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Here and There on the Turf Sunny Mans Class. Return of Sarazen. Plans at Belmont Park. After the brilliant performance of Willis Sharpc Kilmers Sunny Man in the Saratoga Special Saturday, he has been hailed by many good judges as the colt of the year. This is an opinion that has also been expressed by some of the Kentuckians who saw Reputation and all the other good ones race over the Kentucky circuit. This handsome chestnut son of Sun Briar and Romagne has been improving with each appearance, and, as a matter of fact, his only defeat was in his first race. He has shown all that a champion should have and there is no colt in Saratoga that has a more liberal engagement list, so that he will not want for opportunity to show his real worth. The one colt that appears able to do him battle, and some consider him better than Mr. Kilmers champion, is Samuel D. Riddles American Flag, the son of Man o War and Lady Comfey. Unfortunately, this magnificent colt was not an eligible to the Saratoga Special, but he and Sunny Man have engagements in common in the Sanford Stakes, to bo run Wednesday, as well as the Grand Union Hotel Stakes, Adirondack Handicap and the Hopeful Stakes, to be run the closing day of the meeting. These engagements in common should bring the pair together and, with everything else equal, should result in great contests. It is argued that American Flag has not yet shown enough to be rated a possible champion, but he has only been started twice by Gwyn Tompkins, and while, like Sunny Man, he was beaten in his fifrst race, he won the second race so impressively as to give him an instant recognition among the best of them. The victory of Mrs. Vanderbilts Sarazen in the Saranac Handicap Saturday was a particularly pleasing feature of that big day of racing and it was a performance that gives the unbeaten two-year-old of 1923 his first real importance as a three-year-old. It was a race to indicate that he is much better than a mere sprinter and he is sure to go on through the racing ssason to something like the fame that was promised for him last fall. Max Hirsch was unfortunate in having the son of High Time and Rush Box go off in his training when he was preparing him for the Kentucky Derby and, while he may not yet measure up to a mile and a quarter, the Saranac Handicap was won in a fashion to suggest that it is within his powers. It is unfortunate for Mrs. Vanderbilt that "ftc fact of Sarazen being a gelding bars him from meeting Pierre Wertheimcrs Epinard in he three races the French champion is to run b this country. Some time ago Max Hirsch expressed regret that he could not meet Epi-pard with Sarazen in the three-quarters at Belmont Park, but now that his good three-year-old has won the Saranac Handicap it is probable he would include the mile at Aqueduct in hi3 regret and possibly also the mile and a quarter at Latonia. But S.araien is well engaged for a gelding and he will have plenty of opportunity without meeting Epinard to show just where he belongs among the three-year-olds. The announcement by Major August Belmont of a part of the plans for the first Epinard race at Belmont Park on Labor Day makes certain that there will be an opportunity for all to see the first international race of the year. It is probabh that the vast accommodations at Belmont Park will be taxed to the utmost when such an attraction is put on during a public holiday. It is a day when the Westchester Racing Association would be assured of a tremendous crowd without any extra attraction, but it was chosen for the purpose of affording that many more to ses the race. Now, with the vast infield thrown open at a charge of a dollar and a half, it is hard to estimate just what sort of a crowd will bo present.
