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Here and There on the Turf Three -Year-Olds Training. St. James and Sarazen. Canadian Turf Prosperity. Bowies New Road. With the coming of the spring weather conies an added interest daily in the program of the three year-olds that are to try f°r highest honors this year. Of course these various candidates for the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby have been going along for a considerable time, but most of the early work meant little other than evidence of good health. Now it has been possible to have faster moves and from now until the running of the Preakness Stakes on May 12 there will be continued improvement in the preparation of the stars. Fortunately the health of horses has been good in the various training quarters and it is hoped that no sickness will bring about an interruption in the preparation for the champions. Too often the most promising three-year olds of the early spring fail to get to the post by reason of sickness after training begins. This was the case with two of the Ken tucky Derby candidates that S. C. Hildreth was fitting. Grey Lag, one of the best horses ever raced in this count ry, was possibly the most prominent of the Kentucky Derby candidates in his year, but Hildreth was unable to bring him to the post. Then he had no better luck with Kai sang. But Hildreth was repaid for his disappointment last year when Zev was the winner. There is still time for sickness to come along ; but up to this time the health re ports have been better than has been the gen eral rule and there is good reason to hope that no epidemic will be a bar to the development of the champions. The progress of St. James and Sarazen, at Belmont Park, is the most interesting news of the Long Island training grounds and it would seem now that they will be ready when called on. Of course Max Hirsch has until May 17 to bring Sarazen to his big engagement in the Kentucky Derby, he being ineligible to the Preakness Stakes, by reason of being a gelding. St. James meets his first engagement of high importance in the Preakness Stakes on May 12. Joyner has been stretching his recent workout until he is rapidly approaching a con dition when a real trial will be possible. He is having a careful preparation and there is every hope that he will race in the Preakness Stakes. The changing of the conditions of the big foO.OOO Pimlico Stake to a race at scale weight is of derided advantage to the son of Ambas ■ador IV. He took up 130 pounds when he was the winner of the Futurity last September and under the old Preakness conditions that performance and his other winnings of the year would make him concede weight in the big three year old race. Now with both colts and fillies taking up their weights the prize is doubly attractive to Mr. Wideners colt. An evidence of the return of confidence in racing in Canada is had in the announcement of the Montreal Jockey Club for its coming meeting. It has been decided to increase purees from the 00 of last year to ,000. There I will be seven steeplechases, which means a cross-country race every day and the big feature for the jumpers will be the Prince of Wales Stakes. J. B. Campbell is interesting the steeplechase stables in Montreal cross-country racing and among those who will ship to the Canadian course are Richard Pending and J. W. Healy, who has met with a full measure of success in other Canadian campaigns. Mr. Campbell will also possibly induce Wm. Garth to send a division of the J. S. Cosden jumpers up for j the meeting. Another change of some importance has been in the Connaught Cup. This race has been re-, duced from a mile and a quarter to a mile ; and an eighth, and it has been opened to Canadian foaled, instead of Canadian-owned, horses as formerly. This change was made in an effort to at" l tract horses of good class that have not been eligible under the old conditions. ! Two of the new two vear olds that have been shown at Bowie that may go on to top class are Single Foot, that races for J. E. Griffith, and Sombre, the filly in the stable of J. S. Cosden. Of the pair, Single Foot is the more impressive, but Sombre, from her easy success Thursday, may be better than is generally believed. It will not be until both j have gone considerably further than at Bowie that it will be safe to form any definite opinion of either, but thus far each is, to say the least, a truly fast two year old. There is a promise that for the fall racing season at Bowie this year, it will be possible to motor comfortably from Baltimore to the track. The lack of a good automobile road has been a big handicap to the track ever sine? its first meeting, and this will mean a world of improvement in the attendance. Bowie has always been popular and the crowds have always been exceedingly large, but the fact that the roads were almost impassable prevented many of the most desirable from visiting the course. Certain work is going forward in road building that will be completed in the sum mer and it is assured that all will be completed long before the November meeting. With this big improvement in transport a tion facilities it is likely that James F. OHara and his associates will find the Bowie accom modations all too small for the additional patronage that will come.
