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7 Here and There 1 ! on the Turf 3 2— 4 Difficulties Facing Annual *■ 0— Opening Meetings. 6 %. Many Horses Present with 7 7-Few Fit to Race. An Eastern Campaign to Fit i 1 Donges. To open the show has always been the Z * toughest assignment on the bill. The first line 4- Ls always most difficult to put over and the 5 5- way is always paved for the headliner by hard 6 g. work and little appreciation. And all of this -. 7 applies particularly to a racing season. The good hor;es have so much before them that i- they are in no hurry to make an appearance 2 ■ and the riding stars, like the stars of the I stage, wait until the patronage has warmed up 4 4 and the spotlight is functioning. 5 5. 6 6 All of this applies with peculiar force to the 7 . racing at Bowie. It has been a fairly good 1 meeting, but it occupies number one place on 1 the bill and has all the difficulties that come with the opening of the show. Secretary Mc- ■ t Lennan has had to frame his programs with few well trained horses. Marshall Cassidy has 5 2 1 3 had to start green two year olds, for the most ■ 4 j part ridden by inexperienced jockeys. With . 5 •■ G G these difficult handicaps results have been as I satisfactory as was to have been expected. The way has been paved for the meetings 5 1 2 that follow. The show has been opened and I 3 the patrons have warmed up for the entrance of the top liners. It now remains for the ; 4 top liners to be worthy of the opening. Horse- - ; 5 men have so many chances that they are i f able to pick and choose just where they will j make their racing endeavor. It is no longer r 1 merely a question of making the selection be- ■ 2 j tween Memphis and Benning. It is Bowie or 3 , several others. Horses are reserved for Lex- 4 ington or Huntington, Akron or Columbus, i, 1 5 while Tijuana is still running. Then, as the season expands, though all of f . -the stalls may be occupied at an early spring j racing ground, it does not mean clamoring , to fill the entry box. Too many of the stables pick out a spring track simply as a training ground and with no intention of taking part in the racing. Seldom is there a meeting that does not bring the limit in applications for stalK The horses are on hand, but a large percentage of them will not be brought to the post. For I that reason it means little when every stall i is occupied. This applies with more force to the spring than any other time of the year. Horsemen must find a place to train their charges and will ship here and there with no intention of racing, or if they do race, it will be one or two horses in a stable that contains ten or twelve. These are just some ! of the handicaps that have confronted Bowie ! racing, but it has been racing that has been interesting from the beginning. In most racing seasons one has to wait until I August and the Saratoga meeting before it is I possible to obtain a good comparative line ! on the best horses in the West and the best - j , I i ! ! I I ! - in the East. But it appears that 1923 will be different, as far as one of the best in Kentucky is concerned. It is probable that when the Pimlico stake entries are made public it will be found that other Kentucky stars are to journey to Maryland. One that is coming is J. S. Wards Donges and. while pleasing reports have been coming out of Kentucky as to the progress of the others, it is doubtful if any of them are more promising than Mr. Wards sturdy colt. Donges was a good two-year-olds and gives promise of being just such a three year old. The present plan of campaign is to have him race at Havre de Grace, where he may meet some of the best three year olds in the East. This will condition him for the Preak- ness Stakes at Pimlico. Then he is to return to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby a week later. This racing should prove just where Donges fits in with the three year olds of the East. If he is master of those that are contemplating racing at Pimlico, he will indeed be a brilliant prospect for the big race at Churchill Downs. A study of the racing career of Stephen Sanfords eld gelding Sergeant Murphy, winner of the Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase, teaches a lesson that has been taught before. It is a lesson in the way of not asking too much of a young horse. Sergeant Murphy is now thirteen years old and at that venerable age he ran his greatest race. But Sergeant Murphy was not raced until he was five years old and that year h? was only started once. Then after he had been campaigned until he i was ten years eld he had an off season when he was hunted. He came back as a twelve year old b?tter than he had ever been before and finally this year attained the pinnacle of his racing fame.
