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Here and There on the Turf Stings Good Race. Stars in Poor Form. Significance of the Clark. Louisville and the Derby. The race run by James Butlers Sting to win the Exceior Handicap at Jamaica on Sat urday was remarkable from a time standpoint. He covered a mile and a sixteenth in 1:42%. setting a new track record and coming within two fifths of a second of the American turf record for the distance. The American record was set at Belmont Park by Dot, September 27, 1923. When the -track reenrds for tha mil? distance at Jamaica and Belmont Park are compared, the excellence cf Stings performance is emphasized. The Bslmcnt Park track record for a mile, which is also the American record, is 1 :35%, while the Jamaica track record for the same dis- tacce is 1:38%. Thus it will be seen that the Jamaica track is three full seconds slower to the mile, figuring purely on a track record basis, than that at Belmont Park. Yet Sting ran a mile and a sixteenth over that slower course within two-fifths of a second of the best time ever made over the fast Belmont Park track. If Sting continues to race in such form and the other Butler horse3 are in as excellent condition as this one appears to be, the master of Empire City will undoubtedly play a much larger part in the metropolitan racing this year than usual. The field that finished behind Sting Satur day includes a number of horses of consider able reputation that have done little or nothing this year to indicate that they are even close to top form. Aga Khan, which showed fine form last fall, finished last of the field and it appears that he has either lost the rac ing ability that he possess3d at that time, cr competition this year is too good for him. Wilderness has disappointed several times this year and his poor showing in the Excelsior Handicap apparently was anticipated. Me an unsound horse, anyway, but when he is at his best he can make any thoroughbred in training show its top speed and gameness to beat him. Spot Cash, which has won thous ands of dollars in stakes for A. C. Bostwick during the past two years, is also far from his top form, judging from his showing in the Excelsior Handicap. Cherry Pie ran a fairly good race to be second, but he was thoroughly beaten and Mad Play, carrying top weight of 124 pounds, did rather well to be third. It appears that this Ranccras four year old is being treated too harrhly by the handicapper this spring. He i3 apparently close to his best form, but he is utterly unable to concede so much weight to the opponents which he is asked to face. The result of the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs Saturday appears to bear out the contention of experts that 1925 three year olds are rather below the average. Captain Hal and Lee O. Cotner, two of the Kentucky Derby candidates that have attracted the most at tention during the training season at Louisville, were in the Clark Handicap, and both were expected to give a good account of themselves. The older horses in the race were far from the best class, and it would not have been surprising if these t hree year olds had finished firs-t and second. But neither fin ished in the money. Captain Hal was fourth, and the manner in which he tired towards the finish of the mile and a sixteenth, is an indi cation that his staying qualities are not re markable. Lee O. Cotner was last at the fin i 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 f 7 i 1 : 2 3 3 4 4 5 G I 1 1 I • 4 3 : " I . I . 7 ; 1 , J 1 , - r s r is S t 3 p, •" t ish. He tired after going three quarters and began to stumble. Son of John, which has received little attention from the experts who are trying to pick the finishing contenders in the Kentucky Derby was the only one of the thrc? year olds in the Clark Handicap that showed anything approaching real racing ability. He was beaten by Spic and Span, but he carried only a half pound less than the McGill four year old in actual weight and bore the burden of pace-making almost all the way. He tired right at the end, but the race may tighten him up. This colt may be a really dangerous factor in Saturdays big race. The Louisville opening was marred by weather and track conditions, but it was a satisfying success in spite of this handicap. Col. Matt Winn has made Churchill Downs one cf the largest and best appointed plants in the country and still it is hardly adequate to accommodate the crowd that turns out to watch the Kentucky Derby run each year. Public interest in the big race this year seems to be even higher than usual and the big additions and improvements at the Louisville course will probably take care of only a small part of the people who will pass through the gates next Saturday. But everyone «ill find some place within the gates from which to view the race. After the stands and lawns are I filled the infield will still be available to take care of the overflow. But Louisville is utterly 1 unable to solve the housing problem for Ken- tucky Derby visitors. The hotels stopped accepting reservations for Derby week many! days ago and there will be thousands of people I v. ho will have to take a chance of finding rooms in private homes or at neighboring 1 towns if they wish to remain overnight in the vicinity of the Derby scene. The Kentucky Derby has outgrown Ixiuis-il!e and it is too much to ask a city of that sire to provide hotel accommodations for such an influx. For a few days each year Louis ville could utilize the hotel facilities of a Chicago cr a New York, but for the remainder of the twelve months all these expensive hos-1 teleries would b:; comparatively unoccupied. Th* Jamaica meeting thus far has been I handicapped to a certain extent by a lack of igood horses. The Pimlico meeting has attrac:-,ed a large number of stables which normally j race on the metropolitan circuit. With the close of the Maryland racing season on Wed- nesday all of these stables wiJ be available for New York racing and the quality of the j sport will naturally be improved materially. The weather has been a handicap to the sport, also unseasonable cold and frequent rains have affected the attendance adversely, but the crowds that have turned out on the pleasant days thus far during the meeting have more than made up for the others. In other words, racing is pleasing at this time a far wider public in New York than in previous years. This condition is rather general throughout the country, from all accounts, and there is no reason why the sport should not continue to grow in popularity. ♦
