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! Here and There on the Turf Exterminators Return. Eastern Season Opening. Dixie Handicap. Handicapping Epinard. C.ali int old Exterminator in the brilliant Fiinlipht of a semi-tropieal afternoon surpassed Man o Wars money-vA innitip record at Tijuana Sunday. There was something or .•uiti-i Umax in the whole performance; for Man o Wars great winnings were no longer a rei-oni. and the present marl; established last year by Zev appears to be altogether too far away for Exterminators weary legs to reach. Yet it wa? the appearaare of Willis Sharpe Kilmers gallant old pelding that made t.ie toffroth Handicap a race of nation-wide interest. Although he did not win under his tap weight of 130 pounds. Ex term in a tors l«Tformance in the event will be rememl ered longer than the name of the winner. Ext-rminator. although the days of his glory are now of the past, is still the most pjpular horse on the American turf, and justly so. He is popular because he posesses ali of the attributes which make for greatness either in horse or human. His great heart remains untouched by the advance of age. although his once untiring legs have lost much of their soundness which carried him to many a hard earned victory. With one or two possible exceptions, the Coffroth field contained no horses worthy to start in the same race with Exterminator in the days of his giory. The horses that finish* d ahead of him in Sundays race would have been lucky to reach the last sixteenth by the time he wa« flashing pa«t the judges, if the old Kilmer gelding had been at his best. Without Exterminator in the field, the Cof-froth Handicap would have been only an-olli«r winter stake nee. in spite of its 0,000 added. Hut with him in the field it lie tame a race that appealed to the popular imagination. Great values do not insure great races : it is the class of lite best horses engaged that makes the attraction. However. Hunstar and Osprey are fine horses and gifted with great speed. Toelay at Howie, the eastern racing season of 19?4 will be started on its merry way. Seldom in the history of the American turf have prosper ts been better for the turf. The Howie meeting, once a stop gap between the winter racing at New Orleans and the actual b« ginnitg of the regular racing season, has attained, during recent years. an importance which could never have Wen considered possible . Winter horses have the i lp. on their exponents at P.owie, but each year there is a stronger representation from the- stables that do not race- through the cold months. Hi ports from the southern Maryland curse indicate that there- will be a number of ptod horses from stables that wintered in the North, ready to race successfully in the course of the Howie meeting. Tn a fi w short wee ks the Kentucky and New York racing seasons will be under way and present indications are that all previous records for money distribution will be shattered I N fore the e-urtain goes down on the- USI racing. ne e f the- more important additions to the lint of stakes this year is the Dixie Handicap, which will ha decided at Vimlico, Saturday. May ::. Weights for this race wire announced K-Ltuarv 1, and were based entirely on last years performances. The- Dixie Handicap is the first important handicap for whie-h weights were- announced prior to the owning of the regular season. for a numlK-r of years. In the old days winter closing and early weight usKignmcuUi for ! the big handicaps was a regular procedure. The running of the Dixie Handicap this year will, accordingly, be watched with unusual interest, because upon the success of this race will depend to a large extent the future conditions of many important handicaps. If the Dixie Handicap turns out to be a closely contested and interesting race, the experiment will undoubtedly be tried by other associations. Karly weight assignments will increase interest in early season handicaps. The wholesome respect shown for Kpinards prowess by the Knglish handieappcrs is likely to keep the Wertheimer colt from meeting many of his handicap engagements in Kng-land. He has been assigned 127 pounds for the Kempton Park Great Jubik-e Handicap and 1"9 pounds for the City and Suburban. Although it is reported on gGoel authority that only cold weather and consequent training difficulties kept the colt from starting in the Lincolnshire, it appears likely that trainer Kugene Heigh antl owner Pierre Wertheimer. will decide to confine the colt to weight for age engagements, up to the time he is shipped here in June to engage in his series of American races. Kpinarel may or may not be able to carry the weights which are being assigned him to victory in those English handicaps. The fae-t remains that such imposts are likely to place such a strain upon him that his continued sounelness for His American engagements would ha threatened. M. Wertheimer is extremely anxious to brinr; the colt to this counry with the idea of rounding out his spectacular career by foreign conquest. He is not likely to take any unnecessary risks whie-h might jeo] ardize this program. It is to he hoped that nothing will prevent Kpinard from racing here as planned. A successful invasion of this country on the part of the French colt, will serve not only to enhance his prestige, but to stimulate interest in the turf here, as nothing has done in the past, with the exception of the Zev-Papyrus race last fall. If Kpinard should come here and emerge from his three engagements without a defeat, he would enjoy a reputation which few-horses have ever attained in the past. Hut more important than this would be the demonstration that it is possible for a horse to come- hcr from abroad and train successfully for a series of races. Sue-h a demonstration would proliably result in a challenge for the International Cup helel by Zev, in 1S25. and international racing would be well on its way to the estate of an annual proposition.
