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Here and There on the Turf Maryland Spring Meetings Meetingsat at Hand English Owners Coming Over Overto to Bace Interest in Preakness Stakes StakesEntries Entries In Baltimore there is lively preparation for the opening of the new racing season For days the Maryland city has been filling up with the folks who like racing and have been only having a longdistance acquaintance with the thoroughbreds recently so are cor ¬ respondingly eager for the real thing white many others are coming in from the winter racing points pointsIt It is the opening of the racing year for them all for it is Bowie and its racing Mon ¬ day that really launches the eastern turf season There will be no lack of both pa ¬ trons and horses for this opening and with the promise of good weather it is expected that the Southern Maryland Association will set a record for attendance attendanceThere There have been many changes and im ¬ provements since last year The track is bet ¬ ter than ever before and the money to be won of much greater importance All of these foretell of just what may be expected at the other meetings that are to follow There is to be an invasion of the American turf by English sportsmen this year that prom ¬ ises to be of some consequence This inva ¬ sion will be confined principally to steeple chasing though it is possible that flat runners will also be brought over while undoubtedly there will be jumpers imported that will be well able to try for such purses themselves At this time Major Frank White William A Read and Rundlc Brendon arc three English turf ¬ men who will have a try for our purses and will induce others to come over with their It is intended by Major White and Mr Read to race some twenty horses through the field and this will give a tremendous impetus to that spectacular branch of the sport Already one consignment of these English horsss has reached this pountry and is at Belmont Park while Mr Read has gone back to England to bring others over overThe The victory of Stephen Sanfords Sergeant Murphy in the Liverpool Grand National Steephchase came at a most opportune tune The success of an American in this great race for the first time in its long Lfctory has added to the interest in jumping racing While the Kentucky Derby has been much in the turf limelight ever since the closing of the entries there is another big threeyear old race of like value that will be closed for entries April 10 This is the Preakncss Stakes which is to be decided at Pimlico May 12 The principal differences between these two big races is that the Kentucky Derby is a mile and a quarter dash to which geldings as well as colts and fillies are eligible while the Preakness Stakes is at a mile and an eighth from which geldings are excluded excludedIn In addition to the Preakness Stakes the Maryland Jockey Club will also close ten other stakes at the same timer These are all races that will be decided over the Baltimore course at the meeting which is to begin May 1 and continue until May 12 12Already Already the entries have been exceedingly heavy for each of these offerings and the Mary ¬ land Jockey Club never had a brighter prom ¬ ise for its spring meeting meetingThe The Preakness Stakes is almost sure to af ¬ ford a good line on the Kentucky Derby for many of the threeyearolds of good class have been named for each The happy ar ¬ rangements of the dates gives a trainer every opportunity to go after each race and the fact that the Preakness Stakes is a mile and an eighth and the Kentucky Derby at a mile and a quarter makes the former an ideal companion piece to the Churchill Downs race Sir Barton is the only colt with a record of victory in each and it will not be surprising if his feat of 1919 is duplicated What lends a tremendous interest to each race is the fact that no one of the twoyearolds of last year stood out over its fellows sufficiently to be crowned the years champion There were many that might have earned the crown in other years but it was a good crop that raced in 1922 and it will take hard racing this year to see just which ones survive It is al ¬ together too early to venture a prediction in each race and that is just the reason for the interest that exists What with assurances of more racing in Canada than was hoped for a few weeks back and the opening up of various new fields for the thoroughbred 1923 promises to be a busy year for the horses As the various circuits are formed new horses of ever class will have no end of opportunities to make a profitable living for the owners The growth of the sport has in every instance been healthy and will be farreaching in its benefits to all thor ¬ oughbred interests
