view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Weights for the Huron. One Notable Renewal. Sande to Stay at Home. Readiness of Epinard. Walter S. Vosburgh has proclaimed Mrs. Vanderbilts Sarazen, the unssxed son of High Time and Rush Box, the best of the three-year-olds named for the Huron Handicap. He is rated as a three pounds better horse than either the Rancocas Stables Mad Player or John S. Wards Wise Counsellor; four pounds better than Edward R. Bradleys Baffling and six pounds better .than Bracadale, the stablemate of Mad Play. The Huron Handicap is a race over a mile and three-sixteenths route. It is easy to understand that Sarazen might have the post of honor in a sprint, but a mile and three-sixteenths is something more than a sprint. This homely little gelding may be up to the mile nad three-sixteenths, and if he can successfully tote 126 pounds in defeating the horses that will oppose him, Mrs. Vanderbilt will be well repaid for some of the disappointments she has suffered. Some of the others in the Huron Handicap that may be depended upon to keep the high weights exceedingly busy are Big Blaze, under 115 pounds; Aga Khan, a rare long route traveller, with 112 as his impost; the good filij, Whetstone, handicapped at 110, and Thorndale at 103. Some might take exception to Thorndale being named as a possibility, but this colt is of the plodding sort that is" rarely suited at a mile and three-sixteenths. His last race was a bad one, but it was too bad to be true, and he has raced in a manner to give him a chance in any company over this distance. The Huron Handicap was first run in 1901 and during its interesting history the lightweights have had their full share of honor. Purchase won under the greatest burden when he carried 134 in 1919, and three years before that James Butlers Spur successfully carried 130 pounds. The lightest weight ever carried to victory in the Huron Handicap was in 1909, when Chroirmaster of Chesterbrook bore the red, white and blue colors of the late Captain E. B. Cassatt home in front. And to Mrs. Cassatt belongs all the credit for Choirmaster of Chesterbrook being sent to the post for his Huron victory. The colt had started the day before, as recollection goes, without the aid of the record, and he came put of the race a bit lame. It was a cheap race and his showing was a disapponit-inent to Simon Healy. He did not have any idea of trying for the race, even though his colt had been tossed in at 87 pounds, in the light of his coming out of the other race a bit lame. The colt with the name a yard long was tucked away for the day, but when coming to the course Mrs. Cassatt had found "a rusty horse shoe, and it decided her that Choirmaster of Chesterbrook should try for the Huron Handicap. Healy, no matter what he may say at this late date, did not think the colt had a chance, but there had come up a heavy rain and the track was soft.. It would not hurt the "dicky" leg to any great extent, that is, not as much as racing over a hard track, and thus it was that the despised outsider in both the handicap and the betting was an easy winner. - A mite of a lad named Mulligan had thej mount. He went away from the post as though riding in a five-eighths sprint. Choirmaster of Chesterbrook raced into a long lead before the first turn was reached and the result was never for an instant in doubt. Now there is a gold-plated horseshoe among the turf trophies treasured by Mrs. Cassatt. When Earl Sande is back on his feet again there will be no danger of his being lost to the American turf. This premier rider and sterling sportsman, during his tediou3 confinement while nursing a broken leg, has had so many evidences of the high esteem in which he is held in this country that he will never forsake it for a foreign racing ground. Ever since the unfortunate accident that will at least keep him out of the saddle for the rest .of this year, he has been fairly deluged with letters of sympathy and wishes for his speedy and complete recovery. This has had much to do with the determination never to desert the American turf. "I had thought of going to England," said Sande to some visiting friends today, "but I have made up my mind to stay at home. I know what the folks think" of me over here and I am not sure what they would think of me in England." The whole turf world knows just what the English sportsmen would think of Sande. His qualities as a sportsman, apart from his ability as a jockey, would make him instantly popular among real sportsmen of any country, but there is congratulation in the fact that we need have no fear of his going to new fields of endeavor. There are many who express the fear that Epinard has not had enough fast, work to entirely fit .him for his Labor Day engagement at Belmont Park. With a knowledge of the methods of some American trainers, dockers have been anxiously awaiting a real speed trial that would give an accurate line on the invader. They want to see just how fast he can run, but they all agree that what he has been asked to do has been accomplished with ease. There should be no apprehension on that score. Leigh developed the colt and he should know by this time just what method of training will bring the best results. The colt is tho picture of robust health and- there has been time enough to sharpen up his speed. It is safe to assume that when he is sent to the post he will be fit and ready to do the best of which he is capable. He will have the fleetest of our sprinters opposing him, with the exception of Sarazen, unfortunately not eligibb, and there should be no excuses after the running of the race. 4 .
