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Mere and There on the Turf English and American Winning- Horses. Royal Lancer and Pillory Leaders. Handicap Horses for 1923. The Futurings to Be Lengthened. With the flat racing season in England con- eluded, it is possible to draw some interesting comparisons between racing there and in our own country. The leading English money winner was the three-year-old Royal Lancer with a total of 2,610, against our three-year-old Pillory with earnings of 5,654. In England there were nineteen horses which won in excess of 0,000. In North America the first nineteen won in excess of 6,000, the nineteenth on the list, Snob II., having won just 7,000. The three leaders in England Royal Lancer, Golden Myth and the Derby winner Captain Cuttle won more than 0,-000 each. The three American leaders also won in excess of 0,000. They were Pillory, 5,654; Sallys Alley, 4,847, and Exterminator, 1,075. Of the ninetesn English horses that won in excess of 0,000 each there were four two-year-olds, eleven three-year-olds, three four-year-olds and one five-year-old. In America, while the two-year-old Sallys Alley was second on the list, the first nineteen show six two-year-olds, eight three-year-olds, one four-year-old, two five-year-olds, one six-year-old and one seven-year-old. One marked difference in the two is that in the English list the first two-year-old finished fifth. This was Town Guard with a total of 5,080. Those to finish in front of him were the three-year-olds Royal Lancer, Captain Cuttle, Pogrom and St. Louis, and the four-year-old Golden Myth. The English two-year-old that figured in the first nineteen are Town Guard, Drake, Cos and Pharos. The three-year-olds are Royal Lancer, Captain Cuttle, Pogrom, St. Louis, Silver Urn, Selene, Lady Juror, Spike Island, Soubriquet, Express Delivery and Captain Fra-casse. The four-year-olds were Golden Myth, Double Hackle and Tetrabbazia, while the lone five-year-old was Devizes. In the corresponding nineteen American thoroughbreds that finished at the top the two-year-olds were Sallys Alley, Dunlin, Blossom Time, Donges, Oui Oui and Enchantment. The three-year-olds were Pillory, Morvich, Whiskaway, Rockminister, Oceanic, Lucky Hour, Kai-Sang and Snob II. The only four-year-old was Firebrand. The two five-year-olds were Captain Alcock and Dr. Clark. Mad Hatter was the six-year-old that ; won his way into the list and Exterminator was the seven-year-old. British racing was hard hit by the world 1 war and the turf has not yet entirely recovered from that blow, but the values of the i long-established races are being restored and the figures tell of the coming back of the turf there to all its former glory. "While we s were hard hit by the war, it did not begin i to compare in effects with the devastation i in England, and there has been a quicker re- ; ; i : ; ; i 1 i s i i covery. The increase in the prize money on this side of the Atlantic has been enormous in recent years until now there are better opportunities over the American tracks, when measured by dollars, than in any country where horses are raced. With the exception of the four-year-old Golden Myth, the three-year-old dominated the top positions for the English racing season and it is well that we led off with a three-year-old in Richard T. Wilsons Pillory. Sallys Alley took a proud place with her two rich Futuritys and then old Exterminator, from the same stable, prevented another three-year-old in Morvich from being third on the list. Then there come the three-year-olds Morvich and Whiskaway before the next two-year-old, Dunlin, is reached. Altogether the different age divisions that shared in the big money division in American racing is an excellent sign of the times, and demonstrates that the American thoroughbred will stand up and endure through more than one racing season. Looking through the three-year-olds of 1922 it would seem that the handicap division of 1923, when all these are four-year-olds, is to be enriched more than is usual, just as the promise for wonderful three-year-old racing is also bright. Among those that can hardly fail to be high in the handicap division are such horses as Kai-Sang, Whiskaway, Oceanic, Lucky Hour, Bunting, Rockminister, Pillory, Hepsaistos, Snob H., if he can be brought back, Athelstan, Nedna, Hea, Horologe, tion, Little Chief, Fair Phantom, All Over, Firm Friend, Surf Rider, Rocket, Brainstorm, Chatterton and several others, which all had a try for the top of the three-year-old division this year. As for the older ones, there is every reason to expect that Eugene Wayland will bring Exterminator back. He has earned more money this year as a seven-year-old than l,he did in any other one year and made a rec-! ord for that age. He has legs of iron and there is no reason for his not racing on. Mad j Hatter will almost surely be in training again, I It is probable that both Grey Lag and Cirrus will be brought back by Hildrcth. Altogether the handicap division at this time looms up as a particularly strong one for 1923. For the race of 1925 the Futurity will be stretched out to seven-eighths and it will have an added money value of 0,000. The Futurity was first run over the full three-quarters distance in 18SS. It continued at that distance until 1892, when it was reduced to 1,263 yards and one foot, making it just 170 feet short of three-quarters. It was continued at that distance until 1902, when it wands restored to the full three-quarts: . the distance over v. Inch it has been run contiouously since that time. To increase it to seven eighths is a step in the right direction sr.d makes it a much more severe test for the two-year-olds. Coming as it does in September, the Futurity almost invariably attracts a big field of starters and, while the Belmont Park course is wide enough to take care of almost any field that may be sent to the post, the additional eighth will afford the best horse a better chance to make up any ground he may have lost by misfortune at the start.
