view raw text
ej " h Here and There on the Turf I a Long Winter Meetings Near. b Importance of Macomber c Sale. Early Birds After Kentucky b Derby Boxes. e With only three more days of racing in Mary- a s land, attention is being turned to Tijauna, New Orleans and Havana, all three of which will begin long winter meetings on Thanksgiving Day. At each of these racing points the horses are already on hand and ready for the call to the post and at each the average class of j the horses is better than last winter. The closing of Bowie will mark the end of probably i the most successful fall season of racing ever enjoyed in Maryland and the conclusion of a i truly remarkable meeting at the course of i the Southern Maryland Agricultural Associa- tion. For a time the innovation of offering i valuable stake races there was questioned, i There was a fear that, possibly, the horses that would be entered would not be of the quality sought. But such has not been the case. Some i of the best of our three-year-olds and two-year- olds were continued in training for the meet- - : ing and have placed Bowie on an altogether i new plane. With such horses as Lucky Hour, : Rockminister, Hephaistos, Captain Alcock, Paul I Jones, Fair Phantom, Crocus, Prudery, Bunga i : Buck, Bon Homme, On Watch, Surf Rider, i Dry Moon and the two-year-olds Oui Oui, General Thatcher, Osprey, Amusement, "Vigil and I the like to furnish entertainment the racing ; has been of a midseason variety and the success - of the stake races will doubtless result t " in their continuance at future meetings. Marshall Cassidy has made good brilliantly 7 in his starting at Bowie. Young Cassidy had 1 some experience sending the horses away at t Juarez some years ago and his long service s on the staff of his father, Mars Cassidy, has s fitted him excellently for the most trying office. - With a thorough knowledge of the vagaries - of almost every horse in training, a a quick eye and unerring judgment he has all 1 the qualifications that go to make an expert starter. An evidence of how quickly Marshall H Cassidy can avail himself of an opportunity was furnished in the start of the Endurance e Handicap at Bowie Saturday. He had eleven a starters in the field and it was a troublesome e one. Carol had been repeatedly breaking g through the barrier and no end of trouble was s had making him line up with the others. Then n in one of his lunges at the barrier the others a began with him and, when Cassidy saw all were e in motion, he sent them away, although Carol had broken the webbing before it was released. 1. It was about as good a start as could be expected with such a field and it was the quick k eye of the young starter that made it possible. Cassidys work has been attracting much attention and it is probable that Mars Cassidy is about to lose a valuable member of his staff and racing is to see a new starter Cassidy. The auction sale of the A. K. Macomber mares, to be conducted at Durlands the night of Fr:!ay, December 15, is prospectively ooo cf the most important thoroughbred sales in ej h I a b c b e a s j i i i i i i - : i : I i : i I ; - t " 7 1 t s s - - a a 1 H e a e g s n a e 1. k many years. There will be a i-are opportunity for breeders to enrich tneir bloodstock wi.h some of the best of foiagn strains and it should not fail to prove beneficial in the breed- ing affaris of this country. The late Marcus Daly did an immense thing for the American thoroughbred when he brought over a remark- able collection of foreign-bred mares. Some of thesa found their way to the Castleton Stud of the late James R. Kerjie and their mating with Himyar line stallions produced r some of the best horses ever raced in this !i country. The influence of these mares on ,j the breed is still potent and it would have h v been well if there had been more like importa- s tions. From time to time mares have been 1 brought over and Willis Sharpe Kilmer has s made some important additions to his marcs 1" at Sunbriar Court. Other breeders have also . c brought over good ones, but in almost every Y instance they were for this or that breeding establishment and not for the market. They f 1 have accomplished much, but not as much as t may be expected from an importation for the market, where there is assured a wider distribu- t c tion of the mares to be sold. The sale is already attracting a deal of attention among breeders and it should be a tremendously sue- i cessful auction. One of the latest recruits to the ranks of J breeders is A. V. Thomas, who contemplates t establishing a stud farm near the City of Louisville. 1 The land has already been purchased and Mr. Thomas is now looking around for 1 a some more mares and a suitable stallion for i his venture. . Some idea is furnished of just what the Kentucky Derby means to racing when it is known that at this time in November reserva- ; tions are being made for grandstand boxes at Churchill Downs for the 1923 racing. In the meantime, much work is planned at Churchill ; Downs by the Kentucky Jockey Club and already the work of remodelling the clubhouse 1 , is going forward. Colonel Matt Winn is a genius in track management and the instant success he made at Empire City when it was reopened some years back and what he accomplished . at Laurel gave the turfmen in the ! ; East a sample of his ability. In Kentucky he has a wider scope for his talents and Churchill Downs, Latonia and Lexington are all testi- monials to his skill in catering to the comfort of both the patrons of racing and the horse-, men. Various stakes of the Saratoga Association 1 for 1923 and 1924 were closed Monday. They 1 are the United States Hotel Stakes, Grand Union Hotel Stakes, Spinaway and Hopeful I , Stakes, Grab Bag Handicap, Consolation and Saratoga Sales Stakes, all to be run in 1923; . also the Travers and Alabama Stakes of 1924. "While it will be some days before all the- returns are in and counted, it is already assured I that the response has been a liberal one for r each of these offerings. The Hopeful Stakes s of 1923 has a guaranteed value of 0,000. Field Marshal Earl French, ever a stanch I friend of racing, has recently expressed some e views on the American turf well worth re- membering. In part Earl French said: "The influence which racing exercises upon the breed i of horses is proved by the character of Ameri-t can sport throughout recent years. As more e and more thoroughbred stock has been intro-y 1- duced into the country the sport of racing has s become much more general everywhere and is now practically a great national pastime, The breed of horses is thus improved and we e see hunting on the English pattern existing in most parts of the country where the class of ,f horse used shows power and quality. The e marked success of Americans in the field of II international polo is largely due to their rail t. perior mounts, which again can be directly traced to the maintenance of thoroughbred stock and the greater interest taken in the sport of racing."
