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Here and There on the Turf Senator Norris Sale. More About the Dixie. Naming the Crop. Grey Lag, Stock Horse. It is of decided interest to know that Senator Norris, winner of the second division of the Waldcn Stakes at Pimlico last fall, may be one of the New York stars of this year. H. G. Bedwell, owner of the Kenton Stable, under whose silks Senator Norris races, is entertaining an offer from a New York sportsman and it is probabb that the deal will be consummated. Senator Norris is a son of the young stallion Cudgel and Cypher Code, by Disguise. He was not brought to the races until comparatively late in the racing season, but when he arrived he proved himself a celt of real promiss. This colt is well engaged in the three-year-old stake races of the year and the manner of his winning the Walden Stakes gives promise that he will go on to big things this year. Undoubtedly, if his purchase is arranged, he will have better opportunities than would be his in the Kenton Stable, and it is known that Bed well will sell if he obtains his price. At this time Senator Norris has a peculiar value, for he was not raced enough as a two-year-old to do him any harm and, outside of Wise Counsellor, St. James and Sarazcn, the ones showing stake form in the fall may have something on those that were raced more arduously. Whether or not the sale is effected, it is probable that Senator Ncrris will be a starter in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. He is eligible to entry in both cf these rich races and is also engaged in the Belmont Stakes, as well as several other big New York races. Already there has been decided interest in i the re-ival of the old Dixie Stakes as the ! Dixie Handicap by the Maryland Jockey Club. , The fact that the weights are to be announced I February 1 will add to that interest, and these : assignments are eagerly awaited by the horsemen who have eligiblss to the 5,000 added I race. The fact that the Dixia is for three-year-olds and over, rather than for one age division alone, gives it a peculiar appeal. The : handicapping means the rating of the horses ! of the various age divisions, and there are : many of each eligible age in the list of nominations. It is natural that in such a handicap there : are many of those entered that really do not t belong among the best, but it is ever thus in i early closing handicaps. There are two reasons. - Many a horseman has an exalted idea i of the ability of his horse, particularly in the winter months, while there arc others who enter in the hope that for one reason or another - the good ones will not be brought to the ; post. Then, of course, the man with the ordinary - horse is always assured that he will be in i the handicap under a light weight that might t give him an outside chance to share in some ; part of the money. j i ! , I : I : ! : : t i - i - ; - i t ; j These are reasons for the cluttering up of handicaps and reasons that would be pretty thoroughly eliminated under Walter S. Vos-burghs classified handicap idea. Of course, the classified handicap could hardly apply to such a fixture as ths Dixie, but- it is well in the discussion of this event to again call attention to the Vosburgh plan of classifying the handicap horses by the amount of money won. It is a wise and necessary rule of racing that two-year-olds shall bs properly identified and named before they are sent to the races. This rule must obtain, but the naming would be a bit different if they could be withheld until such time as the young thoroughbreds had established something of a reputation. If such a thing was possible, and it is well that it is not, there would not be found some of the cheapest of the platers carrying high-sounding names, while some of the stars were handicapped by appellations that should never be permitted. Too often in an endeavor to compliment a friend, a colt or a filly is named after him, only to be carried by an utterly unworthy animal. Time after time this compliment has been a doubtful one and many a colt carrying one of these complimentary names is never brought to the races, or finds his field of en-; dcavor on some backwoods track, and it would have been better if he had not been brought to the races. It is indeed precarious to compliment a friend by having a thorough-. bred carry his name. There always will be names that do not belong, just as there will be names that are particularly appropriate, but an excellent rule to follow is to as far as is possible have the name sugg?st the breeding when it is not done at the expense of euphony. One of the anticipations for the 1924 sea- son of racing is the first appearance of the progeny of the wonder horse Man o War. The stabb of Mr. and Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords is particularly well supplied with two-year-olds by the son of Fair Play and Mahubah, and the fact that most of the others in their two-year-old division are sons and daughters of Golden Broom lends an additional interest to that stable. It will be remcmbersd that Samuel D. Riddle paid 5,000 for Man o War as a yearling, and, as a matter of fact, was not particularly phased with his purchase when the big, awkward colt was first put to galloping by Louis Fustcl. That same year Mrs. Jeffords paid the top price for a yearling when sh2 bought a handsome chestnut son of Sweeper and Zuna for 5,600. This colt was named Switch when he was scld as a yearling, but Mrs. Jeffords later changed his name to Golden Broom. This name was particularly appropriate for a son of Sweeper that cost so much money, but the change in name did not improve his form and, while the Riddle colt went on to be a champion of champions, Golden Broom at no time raced up to his high price. Now there is a second contest between the two horses. They are both in the stud at the same time, .arid it will be interesting to see just how the sons and daughters of the high-priced Golden Broom compare with those of the champion. While .every one wants to see Grey Lag come back to another season of handicap greatness, it is pleasing to know that ha will be used as a stock horse this spring before he is put into training. He is beyond question the greatest son of the great Star Shoot, now dead, while his dam, Miss Minnie, is one of the most stoutly bred matrons in the American stud book. She is a daughter of the great English staTion Meddler and Spectrum, a marc imported by Clarence H. Mackay. Spectrum was a daughter of Orvieto and False Sight, by Melton, and her second dam was Mirage, by Speculum. Such blood lines are calculated to produce a Grey Lag. On top of these magnificent blood lines Grey Lag has an individuality and racing brilliance that pronounce him one of the most promising of American sires, and even should Hilireth fail to bring him back to his former greatness for this year he is still of tremendous value to the breeding interests.
