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. . i Here and There on the Turf Winter Racing Figures. 1 Where New Orleans Stands. Kentucky Racing Season. Return of Black Gold. Just how winter racing has grown in importance is evidenced by the fact that in the first two months of 1924 there has been distributed among the horsemen almost a million dollars, or, to be exact, 38,060. This takes in the racing at the Fair Grounds, New Orleans, Oriental Park in Cuba and the Mexican track at Tijuana. Of course, all three must b considered more or less as American racing grounds for the reason that both the Cuban and the Mexican tracks are patronized almost exclusively by American sportsmen and American horses. But it is just as well to remember that the Fair Grounds at New Orleans led the other two courses by a wide margin in point of money given. And it was at New Orleans that the best money-winning horse of the year raced when Flint Stone, four-year-old son of Friar Rock and Problem, earned ,750. There are other comparisons that can ba made to show that New Orleans has stood at the front of winter racing points. The list of the thirty best winning horses of the year up to and including February 27 reveals the fact that twenty-five of the number confined their racing to the Fair Grounds meeting. The five horses appearing in this list that did not race at New Orleans are Better Luck, Abadane and Osprey, which raced at Tijuana, and MoorfieM and Hullo, which raced at Oriental Park in i Cuba. All of this spaks well for the liberality of ; the Business Mens Racing Association of New Orleans. It has .never been found necessary to have more than seven races a day, but the : purses have been worth while instead of staging too manj races for comparatively trivial 1 sums. It would readily be possible at the Fair Grounds to furnish ten races any day; there : arc horses enough and to spare, and almost t every day ther3 are enough names thrown out t of the entries to furnish a second day of racing. . "When it is remembered that the Fair : Grounds season has been anything but a successful - one financially for the New Orleans 3 Business Mens Racing Association, the figures 5 mean much more. Every pledge made the horsemen has been kept and, though weather! r and track conditions had much to do with a l lack of patronage that prevented an adequate t return at the gate, the racing that has been i furnished has generally been kept up to a i high plane. This is racing that is not merely a business venture. It is a sport. Of course, the Business Mens Racing Association, like all others, has used every endeavor to make the racing pay its way. That, of course, is to be greatly desired, but racing is not a business, but a sport, and it has been conducted as such at the Fair Grounds. The racing this year has been deserving of better returns, but New Orleans has not had i 1 i ; : 1 : t t . : - 3 5 r a l t i a i its usual crowd of racing folk this winter and that, coupled with the prevailing bad weather, brings the long meeting to a close Tuesday with a loss to the association. But there is real congratulation in the figures that show twenty-five of the best thirty money winners of the year coming from the Fair Grounds. Announcement of the probable dates for the Kentucky racing season is just one step closer to the big-time racing that is soon to open. It is safe to predict that the tentative schedule will be sanctioned by the Kentucky Racing Commission, and it is also safe to predict that any changes that are made in the commission will in no manner interfere with racing. The Kentucky Racing Commission has ruled wisely and well since it came into being to govern the turf of the state, and Governor Fields has shown from the beginning that he is a staunch friend of the sport. This would naturally mr.ke certain that there is no danger of his making any appointments to the commission that would not be entirely for the good of the sport. It was natural there should be a bit of uneasiness until the fate of the Bennett bill was settled, but now that racing has triumphed there can be no further serious attacks by the lawmakers. In each session of thz legislature of any state where racing is conducted there will always be those who endeavor to either drive the sport out or milk it dry of profits by excessive taxation. That is the one more obstacle that has to be cleared at Frankfort bsfore the end of the session, but the defeat of the. Bennett bill suggests that there will be no chance to kill the racing by taxation. There are measures that will be introduced or have been introduced that look to taxation that amounts to practically a confiscation of the tracks, but the forces for racing have become in a measure organized to meet this menace and arc materially strengthened by the conclusive victory over the Bennett bill. The promised early return of Black Geld to racing and the assurance that, barring accident, he will be a starter in the 5,000 Louisiana Derby at the Jefferson Park track on March 17 is cheering news. This good colt has been undergoing a long and careful preparation until now he has progressed to a stage in his training when it is possible to give him something like fast work. It is expected that he will be seen under silks early in the meeting at the Shrewsbury track, which opens Wednesday and that will give another and better line on his qualifications for the big race that is his goal. Black Gold was a thoroughly good two-year-old, and it was at New Orleans that he attained his early fame. There are those , who expect him to bz even a better three-year-old, while others- hold to the belief that ; he will never be other than a good sprinter. There is a good reason for this fear that hi , may not race, on to the distances required of a i stake-winning three-year-old. The best reason is one of blood. While Black Toney, his sire, is a stoutly bred horse and calculated to beget all that is best in the thoroughbred, Black Gold is woefully weak on his dams side. His dam, Useeit, is a daughter of Bonnie Joe. It is right there that the doubt comes of his ever being able to go on, for Bonnie Joe was never fashionable and was chiefly remarkable for begetting sprinters. Still there is a chance for an exception, for Bonnie Joe had for his dam Bonnie Rose, a daughter of Bonnie Scot-: land. It may be that Black Gold after all may be a throwback to Bonnie Scotland to take the Bonnie Joe taint "out of his blood lines. And with Black Toney on the other side there would never be any fear of his not being able to go on. Only the racing of Black Gold this year will settle that question.
