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REVIVAL OF STEEPLECHASING Number of Jumping Stakes on Local Courses Increased Gentleman Riders NEW JLORK N T May 3 One cheer ¬ ing sign for the new season of racing is tho number of steeplechasers that will be avail ¬ able for the crosscountry sport This always has been a part of the turf that has attracted the simonpure sportsman and it is unfortu ¬ nate that it has been permitted to fall away until steeplechasing became little more than a joke in the last few seasons seasonsWhile While it was dying of dry rot in New York there was still plenty of interest in both Maryland and Canada and it was natural that the worth while horses were attracted to those sections There are no better steeple ¬ chase courses in the country than those of the Long Island tracks and Saratoga but it has been impossible to awaken the proper interest among sportsmen sportsmenThis This year there seems to be a much brighter outlook and the associations that conduct the picturesque racing are offering better inducements to the jumpers jumpersOne One of the new features through the field that reflects the possibilities of good steeple chasing is the Appleton Memorial framed as a testimonial to the memory of that sol ¬ dier and sportsman Charles L Appleton There have been fortysix jumpers nominated for this and such a number of entries should result in a representative field fieldThis This new race has a guaranteed value of 10000 as well as a cup that will be pre ¬ sented by the Greentree Stable StableAmong Among these nominations are found the names of many that have already attained a full measure of prominence in steeple chasing while there are also a becoming number of new ones engaged engagedThis This race is to be run at the Belmont Park meeting which begins May 25 at the big Nassau County track trackThere There are other increases in the steeple chasinsr opportunity that should revive the sport but what is really wanted is a new crop of gentleman riders When there are gentleman riders this branch of the sport has always flourished Such has been the history of steeplechasing everywhere and no race tells the importance of the gentleman rider more than the greatest of all steeple ¬ chases the Liverpool Grand National In its roster of winners it will be found that gentleman riders played a much more impor ¬ tant part than professional jockeys jockeysGentleman Gentleman riders can bring back steeple chasing and it is possible that the steeple chasing will bring back the gentleman rider Both are needed for a healthy growth in that most picturesque end of the turf
