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Here and There on the Turf Nominations for Saratoga. Many Juvenile Increases. On Declaration Dates. In Memoriam for Miami. Racing is in such a flourishing condition that it was naturally expected that the stakes of the Saratoga Association, which were closed Monday, would set a better record than that of 1923, so the announcement was no surprise. The surprise would have come had the nominations fallen below those of the previous year. With a first count, and naturally districts still to be heard from, the stakes brought in 1,921 nominations against the 1,879 of last year. This is a becoming increase, but one that will be added to materially when all the mails are received. While the recent expansion of the racing circuit in the middle west provides for sport right through the month of August, there are many of the Kentucky sportsmen who always devote their racing energy to Saratoga Springs for that month. It has been the common meeting ,ground of the East and the West for many years and it promises to continue the testing ground of the best from each section. The Kentucky Jockey Club, in the selection of its dates, has always avoided a conflict with the Saratoga meeting and it has been politic. It is at Saratoga that the most important yearling sales of the year are conducted each August and it is natural that these sales should attract both turfmen and breeders. Then when the Saratoga Association offers its attractive racing program August becomes the ideal spot for both. There is conflict with Saratoga in a racing way, but this conflict in . no way threatens the importance of that resort. A delightful place for a midsummer holiday, it is at the same time a profitable place at which to race and this, with the addition of the yearling sales, gives the Spa a tremendous advantage over all the other . sections where August racing is conducted. What is of particular significance in the returns that have been received for the Saratoga offerings is the increase that has been shown in the entries for most of the two-year-old races. It is an index to the number of two-year-clds that will be brought to Jlje races, and it" is a further index of the fact that turfmen and breeders are coming to a better realization of the value of engaging their young thoroughbreds liberally. The Hopeful Stakes, which is the richest of all the offering for two-year-olds, shows an increase of eighteen nominations over thos3 received last year and there will ba a greater increase when all the nominations have been received. It was the Hopeful Stakes of this year that enabled William Daniels Master Charlie to finish out the racing season the greatest money earning two-year-old. This good colt "was not an eligible to the Futurity, and, in the light of his other accomplishments, it would seem that he might have beaten the fleet Mother Goose had he been nominated to that race. Each year there have been good two-year-olds that have not had a full opportunity to race to greatness by reason of not being well engaged, and the failure to name a yearling for rich races has cut his value materially when he was sent to the market. The United States Hotel and the Grand Union Hotel Stakes are two other of the important races for two-year-olds that likewise show a becoming increase in the number of nominations. The Spinaway Stakes, which is exclusively for fillies, fell a few short of the 1923 returns, and that would tend to indicate that the new crop shows an unusual percentage of colts, which is always a cause for congratulation. The conditions of the Hopeful Stakes and most of the other races for two-year-olds at Saratoga fix the first declaration date at March 1. It is not an easy matter to determine the class of a nominee between December 1 and March 1, so that it is safe to assume that all of the nominees that are alive on the first declaration of date will pay. The second declaration date comes on June 1. By that time a trainer has a fairly good opportunity to get some sort of a line on the slake possibilities of his two-year-olds. It would be a tremendously popular change among both sportsmen and breeders if this first declaration date could be eliminated. But excellent results have come from the present conditions for the Hopeful, which is a race of S50,000 guaranteed, and there does not seem to be any disposition on the part of the Saratoga Association to make a change in the conditions. Some time ago it was announced that Carl Wiedemann would race his horsss at th? Miami meeting. Now that becomes assured for the string, headed by the coming five-year-old, In Memoriam, is already on its way to the Florida racing ground. In Memoriam was clearly one of the greatest three-year-olds of 1923, and he had to his credit a victory over Harry F. Sinclairs Zcv, the greatest American money winner. And it was In Memoriam and Zev that furnished the greatest race of that year, when they met in a special match at Churchill Downs in a mile and a quarter battle on the afternoon of November 17. In that race the finish was so close that many thought the placing judges had erred when they placed Zev first. It was a magnificent struggle and Earl Sande was probably the deciding factor when he fairly lifted the Sinclair colt to his victor. In Memoriam had beaten Zev easily in the mile and three-quarters of the Latonia Championship Stakes, and it was that race that brought about the later match race. Bob Gilmore, who developed In Memoriam, was unable to bring him to the post this year, but he has not given up hope of campaigning the son of Mc-Gee and Enchantress II. As a general proposition the McGees wear exceedingly well, and it is possible, and even probable, that In Memoriam will be a star before the close of the Miami meeting. Bcsideo In Memoriam the Wcidcmann consignment to Miami is composed of yearlings that were carefully selected, and they will take part in the two-year-olds racing at the new meeting. There is general regret among turfmen because of the illness of James Milton in Havana. Milton finished out his season as starter at Bowie apparently in the best of health, but he was stricken almost immediately on reaching Cuba. To make it doubly an affliction, Mrs. Milton is confined in the same hospital. It is hoped that both will have a speedy recovery. J. K. L. Ross surely suffered a heavy loss to his racing string when his good three-year-old filly Vrana died. Vrana was the second best winner in the Ross string during the past racing season and accounted for 2,150. She was a daughter of Marathon and Priscilla Mullens, by Armeath, and, having been bred by Mr. Ross, her turf successes were doubly pleasing to the Canadian sportsman. Vrana had been intended for the stud when her racing days were over and she came of producing families that suggested her going on to further greatness as a matron.
