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Here and There on the Turf Promising Juveniles. Bowie Developments. An Unfortunate Claim. Sentiment Needed. If one is to believe all that is heard on ali sides of the new two-year olds, 1924 is sure to be a remarkable year on the turf. It is admitted that seldom has there been more promise of good racing in the three year-old division and if these two year-olds come up to promise there is rare sport in view. Long before the close of the Havre de Grace meeting there will be a chance to have a real line on both of these age divisions. It is at that meeting that many a good one will come out of retirement and those that have already been shown at Bowie may be expected to improve over what they have shown. The Bowie racing only produced one two-year-old that was in any sense sensational. Thai was Single Foot, in the stable of J. E. Griffith. This is a bay son of Wrack and Virginia L., by McGee, and there surely is nothing the matter with his blood lines. The manner in which he smashed the half-mile track record, cutting the figure to :47% left no doubt of his good class. He won with ridiculous ease, while Vanidoso, the 1,-000 filly, could only finish fourth. Of course, it is admitted that Vanidoso plainly was not suited by the Bowie going and, as far as she is concerned, the race must not be counted against her. But Single Foot showed a measure of speed that suggests his going on to great things before the end of the racing year. The time was not fast, compared with half-mile records on some other courses, but Bowie is a slow track and no colt could run as fast as Single Foot did without being able !• take on the best at any track. The three year-olds did not cut any figure at Bowie. That is to say there were no three year olds shown that could be seriously cop-sidered a of high class, but probably Thorn-dale and Swingalong were the best of that age. Thorndale ■ useful, but hardly a Derby colt, while Swingalong did not show enough to be heralded as anything approaching championship class. Of course it would be ridiculous to attempt to pick a two year-old champion at the end of the first race meeting of the year. It is well within the bounds of possibility that Single loot is a flash in the pan. He may b? thoroughly whipped within the next fortnight. He may have found the peculiar footing at Bowie exactly to his liking. Harry Rites may have had him right at the top of his form and those behind him were either stalling off or had not reached the pinnacle of condition. Too often there comes extravagant praise of this or that horse on a cheap reputation. For that reason Single Foot is not going to be named as the best colt out. But it it safe enough to pronounce him best of those that bore colors at Bowie. New York will come into its own, proba bly. during the Havre de Grace meeting. It is there that many of the good ones will be shown for the first time and, while they may not be the best, there is every indication that f#.gle Foot will be tried and if he can come sarough the second of the Maryland meetings maintaining the reputation that he earned , with one fctart at Bowie, it will be time enough to talk of him and his championship qualifications. There was a happening at Bowie on the closing day that was just a bit to be regretted. It was the claiming of the two year old Foyle. That smart daughter of Lough Foyle and Estelie H. was sold to Mrs. J. P. Mayberry by Woods Garth, representing J. S. Cosden, just to keep alive the Mayberry name on the turf. And she was sold cheaply. "Johnny" Mayberry was a tremendously popular turfman and it was, to say the least, a pretty compliment to his widow that Mr. Garth should turn over a useful juvenile cheaply that she might continue the colors. Of course, under the rules of racing, the claim was entirely legitimate. A valuation was placed on Foyle and it was met through the claiming box. The claimant was well within his rights, but it upset a little bit of pretty sentiment and it would be well if there was more sentiment in racing. Probably the claimant did not know just how Foyle came to be racing under the colors of Mrs. Mayberry. Probably he did not know "Johnny" when he was here. He is not blamed for what he did if it was done in the regular way, but it was just one time when it was an unfortunate claim. And while on tho sentimental side of racing, it might be said that more sentiment and less commercialism would work a great and last ins; good on the turf. If there was more talk of the horse and less of the price that the winner may pay, it would make for better sportsmen and better sport. Champions breed sentiment, but there is no good reason why horses of lesser merit should not excite sentiment. After all it is the horse that counts and to making racing the greatest of all sports the horse must always be paramount. He is not a mere gambling tool, as so many of the enemies of racing would have us believe. He is a bigger and better thing than a device for the winning of money. Fortunately there are enough real sportsmen to offs?t this estimate that has from time to time worked great havoc on the turf. The horse must always be the big thing and, with the horse idolized, there never can be any fear of any interruption of the grandest of all the sport*,
