view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Needed in New York Racing More Money for Jumpers Canada Offering Better In ¬ ducements It is small wonder that year after year many of the steeplechase stables are attracted to Canada after the close of the spring meeting at Pimlico The Baltimore track has always made a feature of its jumping races and the liberality of its offerings at all tunes has as ¬ sured plenty of horses and excellent racing But New York has not for several years com ¬ peted successfully with Canada when it came to steeplechasing There has been some recent improvement and there is hope that the of ¬ ferings will be even better this year but it is doubtful if they will even approach what will be offered on the other side of the Great Lakes This department of racing has always been a feature of ths Ontario Jockey Club meeting at Woodbine Park Toronto and W P Frascr secretary and treasurer of that old racing or ¬ ganization has issued a folder announcing the distribution of 21500 in added money stakes for this years seven days spring meeting meetingSteeplechasing Steeplechasing has always had an especial appeal to Canadians and many a good horse and the best riders have performed over the old Woodbine course courseThe The meeting this year will open Saturday May 19 and the Minto Steeplechase an al ¬ lowance race over the twomile course will have 53000 added addedA A steeplechase is carded for each one of the eeven days of racing and it has been promised that there will be additional races through the field if the conditions warrant Two of the races the Woodbine Handicap Steeplechase at two miles and the Aintree Steeplechase also a handicap each have 5000 added the Lion Heart is a 2500 added race raceAltogether Altogether it shows a liberality that will make Woodbine Park a tremendously popular meeting for the owners of jumpers It is a liberality that will make necessary a brushing up of the offerings over the Long Island courses if New York is to have its share of steeplechase patronage patronageIt It is only at Belmont Park and Aqueduct that the steeplechasers have an opportunity in New York until the opening of the Sara ¬ toga meeting in August but it would be pos ¬ sible for these two racing grounds to make their offerings so attractive that the best horses would be kept at home instead of being sent into Canada CanadaNew New York associations have complained that the steeplechase stables have not shown a proper spirit of cooperation They have not taken advantage of the offerings made and such lack of teamwork is the reason for that branch of racing not flourishing as it should The steeplechase stables have answered this with the excuse that the purses are not what they should be As a matter of fact there has been a lack of cooperation and both the associations and the horsemen are to blame At Belmont Park last spring there were thirteen steeplechases in the nineteen days of racing but with the exception of the Charles L Appleton Memorial which was subscribed by horsemen and had a value of 10000 the total money raced for amounted to 15300 Of this amount one race had an added value of 3500 another was of 2000 added there were four of 1200 value and the others were 1000 purses pursesAt At Aqueduct another nineteen days meeting there were but twelve steeplechases and the total amount distributed was 17600 17600At At Saratoga with twentyseven days of rac ¬ ing there were only twelve steeplechases There were a greater number contemplated but several of the races were declared off on ac 1 count of lack of entries from the steeplechase stables For the twelve the money distribution only amounted to 15200 and eight of the races were for 1000 purses pursesJust Just how the horsemen responded is shown by the fact that in three of these steeplechases there were only three starters and with only fiftyseven starting in all twelve it is shown that the average size of the fields was 475 475Blame Blame attaches to both the owners who c campaign the jumpers and to the associations for this condition of affairs affairsIf If New York is going to hold its own in this picturesque style of racing there must be an j improvement in the value of the purses But c on the other hand the owners themselves cannot look for better purses until they are ready to offer better entertainment entertainmentIt It is claimed that there will bs horses enough this year to make steeplechasing immensely important and as it becomes important there may be a bettering of the purses that are offered What is wanted is better overnight purses by the horsemen There are several stake races of suitable value offered both on Long Island and at Saratoga but the over ¬ night purses have not kept pace with what is offered at other steeplechasing tracks The condition at Saratoga last August put plenty of the blame on the owners of the stables themselves Before they shipped to Saratoga they knew what to expect in purses The horses were there and refusing to start them for what was offered was hardly the way to obtain better purses
