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- i . Here and There on the Turf Possible New Western Racing Situation. , Sallys Alley and Martingale. Walden Stakes Suggestions. How Fairs Obvious Chance. There was a time not far from the beginning ! of the present century when racing in the ; central West and South flourished in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, with meetings of prime importance ! conducted at St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, Cincinnati, Latonia, Louisville, Lexington, Newport, Memphis, Nashville, Hot Springs and Little Rock. Hostile influences of one sort and another made such inroads into this condition of turf affairs that in recent years it was left to Kentucky alone to carry on and adequately buttress this sport against any and all assaults. Kentucky did its work well and wisely. So far as the formerly far-flung central western field was concerned, Kentucky has enjoyed a monopoly and a profitable monopoly. Its meetings over its tracks have distributed , enormous aggregates of money for the support and maintainnce of the interests dependent upon racing, have turned in useful taxes to the state and to municipalities and have provided sufficient dividends. Its service . to the broader interest of the turf has been invaluable. In the possible arrival of a t different condition of affairs in western racing, the vast service of Kentucky must be kept ; in grateful consideration. That there is a possible resumption of racing in Illinois and Missouri is potent. It is , more than possible in Illinois. It is probable. In the event of racing being restored to such t great centers of population as Chicago and St. Louis, it is obvious consideration of a division j of racing dates must come up to test the ; wisdom and fair-mindedness of the controllers of the sport. It is not a matter about which j there should be any clashing or any engender-ment of ill will. Rather, it is a thing to be recognized as impending and to be disposed of in an amicable display of turf statemanship in its adjustment to the needs of a situation that may come about in 1923. It should be attended to in ample time to produce a thorough understanding and agreement by or soon after the advent of the near-by new year. Sallys Alley still has the Walden Stakes s left in which to clinch her title as queen of the e two-year-olds. There was plenty of excuse e for the slight setback she received when she e was defeated by Martingale in the running of if the Pimlico Futurity Cup Tuesday. In the c first place the daughter of Allumeur and Sal-volatile I- was matched against probably the e best soft track two-year-old of the year when n she met Martingab, while it was known that it she was not a free strider in such going. There e was some surprise when she was sent to the e post, regardless of the existing track conditions, i- but had she not been started the race e would not have been possible and Mr. Kilmer did the sporting thing to race her. Incident- t- , ! ; ! , . t ; , t j ; j s e e e of if c I- e n it e e i- e t- ally, of course, the trophy was greatly coveted. He has a trophy room pretty well filled up now by the various cups that have come the way of Exterminator and he wanted another commemorative of the prowess of his great filly. It is not likely that the race has done Sallys Alley any harm, for when she was thoroughly beaten Johnson wisely eased her up in the 1 stretch. There is no desire in this to take : 2 3 anything away from the victory of Martin- j 4 gale. He ran a high-class race, like the high- Z 6 class colt he has proved himself to be, but he 7 was soundly beaten in the running of the Pimlico Futurity under the same weights and over the same distance by Sallys Alley, and his turning the tables on the filly on election ; day can be charged to the changed track conditions. He long since showed his superior i ability in running through soft going. For the Walden Stakes Handicap, to be run on the last day of the Pimlico meeting, Saturday, Sallys Alley is asked to take up 123 pounds, while Martingale is. under 11S. That was the estimate of Frank J. Bryan, the handicappcr of these two and those weights were announced before Sallys Alley had beaten the son of Martinet in the Pimlico Futurity. This is a wide difference in favor of the colt. In the Pimlico Futurity brcsding allowance brought the weight on Sallys Alley down to 11G pounds, while the Cosdcn colt took up the scale weight for his when he carried 122 pounds. Thus, it will be seen that with Martingale having four pounds off and Sallys Alley seven pounds more than she carried last Saturday and again Tuesday, there is altogether an eleven-pound advantage for the Cos-den candidate. If the track should again be muddy for that race, it is probable that he would win more easily than he did the Pimlico Futurity Cup as far as Sallys Alley is concerned, but it is not at all likely that Sallys Alley would be started against such a proved mud runner with that difference in weight should the track be heavy. With the track in the same condition it was last Saturday, it would not seem that Sallys Alley has been too harshly treated with 123 pounds as her burden. Of course, there are several others in the Walden Stakes that may argue the result with both Sallys Alley and Martingale. There is Dunlin, the stablematc to Martingale and a colt that had some bad luck in the first divi-i sion of the Pimlico Futurity. He. is rated in the handicap as a better horse than Mar-. tingale and, in fact, he is at the top of the list with 12G pounds as his burden. He started in the division of the big 0,000 race that was won by Edward R. Bradleys Blossom Time and accordingly there was no chance to obtain a line on his chances against Sallys Alley. But he was so unfortunate in the half in which he ran that the race must be thrown out in considering his chance for a Walden Stakes victory. Zev, Bud Lerner and Car-s toonist, that follow him in the handicap, may all be passed by for various reasons and then, skipping over Sallys Alley, there comes Blue-mont. This Quincy Stable candidate is han-j dicapped at 120 pounds and he was one that did not have much of a chance in the Pimlico Futurity half in which he started against Blos-som Time. He carried 122 pounds, drew an outside post position and was forced to race wide all the way. With better racing luck, he surely would have shown to much greater advantage and he has shown Fitzsimmons that he can stay all the way. In fact, this colt has so impressed good judges that several offers have been made for him. Whether Little Celt will be brought to the post for the Walden Stakes is still extremely doubtful, but, if he was fit and read-, he would seem to have a wonderful chance for victor. Like the others named, he did not run in the Sallys Alley division, but he was the hero of the race that went to Blossom Time in the opinion of many who watched that contest. The son of Celt and Little Flower is in the Walden Stakes under 118 pounds against the 122 he carried in the 0,-TjOOO race and his was a capital race, when he came from last place to finish a close third to Blossom Time and Donges. In that race, after being away badly, he was so securely pocketed most of the way that he had no chance to make use of the electric speed he has shown in other races. That he is capable of staying all the way was demonstrated by the manner in which he was running at the end of the race. But his leg injury may keep him away from the post. Another that is in the Walden Stakes exceedingly well is August Belmonts How Fair. She has only to shoulder 110 pounds against the 119 she took up in the Pimlico Futurity, i And this filly was just as unfortunate as Little Celt in the same race. She began from the extreme outside of the field of eleven and Sande took her to the rail while going to the first turn. She was last through the back-stretch and then, after racing around horses on the stretch turn, finished a close fourth and was only beaten two lengths and a head for first money. Hers was a wonderful performance and she must be given serious consideration in the Walden Stakes. Harry Payne Whitneys Rialto, that closed such a big gap to finish fourth to Sallys Alley, is another that is sure to have a big following. Like so many of the Whitney two-year-olds this year, this colt has exceedingly bad post manners and his inability to leave the post fast has always been a severe handicap. But the chances are that the Walden Stakes will bring together another big field, in which this sluggishness at the start will be a much more serious bar than in a smaller field. Robert L. Gerrys Cyclops for a time in his Futurity race was going great guns, but he was on the outside and, just when it seemed that he would catch Blossom Time, he cracked. He would have to improve over that performance to be rated as having a serious chance in the Walden Stakes. Despite the line that was afforded by tha double running of the Pimlico Futurity, there is every chance for another great contest. The weight arrangement is so altogether different and there is no denying that some of the runners in both ends of last Saturdays big race did not have an altogether fair racing chance. It is devoutly to be hoped that th" weather and track conditions for the running of the Walden Stakes will be such as to make it fair for all. And, after it is all over, it would be a big thing if the gelding Enchantment, winner of ths Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs for Mr. Whitney, could meet the winner of the Walden Stakes and the winners of the Pimlico Futuritys. In that mile at Churchill Downs, with his weight up and leav-the post sluggishly, Enchantment raced the mile in l:38iand to win easily. Of course, a meeting between Enchantment and these others cannot be accomplished, but probably Enchantment is the best two-year-old of the year. He is another with such post manners that he has lost races that he should have won, but he has a world of speed and is well able to maintain it over a long distance of ground. The fact of his being unsexed made his racing opportunities limited and will also bar him from many of the big thrca-year-old fixtures. But as a racer he is a particularly brilliant prospect. He will undoubtedly make his mark in the handicaps next year, for it is there that he will find his best opportunity with the bars up against him in so many early closing three-year-old stakes. All of which does not say that he may not win the Kentucky Derby.
