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! Here and There on the Turf Another Epinard Test. Value of International Races. Lack of American Champions. Grown Is Still in the Air. ; There remains one more contract engagement for Pierre Wertheimers Epinard. The French champion has to journey to Latonia to battle for the 0,000 added money prize and a suit-abb trophy to be offered by the Kentucky Jockey Club over the mile and a quarter distance on October 11. This is the most important of the three races that brought the son of Badajoz and Epine Blanch 2 to this country. Every year there appears a notable sprinter and a horse that is capable of running a mile. That is, after all, not an adequate test. It naturally means something, but the ideal thoroughbred must be more than a miler. Sp;cd is the first essential in a thoroughbred and then, as "Farmer Bill" Scully always put it, the second essential is "more speed." That is to say that the champion must be capable of carrying that speed for distances that afford a test of courage and stamina as well as speed. This mile and a quarter at Latonia, at the scale weight, is accordingly a test of much greater racing importance than either the six furlongs at Belmont Park or the mile decided at Aqueduct Saturday. It is over a route that surely calls for speed and then more speed. Each one of those that opposed the French champion at Aqueduct is eligible for the mile and a quarter at Latonia and then Mrs. Van-derbilt III.s Sarazsn is also an eligible, as well as My Play, and the best, of those that have been shown in Kentucky. Ail of this adds to the interest in the big race to be decided at Latonia on October 11 and it is fitting that this, the best test of them all, should be the last of the three tests. With its running it does not naturally follow that Epinard will be through in this country He has engagements in Maryland during the Laurel meeting, but the mile and a quarter is the last of his engagements at the scale weight and that is the only race condition that should be considered in the making of a champion. It is admitted that the International races do a great good in popularizing the sport of racing in this country, and it is to be hoped that they would continue year after year, but they should go even further than they have in the importation of Papyrus last year and Epinard this year. It would be ideal International series if races could be arranged in each age division. Of course, that may not be possible among the juveniles, but it ought to be accomplished with, say, the three-year-olds and the handicap division. Then these races should be attractive enough and of sufficient sporting importance to induce entries from both England and France at least. These entries should naturally be of championship form from the two countries, as they should be arranged at varying distances, as were the Epinard tests, and at scale weight. But the weight of money ought not to enter into such contests if they are to be of the sporting importance that is desired. This country will probably always be able to outbid both the British and French turf when it comes to offering inducements for the staging of such races, but with the real sporting spirit that ought to prevail the American sportsmen should be willing to ship to one or other sister country for like races. Naturally, in all sports the winning country is the one to be challenged, and, the one that should stage the return match, but in the event that Epinard ehould come out of his engagements the victor, the American sportsmen should show the same willingness to go .abroad as they are to offer inducements to have the others come to our side of the Atlantic. That is the only way that International races can endure and become of the worldwide importance that is desired. That is only possible if the governing powers of racing in England and France take kindly to the suggestion, and the American sportsmen show a willingness to make an invasion. It is not intimated that the American sportsmen would not go abroad, but it is imperative that these races be continued sporting events, and there must never be reason for the charge that the American sportsmen are, after all, only showmen in search of big attractions to advance their own interests. With the end of the racing season almost in sight, the championship in the various age divisions is still much in the air. In fact, there has never been a time that a truly "solid" horse has stood the test. One after another the good ones have flashed up as giants, only to fall when the acid test was applied. And this has been the case from May to October. There is not a horse that has gone through the year-as a champion should. That is not all, it is doubtful now if the championships will be decided before the end of the season. The juvenile division is in a hopeless muddle. The three-year-olds have been beating each other in a most discouraging fashion and the handicap division, doe3 not show one that is abb to concede weight as a champion must to earn the crown. Sarazen has come back to a form that gives him a call for top honors, but there are several black marks against him this year, while he was unbeaten as a two-year-old. Ladkin is a sensation, but he had some unforgivable lapses. Zav seems to be coming back, but is not the dependable Zev that well nigh swept ai before him last season. Wise Counsellor has the excuse of having been away from the races when his best opportunities fell due, but he has failed after coming to his good form. Ordinance flashed up for a time and then went amiss. Mad Play, of great promise in the early spring, is only a shadow of himself and is many pounds away from championship calibre. Black Gold has slipped away from his sensational form of the early spring. Bracadale has gone back. Nellie Morse never came back to her brilliant victory in the Preakness last May. In Mempriam virtually did not come back to the races at all. Chilhowee, Bob Tai! and Altawood all flashed up, but they were only flashes. It would be possible to go on through many others that have flashed up from time to time, only to fail later. The two-year-olds are just as bad. Swope looked like a champion for a time, but failed. American Flag was hailed as another Man o War by some enthusiasts, only to disappoint. Young Martin showed class that, suggested pos-sibb high honors, but was not there under an acid test. Nicholas has won and failed until he could not be rated on top. Reputation was a Kentucky star that went to pieces. Sweep Park was the filly of the year until she failed utterly in the running of the Futurity. Maud Muller, Swinging and Mother Goose were a Whitney trio of fillies that showed an abundance of form, but not a one was a real champion, though Mother Goose was winner of the Futurity. Single Foot is a good one, but hardly a champion. Extrems, Royalite, Ne-dana and Sunny Man were others of the juveniles that figured prominently, but not a one stood out as a champion should. The result of this all is that taking ten of the best juveniles that have bscn raced and it is possible that any set of good judges might pick a different one as best. It has, been a year without a standout champion and there is small chance to find a champion before the close of the racing in New York, Kentucky and Maryland.
