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Here and There on the Turf Another Havana Meeting Is IsTurf Turf History Foolish Kentucky Derby DerbyRumor Rumor Set at Rest Another Chance for Jockey JockeyColtiletti Coltiletti With the termination of the long season of racing at Oriental Park Havana another of the winter racing grounds has put up the shutters until next winter The meeting lasted for 101 days and while for a time it did not measure up to the financial expectations of the club there was an increase of interest in the latter half of the long meeting that probably more than offset early disappointments disappointmentsRacing Racing in Cuba has suffered some handicap by reason of the financial condition of the country itself and one year at least the drop in the price of sugar made a vast differ ¬ ence and Cuban racing went through some lean days but American sportsmen and tour ¬ ists carried it along and if the recent pinch ¬ ing policy is changed Cuban racing may go on to better things in the future futureAny Any meeting with lowclass horses that con ¬ tinues for a hundred days in any community can seldom expect the success that comes to a shorter meeting with better horses but with the constantly changing crowds at Havana racing there is peculiarly adapted to long meetings meetingsThe The racing considering the poorclass horses has been excellent right through and while there were no remarkable developments amon the horses or riders was fully up to what was reasonably tp be expected expectedLittle Little Stutts the lad that proved most suc ¬ cessful as a rider seems to be promising but that will be determined after he has ridden against more competent riders than opposed him at Oriental Park Some people concerned recently expressed fear that the Kentucky Derby might be split this spring as the Preakncss Stakes was by the Maryland Juckcy Club at Pimlico in 1918 and the Pimlico Futurity at the same course last year This fear has been dispelled by Colonel Matt J Winn who has declared that there will be but one race for the big prize at Churchill Downs on May 19 It seems prob ¬ able that the field will be large by reason of the way so many prominent candidates are training but every preparation will be made to take care of any field that may go to the post postTo To that end a chute is being constructed that will take care of a field of from thirty five to forty horses The track also has been widened at other points to make the racing of a field of almost any number safe and with an excellent chance for victory from any post position positionThe The recent victory for racing at Mobile should have a beneficial effect on the sport in that Alabama city Judge N R Clark ruled that the oralizcrs were within the law just as he did last year when arrests were made This decision is far reaching in its benefit to the sport if it is sustained by the higher courts and just as long as the Business Mens Racing Association sees to it that any wagering is conducted strictly within the law there is no reason why Mobile racing thould not grow and prosper Judge Clark has made a close and intelli ¬ gent study of the law and finds there have been no violations There must be no vio ¬ lations and that is merely a question of po It has been decided that Frank Coltiletti the jockey has been sufficiently punished It was more than a year ago when Coltiletti was suspended for offenses at New Orleans and a year of idleness is a long punishment for a rider riderThere There are offenses when a life sentence is richly deserved and it is possible that Colti ¬ letti might have been so banished had it not been that James Rowe trainer for Harry Payne Whitneys big stable has agreed to stand responsible for his future conduct Col ¬ tiletti was the victim of bad associates as have been 90 per cent of the jockeys who have come under official displeasure He has probably learned his lesson while on the ground and the fact that James Rowe stands sponsor for his future behavior is an excellent rea ¬ son for the lifting of the suspension
