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NEW YORK RACING OF 1923 Under Jurisdiction of Jockey Club Remarkable in Many Respects. Notable for International Race and Sportsmanship Behind It Widespread Disaster to Crack Handicap Horses. - NEW YORK, N. T., Nov. 5. The racing season of 1923 on the tracks under the jurisdiction of the Jockey Club, which came to a close with the running of the last race at Empire City on Wednesday last, was remarkable in many respects. It will be notable in history, chiefly because of the International race, but will also be remembered for the great number of good horses that went wrong during the year, either in actual races or in their training. There may never be another such race in this country as the International race. Surely there never will be one that was fraught with so much interest from the day it was first discussed, until Zev defeated Fapyrus in the presence of such a distinctive assemblage at Belmont Park on Saturday, October 20. "When all of the details in connection with that memorable contest are written, as they will some day be set down for the benefit of posterity, those who promoted the contest and saw it carried to a succesful conclusion will receive the reward they so richly merit The statement issued by the Westchester directorate indicating a profit of 2,20G.25 on the race, and that this sum would be a part of a fund of 1,000 to be spent on improvements before the opening of the spring campaign, carried a silent rebuke to those who had questioned the underlying purpose of the individuals responsible for putting on a turf fixture that will go down into history as the greatest of its kind. Taken in conjunction with the outlay of 27,000 since the resumption of racing in 1912, it was a showing that should forever remove the slightest implication of anything foreign to sport from the Westchester Racing Association and its management. The announcement that not more than C per cent Coutimicd on twelfth page. NEW YORK RACING OF 1923 Continued from first pace. would be paid to stockholders of the Westchester property at any time is a guarantee that all other considerations were set aside in order to give the sport loving public of the metropolis, and the transients within tho gates of Gotham, racing of the highest quality. Taken in conjunction with the fact that stockholders have had a dividend of only 17s per cent per annum for the period between 1905, when the course was opened, and the present day, it is difficult to conceive a parallel to the case for disinterestedness and philanthropy in the promotion of the turf. In no previous year that can be recalled, has there been such widespread disaster in the ranks of the so-called handicap horses. The outset of the year was glorious, with promise. With such cracks as Gray Lag, Exterminator, Mad Hatter, Lucky Hour, Bunting, Sennings Park, Snob II. and My Play, not to mention other luminaries, scarcely less dazzling in training, it was natural to look for sport of the highest order in the big handicaps and the weight-for-ages races. One by one they fell by the wayside until the autumn had scarcely a decent horse in training over three years of age. In the ranks of the three-year-olds the defection was scarcely less notable. Wilderness, Bud Lerner, Chickvale, Messenger and other colts of promise, going into eclipse at different periods, while even the redoubtable Zev himself was on the ailing list for a time. How many of those named above will come back to the races next year is a question. Exterminator is being trained again in tho hope that he will achieve the distinction of being the greatest money winner on the American turf. Only an accident kept him from surpassing the 49,4115 earned by Man o War. He was well on his way to beat these figures when he was taken lame. Now, however, there is the 59,913 of Zevs for tho aged gelding to shoot at, with increasing prospects of still greater earnings on tho part of the Bancocas champion. As a matter of fact, it looks as though the conqueror of Papyrus, if he races through his four-year-old form, will set figures that will remain on the records for a generation or more. PEAKS FOR GREY LAG. Grey Lag, one of the best horses seen in many years has, it is believed, said good-bye tc the turf. Mad Hatter has seen his best days and it will depend on conditions next spring whether the big son of Fair Play, is seen under colors again. Lucky Hours chances of training are better. He is a horse of lighter mould and doesnt require as much work to render him fit. As for Snob II., Sennings Park and My Play, the chances of the latter are alone worth considering, and he is a horse of such bulk that his preparation will be a matter of concern to his trainer. That Grey Lag was the champion among the handicap horses of the year the majority of the experts agree, while the palm for three-year-old supremacy, taking public form as a criterion, belongs to Zev. His campaign to date has been a remarkable one, and the quality of tho colt is enhanced by the fact that he is at homo on any kind of a course, though most brilliant when tho going is like it was for the International race. As a mud runner he is without a peer, in the memory of the oldest turf follower. St. James, Sarazen and Wise Counsellor top the two-year-old division. There is no way to adequately gauge the merits of tho trio, and the question of superiority must go over to next season now that Mr. Joyner has retired St. James for the year. St. James has many friends who believe him the best, and taking his breeding, individuality and racing engagement into consideration, he is probably the most valuable of the three juveniles that have held the center of the stage during 1923. Sarazen is capable of carrying his great speed far enough to warrant the belief that he will be dangerous as a three-year-old, though his activities will be somewhat limited when it comes to most of the big races for horses of his age. The Kentucky Derby is one of the ?50,000 prizes for which geldings are eligible and Sarazen is certain to be named for it. Wise Counsellors lack of engagements prevented easterners having a view of the sensational colt whose mother was bought for 00. Supposedly barren, but carrying tho colt that is now hailed as a champion by his admirers in the West, he must be regarded as one of the greatest bargains in turf history. That interest in the sport was sustained up to the very last day of the season is abundant proof of the popularity of racing in New York and the East in general.
