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Here and There on the Turf Mobiles Proposed Meeting General Thatcher a Derby DerbyHorse Horse Only Some Features of His Ga ¬ it was generally thought that when the Jef ferson Parish Fair Association decided on its second meeting it would mean there would Ibe no Mobile meeting But the announce ment has been made that the Business Hens Racing Association of the Alabama city will conduct a ten days meeting beginning March 20 This will give an opportunity to have the meeting before the opening of the Mary ¬ land spring season at Bowie and will break the jump for some of the stables that will move up the eastern eeaboard The Lexing ¬ ton meeting does not begin until April 28 BO the TMobile racing should be welcome to some of the small stables that will move into Kentucky from New Orleans The racing at Mobile last year was entirely successful and while it is only a Halfmile track there were some fairly good horses attracted and at all times they had horses enough to fill the programs With an opening March 20 it gives the New Orleans turfmen Sunday and Monday to move their horses for the Jefferson Park meeting is to close Saturday March 17 Of course racing until March 30 will give scant time to make Bowie in time for the opening but it is possible that Mobile will attract horses enough to its proposed meeting to make it successful It would appear that Preston Burch con ¬ templates passing up the Preakness Stakes in favor of the Kentucky Derby with George j i Wingfields good colt General Thatcher This race will doubtless be the one for the reason i that a request has been made for the reserva ¬ tion of eighteen stalls at the Lexington track Burch has wintered the horses of the Nevada Stock Farm at Benning where he has been making ready for the 1923 campaign and the fact that the strung will be sent to Lexing ¬ ton forces the conviction that the early cam ¬ paign will be in Kentucky KentuckyIf If it was intended to start this handsome brown son of Sweep and Polistena in the Preakness Stakes the natural procedure would be to keep the horses in the East until after that race There would be earlier opportunity for the stable and with ths Preakness Stakes run May 12 and the Kentucky Derby run May 19 it is easily possible to fill both engage ¬ ments But it is not at all likely that a colt would be shipped to Kentucky from Benning and then bs brought back for the Preakness Stakes StakesGeneral General Thatcher is an immense thorough ¬ bred and his eke prevented his being raced often last year as he probably otherwise would have bcrm Preston Burch had him to the races early enough when he started at Ja ¬ maica on the opening day May 3 On that occasion he finished third to Whirlwind and Blanc Seing He next raced in the Walden Stakes at a mile at Pimlico and carrying 112 j 1 pounds raced Montford Jones good filly Oui Oui to a head while back of him were Solisa Bright Tomorrow Vigil How Fair Cyclops Untidy My Own and Comixa ComixaBurch Burch continued to race the big son of Sweep right through the Bowie meeting and in three races at the Southern Maryland track lie won two and was second in the other In his ifirst he simply cantered home to beat such good ones as August Belmonts Osprey and Walter J Salmons Vigil His next race was at six and a half furlongs and taking up 126 pounds and conceding weight to every other starter he turned the tables on Oui Oui by beating her easily His last start of the year was in a imile dash in which he nvas beaten by Harry Payne Whit ¬ neys Fly by Day It seemed an that race that Keogh waited a bit too long for the colt was catching Fly by Day at the end In that race he gave weight to all the starters and Vigil was one to finish back of him himAltogether Altogether General Thatcher considering the fact that he was such a growthy colt last year raced in a manner to suggest that he is of Derby caliber caliberReports Reports from Benning on his progress through the winter have been flattering indeed and the determination of Burch to be in Ken ¬ tucky early makes it appear that Lhe will have the big fellow right on edge for the 50000 mile and a quarter race at Churchill Downs May 19 The colt seems to inherit the Sweep speed while his dam Polistena a daughter of 1 Pclymelus gives him every lineage reason to go on for the distances he will be called upon to race this year Burch all along has in ¬ sisted that General Thatcher is strictly a high class colt and the way he was racing in the late fall suggested that he was eminently cor ¬ rect in his estimate While the stable plans have not been made public beyond the fact that an early start will be made in Ken ¬ tucky it is expected that after the running of the Derby General Thatcher and the others will be shipped to New York to fill their eastern engagements engagementsIn In his second race which was at Aqueduct i General Thatcher was a close second to as j r fast a colt as Cyclops and among others that finished back of him was Zev He was tried jin both the Great American Stakes and the Tremont Stakes in both of which Tie failed and rthen Burch laid iim aside from July 1 until the Laurel meeting in October He had con ¬ tinued to grow and the rest did no end of good for his first out at Laurel saw him a i winner from good ones over the five and a half furlongs distance distanceThis This was followed by a victory at three quarters and some of those back of him were Comixa Scribble Pennon and Picketer General Thatcher was next started in the Pimlico Futurity being placed in that half that went to Edward R Bradleys good filly Blossom Time In that he raced prominently for seveneighths but evidently was not up to a full mile in such company
