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Here and There on the Turf International Race Profit. Mile Stakes for Juveniles. Prosperity of the Turf. Is the Breed Improving? Now that the Westchester Racing Association has made public its financial statement of the receipts and disbursements for the International race it is discovered that after all it did not prove such a tremendous money-making investment. When it was decided to take . the profit and add materially to it for use in improving Belmont Park Major Belmont has made good his promise that if the race proved profitable the money would be put back into racing. The expenses of staging the race were tremendous, according to the statement that has been issued, and there is shown a reason for the prices that were considered more than exorbitant when they were decided upon for the race. Many of the improvements may be permanent, and n that the race profited more than the statement would indicate. But it was not a money -making proposition that many were led to believe it would be under the high scale of prices. The success of both the Junior Champion Stakes at Aqueduct and the Ardsley Handicap at the Yonkers track should be convincing proof of the popularity of mile stakes for two-year-olds in the fall of the year. The popularity of such stakes was long ago discovered! in Kentucky, Maryland and Canada, but New York was last of all the racing sections to offer such prizes. During the fall from time to time two-year-olds were afforded a racing chance at a mile, but they came in all-aged races, and there were, no mile races that were confined strictly to that age division. Such races were frequently advocated for New York, but it was not until this year that they became a part of the programs. With the success that has come to these two mile races it is probable that other associations besides the . Queens County Jockey Club and the Empire City Racing Association will realize the importance of such races and there will be more of thorn offered. To the Queens County Jockey Club and to James Butlers association goes the honor of first bringing the mile stakes for two-year-olds to New York. . In the Junior Champion Stakes, which was won by Mr. Mutt, there were eight starters, and the field was a thoroughly representative one. The contest was a decidedly interesting one. In the Ardsley Handicap, over a particularly bad track, six went to the post, and it was another good race, which, while Fabian won, the next three were so closely lapped that it was almost impossible to split them apart. Such races are tremendously popular with the racing crowds, and that is another and the best reason for their being a part of the New York racing scheme every fall. . It is seldom indeed that so many rich races are crowded info the laW month or two of the racing season as this season... The International race between Zev and Papyrus" was tha richest, of course, but the 525,000 Washington Han- dicap, to be decided today at Laurel; the 0,-000 Pamlico Futurity, to be decided at Pimlico early in November, and the Latonia Championship Stakes, which will be worth 0,000 to the winner, if Zev and My Own both start, are yet to come. In four, races, then, over 8200,000 in added money goes to increase the winning totals of the successful stables in the waning weeks of the season. There is phnty of opportunity for ,the owners of real stake horses to profit in these races; in fact, to profit sufficiently to offset any ill luck that has beset the stable earlier in the season. When Chacolet won the 0,000 Kentucky Special October 6 she surprised the racing world, but incidentally she assured her owner, Hal Price Headley, of a good return on his racing ventures for the year. The Headley s".lks had not been carried to any great number of profitable victories previously during the racing season, but Cha-cclets performance netted enough money to keep several of the less ambitious stables in feed for an entire year. These rich stakes and the many that preceded them during the season now drawing to a close are a good index to .the prosperous condition of the turf. Yet, in a way, they dastroy what once was a fairly dependable index to the quclity of horses that is, money winnings. By this .it is not meant" to imply that a horse which won 00,000 and Was ever necessarily a better horse than one which won 00,000 less, but that the horse which could race his way into the 00,000 class could generally bs considered a horse of quality. With all of the rich prizes now offered for two-year-olds it is quite possible for a two-year-old of mediocre grade to win more than 00,000 in a single racing season. In a season when a half dozen three-year-olds are rather evenly matched it might be possible for all of them to pass the 00,000 mark. The burning question is whether all of this prize money is really, bringing about any improvement in tha breed. More horses are being produced each season and new blood is constantly being introduced from abroad at great cost, but there is a decided shortage of good handicap horses, as shown by the victory of Chacolet in the Kentucky Special. And the thre-ycar-old division this year, with the exception of Zev and My Own, is certainly below the average. There are a number of two-year-olds that show promise of developing into high-class three-year-olds next year, but two-year-old form is not always a safe guide to later racing. It may be that after all that thfe great number of rich prizes for two-year-olds and three-year-olds is causing owners to race their high-class horses too often, wearing them out in one or two seasons of racing. T;h,E present state of the handicap division would appear to bear this out. The numBer of stake horses more than three years old seems to be decreasing, at any rate. -
