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Here and There on the Turf Chicagos Racing Approved. Playfellow Ready, But Waiting. Breeding at Rancocas. Green River Jockey Club. Parking Space for Automobiles. As a view from abroad a New York writer Bays: "No doubt should remain of the return of racing to Chicago. It was natural there should be a great outpouring on the opening day of the meeting. It was Saturday and, of course, there was the novelty of seeing the thoroughbreds in action again after a long exile. But there was another big crowd on Monday. That was the real test and one that should mean a permanency to the return. Those who went racing Monday did not have the novelty of the return of the sport to attract them. They did not have the promise of seeing Exterminator in action and they were not attracted through idle curiosity. They went rating because it was the sport they wanted and it was an attendance that should conclusively show that the thoroughbred belongs as a part of the entertainment of the Chicagoan. Other meetings will naturally have better horses and right now it would appear that Chicago is firmly established on the American turf again. No city in this broad land is better situated to support racing lavishly when it was demonstrated that the sport is wanted by the public, the rest is smooth sailing. The Illinois Jockey Club is to be congratulated for its enterprise in bringing racing back and its conduct of the sport that has made it so popuplar." It would seem now that James Fitzsim-mons is determined to make no mistake when he sends the Quincy Stables Playfellow to the post. This brother to Man o War, over which there was a suit last winter, has been training for a considerable time in a fashion to suggest that he is ready for the silks. He has many an engagement, but he has missed them all thus far. Now he is at Laurel and the way he has been galloping there is decidedly satisfactory. Both Fitzsimmons and James F. Johnson, owner of the Quincy Stable, have an abiding faith in the son of Fair Play and Mahuba and each promised, long ago, that they would bring every one else to their way of thinking. The colt has done just about all that has been asked of him in private and still Fitzsimmons waits for the right place and the right time. He would like to make the reappearance of this four-year-old in racing as convincing as possible and Fitzsimmons has ever been a patient trainer. It is the man who knows how to wait who accomplishes things on the turf and no horse in training is having a more careful preparation than this same Playfellow. When he comes back he will be as fit as he can be made and his return has been eagerly looked forward to for a considerable time. It had been promised that he would race in the Aqueduct Handicap at Aqueduct, where Prince James was a sensational winner. But that "was not the spot. He has plenty of opportunity at Laurel, but what is desired by both his trainer and his owner is a chance to meet one or other of the Rancocas Stable stars. When Harry F. Sinclair came into racing with the Rancocas Stable he came in with a wonderful string of thoroughbreds. He bought ready-made horses and, when he found one that he wanted, he paid the price. His racing venture has met with a great measure of success. But it was only a hope in the early days of Rancocas Stable that he would enlarge his turf connections to become one of the foremost breeders. That is just about what promises to come to pass. Down at the Rancocas Farm in New Jersey there is already one of the truly leading breeding establishments of this country and, with the purchases that were made during the year, it is expanding tremendously. There are fifty-five yearlings on the farm now and of the thirty-seven brood mares on the farm fifteen have suckling foals at their sides. The stallions are Purchase, Lucullite, Inchcape and Alibi. Each of thess is a stoutly-bred stock horse and it would be hard to find the equal of the mares in the establishment. This is how Harry Sinclair has gone to the breeding of thoroughbreds and such a farm cannot fail to have a lasting effect on the thoroughbred production of the country. While it is the intention to continue a big racing establishment, it is evident that before long some of these Rancocas-bred horses will find their way to the market . and thus widen their influence on the breeding of the country. Still another race track is to be opened this fall. Dade Park will conduct its first meeting from November 8 to November 18. This is the race course of the recently-formed Green River Jockey Club, a new Kentucky venture. It is decidedly late in the year for Kentucky racing, but the plans have been made for the meeting assure that it will meet with success. The success of the present experimental meeting at Hawthorne will, in all probability, lead to racing here on a much larger scale next year. Among the many problems that the local promoters, whoever they may be, will have to seriously consider is the matter of adequate parking facilities for automobiles. This is the motor age. The automobile has become a popular and extensively-used means of transportation, both for business and pleasure. Last Saturday at Hawthorne there were approximately 20,000 people present to see racing revived in Chicago. How many of that great gathering reached the track by automobile is a matter of conjecture, but it is safe to say that there were 2,000 or more automobiles parked on streets and vacant lots within a half mile of the track. On one large tract of land, fully half a dozen blocks from the course, an actual count disclosed 300 cars parked for which their owners paid fifty cents each to some enterprising financier who agreed to look after them while their owners enjoyed the racing. Practically every Vacant lot had a sign reading: Tark here, fifty cents." All seemed to do a thriving business. It is a problem, a big problem, that track builders of the future will have to make due allowance for and include in their plans for the accommodation of the public.
