the best company, both on the flat and over obstacles. The fleet filly Regret, in the colors of H. P. Whitney, carried 127 pounds and won in 1914, following it up with a glorious campaign in 1915, when she won the Kentucky Derby and other prizes. L. S. Thompsons Dominant won in 1915 and showed a quality that he has failed to live up to in his maturer years. Campfire helped to round out his lirilliant career by capturing the event in 191G over :i heavy track, while Sun Briar was the victor in 1917 o-er a slow and holding course that suited liim to perfection.,.. Man o War will make" only one more appearance this year after the Hopeful, and that will be in the Futurity, which will be run on the closing day of the autumn meeting of the Westchester Racing Association. His owner and trainer are supremely confident that he will win both of these stakes, and there are thousands of good judges of a thoroughbred who share in this belief. There is a peculiar single to the Hopeful, inasmuch as the bulk of the opposition which Man o War will encounter is expected to come from the fillies in the race, as there is nothing in the colt division to match Constancy, Bonnie Mary, Cinderella, Cleopatra and Ethel Grey. Miss Jemima is unfortunately not an eligible. The best of the colts that have shown in public are 1pset, King Thrush, Brookholt, The Trout and Car-mandale, though in a stake of this kind there arc always dangerous candidates that have been kept under cover. FOUR HAVE WON CUP TWICE. "Many good horses have won the Saratoga Cup since its inauguration in 1S65, and four horses have -won it twice. These were Kentucky in 1S65 and 1866; Springbok in 1874 and 75; Parole in 1877 and 78, and General Monroe in 1883 and 84. When these stout-bottomed thoroughbreds won the distance was two and a quarter miles the real Cup route in every country and it is a pity that this years test is not over the same route instead of a half mile shorter. While there are fifty-nine noinina- Continued on second page, END. OF RACING CARNIVAL i Continued from first page. tions, it is probable that not more than four or five will go to the post. Should that quartet be Purchase, Sun Briar, Cudgel and Hannibal, it would be the race of the year and a real test, as the contest Is at weight-for-age. There is a rumor that Exterminator may be the Kilmer representative, but it is hoped that Sun Briar will be selected, as the breeders of the country would infinitely rather see the honors, if they go to Mr. Kilmer, acquired through the medium of a stallion than a gelding. Only five geldings have won the Cup in thirty-eight years, as against twentj--six stallions and four mares. This is as it should be, as these great tests are a guide to breeding, and for the future of the turf there should be lhbre of them. The Adirondack Handicap, for two-year-olds, at three-quarters, is the feature on Wednesday. It has a guaranteed cash value of ,000, and Miss Je-vmima is among the nominations. She . is a certain starter, too, as this is her final eastern engagement. Unfortunately, Constancy is not eligible, while Man o War will be reserved for the Hopeful. The little daughter of Black Toney will nothave.a hollow vie -tqry if she wins,- as there IS plenty of promising material among the eligibles. Thursdays features will have the Amsterdam, at a mile, as a medium for the best of the selling platers, to show their class. . Such good ones as Lord Brighton, Lion dOr Minto II., Startling, King Plaudit, Wise Man, Canso, Damrosch, Yurucari, Camoufleur and Wyoming are among the probable Starttjrs.
