view raw text
THREE-YEAR-OLDS OF 1924 Sarazen, Ladkin, Ordinance, Mad Play, St. James Best in East. Black Ooltl, Wise Counsellor, Cliilhowce, AlSa-wood anil Princess Doreen Leaders of Division in the West. NEW YORK, N, Y., Nov. 10. One of the most remarkable features of the racing season of 1924, now drawing to a close, has been the number of three-year-olds that have developed the qualities that make them desirable not only for the track but for the breeding stud when their racing days are over. Of the various candidates for three-year-old honors in 1924 the names of St. James. Sarazen and AVise Counsellor were most frequently heard during the winter and early last spring. This was due to the form displayed by this trio as two-year-olds and each had a loyal following. St. James wintered Avell and began the year auspiciously by defeating Zev in the Pau-monok Handicap. His superb individuality, brilliant speed and faultless breeding made him the favorite of his age with the experts after his Jamaica triumph. He was expected to be a factor in all the great three-year-old races and one of the strongest contenders in the International races. When Mr. Wideners champion went wrong in his training there was general regret and the sympathy of the racing world went out to the owner and to Andrew Jackson Joyner, who had developed the colt. With St. James out of it the experts began scrutinizing the chances of the other three-year-olds. Because of their breeding, many were loath at the outset of the campaign to accept either Sarazen or Wise Counsellor as being of high-class timber, and odds were laid that the former would not win at a mile and an eighth or over during the year. The victory of the filly Nellie Morse in the Preak-ness Stakes gave force to the contention advanced in some quarters that the three-year-old colts of the year as a class lacked quality. Reports from Rancocas early in the year had it that Mad Play was a good colt, but he failed utterly at Pimlico and again in Kentucky when the westerner, Black Gold, beat him handsomely in the Derby. The Whitney establishment was barren of three-year-olds of quality and it looked gloomy indeed when both Sarazen and Wise Counsellor began the year badly. It was another story, however, when Ordinance flashed meteor-like across the racing sky at Jamaica to give the impression that he was a first class race horse. There is little doubt that he could have won the Derby had he been pointed for it instead of being reserved for the Belmont Stakes and other stakes at home, which races however, he was doomed to miss because of the Continued on second page. THREE-YEAR-OLDS OF 1924 Continued from Hrst pasc. perverse fate which .struck him lame and rendered him unable to start in either the Belmont, the Travers or the Realization. The public thus had too brief a view of the colt that many believed was the equal of any horse in training. At a time when the public was deploring the retirement cf Ordinance, the son of Ormondale was succeeded by Ladkin. Always highly regarded by his owner and breeder, this big colt began to show his true quality at Aqueduct. He was ineligible for the Belmont Stakes, which had been won bv Mad Play but at the track of the Queens County Jockey Club he raced brilliantly, winning the Broadway Stakes and followed it up with the Carleton and Dwyer, two of the oldest fixtures on the roser of that organization. The Carleton was run in 1 :43, .equalling the record for that distance, while the Dwye.-was won within a fraction of the American record for a mile and an eighth. Ladkin was top-notcher when he was sent to Chicago to race over a course that brought defeat and a set back that lasted until shortly before the running of the Second Special, in Avhich he was victorious over Epinard. His career for the remainder of the year was cut short by a bruised foot while in training for the Third Special at Latonia. As the star of Ordinance diminished, the brilliancy of Sarazen and Wise Counsellor, both of which recovered their form simultaneously, illumined the racing horizon. The former confounded the critics by winning the Huron Handicap at a mile and three-sixteenths at Saratoga and began the career that culminated with his superb victories at Latonia and Laurel a record seldom surpassed and rarely equalled, marking the High Time gelding as a race horse of unusual attainments. Wise Counsellor, while not tha equal of Sarazen, has given proof of his quality and gained face as the conqueror of Epinard in the first Special. Mad Play, during the summer, gave glimpses of good form, but disappointed on several instances when most was expected of him. He is perhaps as good at this writing as he has been at any time this season. His Belmont Stakes was the high light of the year for this Rancocas-owned colt, though there are possibilities that the fag end of the Maryland campaign will find him dangerous in the best company, as his last race at Empire City was extremely brilliant, Tho Belair Studs Aga Khan and Priscilla Ruley, neither of which gave unusual promise in 1923, came along famously as three-year-olds and will go into winter quarters commanding the respect and admiration of those who like thoroughbreds with bottom. The former has won a number of good races this year to date, but the Lawrence Realization Stakes brought him his greatest fame. The Alabama Stakes was Priscilla Ruleys crowning achievement, though there were-other fixtures in which she proved her worth. Mr. Mutt, after winning the Saratoga Cup. unfortunately fell lame at Belmont Park and Sun Flag, after taking the Travers Stakes, failed to duplicate the form he displayed on that occasion. Laurano, Klondyke. Lucky Play, Transmute, Apprehension, initiate and others, won good races but could not be considered anything like first class. Rustic on occasions showed solid form, especially over a long route. Big Blaze, whose winning of tho Washington Handicap marked him as. a three-year-old of parts, has come on amazingly this fall. The big son of Camp-fire was a winner at Saratoga but his best race was at Laurel recently and with some-of the best events of the Maryland season yet to be run he is certain to be heard from. In the west the three-year-old situation last spring about paralleled that of the east. Black Gold began auspiciously, but faded away to give place to Chilhowee, Altawood. Princess Doreen, Bob Tail, Befuddle and a few others whose form had not been as good as his at two years of age. Chilhowee in particular attracted attention by his remarkable speed and will go into winter quarters with two records to his credit Princess Doreen. during a visit to New York in June, annexed the Coaching Club American Oaks. At onetime her admirers were confident that slm could lower the colors of most of the colts. She failed, however, to justify this opinion and easterners now place her in about tin same notch as Priscilla Ruley. Had it not been for the three-year-olds of 1924, the great races of the year would have lost much of their interest That all three Specials of the International were won by three-year-olds is worthy of note. It all illustrates the uncertainty of the turf. Two-year-olds of fair quality frequently develop into high class three-year-olds, just as ths stars of the two-year-old filament flicker and frequently go out at three. Taking the form of the two-year-olds of the current year as a guide, there is hope that 1925 will see something worth while develop from the galaxy of juvenile material available, which includes Master Charlie, Sunny Man, Captain Hal, Pas Seul, Kentucky Cardinal, Lee O. Cotner, Cloudland, Young-Martin, Single Foot, Stimulus, Mother Goose, Swinging, Candy Kid, Swope, Blue Warbler, Maud Mullet and numerous others.
