view raw text
SATURDAY THE LAST DAY Louisville? Cup and Golden Rod Handicap Closing Features of Kentucky Season. LOUISVILLE, Ky., Novemlmr 10. Kentuckys most brilliant autumn racing season will come to an end next Saturday with the running at Churchill Downs of the Louisville Cup, a handicap over the two-mile course, and the Golden Rod Handicap, a race fashioned for two-year-olds, at seven-eighths of a mile. Each of these stakes will have an added value of 5,000, and they will serve as a fitting climax to a grand year of thoroughbred sport. Forty-three of the best long-distance horses in America were nominated for the Louisville Cup at a fee of 0 each, and in addition to this each starter will have to pay 100 more. Eighty-eight juveniles were named for the Golden Rod Handicap, and the entrance and starting fees are the same as in the cup race. Among the most prominent eligibles for the Louisville Cup are Pif Jr., which won the Latonia Cup on October 30; Minto II., which finished second in the same race; Sway, a stayer of no mean ability; Captain Mac. a stablemate of Sway and one of the best of the Kentucky three-year-olds; Under Fire, which won the Lexington Clip at one and one-half miles several weeks ago; Exterminator, Willis Sharpe Kilmers great long-distance racer; Woodtrap, recently victorious in the Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs; Sir Barton and Boniface, Commander J. K. L. Boss powerful pair, and Sterling, a stake winner at Latonia and winner of the Louisville Hotel Handicap at the present Downs meeting. With these hcrses and a few lesser lights to draw from, the field in the cup should be the best since its inauguration several years ago. Nothing definite has been heanl from Willis Sharpe Kilmer as to whether he plans to ship Exterminator here for the big race, nor has trainer II. G. Bedwell announced which of the Commander Ross horses he will send here, but the weights assigned these thoroughbreds will be wired their respective owners, and if the imposts prove satisfactory they will no doubt decide upon having representation in the rich stake. The Louisville Cup was formerly run at Douglas Park, it being decided for the first time at Churchill Downs last year, when the tracks were merged. The annual long-distance race at the Downs until that time was the St. Leger, but the change is in name only, as the conditions governing the race are practically the same. Among the previous winners of the St. Leger was Moscowa, which made the best showing of any of the thoroughbreds entered by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Endurance Test Club in the recent thrce-hundred-mile race from Fort Ethan Allen, Vt., to Camp Devens, Mass. Hj was successful in this stake in 1918, and when he romped home to victory he established the present two-mile record at the Downs, 3:29. One of the largest stake fields of the year is looked for in the Golden Rod Handicap, the weights for which Avill be announced Weduesday. Last year this affair was over the mile route and thirteen two-y ear-olds contested for it. witli Busy Signal, B. R. Bradleys daughter of Cunard Sweet Alice, being returned the winner. She defeated the best of the opposite sex that could be mustered against her, and she did it in a decisive manner, winning with a dozen lengths to spare. Some of the best-known among the entries in the Golden Rod are Coyne, Brother Batch, Aphie Dear, Muskallonge, Colonel Baker, Rangoon. United Verde. White Star. Miss Muffins. McGoodwin. Last One, Sir Thomas Kean, Oriole, Sir Lawnfal, Tharon, Merrlmac, Hlldur, Star Voter, Sun Turret, Har-monique, Baby Grand, Bed Legs and Auntie May. A great field can be drawn from this outfit, as most of these horses are at their best right now. General manager Matt J. Winn inaugurated the double-stake day plan at Latonia and it proved so popular there that he decided to give It a tryoiit at Churchill Downs this autumn. This gives many patrons who arc able to get to the track only on the half-holidays an opportunity. 1o see the best horses in training in action, and it has been a success iu the East for many years.