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Here and There on the Turf Man o Wars Success. Fouls and the Rule. Chasers for Whitney. Sale of Dade Park. About this time last year there was much speculation on the probable success of the mighty Man o War as a stock horse. His first crop had gone through the yearling triab and there were some that showed enough to suggest bringing further fame to the son of Fair Play and Mahubah. But there is a vast difference between yearling triab and actual racing. When Man o War was a yearling himself he was so clumsy that for a tinis Samuel D. Riddle almost regretted that he had paid ,000 for him. Golden Broom was the top-priced yearling of the same sale when he went to Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords for 15,000. He had gone to the sale under the name of Switch and he is a son of Sweeper and Zuna. Golden Broom and Man o War trained together as yearlings and the son of Sweeper gave much more promise in the yearling trials than did the clumsy big son of Fair Play. Everyone remembers how Golden Broom only won one race as a two-year-old and did not win as a three-year-cld, while Man o War became the horse of all time. Now both of these richly bred horses are rivals in the stud and at this tims it would appear that each will prove sterling stock horses. The Man o War two-year-olds have made good and the Golden Broom juveniles have demonstrated that hs will be infinitely better as a stallion than he was as a race horse. Man o War had a comparatively small crop, but such good ones as By Hisself, American Flag, Flagship, Gun Boat and Maid At Arms give him a definite place, while Golden Broom J has sent good ones to the races. For the first season the efforts of both of these stair.ons have been highly creditable and when it is remembered that most of the notable stock horses did not attain a full degree of greatness until more than ten years of age it would seem that each will steadily improve for seasons to come. There never was a ruling handed down by the stewards of any race meeting that met with the entire approval of all concerned. Of course, there never will be, for the reason that a ruling always hurts someone. It is not expected that rulings will be universally approved. And it applies to rulings on any contest or on any question. The ruling is of necessity for one and against th other. In racing there are definite rules for the conduct of the sport and some of them are mandatory. One of these mandatory regulations is that the horse that shall impede or foul another, whether wilfully or unintentionally, shall be disqualified. There is no middle course, the horse is automatically disqualified by his offense. In the face of this rule it is found that frequently a rider is punished for rough or foul riding, but the position of his horse at the finish is not disturbed. This will ever be hard for the layman to understand. If the jockey offended sufficiently to earn a punishment under the rules, his horse must be disqualified. There is no escaping from the rule. This may not b2 a good rule. That is to say it might be better if the rule was not a mandatory one. Of course, all fouls should be punished, but it is not always that the horse ehould be disqualified. It would hardly be justice to disqualify the best hors3 because of some trivial interference that may have impeded another runner, but at the same time had no effect on the result, but under the existing rule it is not consistent to punish the rider without ruling against his mount. Of course, the stewards are still the judges of whether or not a foul was committed, but if the rider was pnuished it is primafacie evidence that there was a foul. It seems impossible that a rider could earn a punishment without his horse earning disqualification. It is good news for the cross-country racing that Harry Payne Whitney will show his silks in steeplechases next season. From time to time Brookdale-bred horses have performed brilliantly as jumpers, but under other silks than the light blue and brown cap. The Green-tree Stable, which is owned by Mrs. Payne Whitney, his sister-in-law, has brought a full measure of fame to the Brookdale-bred jumpers, but now it is promised that he will race his own over the fences. Klondyke, Enchantment and Husky are all being schooled for a steeplechasing campaign in 1925 and each is of a quality that should make him a decided acquisition to that picturesque end of racing. Enchantment in particular was at one time rated as about the best in the Whitney establishment, while Klondyke also performed brilliantly on the flat, while Husky did not measure up to the other two. The Whitney stable topped all others for the 1924 season and should this sterling sportsman decide to come into steeplechasing seriously next year it is safe to promise that he will take a front place in that end of the sport. The stable always has so many prospects to draw from without in any manner crippling the flat running string that steeplechasing would be a most profitable field of endeavor for the establishment. The three that are destined to race through the field next year are having their first lessons at Mr. Whitneys Wheatley Hills on Long Island and they have already shown a becoming aptitude for that end of racing. It is regretted that Dade Park is to be sold at public auction. When this racing ground at Henderson, Ky., was first built it was confidently expected that it would grow to an importance that would make it an important part of the Kentucky circuit. This was not to be and now, after having been idle for some time, it is to be sold to the highest bidder. The pity of it is that the park was named after A. B. Dade, one of the best starters and best sportsmen ever connected with the American turf. It would be well if the purchaser would change the name on that racing ground unless it was put to some use that would still make it a fitting memorial to A. B. Dade. The reason for the suspension of racing at Oriental Park, in Cuba, Sunday was in celebration of Maceo Day. It means much for either Tijuana or Havana to forfeit a Sunday from the schedule. That is the big holiday of the week and a day of sport that means more than two or three of the other days in attendance, but the suspension is out of respect to the memory of the Cuban patriot. As a matter of fact, the reverent observance of Maceo Day is unique. It is a holiday and as such would naturally mean the seeking of entertainment, but the Cubans observe the day with a reverence that does not permit of the entertainment that is sought on other holidays. With the approaching dispersal sale of the Xalapa Farm Stud and racing stable the breeders and sportsmen are beginning to assemble in New York. This auction is to be conducted in Squadron A Armory on the nights of December 10 and 11 and it holds out promise of being one of the greatest of thoroughbred dispersal sales ever conducted.
