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PLEASING SITUATION 9 Bumper Crop of Stake Entries Gratifying to Racing Interests. Empire City Offers Fine Array of Fixtures for Closing on February 1. NEW YORK, N. Y., Jan. 12. Those interested in the promotion of racing and the thoroughbred breeding industry must be gratified with the patronage that has been accorded the various stalce fixtures that have closed so far for the coming racing season, which holds promise of being one of the most interesting in the history of the turf, especially if the International races now in prospect between Epinard and the best of our American horses should be arranged. The bumper crop of nominations for the fixtures of the Westchester Racing Association and the Saratoga Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses, which closed recently, are a guarantee that the " features of other organizations racing under the jurisdiction of the Jockey Club will also fill well. As New York goes so goes the rest of the country, is a political truism which can be applied to racing with force for if the sport should stop in the Empire State it would not long endure elsewhere in this country. Many of the owners of the big breeding establishments live in the East and this part of the country furnishes the money to carry on most of the great nurseries that are located in other commonwealths. For this reason racing in New York has a particular bearing on the sport elsewhere. Important stakes to command the attention of breeders and owners in the near future are those of the Empire City Racing Association, which close on February 1. The Empire City course is midway between Yonkcrs and Mt. Vernon in one of the most beautiful parts of AVestchester County, commanding a view of Long Island Sound. President James Butler has made a host of friends for Empire City and the meetings in July and October at his track are attended by throngs that are eloquent testimonials to the popularity of the management. IN THE ADVANCE GUARD. It has been the policy of Mr. Butler to keep Empire City in the advance guard of the march of progress. He has catered to the best elements in racing and made his plant so attractive that it is a favorite meeting place for those that are fond of the thoroughbred and regard a days racing as an ideal outing. No county in th3 state has a more devoted hunting set than Westchester. As the thoroughbred plays a part in the production of the hunter type of horse many of the animals now in use for this pastime are clean-bred the element devoted to the sport living in the vicinity of Empire, City and beyond the Connecticut line take a lively interest in racing. The members of the Westchester and Fairfield Hunts, of which John McE. Bowman and Roy M. Jackson are joint masters, are regular patrons of the course. Many of them are neighbors of Mr. Butler, whose Eastview Stud is in the region of the Pocantico Hills. The stakes framed by racing secretary . Schaumburg are sixteen in number. Those for three-year-olds and over have at their head the Empire City Handicap. This is a fine test of a mile and a quarter and carries an added value of ,000. It is right in line with the Brooklyn and Suburban handicaps, two of the oldest and best-known stakes that have been the mainstays of the spring programs at Aqueduct, Gravesend, Sheeps-head Bay and Belmont Park. In making the race a mile and a quarter Mr. Butler had in mind giving his patrons an event similar in character to the tests whose, inaugurals furnished the turf with two of its most sensational finishes. It will be remembered that Dry Monopole, Blue Wing and Hidalgo were heads apart at the end in the Brooklyn, while General Monroe, War Eagle and Jack of Hearts were separated by the same margins in the Suburban. POPULAR HANDICAPS. The other handicaps for three-year-olds and over are the Yohkers, at a mile and a sixteenth the Mount Vernon, at a mile, and the Fleetwing, at about three-quarters. The two former carry an added value of ,000, while the Fleetwing lias ,000 added. These, together with the Empire City, give-owners of the better class of horses a . chance to earn substantial dividends at the meeting. The oilier features for three-year-olds and over are the Mt. Kisco Stakes, ,000 added, at a mile and a sixteenth ; the Melrose Stakes, under claiming conditions, at a similar distance, ,000 guaranteed, and the Arrow Stakes, also claiming, at about three-quarters, and ,000 guaranteed. For three-year-olds exclusively there are the Empire City Derby, ,000 addded. the 1 Continued on tweltth page. PLEASING SITUATION Continued from first page. Knickerbocker Handicap, ?3,000 added, and the Tarrytown Stakes, a claiming event with a guaranteed value of ,000. The former was made a test of a mile and a quarter two years ago and ranks among the important races for three-year-olds on the metropolitan circuit. It brings to the post the same class of horses as take part in the Belmont and Withers Stakes at Belmont Park, and the Dwyer and Carlton Stakes at Aqueduct. The Knickerbocker Handicap is run over a mile and a sixteenth, while the Tarrytown, which has claiming conditions, is at a mile. For the two-year-olds the East View Stakes of a guaranteed value of 0,000 is at the head of the list. The East View has always brought a good field to the post and is on a par with the Grand Union Hotel and United States Hotel Stakes, run at Saratoga Springs, being of the same value as these fixtures. It is run at five and a half furlongs. The Whirl Stakes is a companion race to the East View and its value is ?7,500 guaranteed. The Demoiselle Stakes, with a guaranteed value of ,000, is. as its name implies, for fillies exclusively. It has the same popularity with breeders as the Matron Stakes, the Spinaway Stakes and other fixtures in which colts are barred. "Without these races the prices of fillies in the yearling market would not be where they are today. Other races on the Empire City program for two-year-olds are the Wakefield Handicap, ,000 guaranteed, at five and a half furlongs, the Frivolity Stakes, claiming, ,000 guaranteed, at five and a half furlongs, and the Spriteful, a claiming event at about three-quarters of a mile, which has a guaranteed value of ,000.
