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BY AIRPLANE MAIL. SAN DIEGO, Calif., Nov. 30. Few seasons have furnished more spectacular racing than 1924. It is doubtful if any season enjoyed more favors from weather men throughout the country. All but a very few of the classic races were run under ideal circumstances. And most of them furnished the finest spectacles in their histories. Black Golds Kentucky Derby was a thrilling contest right from the rise of the barrier. And his victory was a popular one. The weather was beautiful and the crowd the largest that ever witnessed the Kentucky blue riband. Chacolets Dixie Handicap was a fine race, the western mare just getting up in time to beat a field of eleven others. No better horse race was seen anywhere than the Coffroth Handicap. Any one of four horses appeared a possible winner fifty yards from the finish. Lack of class in the field was the only drawback to the Belmont Stakes. It was a good contest, run under most auspicious circumstances. The Brooklyn and Suburban Handicaps proved excellent contests. The fates never were kinder to the Jockey Clubs interested and to racing in general than they proved on the running of the International Specials. There was no semblance of fluke about any of those races. They benefited the sport tremendously. Epinard did his part nobly. And Americas thoroughbreds no less; een though" it was necessary that a fresh horse should come to the fore in each race to repel the invader. But for Epinard we might never have known what sort of horse. Sarazen really is. "We had a line on Ladkins merit before the Aqueduct race. His performance in the mile merely substantiated his previous form. "Wise Counsellors victory was in a sprint; besides, it seemed fairly evident that Epinard was short. But Sarazens conquest was onp never to be forgotten. "We doubt if any horseman, excepting, of course, the colts immediate connections, would have admitted prior to the race that the son of High Time was capable of taking up his weight and running ten furlongs within a fraction of a second of Whisk Broom II.s disputed record. Especially had you told them Sarazen woaild attempt to run Chilhowee off his feet in less than a mile. All but one in a hundred would have smiled tolerantly at your enthusiasm. The one big deficiency in the sport this year has been the lack of high class four, five and six-year-olds. But that has happened before. One could go back over the past thirty years and find close to twenty seasons in which first class horses of more than three years were woefully shy. "What about Sysonbys year 1905? Ort Wells was the best aged horse out that season. Are you certain he would have beaten old Mad Hatter in this years running of the Suburban? And what of ,C.olins. year? Ballot stood alone among the aged runners. The two-year-olds were average, the three-year-olds brilliant. The steeplechasers good . ones were not numerous. The jockeys? Anything, but- satisfactory. Brilliant at times and exasperating frequently. But it was a great year, just the same.
