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Here and There on the Turf Log Cabin Stud Stars. Big Stables in Eclipse. Lee 0. Cotners Defeat. Coventrys Condition. The successes of the Log Cabin Stud at Jamaica recently are an indication of the good class of the horses which would have carried the colors of the late Major August Belmont this year, had he lived. Chance Play demonstrated on Tuesday in his racing debut that he possesses at least some of the qualities when had been enthusiastically attributed to him. The victory of High Star, another first time starter, from the same stable, was impressive enough to indicate that he also might be a coming star. The purchase of the entire racing stable of the late Major Belmont by the Log Cabin Stud during the winter, was probably the largest single transaction involving race horses, that has been completed in this country for a score of years. The exact amouat of money paid for the horse3 has never been made public, but it is safe to say that it wis large. The horses involved included some of the best in the country and the two year olds of the number that have been shown thus far, appear to be far above the average. One of the interesting phases of the 1925 campaign to date is the fact that the stabl-s which led the list of money winners last yeir are being more or less overshadowed by establishments that formerly were not consid ered dangerous. The stable of James Butler as has been pointed out in this column several times, ha.- practically dominated the racing ;.t Jamaica, and there seems to be no particular reason to expect a slump in that quarter. The Rancocas Stable, for years the most powerful racing establishment in the country, ap- ears to be far from its usual strength, ls stars of last year have shown little or nothing and the two year olds thus far sent to the post by trainer Samuel C. Hildreth have njt impressed the experts. The Harry Payn Whit ney Stable, which led the money winners last year, has met with fair success in its early campaign, but hardly in pro| ortion with iis pring activities of other years. Meanwhile the stable of Gifford A. Cochran, in the hands of the repatriated William Duke, has won the Preaknesi Stakes with a hors? that failed to stand training at all as a two-year old last year. In Kentucky the first im portant stake race of the Churchill Downs meeting, the Clark Handicap, fell to the stable of J. C. McGiU, a comparathely MM mier to the sport. It is perfectly natural that this should be so. The great and powerful racing estabh h ments of the country cannot always obtain the best race horses, whether they breed their Ml horses, or buy them in the ojien market. The Ranco as Stable has been gradually buying fewer and fewer yearlings, as the breeding a? livities at the farm have expanded and the fact that the establishment has as yet failed to produce an outstanding star has naturally resulted in weakening the racing stable. But the Hancoras farm is in its infancy as a breed ing establishment and the quality of the blood stock nsjartCM 1 there is such that lienor ie suits may be exported as time goes on The Harry Payne Whitney farm is an established institution and the excellence of its produce i-so widely known as to require lmle comment. The Whitney establishment turns out an im mense number of capable horses each year and many of them are real stars. Hut it was bulk rather than individual greatness that gave the Whitney stable the lcad?rship last year. The Whitney Stable always has so many hor,? that they must be divided into two or three divisions under different trainers, to make a successful campaign. The defeat of Lee 0. Cotner by Graeme at Churchill Downs Wednesday in the mile and seventy yards of the feature was not conclusive, ; but it was an indication that the Collins three year old is hardly of Kentucky Derby class it : present. The Derby candidates that have faced th? [starter during .he early days of the ChurchiH Downs meeing have fared badly. They have not only been beaten, but beaten so decisively in m .-t cases that their racing ability is called seriously into question. Single Foot has been showing much speed in workouts since his arrival at the Derby scene from th? Kast and may be conceded a chance in the big race Swope has also acquitted himself well. But these colls were both beaten so thoroughly in the Preakness Stakes that only the most ar dent partisan would lie inclined to concede either much chance. The 11 IV Whitney candidate, Backbone, did well enough in the Preakness Slakes to gain first consideration when thos1 that started in the 1imlico feature are considered. He possibly will give the favorite, Qjatrain. the most coni| etition in the Derby. But the fact remains that the fifty first Kentucky Dvby, which promised a month or so ago to bring a really notable field of stars together, now appears likely to attract a field of mediocraties, with one or two exceptions. The news that Coventry. Gifford A. Cochrans Pr.akness Stakes winner, did not bow as badly as had been thought at first will be welcome to the racing public. Coventry showed enough speed and stamina in the Preakness Stakes to make everyone curious to know whether or not he could match his speed with such horses as Quatrain and Master Charlie in his own age division and with such horses as Sarazen and I.adkin among the older racers. Now it ap pears that Coventry can be brought back to the races later in the year by careful treatment and William Duke, who patched up the cripple so skillfully for his winning race at Pimlico, may be counted upon to do the trick again, if it is humanly possible. Master Charlie is taking exercise again and he also may be brought back to racing later in the year. It M unfortunate that so many of the stars that might have graced the Derby field -hould have proed unsound, but it is not an unusual development. Last year Saraien. Wise Coun sellor and St James all went wrong in prep aration for the Kentucky Derby won by Black Gold. Everyone rrmembers how in 1922 the influenza epidemic kept the best three year | olds out of training until after the Derby won by Morvich had been run.
