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Here and There on the Turf Maryland s 1923 Racing RacingDates Dates Same Number of Racing RacingDays Days as Last Year ThreeYearOlds in Great GreatStake Stake Races The 1923 racing dates for Maryland have been announced by the Racing Commission of that state and they show there will be ninetytwo days of racing during the year This makes an equal division of the time be ¬ tween the four big tracks each receiving twentythree days daysSo So far as the actual racing time is con ¬ cerned it is the same as last year and in the allotment of the dates the commission has also made an equal division of the Saturdays days that count so much in a racing sched ¬ ule Each association is awarded four Satur ¬ days two each in the spring and fall for Havre de Grace Bowie and Pimlico with Laurel as usual racing through October and having the same number of these holidays holidaysFrom From the Bowie beginning April 2 the racing is continuous until May 12 the last day at Pimlico when the Preakness Stakes will be decided In the fall there came sev ¬ eral off days daysThe The fall season will open at Havre de Grace September 19 and continue until Sep tembcr 29 Monday October 1 is an off day Laurel opening October 2 Then from October 27 the closing day at Laurel there is a lapse of three days Monday Tuesday and Wednesday before the opening at Pim ¬ lico on November 1 1The The Pimlico meeting continues until No ¬ vember 14 and with Bowie not opening until Saturday November 17 it makes Thursday and Friday of that week off days In all there are six days during the fall racing season on which there will be no racing racingWhile While the racing covers the same nrmber of days as in 1922 the change that has b3en made will make a difference to the Marlboro racing Last year there was a lapse of five days between the closing of Piiulico and the opening of Bowie This time was taken up by a fiveday meeting at Marlboro They were open dates Under the 1923 schedule Marl ¬ boro will not be able to enjoy the same open time for a meeting This change became necessary in order that there ould be an equal division of the Saturdays The fact that Marlboro enjoyed open dates between two of the big Maryland meetings last fall resulted in the most successful meeting ever enjoyed at that excellent halfmile racing ground groundStables Stables that otherwise would have shipped away remained for the Bowie meeting that was to follow and horses were sent over to Marlboro to be kept busy This lent new im ¬ portance to the meeting and the hope was ex ¬ pressed by many at that time that dates would in the future be arranged to permit of Marlboro having the same open time each year yearWith With the closing of the nominations to the Kentucky Derby to be run at Churchill Downs May 19 there comes a new interest in the threeyearold prospects for this year The Preakness Stakes which is the companion S50000 race to be decided at Pimlico May 12 does not close until March 10 but since no nomination fee is demanded by the Maryland Jockey Club it is safe to assume that its entry list will carry the names of every thresyear old of promise and of many with little chance chanceEach Each year there is much speculation as to the relative merits of the new crop of three yearolds but it must always be a specula ¬ tion that is based on twoyearold racing The real Derby colts and fillies are not raced at the winter meetings meetingsAt At this time last year Morvich by reason of his unbeaten string of victories as a two yearold was the mosttalkedof Derby and Preakness eligible and there was no end of interest in the question of which race he would start in for they were both decided on the same date and he was an eligible for each eachMore More than one of the trainers who had eligibles in each race did not care to make a choice until it was known just where the son of Runnymede was to be started startedThe The Derby was chosen for Morvich and he was the winner The Derby was the only race won by Morvich the unbeaten twoyearold twoyearoldThere There have been other years when the out ¬ standing twoyearold of the year before failed utterly as a threeyearold just as there have been years where the twoyearold considered nothing more than ordinary became a three yearold of championship class classBut But this year is different No amount of figuring will give any individual twoyearold of 1922 a lead over its competitors to make it stand out by itself in a consideration of threeyearold possibilities possibilitiesIt It was hardly what could bs called a bad year for the young racers That is frequently the answer when it is impossible to find a champion and the youngsters beat each other with some regularity There were many two yearolds of unquestioned speed and stamina but not one of them finished out the year with a sufficient had over the others to be crowned king or queen of the year yearThat That is reason enough to predict more con ¬ tention in both the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby ihan has been usual There are maidens that have shown enough to war ¬ rant being tried for both of these races and there are perhaps a score of the winners of 1922 that are close enough together on public performances to be entitled to a try over the mile and a quarter or the mile and an eighth distances of the two races racesThe The mile races of last fall demonstrated that there will be no lack of threeyearolds well fitted to race the distances required this year i That is a test calculated to give a firstrate index and many a one that is being pointed for both the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby answered it adequately adequatelyThere There were others which had raced their way into something approaching prominence that failed in these mile races in a manner to pronounce them probably but not conclusively nothing but sprinters sprintersBut But the running of the two divisions of the Pimlico Futurity the Walden Handicap Ken tucky Jockey Club Stakes Manor Handicap at Laurel and some mile purse races for two yearolds also showed that there were many of the good ones that would race all the way over such a route routeThen Then there were some others that had gone into retirement before the fall that earlier in the year had shown a measure of speed that put them right up in the top division One of these was Goshawk son of Whisk Broom II and Dovelet by Peter Pan This colt was sold to Gifford A Cochran for a big price and he was sent into retirement without having won a race for his purchaser His nearest ap ¬ proach to a victory for Mr Cochran was when he was a good second to Dunlin in the Hopeful Stakes He raced for Mr Cochran in the Fu turtiy at Belmont Park and after one other subsequent race he was retired This same Goshawk was a winner when first time out under the Whitney silks and in his next race won the Great American Stakes He also won the Saratoga Special for his breeder and it was that form that induced Mr Cochran to make the purchase Goshawk proved himself a highclass colt and he is one that may come back to beat the best of the threeyearolds But the hand ¬ some black was not started in any of the mile races late in the year and as far as public performance is concerned there was nothing in his races to suggest that he had the stamina to carry him over a considerable distance That is a question that will be answered this year yearMcKee McKee is another that is not often men ¬ tioned when the threeyearold possibilities are under discussion This colt won his first race but it was his only victory in seven times at the post McKee is a son of UKimus and Ballymena by Adam AdamHe He was brought to the races by John E Madden his breeder and sold to Charles A Stoneham for a big price A colt of immense size he could not be trained as one less gross could have been For that reason his real form is still more or less problematical A J Golds borough who makes few mistakes considers McKee a possible champion and will stake his reputation on the prediction that his three yearold form will eclipse his showing as a twoyearold twoyearoldThere There are many others in just the same po ¬ sition as Goshawk and McKee when it comes to an analysis of twoyearold form
