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Here and There on the Turf Three -Year-Old Quality. Not Up to Standard. Opening of Pimlico. Stakes for Woodbine. Wder S. Yosburgh is quoted as expressing the opinion that the class of the three ye Ar-t Ids for this year is hardly as good as is the general rule. That was pretty well disclosed when Mr. Yosburgh made his weight allot ments for the Metropolitan Handicap when Stimulus, rated at the top of the three-year-olds in that mile race, was only required to take up 108 pounds. One excellent reason for this estimate of the three-year-olds was th? fact that Mother Gooee, a filly, was the winner of the Futurity at Belmont Park. Mr. Yosburgh pointed out that almost invariably when a filly is the winner of such a race it means that the crop is not up to the usual standard. This estimate of the handicapper of the Jockey Club is pretty well borne out already this year in the three year-olds that have been shown and those that are training for the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby. There are many in each of these rich races that have been working well in their preparation, but nothing sensational has been reported in private trials, while those that have raced have not given any indication of being l ossible champions. On racing performance alone, Quatrain still seems to have the call by reason of his sensational victory in the New Orleans Handicap at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, ami his later victory in the Louisiana Derby at Jefferson Park, but. giving him his every due for both of these races, he could not be rated as a top notcher in a good year. Chantey, the swift running three year-old from the Greentree Stable, caused a real sensation by his one race at Havre d? Grace, but he could not be rated even a possible champion on that performance. And Chandntey did not race last year, so that there could be ao estimate on his chances for high honors on what he had accomplished through a year. Sweeping Away, which was beaten by Chantey, has shown that he belongs in good class, but he did not race until October of last year. Kentucky Cardinal, Stimulus, which has gone amiss, Captain Hal. Single Foot, Master Charlie, also on the shelf, I.ee O. Cotner, Sumpter, Sunny Man, Our General, formerly Star Lore. Swope, By Hisself, Felix, Devonshire. Hedge-fence, Young Martin and some few others, make up the li.-i from which a champion might come, but there was nothing in the racing of last year that made any one of them stand out as a prospective champion should. This may make for better racing, for the three year-olds being so close together in the matter of sjteed should result in large fields for the big races and excellent contests. Of course, it is a big thing to have a dependable champion. Such horses mean mu.-li for the turf, but what is wanted is the contest and even should there be a lack of high class, racing is served when there are many contesting for the crown. With the cpening of the Pimlico meeting of the Maryland Jockey Club and the running of the rich Dixie Handicap there begins the last of the big Maryland spring meetings and there begins the mast important. The opening ! was a tremendously successful one and for this meeting, which continues until May 13. there will be brought together the best horses in training. The stakes offered by the oldest of ike Maryland Racing Associations are worthy I of the best thoroughbred and the response to the stakes makes certain some of the most notable racing ever witnessed over the famous racing ground. Just as the Kentucky Derby is the big attraction of the Churchill Downs meeting in the spring, so is the Preakness Stakes the big attraction at Pimlico. Last year the Preakness Stakes was made a weight for age race and this year there has been another change in stretching the distance from a mile and an eighth to a mile and three-sixteenths. It remains at weight -for age and this later change of increasing the distance makes a much more adfquaie test of racing ability. In selecting Friday for the running of two such races as the Dixie Handicap and the Preakness Stakes, thi.- latter race is to be decided next Friday, the Maryland Jockey Club has departed from the usual custom of running the big events on a holiday or a Saturday. The success that came to the running of the I.x;e Handicap would make it appear that no mistake was made in choosing a day that ■ usually the off day in a racing week. At both Bowie and Havre de Grace all previous records were broken for attendance and it is safe to predict, even at the opening of this short meeting, that there will be a like story to tell at the end of the Pimlico meeting. Monday is the closing date for the stakes of the Ontario Jockey Club and the list is a particularly attractive one. In addition to the fixtures that are rets! Ted for nati e horses, there are some bountiful chances open to all and chances that many of the owners in the United Statees, as well as Canada, nomi nate liberally each year. The richest of these is the Toronto Cup Handicap, at a mile and an eighth, to whicn 0,000 is added. Then there is the King Ed ward Hotel Gold Cup Handicap, at a mile and a sixteenth. This is in addition to ,000 | »hich is added, and a ,500 challenge cup, which becomes the property of any turfman who shall win it four times. The Woodstock Plate, at a mile and a sixteenth for three year olds, is still another ,000 offering and framed under penalities and allowances. The remaining big race to which horses on both sides of the border are eligible is the Victoria Stakes, a five eighths dash for two year-olds and with ,000 added. This meeting at the old Woodbine Park course will continue from May 23 to May 30, and the lowest value in any overnight race will be ,200, with others running to ,500. There will be a dady steeplechase and two special features for the cross country horses in the Aintree Steeplechase, with ,000 add*l and the Woodbine Handicap Steeplechase with ,500. The Ontario Jockey Club begins the big Canadian racing season and the liberality of its offering makes the racing at Woodbine Park of tremendous importance every year.
