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Here and There on the Turf General Interest in Hawthorne. Rain Would Help the Going. Essentials of the Race Horse. English Crack Racer at Laurel. A striking fact in connection with the racing at Hawthorne is not so much the size of the crowds, large as they have been, but the new faces seen there each succeeding day. It has been in good part a different crowd every day. This indicates that the racing is attracting general attention and the attendance is not confined to the "regulars." It augurs well for the future. If judge Murphy or some other official of the Illinois Jockey Club has any influence with the "weather man," it might be well to suggest a good heavy shower between sunset and sunrise one of these fine evenings. It would not interfere in any way with the bumper crowds that are journeying to Hawthorne daily, but it certainly would help to improve track conditions. Because of the many years the track was allowed to remain idle it was neces-1 sary in preparation for this meeting to plow it up, as it was hard as a rock. This was done and, considering the short time available, Johnson Southard and his corps of workers accomplished wonders. No rain has fallen since the course was completed and as a result the races are run in clouds of dust which will not yield readily to mere sprinkling. Aside from this no complaint has been heard, the sport-loving Chicagoans benig content to do their share in reviving racing here by taking things as they find them, knowing full well that once the sport is re-established on a firm basis the usual accommodations and conveniences found on all the large tracks of the country will be given due consideration by those in charge. Many years ago in England, when the famous turfman Lord George Bentinck was asked what he considered the first requisite of a race horse, he answered "Speed." Asked what was the second requisite, his answer was, "More speed." It has been offered as the definition of what was most to be desired by other owners before him. It is right, particularly the second requisite. The second suggests maintained effort. That is what makes a horse a great horse. Mere speed is of no great avail unless it is maintained speed. This is brought home in a study of the horses that hold speed records. The names of many turf champions do not appear as the makers of time records. There is a notable exception in the case of Man o War, the wonder horse, but it was not necessary for him to break records to reach his greatness. He broke records because it was the desire of Samuel D. Riddle, his owner, that he do so, and Man o War had a fashion of doing what was asked of him. It is usual that the truly great horse wins his races in an eighth of amazing speed, no matter what distances he is called on to race over. It is i for that reason that champion after champion does not have to hang up speed records to win his honors. Of course, returning to the Bentinck definition of the good horse, he must have that speed to use at some stage of the race. When he has his opponent beaten there is no reason for going on to greater speed. Colin, the unbeaten, does not appear among the American record holders and he had high-class horses to beat during his brilliant career. He simply ran away from them in most instances and was only cantering at the end. Sysonby did not have to break any records, and many another could be found that were the best of their time, but they do not go down in history as record breakers. They won from all comers, over all distances, but record breaking was not necessary and many a horse whose name is inscribed as the maker of this or that record would not have had the ghost of a chance with these champions. Speed is the first essential, but there must be supplementary backing of gameness and stamina to enable a horse to climb to the top of the heap. This is well illustrated when it is remembered that the mile and an eighth of 1:49 is shared by Goaler and Grey Lag. Goaler ran his record-making mile and an eighth under 94 pounds at Belmont Park as a five-year-old. Grey Lag hung out his record as a three-year-old under 123 pounds at Aqueduct. Put the two horses in the same race and under the same weights and Grey Lag would probably beat Goaler with ease in, say, 1:51 or 1:52. In his record-making race Goaler beat La Rablee, Captain Alcock, Dream of the Valley and Bellsolar and was the light-weight of the field. When Grey Lag equaled the mark he gave away from eight to fifteen pounds to everything else in the race and those behind him were Sporting Blood, Copper Demon, Smoke Screen, Idle Dell and Banksia. Goaler, at his best, is a good class selling plater, while Grey Lag was the three-year-old of his year. Speed of a high order the thoroughbred must have, but he must have something with it if he is to become a champion. Some track records have been going by the the board in these fall days of racing and one of the latest was when Frank Bains Georgie raced a mile and seventy yards in 1:41 at Jamaica Tuesday. It was a truly good performance for the son of Star Shoot and Fair Atalanta, but he is of moderate class and those back of him were I Nose Dive, Duncecap and Wynnewood. With a Grey Lag in the race Georgie would have been beaten off, probably in much slower time. By this it is not meant that Georgie is not a useful sort of horse and his race was a truly good one. While Paragon H., the John Sanford importation, was named for most of the handicaps of the New York fall racing season, it is possible now he will not be seen under silks until the running of the Washington Handicap at Laurel. This is the new mile and a quarter race that has 5,000 added, and it is the most important engagement of the son of Radium and Quintessence. It is to be run October 28, the closing day of the Laurel meeting. This good horse has not yet been raced in this country, but his one start abroad before he was purchased by Mr. Sanford was a victory in the famous City and Suburban Handicap at a mile and a quarter under 126 pounds. Holly Hughes has been giving the horse a careful preparation and it would seem that he is now ready to be raced. In the most recent handicap that has been announced by W. S. Vosburgh Paragon n. has been assigned 120 pounds. This is in the mile and a quarter Pierrepont Handicap, to be run at Jamaica Saturday. Under that weight the five-year-old is in receipt of eight pounds from Grey Lag, five from Mad Hatter, two from Cirrus and one from the three-year-old Kai-Sang. He is under equal weights with Bunting, another three-year-old, and he gives away weight to all the others. Whether or not Paragon II. is started before his engagement in the Washington Handicap, his first appearance is eagerly awaited. In private he has been going along in a fashion to suggest that he is truly a high-class horse and that he is ready to run.
