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BEST IN ITS SHORT HISTORY 4 Present Meeting at Jefferson Park Remarkably Successful. Fine Crop of Yearlings at the Fair Grounds Bombast and Speedster Doing Well. ItV J. I.. PKMPSF.Y. SEW OULKANS. La.. December 19. Filtering tin; holiday poriod with :m improvement in wcatliiT conditions after almost two weeks of r:iiu and a muddy track, the Jefferson Park race meeting is proving tlie-Iest in the lirief history of the Shrewsbury course from every standpoint. If the trad; remains fast for Christmas week racing secretary .1. It. Campbell will put on races calculated to bring out the best horses here daily beginning with the Christmas Handicap and he will have plenty from which to draw his fields as the better grade performers; have not had much racing to date on account of the mud. Tln way the race-goers turned out at Jefferson Park in tin face of such iuclcmcul conditions as prevailed upon several days was remarkable. These occasions gave evidence of the popularity of the sport hero, as the attendance was not confined to visitors and regulars by any means, the local populace being unusually well represented. In less than two weeks the yearlings at the Fair !rounds will bo eligible to race and there are plenty of them on hand here. The youngsters comprise almost one-fourth of the total number of liorres set-. Ill" two -tiek-- jnith.v joprKuit nil sections of America. Their schooling suffered some by the long stretch of bad weather and muddy track, but the intervening time between now and January 1 will be used to advantage and much of tin lost time will be made up. None of them have had the barrier sprung on them as yet, lint this training will In? in order wilhin a few days now. G. II. Keene is racing a division of the J. O. and G. II. Keene stable here this winter, while another section of it, including the horses which race in the name of the Waldeck stable, and in which C. It met Head of Louisville. Ky.. has an interest, was sent to Havana in charge of Lige P.rewster. "With the possible exception of Willow Tree, the Havana consignment will be disposed of during tin? winter, but those racing here will be returned t Kentucky. Included in G. U. Keenes outfit is til? fleet Pagan Pan. which was recently brought down to him from Lexington by Will Woodard. 0. K. ltowe did not. bring any horses here this winter, leaving his small stable at Douglas Park to spend .the cold mouths. Kowo is confident that Miss Jemima will show a return to her best form next year and she will be extensively nominated in tin Kentucky stakes. This filly deinonstraled her real sibility unoa several occasions last summer, but she did not ret.iiu her form long. Rowe will leave for Ixiuisvillc early in the winter to take up l.is horses and prepare them for their spring campaign. THE SWIMMER A DISAPPOINTMENT, The long lay-off of The .Swimmer does not seem to have helped him to any extent, as his first two races here were far from his best. They were loth in muddy going, his favorite kind, and this made him look all the worse. Previous to coming here, fit Swimmer bail not started since June 8 at Latonin. He went amiss there and trainer Will Perkins spent the summer and autumn preparing him for winter racing. Always slow to reach his best form, Th? Swimmer may improve with racing, but the public will not be so eager to take odds of 3 to 5 against his chances soon again. F. 1". Lettellier. New Orleans business man and sportsman, has about the two most useful selling platers of the winter season here in liombast and .Speedster. Iloth are castoffs from the Harry Payne Whitney stable and they show their excellent breeding every time that they race. The former won two races and finished second twice in his first four starts and. with average racing luck, he would have won all four races. He was beaten by the margin of a head by Nominee after being practically left at tin post, in one nice and the other time he was defeated he was turned the wrong way of the " track when the barrier went up. Speedster likewise lias been the victim of hard luck upon several occasions, but he always finished close up to the winner when he did not win himself. One of the mysteries of the year here was the recent victory of Judge Price at odds of 50 to 1. His win was as much of a surprise to trainer Charles Hawk as it was to tjie general public, as lie never conceded him a ghost of a show. All summer Judge Price tried in vain to earn some purse money on the fair circuit in Kentucky, but ?ven there he was a dismal failure. As evidence that he simply outran himself the day he won here, lie came right back in his next nice and finished last. Judge Price is well bred and comes from n speedy family, he being by Waldo and the good mure Kthel Pace, the dam of J. AV. McClellands milieu ten Leonardo II. and the fleet racer Housemaid. He lias none of his relatives speed, however. Starter A. I?. Dade, who handles the barrier at tin? Kair Grounds, has returned from a duck hunting trip which was considerably marrid by too much Klin. lie met with a fair measure of success at that considering the short time that he. was able to lie in the field. Dade is an enthusiastic hunter anil he and judge Joseph A. Murphy seldom miss ;i Sunday of this sport during the winter months.
