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Here and There on the Turf Single Foots Record. Thorndales Quality. Havre de Grace Stakes. Racing at Marlboro. It would be premature at this time to hail Single Foot as a possible champion two-year-old of 1924, but the race run by the son of Wrack and Virginia L. at Bowie Saturday was of a character to impress. The consummate ease with which he established a new track record of :47% for the Bowie half mile at least proclaimed that he is a young thoroughbred of extreme speed and a youngster that is much at home over the Bowie track. Single Foot races for J. E. Griffith and Harry Rites brought him to the races fit. He knew he was starting a fast colt and it was only a question of his not running green. He raced truly and at once jumped into prominence. It must be remembered that back of him was Vanidoso. the filly that was sold at New Orleans for 1,000, and another of the starters was Barney Google, that performed well at that same winter racing ground. Single Foot simply played with these two and that was what made the race as impressive as the time that was hung up. Of course, there is always an alibi for the horse that is beaten at Bowie. The track is of peculiar surface and, while some horses are well suited, others have never been able to show to ad-vantag?. It is possible that Vanidoso is one of those that will never race well at Bowie. That is the only excuse that can be found for her showing. There was another lesson in the racing Saturday and it was that Thorndale, though he raced well at New Orleans, is evidently far away from being in the first division of the three year olds cf the year. There was a time when he was considered as of Derby class, but no stretch of the imagination could now place him in such a class. Thorndale won the Capitol Handicap, but he did not win it as a Derby or a Preakness eligible should win. He was giving away weight, but at the end of the seven-eighths of that handicap Fredericktown was altogether too close and with better riding it is probable that he would have been beaten by this son of Pennant. Thorndale is a useful sort when properly placed, but he does not measure up to what is expected of a candidate for the three year-old honors. The various stakes to be decided at the Havre de Grace meeting closed Saturday and, while the net result of the nominations will not be known for a few days, it is known that the response of the horsemen was liberal. The offerings of the Harford Association are decidedly attractive and with such a late closing a goodly percentage of those nominated will be seen under silks. One of the races that is of particular importance is the Chesapeake Stakes, for three-year-olds. This race is arranged to afford candidates for the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby a racing opportunity and it serves that purpose well. It is run far enough away from the Preakness Stakes and still close enough to that big race to do great good in the fitting of a horse. The various other stakes all attracted an abundant list of nominations and the sport at the little Maryland town should be better than at any other previous meeting. It is at Havre de Grace that the Bteeple chasers will make their first appearance of the year and that lends additional interest to the meeting. For a considerable time there has been a notable band of jumpers making ready and Benning, Pimlico and Havre de Grace its?lf all have big colonies of these horses. While the arrangement of the racing time for Maryland this year provides for no open dates for the sport at Marlboro, there will be racing at that delightful little half mile course. It has been the good fortune cf Marlboro to enjoy open racing time between the closing of Pimlico in the fall and the opening of the Bowie meeting. It has been possible to fit in five open days for that meeting. This year there is no such "off time and Marlboro will have to ask for dates in September if it is to avoid conflict in the state. The racing commission has not made any announcement of the Marlboro meeting, but it is known that a meeting has been planned and that September dates will be requested. The various stakes of the Maryland Jockey Club, including the 0,000 Preakness Stakes, are to be closed Tuesday. They will finish out the spring stake chances and the list is far and away the most notable of the Maryland offerings. The Picakness more than ever before will attract much the same nominations as the Kentucky Derby, with the exception that geldings are not eligible for the race. It is also at Pimlico that the steeplechasers will have plenty of opportunities and the book will provide for a race through the field every day. In addition to these there is the Dixie Handicap, to be run en May 3, that is the most important of all the early stakes for three year olds and over. This is 5,000 added and when the entries closed last January its popularity was attested by its big entry list. Word comes from George D. Wideners Er-denheim Farm that W. A. Gorman is rebuilding the private training course at the famous eld thoroughbred nursery that gave to the turf such horses as Iroquois and Parol?. Mr. Gorman, by his work at both Morris Park and Belmont Park, showed his skill in track construction and it is assured that Mr. Widener will have an ideal private course when it is completed. This eld farm will also have its amateur meeting, according to present plans. Mr. Gorman has also been employed to build the steeplechase field for the Freehold Driving Association of New Jersey and before long it is expected that dates will be announced for that meeting. Last August at this delightful New Jersey course was conducted a thoroughly successful thoroughbred meeting and the plans for its renewal this year are much more ambitious. There was no steeplechasing at Freehold for the 1923 meeting and the adding of this branch of racing is in itself a big step forward.
