view raw text
The Ascot Meeting of 1924 BY SALVATOR. A year ago, when the complete, tabulated summaries of the Ascot meeting were all In, I presented a resume of them in Daily Racing Form, which previously had printed the cabled results of the principal stake events. A similar recapitulation of what happened at the meeting of 1924 will not now be out of order. For, interesting as the racing at Ascot invariably is, this seasons was more than usually so. - 1 Many times the question has been asked, Why cannot America have an equivalent of Ascot? A meeting of brief duration, devoted exclusively to stake events, so conditioned as to bring together all the best horses in training, of all ages and classes, under circumstances and in an environment giving it a "place apart" as definitely representative, in both a sporting and a social sense, of the best and highest that racing in this country has to offer. And the answer is always the same. To wit : Such a thing as the Ascot meeting requires for its creation in the beginning, and its subsequent maintenance, assets that the American turf does not possess. To begin with, the Ascot course is the property of the British Crown, and the meeting is really a royal function. The "haut monde" is therefore a unit in supporting it and conferring upon it a social lustre that is incomparable. This alone would make it impossible for America to emulate it Again, among the patrons of the Ascot meeting are many owners a large percentage of them royal or noble who pay no attention whatever to the commercial aspect of racing. They concentrate almost wholly upon the ambition of turning out from their stables winners at this meeting. If they can attain that goal, they are perfectly satisfied not to win another race all the season. And such a custom in this country is simply unthinkable! "Atmosphere" and "tradition" are the principal factors in the creation of such a thing as the Ascot, meeting. And, need it be remarked, of nothing in the world is the American turf so destitute. American sportsmen, on the contrary, .have the racial passion for overturning everything of that sort they encounter, - whenever, it. is possible, and remolding it nearer . tP their hearts i.: e., their pocketbooks desire. This is the land of hustle, of jazz, of the go-getter. We have no royal family; and, to imagine an unimaginable thing, just suppose what would occur if we had a governmental race course, situated, let us say, somewhere adjacent to the city of Washington, and it "staged an annual race meeting a-la Ascot. Why, every four years, at least, if not annually, everybody who had anything to do with it would be changed in personnel, and the grand objectives of every man-jack of them, from the top down and the bottom up, would be to scrap everything previously in vogue and substitute for it something of a -model as altogether different as the most active brains of the administration could by hook and crook devise. . . . No. America never can have an equivalent of Ascot ; nor, by the same token, can any other country save the one that boasts it. The 1924 Ascot meeting began on Tuesday, June 17 and endured four days, according to the immemorial precedent, closing on Friday, the 20th. Seven races were contested daily, each and every one of whlcn was an old-eslablished stake event, of values ranging from 670 to 5,050 sovereigns, that is to say, worth net less than ,900. The outstanding feature is the long distance events. On three of the four days there arc races o two miles or over, and the remaining one sees two of a mile and a half. Ascot is, in fact, the great testing ground of the stamina of the English and French race horse of the present day for it is a favorite meeting with the French turf magnates who pride themselves particularly upon the stamina of the products of the Gallic haras. And this year they returned home in triumph, taking with them the most coveted trophy of the week, the Ascot Gold Cup, won by Massine over two miles and a half, wltn another Frenchman, Filibert de Savoie, second to him by a short head only. Still another representative of Gaul, Lo Capucin, came fourth, leaving only one English horse to show, among the first four! And again on the closing day, the longest race of tno meeting, the Alexandra Stakes, at two miles and three-quarters, plus 85 yards, went to tho French-bred Rose Prince, owned by the American sportsman, Mr. A. K. Macomber. The table herewith presented shows the results of the Ascot meeting so arranged as to provide the turfman with its "form at a glance." Each days program is given in order, with the name, value calculated at tho current rate of exchange, viz., .35 and distance of each event, the winner, his or her age arid weight carried, also tuts name of each sire, with the male line to which he belongs. It should be noted that several of the races were at distances a few yards in excess of the formal ones tabulated. Mechanical exigencies debar the giving of the names of the owners and riders of the various winners in the table. It may be stated, however, that only four owners won more than one race. Lord Woolavington took three, viz., the Queen Mary Stakes with Margeritta, the St. James Palace with Tom Pinch the one-time Derby favorite at last -coming across" and the New with Black Friar. Mr. Macomber was a double winner, taking .the last two races of the. meeting, tne Alexandra Stakes with Rose Prince and the Kings S;and with Golden Boss. Mr. C. Ken-yon took the Ascot Gold Vase with Audlem and the Bessborough Handicap with Haine. The horses raced in the name of Mrs. S. Whitburn won the Chesham Stakes Poor Scats and the Granville Arausio. Lord Woolavingtons three victories brought him the sum of 36,725.50 and made him also the leading mOney-winning owner. TUESDAY, JUNE 17 Stake. Value. Miles. Winner. Age. Wt. Sire: Line. . af ,097.50 7-8 Brimstone 3 103 Rock Flint Springfield sco 782.00 2 Scullion 4 109 Junior Hampton STSntir. 8.and.1.50 5-8 Iceberg ........ 2 12C Lembrog liend Or Gold "Vase 6,264.00 2 Audlem 3 110 Bachelors Double Bend Or Prince of ales ... 10,657.50 1 5-S Sansovino 3 131 Swynford Sterling Queen Mary ....... 11,027.25 5-8 Margeritta 2 124 Chas. OMalley St. Situon St. James Palace .. 18,102.50 1 Tom Pinch 3 119 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18 Bessborough ,970.7o 1 1-2 Haiqe 3 115 Ilainault Sterling Boyal Hunt Cup.... 9,, 44.00 7-8 Dinkie 4 94 Pommern Bend Or Chesham 5,154.7? 5-8 Poor Scats 2 121 Bochestor Springfield Ascot Derby ...... 9,401.25 . 1 1-2 Polyphontes 3 122 Tolymclus Bond Or Coronation 21,907.50 1 Straitlace 3 129 Son-in-Law Hampton Fern Hill .. 3,221.00 5-8 Purple Shade .. 3 125 Boyal Canopy Boi Herode Waterford 4,023.00 1 Parmenio 3 134 Tracery Springfield THURSDAY,. JUNE 19 ... Bona Memorial ,720.25 7-S Twelve Pointer. 4 125 Boyal . Realm St. Simon Ascot Gold Cup 13.7S9.50 2 1-2 Massine 4 120 Consols St. Simoa Granville 4,670.25 5-8 Arausio 3 130 Sunstar Speculum Churchill 4850.25 2 rarth .4 120 . Polymelus Bend Or ew 7.59j.50 5-8 Black Friar 2 140 Friar Marcus Bend Or All-Aged 2,914.50 3-4 Hamlet 0 141 Prince Palatine St. Simon Bibblesdale 4,893.75 1 Live Wire ..... 3 11G Volta Bend Or FRIDAY, JUNE 20 Ascot nighweight..-. ,301.75 1 1-2 Shippon 7 135 Lorello Bend Or Hardwicke 12.5S4.50 1 1-2 Chosroes 4 13C Clarissimus Bend Or "Windsor Castle 4,519.50 5-8 Diagoras 2 122 Diadumenos Bend Or JVokingham ....... 4,872.00 3-4 Pandarus 5 101 Son-in-Law Hampton Jersey 3,930.75 7-8 Blue Pete 3 115 Corcyra Bend Or Alexandra 7,705.75 -2 3-4 Rose Prince ...5 132 Prince Palatine St. Simon Kings Stand 4,306.50 5-8 Golden Boss- ... 4 147 The Boss Bend Or A glance at the column of weights carried and another at that of -distances run, will convey an idea of the class required to win at Ascot. There are few handicaps only five in a total of twenty-eight races, and one of these is a high-weight affair. . Only once did a horse carrying, less than 100 pounds show in front and no less than nineteen of tho twenty-eight winers had up to 120 to 147 pounds, three "of them carrying 140 or more. Taking these weights, in connection with the fact that there were so many distance races, into account, we understand why the capacity to win at Ascot means so much; to the critic, especially. The riding honors go to G. Archibald, who carried off the Queen Mary Stakes with Margeritta, the St James Palace with Tom Pinch, the New with Black Friar and the Hardwicke with Chosroes. Four different horses that won at Ascot last year appear in the table. Golden Boss, which "doubled" in 1923 in the Granville and Kings Stand Stakes, came back in tho latter event, though assigned the staggering impost of 147 pounds. Parmenio won tho Chesham Stakes last year and the Water-ford Stakes this. Hamlet took the All-Aged Stakes in 1923 and the same event in 1924 he carried 131 pounds last season and 141 this one. Purple Shade won last years Windsor Castle and this years Fern Hill Stakes. The winning families, when analyzed, show that of Bend Or still far in the van. A year ago this tribe accounted for eleven races at Ascot and this year they added another for a score of twelve. Next rank the St. Simons, with five races, which is an improvement over 1923, when, three was their portion. The Springfields, with .three .wins, just equal their last years score and the same thing is true of the Hamptons. The Rpi Herodes took a big slump, dropping from four to one. The Sterlings fell from three to two, the Speculums from two to one. Barcaldine, with no representative in 1923, gains one this year. The following condensed table, shows the money-winnings of the various tribes: Family Races Money Head. Won. Won. Bend Or 12 0,009.25 St. Simon .; 5 41,217.25 Hampton 3 34,521.50 Barcaldine I.." 1 18,102.50 Sterling 2 13,637.25 Springfield 3 13,475.25 Speculum 1 4,070.00 Boi Herode 1 3,221.00 A quite remarkable thing anent the Bend Ors is the fact that the twelve races won by them were won by twelve different horses, the get of eleven different sires testifying to a capacity to win uniform throughout the family in an exceptional degree. This capacity included that to win at all distances, from two miles twice the Gold Vase by Audlem and Churchill Stakes by Parth down to five furlongs. It is therefore only fair to say that under present conditions of racing in England, the tribe founded by the son of Doncaster and Rouge Rose far excels any and all others.
