Here and There on the Turf, Daily Racing Form, 1924-09-18

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Here and There on the Turf Aqueduct Boxes All Sold. Return to Antiquated Rule. In Memoriam s Return. Cherry Pies Great Race. "Regret to say we cannot reserve a bos, as all the boxes have been sold for the 27th of September." Just how many have received such an answer to applications for box reservations at Aqueduct for the second International Special? That will never be known, but such an answer has been going out to many who made application long ago for comfortable accommodation for the mile race in which Epinard is to start over the course of the Queens County Jockey Club. It is all very well for the Queens County Jockey Club to have a desire for the fame that goes with the staging of this race, but when that fame comes at the expense of patrons of racing it is carrying pride a bit too far. One look at the Aqueduct stand and then the memory of that tremendous outpouring at Belmont Park on Labor Day for the first of the Specials convinces one of how utterly inadequate the old stand is to take care of those who desire to see the running of the race. The Queens County Jockey Club needs to make no bid for popular favor. It will always be a favorite course with many of the racegoers and there is no better racing ground to be found anywhere, but the racing of September 27 will undoubtedly show the crying need for better accommodation at the old track. The stand is antiquated and old, the lawn is narrow and altogether the accommodations for the public are miserably below the high standard of the track itself and the sport that is offered. Long before the Epinard races were arranged, thsro had been complaint of the ancient Aqueduct stand, but it remains practically the same and it is there that an attempt is going to be made to offer what may reasonably be looked forward to as the most important race of the New York season. There is something to commend in the determination to have Aqueduct go down in history as the scene of one of the Epinard races, but, after all, it is a thoroughly s:lfish desire for the fame lhat goes with the staging cf the race, when it is compared with the vast number who will be denied a chance to see the contest. It was hoped that after the excellent results that came with the 1 oclock closing of entries that the Queens County Jockey Club would follow the lead of the Westchester Racing Association. At Belmont Park the moving up of the time for the closing of entries worked no hardship on the trainers and it wa3 a change that was heartily approved by the public. The new time for closing the entries was thoroughly tried cut and its promised success followed as a natural course. But Aqueduct has gone back to the old idea of closing the entries at 2 oclock, which means that they are not released, usually, until after the running of the first race. There is no good reason for continuing this idea that was all well enough when racing was of lesser importance as a news feature. It was early enough when racing interested few, but now, with the turf cf such vast public interest, it is time that all the associations showed some little consideration for the progress that has been made. There are many arguments that should appeal directly to the office of the racing secretary for the early closing, and the benefit that comes to the associations from an early closing admits of no argument. It has been pointed out before that, with an early closing of entries, it is always possible to put on a substitute race should the scheduled one fail to attract sufficient entries and still clo.se the entries at a reasonable time. "When 2 oclock is the closing hour it has frequently happened that a race has to be declared off and the substitute cannot be properly filled until as late as 4 oclock in the afternoon. In Memoriam, the best of the Kentucky three-year-olds of last year, and, in the opinion of many good judges, the best in the country, is back to the races. There was nothing to boast of in this, his first appearance, for he was soundly beaten, but he came out of the race in excellent condition and it will undoubtedly do good in fitting him for the engagements he is to fill later. Trainer Gilmore has been going along slowly with the swift-running son of McGee and Enchantress II., and what was of greatest concern was to have the celt stand up. He has had disappointments in attempting to bring his charge back to racing form, and time and again he has had to discontinue his training. Now that In Memoriam came out of this three-quarters dash soundly, it will be possible to go along with him at a better pace. It is safe to promise that In Memoriam will be a greatly improved horse the next time he appears under colors, but he is still far away from being up to the mile and a quarter of the third International Special, one of the big engagements for which he is intended. It was in the Latonia Championship Stakes, at a mile and three-quarters, that In Memoriam took the measure of both Zev and My Own last year, and it is remembered that later, in a special with Zev, he was only beaten a nod, while many agreed he was the better colt. The engagements In Memoriam has at Latonia include the Autumn Handicap, at three-quarters, to be run Saturday; the Latonia Cup Handicap, at two miles and a quarter, to be run September 27, and the third International Special, at a mile and a quarter, to be run October 11. Gilmore will make every endeavor to have In Memoriam ready and it is to be hoped that he will be successful, but it seems exceedingly doubtful after his first rcs of the fall season. While Cherry Pie was beaten in the running of the Bayview Handicap at Aqueduct Thursday, it is doubtful if the son of Chicle and Cherry Malotte ever ran a better race. When the barrier rose Cherry Pie was a bad last of the eleven that were at the barrier. In fact, he was even worse than that. He had propped and, to many jockeys, it would have meant being left at the post, for no effort would be made to go after the field. But little Ivar Parke has a fashion of trying just as hard tc finish somewhere close to the money as he will to win a purse. The result was that he sent Cherry Pie after the others. It appeared like an utterly hopeless chase, and at the first eighth post Cherry Pie was just sixteen lengths back of the leader. That would .have been enough to discourage almost any rider, but little Parke sat down on his mount and asked him to run fast. He was still eleven lengths from the leader when the stretch was reached, and then, with that marvelous stretch rush, he was able to close that gap and finish right at the tail of Spot Cask the winner. Cherry Pie was the hero of that mile anc a sixteenth and never before did he run i better race.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1920s/drf1924091801/drf1924091801_2_2
Local Identifier: drf1924091801_2_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800