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Twenty Years Ago Today Chief Turf Events of March 26, 1904 Racing at Washington, D, C, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Little Rock. Tomorrow the legitimate racing season opens at Memphis, with the Montgomery Handicap as a central attraction. It is the first important handicap of the year and its decision is annually awaited with interest and impatience by devotees of racing. This year, with ten starters, its net value to the winner would be ,215, in addition to which the club do-nates a valuable silver cup or plate to the winner. Prospects are for more than ten starters so the net value will be greater than the sum named. From the start Witfull has been steadily the favorite, but precedence is against the success of the heavy weights in this race, such stars as McChesney, Waring and Ornament having fallen victims to the lighter weights in late years. In ante-post betting Witfull, Martinmas, De Rezskc and Little Scout have been heavily backed, while several others have been substantially supported. At best the race is a very open affair, and no one need be greatly surprised if some lightly considered outsider sweeps home in front of ths popular favorite. Everyone has a legitimate right to boost the winner of a selling race, but usually some discrimination is displayed by both trainers and owners. Every horse at the Oakland track has been entered below his or her price during the season. That is one of the abuses of the selling race. What one owner does another is forced to do, so keen is the competition to win a race. If a trainer win3 race after race by entering a 52,000 horse for 00 he must not complain if his horse is run up by an interested horseman. Tom Lottridge won a race with Gateway yesterday and Charles McCafferty, who finished second with Idogo, practically took the purse away from him by boosting the gelding 00 above his entered price. There is not much sentiment among horsemen, but there was great indignation when it became known that McCafferty had boosted Gateway. Lottridge has been practically "broke" for two years. He has trained, rubbed and persevered with Gateway for over one year. The gelding was all he had in the world. Gateway displayed little form and has just rounded into shape, winning his second race of the season yesterday. Yet McCafferty had the bad judgment to boost this poor mans horse so he could secure a paltry 50, one-half of the run-up money. McCaffertys stable has been the most inconsistent that has performed in this state for many a year. A tabulated table of the winnings of the McCafferty stable would reveal a startling state of affairs.
