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Here and There on the Turf Close of Kentucky Season. How Circuit Has Grown. Racing and Breeding. Case of Senator Norris. With th2 racing at Lexington this afternoon the long Kentucky racing season comes to a close. It was at Lexington that the Kentucky Association began this season on April 26 with a ten days meeting. The Kentucky Jockey Club followed with its meetings at Churchill -Downs, Louisville, and Latonia. There was the usual midsummer rest, as far as these two associations were concerned, and then the autumn racing worked back by way of Latonia, Churchill Downs and Lexington. It was the first time in many years that Lexington brought the Kentucky racing season to a close, although geographically that city was the logical point at which to close the annual racing. There was some apprehension at first on account of this change in dates, but the Lexington meeting has been a thoroughly successful one and doubtless this present arrangement of dotes will be continued next year. There was another Kentucky meeting at Raceland and there were other smaller meetings. The Raceland meeting was a decided addition to the circuit. This racing was through the summer days after Latonia had completed its regular summer meeting. And there was other middle western racing that was so contiguous to Kentucky as to almost be associated with that circuit. That was the racing at Hawthorne and Aurora, the two Chicago tracks. There was nothing in common between Kentucky and these racing associations, but it was racing in an - adjacent locality that kept the turfmen of the Middle West well entertained right through the summer and fall. And that circuit continues to expand, for there is under construction a new course at Coney Island, close to Cincinnati and it is so close to Latonia that it will naturally draw from the same localities for its patronage. This constantly growing circuit tells of the prosperity of its racing and the opportunities for the thoroughbred continue to make their production a profitable enterprise. There is always the danger of overdoing racing in localities but, thus far, it would seem that the patronage has warranted all of the new race courses that have been built. Just so long as the racing itself can be kept clean there can be no reasonable objection to the new tracks coming in and the record of 1924 has been a creditable one. The way the races have been filling at both Bowie and Lexington tell eloquently of the popularity of late fall racing with horsemen. For the racing at Bowie, Friday, there were 110 horses named for the seven races and several entries had to be excluded. At Lexington the seven races attracted 70 entries and in mid-season programs are seldom so large. Five of these seven races at Lexington were over the Futurity course, which is short uf three-quarters, while the remaining two were at a mile and an eighth and a mile and seventy yards respectively. At Bowie, where Joseph McLennan has been particularly successful in filling races at longer distances that are usual for fall rac-ing, three of the dashes were at seven-eighths, one at six and a half furlongs and the other three at a mile and seventy yards, a mile and ; a sixteenth and a mile and an eighth respectively., The longer distance races arc popular, , 7 7 , 1 2 2 3 A 4 5 C 7 1 2 , ; ; , as was shown by the fact that the mile and an eighth attracted twenty entries. All of this augurs well for the winter racing that will begin Thanksgiving Day. The majority of the horses now racing at both Lexington and Bowie will be at one or other of the winter tracks. Of course, several of them will rest until the racing begins again in either Kentucky or Maryland, in the spring, but to a great extent winter tracks find their material at the late fall meetings. And with the constantly growing breeding interests in this country it is well that there should be adequate racing opportunity for the product. It is the opportunity that fixes the value of the yearlings. When racing fell into a bad way by reason of persecution, the thoroughbred breeding suffered a severe setback. The production has not yet returned to the measure of the days before it was found politic to close the New York race courses for both 1911 and 1912. But in late years there has come a steady increase, until now it is promised that the production will go on until a new high mark will be established before long. Away back in the spring H. G. Bedwell would not have traded his chances in the Preakness Stakes or the Kentucky Derby with anybody. His candidate was Senator Norris, son of Cudgel and Cypher Code. This colt had gone into winter retirement winner of the Walden Handicap, and in his early preparation for the big three-year-old stake races trained in a fashion that held out high hopes for his victory in one or both of the big races. In fact, Senator Norris created such an impression that an offer of 65,000 that was made for him was refused by Bedwell. But Senator Norris was not brought to the post for either engagement. This same Sentaor Norris was campaigned right through the racing season, doing most oi his racing in Canada, and did not win a race until he was home first in a condition race at Fort Erie in July. That was over a fast track and he ran a mile in 1:42, while the track record for the distance is 1:37. Following this there was more campaigning and the son of Cudgel was not again a winner until his victory Thursday at Bowie. But it was a victory to atone for several defeats, when he ran his three-quarters in 1 :12, establishing a new track record. The previous record was 1:12, made by R. F. Carmans Startling on November 24, 1917. It was in error that the Bowie program carried that time as 1:12. Of course, this record-making three-quarters does not proclaim Senator Norris a 865,000 colt. He was valued at that figure because of his chance of winning, possibly, both the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby. But Senator Norris seems to be coming back and he is another of the Bowie horses that is at home over the peculiar going at that course. Again there is brought home the fact that much of the value of a good horse lies in his engagements. The breeder who does not liberally engage his foals is practicing false economy, whether or not the foals measure up to the stakes for which they have been made eligible. One foal will make his line famous if he proves a champion, but he can hardly prove his championship unless he has the opportunity in the races best calculated to earn the crown. The English Jockey Club has fixed a rate of values in computing winnings in foreign countries. After free discussion it was voted that all money remit values of foreign countries should be computed at par, that being the rule in this country, established by the Jcckey Club as far as America is concerned, but it is only the same to make easy the fixing of penalties and allowances of the : foreigners. ! When there was money depreciation in . many of the European countries, by reason of the world war, the American dollar depreciated less in value in comparison than the money standards of other nations, and there had to be a rule that would definitely fix a basis of computing racing values. The English Jockey Club has cleared the way and, while the rule does not follow the actual rate of exchange it simplifies the method in arriving at foreign winnings reduced to English currency.
