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Here and There on the Turf Marlboro to Have a Fall Meeting. New Jerseys Prospective Bit of Racing. Snob II. May Redeem Himself This Year. By a revision of the fall racing dates for Maryland Marlboro is again to enjoy open time for its five days meeting. This little half mile racing ground cam; to increased importance last year when its meeting was conducted on similar open dates and the sport that was furnished was worthy of this consideration. In the original date schedule issued by the Maryland Racing Commission there was open time enough to take care of Marlboro, but it was divided up in such a manner that there were no five successive days to be awarded this track. The change makes no extension of the season as originally planned and it came through shifting of other racing time slightly. Under this revision that lets Marlboro in, the Pimlico fall meeting will be conducted from October 31 to November 11. This permits Marlboro to come in from November 13 until the 17th, and Bowie, as usual, will wind up the racing season, taking its allotted number of days. There are few racing grounds of a like size that have the natural beauty of Marlboro and some years back there was an idea of converting it into a mile track. At this time there is no immediate prospect of Marlboro being enlarged, but the present half mile track is well equipped to take care of the racing there. The track is of ample width and the turns are thrown up in a manner that makes it both a safe and fast course. There is one new track that will make a bid for consideration this year in the course at Freehold, N. J., now under control of Joseph L. Donahay and other turfmen. This track has been awarded five days racing time in the last week of August and already ar rangements are being made for that meeting. Although this Freehold track is already equip ped with a grandstand that would be ample for the ordinary half mile meeting, it has been decided to make a new and elaborate one before the coming meeting to fit in with the other plans. Mr. Donahay has already greatly increased the stabling facilities at Freehold and important work that is planned to finish before the meeting is the construction of a steeplechase course. Freehold is on the direct line of automobile travel between New York and Atlantic City and so conveniently ad jacent to many other large centers of popula- j | tion that it should prove a popular playground. It seems now that the New York horse-are not destined to cut much of a figure in the Havre de Grace racing this spring. The long drawn out winter has resulted in many of the horses that were meant for Maryland racing being so backward that they will no* be ready until the Maryland Jockey Club opens its meeting at Pimlico. The New York train ers made liberal nominations to the Havre de j | I Grace stakes in the hope that their charges would be ready, so that in the event that they ! come to hand more rapidly than now appears j possible, they will not lack for engagements. In this connection Lexington enjoys an ad vantage over the Harford association with its spring meeting, not opening until April 28. Another advantage has been that the training! weather at both Louisvill? and Lexington, while not as favorable as it has been in some Other years, has been much more suitable than that on Long Island. While it is natural at this time of the year that most of the interest in the prospects for 1923 centers in the three year-olds and what ! they are doing, there are some handicap horses | that are creating something of a stir. One of these is Snob II., the French bred colt for which J. B. Cosdcn gave John Sanford fS.j.OOO last year. This good four -year -old h:is been ■ training with the others of the big establishment at Pimlico and is said to have shown enough to warrant the belief that he will be right up in the front division. He has been galloping soundly and, as trainer Garth expressed it : "Doing all that has been asked of him like a gentleman." The Cosden horses I are among the most forward in their prepara- j tion of any in Maryland and, barring accident, | Snob II. will be raced at the Havre de Grace! meeting. Snob II. did not exactly race up to expectations after his purchase last year, for he went slightly amiss. That, of course, was a disappointment, but he is still an 5,000 horse and has engagements enough this year to make him a good buy if he races to what is confidently expected from him. It is noticeable that J. S. Ward has named his Kentucky Derby candidate Donges for the stake races at Havre de Grace. This good coi: has been training exceedingly well for the big Churchill Downs race and his being entered in the Maryland stakes forces the belief that Mr. Ward has designs on the Preakness Stakes as well as the Kentucky Derby. Sir Barton triumphed in both these great races and the dates for their running this year are more favorable for a double than ever before. Donges is not the only one that is aiming at both races, but it is interesting to know that he is being guided along a course to take them both in.
