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Here and There on the Turf Zev the Defender. Stakes of the Day. An English Joke. Many Matches Offered. There was no surprise at the announcement that the Rancocas Stables Zev had been chosen to meet Papyrus on October 20. For some time it has been apparent that the committee of the Jockey Club appointed to name the defender would settle on the son of The Finn and Miss Kearney. It would have been much more desirable had it been possible for an adequate test between My Own and Zev before "the selection .was made, but that became impossible. On behalf of the committee it must be admitted that every effort was made to bring the two contenders for the honor of being defender together. The committee did not fail in its efforts, but it failed in accomplishment. Everything possibfe was done to try and have the colts themselves settle the question, but it was not to be, and Zev had to bz the choice. With this last work of the committee com- pleted all is in readiness for the big mile and a half event with its 00,000 purse, and it is to be hoped now that Papyrus and Zev are both brought to the post in a condition befitting the importance of the race. There still remains the chance for a mile and a half meeting between Zev and My Own after the International match passes into history, and it would be a meeting that would be of tremendous importance. This is a big racing day one of the best racing days of the fall season with the prizes that are offered at Latonia, Laurel and Jamaica, the New York track. Of the three the biggest is the 0,000 Kentucky Special, a handicap over a mile and three-sixteenths. It is the first running of this rich" prize, and it has an immediate importance, that cannot be overestimated. The race comes at a time of the year when form is pretty well established, and it is over a distance that offers an adequate test. At the Laurel track there is the National Handicap, a three-quarters race for the juveniles, that has an added money valus of ,000, and it is one of the worth-while races of the Maryland season. The New York offering is the Continental Handicap of a mile and an eighth, with ,000 added as its prize, and a companion piece is the Hiawatha, a five and a half furloDg dash for . two-year-old fillies under handicap conditions. Thus it will be seen that the racing folk have holiday sport in all three sections. This story from England of the possibility of both Zev and My Own starting against Papyrus on October 20 cannot be taken seriously. Just where such a story originated is hard to understand, for such an arrangement would be so manifestly unfair to Papyrus that it cannot be considered. Of course, we know over here that My Own would strive just as earnestly to beat Zev as he would to beat the TCnglisri invader and that Zev would try as honestly to beat the American as he would the Englishman, but it would never do. No matter how the race would result there would always be the chance for a charge that it was a case of two against one and that would ruin the idea of the race. Papyrus has come over alone and only one defender will start against him. Already there is a big advantage enjoyed beyond the fact that he has come to a strange ground to race, for it is possible for the committee of the Jockey Club to name both a first and a second substitute defender. There has been an epidemic of match race task ever since August, when the first overtures were made to bring Papyrus to this country. The most desired of all, and the race that occasioned most interest, was the proposition for a mesting between Zev and My Own. Just how that race failed to materialize because Sam Hildreth wanted a mile and an eighth and Admiral Grayson held out for a mile and a half is too recent to be recalled. Then there was an effort to bring the two great two-year-olds Sarazen and Happy Thoughts together. This failed to come about for the reason that on behalf of Happy Thoughts a fast track was insisted upon. Fred Musantc has been in the field for a considerable timo with an effort to match My Dear, sister to My Own, against any mare or filly, and his offer has not been accepted. Now there is still another in the challenge of Carl Wiedemann to match In Memoriam against either Zev or My Own, at scale weights, for any distance from a mile and an eighth to two miles. He is willing to make such a match for 0,000 a side, and his only condition will be that the track must be fast. While this is a sporting offer that ought to be met, it must bs admitted that Mr. Wiedemann has a much better opinion of In Memoriam than is enjoyed by the handicappcrs of the Kentucky Jockey Club. In the assignment of the weights for the Kentucky Special Zev was required to take up 128 pounds, My Own 123 pounds and In Memoriam was handicapped at 113 pounds. Thus it is seen that Zev was rated a thirteen pounds better co!t, while My Own was asked to give In Memoriam ten pounds. But Mr. Wiedemann is serious in his desire for such a match, and there are not a few Kentuckians who share his belief in the ability of his good son of McGee and Enchantress. In the meantime what has become of that old custom of racing that prohibits the running of match races.
