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DIXIE HANDICAP PROSPECTS ; 4 Speculation on Weights for the i Big Spring Pimlico Feature. Rancocas Stables Zcv the Logical Top i Weight on Strength of His Brilliant Accomplishments of Last Year. If all the cracks that have been entered for the Dixie Stake, to be run at Pimlico i next May, leaving out all the small fry, , should face the barrier, it would produce a . raco that would overshadow any similar event ever staged in the turf world. Most of the big fixtures are limited to , horses of the same age, either for two-year-olds . like the Pimlico Futurity, the Walden, the Westchester Futurity and the Hopeful, or for three-year-olds, as the Preakness, Bel- ! , mont, Kentucky Derby and Realization, so that bringing three-year-olds and over together at a mile and three-sixteenths for an ! j added stake of 5,000 in the spring of the . year, as in the Dixie, is something in the na- . ture of a novelty and will attract a much t more varied field than if restricted to thoroughbreds . of equal maturity. It is well known that many good two-year-olds . fail dismally at three, while others j show marked improvement over the previous years form, and this fact was strikingly shown in the case of Morvich, which, after an unbeaten career at the earlier age, failed with a single exception, the" Kentucky Derby, to live up to his reputation at three. ZEV PROBABLY TOP WEIGHT. The scale of weight-for-age in May, on , which the handicapper will base his figures for the Dixie, at a mile and three-sixteenths, , j is 112 pounds for three-year-olds, 127 pounds for four-year-olds and 128 pounds for five and over, with an allowance of five pounds i for mares three years old and upward, with a minimum of S4 pounds, thus allowing a comfortable margin for bringing the good, indifferent and bad together. With 118 entries to allot weights to, handicapper . Frank J. Bryan will have no difficulty in selecting as top weight the Ban-cocas Stables four-year-old Zev, the kingpin of last years racers, with Carl Wiedemanns . . In Memoriam close up second and possibly Admiral Graysons My Own third. Then Walter J. Salmons Preakness winner, Vigil, will undoubtedly come in for a share of attention, while Willis Sharpe Kilmers famous old Exterminator will not be , neglected, in spite of the fact he is now in the aged class, the most experienced cam- I paigner of them all. J The Rancocas stable has another formid-j able entry in Crey Lag, which has been 1 ! j nominated with Zev for the Gold Cup at i j J Ascot, and one which, on his form, is one I , of the best handicap horses in the country. He will certainly be allotted a high weight, as well as the J. S. Cosden standby, Dunlin, one of the big money-winning three-year-olds of last year. Anything from , the Greentree and H. P. Whitney stables must be treated with respect, and Untidy, one of the Greentree entries for the Dixie, was selected as understudy to Zev in the International Papyrus match at Belmont Park. In addition to this fast mare the Greentree stable is represented by Rialto, Exodus, and Cherry Pie, while Harry Payne Whitney has Enchantment, Flagstaff, Chickvale and Transmute, all winners in 1923. II. Alter-. mans Homestretch did well at Pimlico last : fall, also J. B. Smiths King Solomons Seal, ; which Max Hirsch thinks a lot of, while E. Continued on twelfth page. DIXIE HANDICAP PROSPECTS Continued from first page. K. Brysons Setting Sun comes to hand early. Mrs. "Vanderbilts unbeaten Srazen stands out by reason of his record as a two-year-old, while Geo.rge D. Wideners St. James is regarded by many as the best colt out last year, the son of Ambassador IV., being the leading money-winning juvenile of the year, and should be among the top weights of his contemporaries. Other fast three-year-olds which will attract handjeapper Bryans attention are Belaid Studs Aga Khan, G. A. Cochrans Sun Flag and Sunspero. J. S. Cosdens Lord Baltimore II., H. C. Fishers Mr. Mutt, Kenton Stables Senator Norris, the Walden winner; Glen Riddle Farms Big Blaze, A. H. Morris Rustic, second in Pimlico Futurity ; Rancocas Stables Mad Play and Stanwix and Xalapa Farms Happy Thoughts. It is interesting to note that Hal Price Ileadley has entered his fine imported six-year-old mare Chacolet in the Dixie last fall, and "Billy" Gartli will make a strong effort to get the flying Snob II. to the post for J. S. Cosden. The Nevada Stock Farms General Thatcher is another which will not be overlooked, as he is a better colt than he showed last year, and Sandy McNaughton thinks well of his four-year-old colt Little Celt, and one that is bound to pay his way. Taken all in all, the Dixie will occupy a big place in the winter cogitations of sportsmen, who will look forward eagerly to the publication of weights on February 1.
