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BELMONT ENTRIES STAND t Are Not Invalidated by Death of Major August Belmont. This Assured by Registration of Mrs. J!el-nsont as Partner in Stable of Ills Fine Thoroughbreds. NEW YORK, N. Y., Dec. 20. That the various nominations for the feature events here and abroad made by the late August Belmont will not be invalidated by his death is assured by the, registration of Mrs. Belmont as a partner in the stable of fine thoroughbreds now housed at Belmont Park. A few years ago the late chairman of the Jockey Club, who was as far-sighted in business as he was .keen in sportsmanship, incorporated his great bloodstock breeding farm in Kentucky under the name of the Nursery Stud. He and Mrs. Belmont leased from this corporation, all the horses that were intended for racing purposes, and it was his intention to follow this practice from year to year. Ladkin. Ordinance, Lucky Play, Blind Play and the seventeen head of splendid yearlings now in the care of Louis Feustel at Belmont Park, are recorded with the Jockey Club and are eligible for their engagements. Fair Play, Hourless and the brood mares and weanlings that Mrs. Elizabeth Kane has in charge in Kentucky are held by The Nursery Stud, I Inc. The ability of Major Belmont to select the b?st weanling or yearling out of a band of juvenile thoroughbreds has often been the subject of comment on the part of his friends and those" in his employ. He chose Man o War from the others of his year, and when he and other yearlings went to the Saratoga sales paddocks, instead of being raced under the maroon and scarlet jacket, he told this writer he was selling a colt he believed would develop into a great racehorse. "I would like to keep him, but I dont think it would be fair to the public to hold him out," was his comment at the ringside the afternoon S. C Riddle became the owner of the son of Fair Play on a bid of ,00.. It seemed to be fate that this great race horse should not race in the name of his breeder. A year ago Major Belmont on returning from Kentucky said he believed he had two weanlings that had greater promise than the others. These were a chestnut colt by Fair Play Quelle Chance, by Ethelbert, whose dam was the French Oaks winner, Quelle Continued on page. i- . BELMONT ENTRIES STAND Continued from first page. est Belle, by Rock Sand, and a bay colt by Fair Play Felicity, by Rock Sand, the latter a brother to Sporting Blood. They Avere as unlike in appearance as Aveanlings could bs. The chestnut colt Avas like a big growing boy, all legs, but he deAeloped in a remarkable way and at Saratoga Springs in August last, Avhen he began galloping, had a long swinging stride that augured Avell for his future as a race horse. The brother to Sporting Blood was a round, full-made, compact colt He was furnished and finished like a full-grown horse and was of that type at Saratoga where he attracted more attention than any of the other yearlings Avhen let out for inspection. Major Belmont was of the opinion that the big chestnut upon whom he had bestowed the name of Chance Play was the better of the two. His judgment Avas confirmed Avhen the colts AAcrc tried by Louis Feustel at Belmont Park last fall. Chance Play Avas the champion Avhen it came to racing and the Felicity colt, for whom the name Festival had been claimed, could beat the others. Chance Plays trial was so dazzling in its brilliancy that his owner remarked : "Ive got the best horse Ive ever bred. When reminded of the fact that he had bred Man o War and Tracery Major Belmont refused to alter his opinion. On the afternoon of the day on Avhich Major Belmont served as a pallbearer at the funeral of the late James Shevlin, president of the Queens County Jockey Club, Chance Play had another trial, his final effort of the year. The big light-colored chestnut showed another amazing test. It was so good 22 seconds or better for a quarter over the training track that Major Belmont said in commenting on it : "This colt is so good that I just-cant belieA-e that something isnt going to happen. It Avould be too good to have him get to the races next year." It was a. calamity that Major Belmont did not live to see Chance Play go to the post in some of the many races for which he is engaged next year. Standing in his box in the Belmont stables on the Terminal ground one afternoon recently, the big colt ho is fully 10 hands already looked more like a three-year-old than a yearling. His head and neck are still coltish, but his loin is developed like that of a seasoned campaigner. He is a rather light chestnut of that shade called "mealy" much the same color as Stromboli, so Avell known on the. turf a few years ago. Everybody around the Belmont Stable, from Louis Feustel to the smallest stable boy, thinks Chance Play a potential champion. The other yearlings hold promise. There are several nice-looking colts and fillies by Hourless - in the band. - The older horses are big and rugged. Ordinance is a picture. Since his letup after his illness in September, this son of Ormondale, Avhom some beliCAed to be a better horse than Ladkin, has furnished greatly. He is over 16.1 hands in height, but looks -not more than 15.3 or 1G hands at the most. Ladkin has let down and improved, too, but Avill neAer be as handsome as Ordinance because of his slightly lopped ears, Avhich give his head a plain look. He is Avintering in a Avay that is most satisfactory to his trainer, who looks for him to be a hard horse to beat next year. Blind Play has done well also and is as rough as a bear in winter quarters. Lucky Play is at Tijuana, Avhither he was sent for the Avinter, in charge of Earl Linnell. Whether the plans for the campaign at the courses of the Lower California Jockey Club are to be followed out is yet to be decided. The respect and esteem in which Major Belmont was held by horsemen and turf followers in general is shown in the hundreds of letters and telegrams received by the family since his death. No man connected with the turf has enjoyed the confidence of the public in the same degree and the feeling of regret that the turf shall know him no more is as Avidesprcad as it is genuine.
