view raw text
, Here and There on the Turf The Dictators Surprising Race. The victory of A. K. Macombers The Dictator in the Columbus Day High-weight Handicap at Jamaica Thursday was just another example of those, uncertainties of racing that are what makes the sport delightful and at the same time quite annoying to some. It also teaches the old lesson of how weight will bring them all together. Of course, the race was a disappointing one when Slciveconard wheeled with Fairbrother right after the start and was left. It was no fault of the starter, but just a crazy move br inc colt that entirely eliminated him from the contest. On what he had been showing, both in public and in private, there is good reason to believe that when he was eliminated the best horse at the weights and distance did not oppose The Dictator, But The Dictator still tdbk the measure of such good ones as Lanius and Cirrus. That is where the weight took its toll, for Lanius was carrying 130 pounds and Cirrus had 138 pounds on his back, while The Dictator was in under the feather of 105 pounds. There did not appear any good reason for asking him to carry more in such company, for after having been sent to the races on June 24 for the first time he was started eleven times before he won a race for maidens. That was accomplished on September 27 and then he came back with a defeat, so that his success in the Columbus Day Handicap was his second victory in his racing career. It may be now that The Dictator has found his way into the winners circle twice that he may go on and become a useful racer, but it must always be borne in mind that he had a tremendous pull in the weights when he beat the two good ones that finished back of him. Earlier in the year it would have been laughable to attempt to adjust weights that would enable The Dictator to beat Lanius and Cirrus, even though three-quarters is not Cirrus best distance. But better horses have been beaten by worse ones than Hie Dictator by allotment of the weights. It brings them all together. Exterminator has tasted defeat when weight had been piled on, and never was there a more consistent performer. Sailor Boy took the measure of Broomstick and Race King ran a dead heat with the mighty Sysonby. These are only a few of the instances, and from time to time there will be just such surprises in racing.