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GOSSIP OF FRENCH RACING Flat Season Begins at Paris Courses During the Next Month. Horses Exercising Regularly at Maisons-Laffitte and Chantilly Steeplechase Racing on the Riviera Ends for Season. SPECIAL, CORRESPONDENCE. PARIS, France, Feb. 13. Paris is on the eve of another racing season. Everything from the recovery -which French bloodstock has made since the "war to the ambitious programs of the organizations which control the turf indicates that the season will be a successful one. The prize money for both flat racing and jumping has been substantially increased, and new prizes have been created. In some cases the prize has been increased by half, and even doubled in a few instances. Perhaps the fall in the value of the franc has something to do with this, but it cannot be altogether accountable. In addition, the authorities at Auteuil, the course in the Bois de Boulogne, is adding two more days to the list of meetings to be held j there. However, the follower of the turf I does not plunge into the season with a rush. He is introduced to it gradually. The opening fixture is set for Saturday at Enghien, and for the first month there will be jumping only. Then, in the middle of March, the flat racing season begins, and it is not until April that the gates of Long-champ, the classic course in the Bois de Boulogne, arc to be opened. TARIS SEASONS" LOXG. With the exception of the month of August when the world and his wife go to Deau-ville there will be racing in the neighbor- j hood of the capital until December. The I training grounds at Maisons-Laffitte and! Chantilly already present scenes of activity. The mild weather of the last few days has.! made the going good, and many of the young-: sters who are expected to make reputations! during the coming season are being put through their paces. The last meeting of the Riviera racing season took place at Cannes on Sunday, when for the first time the going was really heavy, owing to much rain overnight. The card included the Prix Auguste Merle, a steeplechase worth 50,000 francs, which was won by Lis. The result was not quite so surprising as the betting indicated, for although in a field of five Lis was quoted at 9 to 1 this price seems rather generous in view of his record. He fell in a race on the same course seven days earlier, and this may have been the reason why backers did not support him to any extent, but, even so, this should not altogether account for his being virtually unbacked. Perhaps the people who are most surprised by such results are the clandestine bookmakers in Paris, who, despite the fact that their calling is illegal, are fairly numerous. They accept bets and pay, as a general rule, the pari-mutuel odds. But what guarantee is there that the backers on the course at Cannes will support the same horses as tne people in Paris? If backers in Paris ignored Liss fall, and backed him on their knowledge of what the horse could do, it is likely enough that the unofficial bookmakers were hit. One hears little of their activities, and it is impossible to say exactly what occurs, but it is easy to realize that a bookmakers book may differ widely from the pari-mutuel operating at Cannes, some hundreds of miles away, and, having agreed to pay the pari-mutuel odds, he has to do it. To return to the race itself, Se Souvenir v.as a. warm favorite at a shade over evens, but once again had to be content with a place this time he was third. The second position was filled by Affectueux, starting at 17 to 10, but he never looked like beating Lis, which won. easily by two lengths. The curtain was also rung down on Sunday at Pau, where meetings are held in the winter. The chief event, the Prix du Palais dHiver, a hurdle race worth 30,000 francs, produced a thrilling finish between Ippecourt and Abricot, the former passing the post with a neck to spare. The winner was trained by Count, whose Affectueux was second in the race at Cannes referred to above, and this success provided some compensation. Last week the racing at Cannes and Pau was not of great interest. "When Bobadil won the Prix des Hotel at Cannes it was the horses third consecutive victory, form which seems to indicate a bright future for this four-year-old. Surprises marked the Pau meetings last week, the biggest being when Corniche, starting at 27 to 1, won the Prix des Hotel de Pau, the lengtn of a walking stick separating the firist three.
