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5 5 Here and There ! 6 7 on the Turf 1 i Opening of New Season. 2 2 Belmont Park Stakes. 3 3 Boon to the Breeders. 4 5 Fleischmann Purchases. e 6 7 The long term of winter racing begins today at both Jefferson Park in New Orleans and Tijuana, Mexico. Saturday Oriental Park will j 1 bring the sport to Cuba and with the closing of Bowie on that day all that will remain is 3 2 2 winter racing. But to call it winter racing is a misnomer. 4 4 Winter racing suggests cold, bleak weather. 5 5 There is no more winter racing in these en- 6 6 lightened days of the turf. There was winter -racing 7 at old Guttenberg and there was winter racing at many another track, but it was racing through snowstorms, chilling winds and i 1 patrons shivered behind glass enclosed grand- 2 stands. It was winter racing that on occasions j 3 had to be halted by blizzards and by stress of weather, when man and beast would not 4 take the risk. 5 Now what is called winter racing is con- G ducted in balmy climes and under sunny skies. It is only winter because the calendar says so. There is none of the hardship to horses or 1 patrons, rather there are all the delights of 2 midsummer than winter, so that it is not : 3 winter sport. At both Jefferson Park and Ti- 4 juana there are an abundance of horses of ; speed and stamina ready for the call to the post and it is safe to predict that the long winter racing season will have its most auspicious opening. In January Miami will come into the circuit and it is indeed a bountiful prospect for the lovers of the thoroughbred who can find the time to journey with it to these delightful playgrounds. Miami is surely showing an abiding faith in the racing that is to come to that delightful Florida resort in January. Now work has begun on a bungalow colony on the north , side of the new course and the firm that has begun the work has every assurance that it will be an excellent business venture. The plan calk for the erection of 250 bungalows and the actual construction has begun on ten of them at this time. The endeavor will be to have as many as possible completed before the opening of the meeting on January 15. These are designed to take care of the horsemen in comfort and it is promised that they will be as cheap as ,850 and that, unless built to order, none will cost more than ,500. They are to be approximately twenty-eight feet square and equipped with electric lights, drainage and water supply and a!l the other modern comforts and conveniences. What is of most importance at this distance from Miami is the convincing proof of the idea of permanency in the racing at that city. From time to time doubts have been expressed of adequately bringing racing back to Florida. Most of these expressions have come from those who were not in accord with the plans of the Miami Jockey Club, but each has been answered by the work that has gone on. In the first place, no expense was spared in the construction of the course and from the beginning there was a solid policy of permanency evident in all that was done. Now the fact that this bungalow colony is under way, only because of the racing, the doubts of all as to the success of the coming meeting should be stilled. The first Hn3 on the possibilities of an approaching New York turf campaign is always furnished with the closing of the stake entries of the Westchester Racing Association for the racing at Belmont Park. This association always makes its stake offerings known before any of the others and it is the first to invite entries. The stakes for 1925, 33 well as an early closing of four other fixtures to be run in 1926 and 1927, show an increase of 244 nominations and it is an increase that is cause for congratulations. The total for the sixteen stakes that were closed was 2,490 against 2,246 a year ago while these came from 145 different nominators against 120 nominators in the fall of 1923. This increase in the number of nominators is particularly gratifying, for it is an unfailing index of the growth of the sport among sportsmen that are most to be desired. Another feature in the increase that is of great interest is the fact that the Belmont Stakes which were closed for 1927 received 500 nomi nations against the 424 that were received for the race of 1926. which closed last fall. It is of particular significance when the old and rich fixtures attract a liberal responss, for they mean more to the sport and to the breeding interests of any country. They arc the races that attract the greatest skill in the mating of thoroughbreds and they are the races that always greatly enhance the value of the horses. Many times breeders have found out too late that they have made a serious mistake in not patronizing the early closing stakes with their produce. They have from time to time robbed a champion of a full chance to prove himself among the best. The results obtained in the Westchester Stakes would indicate that breeders are coming to the conclusion that it is false economy to dodge any of these big races that have so much monetary and sporting importance. The determination of Harry F. Sinclair, owner of the Rancccas Stable and the big Rancocas breeding establishment in New Jersey, to place the stock horses at his farm in public service is of interest to breeders. This decision was reached this fall and it means that some of the most promising of young sires will be available for the 1925 breeding season. Ever since Mr. Sinclair came into racing he has been a buyer and not a seller. From time to time, S. C. Hildreth, who presides over both the farm and the racing stable, would dispose of horses that did not exactly measure up to his standard of ex-celhnce required, but for the most part he has paid big prices for others to strengthen his own stable. It was inevitable that this method eventu-, ally would result in the stable becoming over stocked and . that is the only reason for the opening of the books of the Rancocas stallions. There are only sixty-five mares at Rancocas and with eight stock horses it is readily perceived that the Jobstown farm is particularly well equipped to go into public service. The stallions are all practically untried, but each has a turf record, backed up by blood lines, that should make him decidedly attractive to the breeders. The band is hcadsd by Zev, son of The Finn and Miss Kearney, and the greatest money winner in American racing history. Then there is Grey Lag, the greatest son of Star Shoot, and from the Meddler mare, Mis3 Minnie. Mad Hatter, the grand old campaigner by Flair Play and from Madcap; Lucullite, son of Trap Rock and Lucky Lass; Purchase, son of Ormondals and Cherryola, and one cf the fastest horses ever seen in this country; Kai-Sang, son of The Finn and Kaluna; Bud Lerner, another son of The Finn and from Dreamsome, by Superman, as well as Sunference, the son of Sun Briar and Conference. These are the stallions that become available for breeders and the placing of such an array in public service means much to the thoroughbred industry. It will not be the fault of Julius Fleischmann if he does not restore the colors of that illustrious turf name to full importance next year. Mr. Fleischmann has made numerous purchases abroad and already Thomas Mc-Creery has begun his journey home with the purchases that will be raced in this country. Fifteen that are coming to this country are French-bred yearlings, and the others purchased in France for racing in America are the two-year-old Theodose, a son of Houli and Thematia, and the three-year-old Dandi-prat, a son of Sans Lc Sou and Dame Marie II. In addition to these there will come two Irish steeplechasers that were purchased j through E. E. Coussell. These horses are to sail from Boulogne on the Minnewaska. Mr. Fleischmann races under the name of the Middle Neck Farm and last summer his silks attained some prominence in the steeplechase field. But the campaign was nothing approaching what is mapped out for 1925. The French purchases were carefully selected and no expense was spared in gathering a stable that would do honor to the colors. Mr. Fleischmann himself has spent some time in France with McCreery, who was his adviser in making the selections. He has sailed on the Leviathan and will be on hand to welcome his thoroughbreds when the Minnewaska docks. Such men as Mr. Fleischmann mean much to racing and it is hoped that his liberal buying will win for him the prominent place he deserves on the turf.
