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Here and There ; 2 1— on the Turf 3 3— _ 4 4— Nassaus Imposing Eeveal- 5 5— ment of High Form. 6 6 New Yorks Campaign Opens 7 7 Today. High-Class Two -Year -Olds 1 t Yet to Be Shown. , 2 . I 3 Nassau has furnished something in the way of a sensation. His victory over Boys Believe 4 Me and Bo McMillan at Lexington on Monday 5 • was absolutely the best public trial in actual 6 6 racing so far shown by any of the Preakness 7 - Stakes and Kentucky Derby candidates. It was a manifestation of speed of the high order 1 that wins great races and reveals that Nassau 2 is so greatly improved over his two year-old form that he seems entirely capable of coping 3 with any three-year-old of the year. It is a 4 4 fact that Nassau was the first of the Kentucky 5 5 Derby aspirants to be heavily and systemati- , 6 cally backed in the future books. That this I was done with valid reason is now apparent. If it should be his destiny to win the Derby, it would, in a way, be a continuation of the 1 singular ill fortune that has pursued John San- 2 ford relentlessly for years past. Since he won , the Kentucky Derby with George Smith the 4 Amsterdam turfman has spent a fortune for high-priced horses in England and France with 1 comparatively no return. Now a colt of his . C own breeding demonstrates that he has a i 7 chance second to none of winning this greatly-coveted race. But not for John Sanford. If 1 he does win, it will be for Frederick Johnson. If that is not hard luck there is no such thing. However, Nassau has not won the Derby yet. But nothing has been shown to date in Maryland - racing that equals his demonstrated form. • Without straining the truth, something akin 1 might bz said in behalf of Anna M. Humphrey. If not used too much before the big I race, it would be a rash man who would assert t she cannot equal Regrets fame as a Derby „ winner. The New York racing season is here. Maryland has had its opening and the racing that was conducted at both Bowie and Havre de e Grace surpassed the most sanguine expectations. r Kentucky has had its opening at Lexington * and it was an opening that presages g every success for that circuit. Now comes ■ New York and, with the opening of the Metropolitan " Jockey Clubs meeting at Jamaica, the e turf is fairly on its way for the 1923 campaign. 1. All are beginning with a clean slate in the ie fight for the various championships. In Maryland, r- for the reason that it was the first racing :. ground of the year, there have bean good d : ones brought out that already have shown 0 enough to warrant the belief that they may " _ be at the top of the heap in November. At it Lexington the return of Anna M. Humphrey f in the Ashland Oaks and the victory of Nassau s- Monday were both races of importance *e in the new line it affords on superior three-year olds and, in the meantime, the older horses are coming out adequately. Wilderness. Sallys Alley, General Thatcher er and Chickvale appear to be the most notable ■ of the Maryland three year-olds, but there are othpr good ones that have not yet been shown ;n and that will be uncovered before the running w of the Preakness Stakes. Enough has been shown in the racing thus far to leave no doubt of the excellence of the ie three year-olds that are to go after the big offerings for that age. The two year olds have not thus far attracted ed A the ie big ed the attention that has come to the three year - olds. Undoubtedly some of those that have raced have real excellence, but it has been im-,„ possible at this time to pick out any one that stands out prominently over the others. All of this will be changed before long, for with the opening of the racing season in New - York many a new one will come to the races, s, while Pimlico will show new ones and Kentucky :y is not yet fairly in her stride, as far as the ie two-year-olds are concerned. Most of the new racers that have been •n brought to the post are well made, smooth -running horses and the fact that not one of of - s, :y the ie •n of of them has yet loomed up prominently over its fellows means nothing at the beginning of May. a There are a tremendous number of two-year-olds of faultless breeding from which to draw this year. It will be surprising indeed if the - races for the two-year-old division do not meas-r, ure up to the best years on the American turf. Altogether there is nothing to be desired in looking over the prospects of the 1923 racing. - The fear that horses would be backward, by ,. reason of the inclement weather of this spring, seems to be groundless. There are enough of them fit and ready for what is to be offered 1, and others wlil be coming on each day. It has been a spring that has been wonderfully K free from sickness about the stables, while at e the same time last year there was an epidemic that kept many a good one away from tbe races for most of the year and denied some of the best of the three year-olds a chance to start in the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby. Thus far reports are that almost every one of tbe candidates worthy of consideration for these rich races are going along exceed-b- ingly well and the fields for each may set a new record in number of starter*.
