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Here and There on the Turf Concerning the Failure of Dunlin. Martingale Now the Cosden Hope. The Doings of Wilderness in Racing. Unless Dunlin should show to much better advantage than he did in the Shenandoah Handicap at Havre de Grace Tuesday, he need not be feared by eligible.* to the Preakness Stakes. Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Dunlins was as utterly ridiculous a race as could well be imagined, when it is analyzed. The time was miserably slow and in the early running, when it took 1:16% to reach the three-quarters, some idea of the slow pace is gained. The mile and an eighth race, won by such a cheap plater as Tony Beau, brought a first three-quarters in 1 :14% and a mile in 1 :42, just the time that was hung out in the mile of the race in which Eulalia beat Dunlin. The half in the Dunlin race was run in 49%, while the two-year olds ran in 48. The three-quarters in the Raffles race was run in 1 :14% and the half in 48 % . Wilderness ran his half in 474i and the three quarters in 1:12%. The criticism that attaches to Dunlin is that if he is the colt he was popularly believed to be, he should be able to walk in such a field, sprint in such a field, or. in fact, do anything that the others elected should be done, and still be the winner. No stretch of the imagination would make the other Shenandoah starters of a class to give a real Preakness Stakes or Kentucky Derby colt the least con cern. Dunlin may not have been right as himself. He did not warm up impressively for the race and he did not run within many pounds of his three-quarters form when he was beaten by Vigil. He still has time to redeem himself before May 12, but it is doubtful if he will go to the post in the Preakness Stakes as the Cosden hope. Fortunately for Mr. Cosden, he has a good one to fall back upon in Martingale. This good son of Martinet and Lady Irma was about the best mud-running two year-old of last year, and at Pimlico in the fall had to his credit a victory over Sallys Alley after she had won the Pimlico Futurity. There is also Golden Rule, a son of Wrack and Golding, that may develop; Cyclone, the 1,000 yearling that has not yet started, is still another of the eligibles. but it is probable that it will be Martingale that will have to carry all of the stable load when among the best ones. William Garth is a firm believer in Martingale and he considers him a much better colt than Dunlin. He has always considered him better and early in the spring he said that in his opinion the son of Martinet could beat any of the two year olds of last year. Both Martingale and Dunlin were well advanced when they were shipped to Pinilico from the Cosden farm, and while Garth stuck to his opinion that Martingale was the better prospect, there were many that gave the palm to Dunlin. Now that Dunlin has failed so utterly there will have to be a revision, unless this stable is without any three year-old racing with the best. Disappointment in the performance of Dunlin Tuesday was offset by the fast race of Richard T. Wilsons Wilderness. Tom Healey has brought this good colt back to the races in rare form and there is no doubt of his speed. He has grown and improved through the winter, and the manner in which he ran his three-quarters suggests that he will race well for the Preakness and the Derby distances. The son of Campfire and Genesta has a faultless way of going and in his first race the decisive manner in which he disposed of the fast old campaigner Blazes stamped him as one of the best prospects of the spring. Last year Wilderness did not attain to the prominence that might have been his, for the reason that he never did leave the post promptly and was not brought to the races until the running of the Flash Stakes at Sara toga. He was started ten times and won three races. Two of his notable races were when" he was a good third to Sallys Alley and Zev ir the Futurity at Belmont Park and when he took the measure of Dunlin at LaureL His victory over Dunlin was at a considerable weight advantage, with only 114 pounds to 130 on Dunlin. Wilderness is undoubtedly a better three-year-old than he was a two year-old. There is another of the candidates for both the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby that seemingly need not be taken seriously. He is Sunference. This colt started in the race that was won by Wilderness, and while he showed a flash of speed and may develop into a front position in his age division, he is now far away from Wilderness and will have to improve mightily if he is to have a chance in the rich spring stake races.
