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News Notes of French Racing . By SAINT I.EGER PARIS, France. May 1. I | The pericd from March 20 to April 20 in this country has been marked by the last big j days of spring steeplechasing and the be- I I ginnings of the 1925 flat season. I So far as steeplechasing is concerned, that j ! branch of the turf has shown proof of far greater vitality than it possessed the season J before. In this connection, two big prizes ; may well be cited: namely, the Grand Prix du Printemps of three miles and three fur- . longs approximately, run over the hurdle course at Auteuil, March 22, and the Prix du President de la Republique at about two miles and six and a half furlongs, which was decided over the main steeplechase course j j at the same track Easter Sunday. These two classic races are alike in the j fact that they are both handicaps endowed with rich prizes fifty thousand francs for the Grand Prix du Printemps and a hundred thousand francs for the Prix du President. This class of stake has been severely criticized on the ground that such events ] i frequently ruin the sport in preceding races because a. number of horses are started with | no intention of winning because their trainers wish to avoid picking up penalties above I the assigned weights in the big handicaps that end the season. But the fact remains i that this sort of event generally results in I | the most interesting contests of the year i rrfid usually attracts the strongest fields of; I the season. The public, -loving above all | i the uncertainties of racing, has a particular ! fondness for these big prizes which so often fall to an extreme outsider. GBAXD PRIX DU FRIWTEMPS. This happened indeed this year in the j Grand Prix du Printemips, which attracted a field of fifteen, six- of which were four- j j I year-olds. The running itself had a pecu- j liar character when it resolved itself into ! | a match between two of the elder horses , ! which fought it cut ten lengths in front of the rest of the field. When the rest of the riders realized that the leaders had no in- j ! tention of slackening pace, they exerted I every effort to bring their mounts up to the ! pacemakers, but the heavy going made this ; i task particularly onerous, and they were : forced to confess themselves beaten. The | : .ace ended with Holbeach. racing for M. j ! Cerf. defeating M. Guerlains mare. Tika, i ; I by three parts of a length. This Holbeach was a 55 to 1 shot. He had previously won two moderate races. The experts had recognized in the course of | his career a certain quality which, however, j was practically nullified by his wretched j i temper. j The Frix du President de la Republique had a less surprising result. This event, with its seventeen starters, was a magnificent race. Only two four-year-olds were included in the field for this great prize and they played an extremely small part In the running. There were only three falls and | , one lost rider in spite of the difficulty of che course which included the highest fences at Auteuil, the rail ditch and fence and Irish "banquette." Two horses refused during the running. Accordingly, after all the casualities are considered, eleven of the seventeen starters finished the course, a result which is considered decidedly satisfactory. HYDRATION WEAKENS. At the last obstacle, the race appeared safe for Hydravion. the good jumper that ■ races for the Marquis de Trikuerville, which ! [ had apparently lost his most dangerous op- i ponent with the fall of Rambour. But on I . the flat Hydravion. which was carrying 162 ! ■■ pounds, one of the three highest weights j assigned in the race, tegan to weaken under j his crushing impost, and Grand Seigneur, owned by Camille Dtiboscq, president of the racing association at Pau, rushed up to i | challenge the leader. Grand Seigneur won j the race by three parts of a length. j Hydravion, a nine-year-old, is one of our oldest jumpers actually engaged in active i campaigning. Grand Seigneur is only five old, and he to have i years appears a promts- | | ing career before him In the steepleohasing ! field. Accustomed to the difficult fences I at Pau, he is an excellent jumper which : j even the obstacles at Auteuil could not dis- [ | 1 may. He carried only 137*4 pounds, but he . could not be accused of seeking weight ad- j vantages by confining his racing to bad j performances because he ran in two high-class events, finishing second on each oc-1 casion. So far as flat racing is concerned, we have scarcely emerged from the experi- ; ; mental period — that is to say, the time when the horses are coming out of retirement. ! | some almost ready and others only half i trained. Naturally, only a relative value can be accorded to the performances shown by the racers during this period. [ Interest, as usual for this time of the ! year, now centers particularly on the three- i year-olds. However, we have had several interesting contests between horses of the J older division. ! For Instance. April 5. at Longchamp, on | the occasion of the seasons opening, the , Prix des Sahlons, one of our classics over , the mile and a quarter distance, was the feature offering. The winner was the four- | year-old Cadum, from the stable of Baron Edouard de Rothschild, which had been | beaten by Martinez de Hozs Tricard In the i Prix du Consell Municipal last fall. On that] occasion Cadum had attempted to give Tri- : card six pounds. j In the Prix des Sablons. Cadum, carrying , equal weight with his older rival, I.e Capucln, beat the latter by half a length. I.e Capucln is the last of the great horses of our ; , magnificent generation of 1920 to remain j j in training. The other cracks of that incomparable year, Massine. Filibert de Savoie, and Eplnard. are already at the stud, where I.e Capucln will no doubt join them soon. The finish of the Prix des Sablons was a wonderful fight. Caelum was ridden perfectly by the American Jockey, Matt Mae-Gee, one of our best riders at present. The mile and a quarter was run in 2:12. TRICARD RUTiS WELL. The winner of the last Prix du Conseil Munir-ipal, Tricard, of which I have Just ■pokats, made his 1925 debut April 19, at I ongchamp In the Prix do I.utece. He carried th- crushing impost of 131 pounds .tiil in spite of that was only beaten three! parts nf a length by Ariel, another of Baron Kdouard de Rothschilds champions, to which I he was conceding the trifle of twenty-two I | j I I I j ! J ; . j j j ] i | I i I | i I | i ! j j j I ! j | , ! j ! I ! ; i : | : j ! i ; I | j j i j , | ■ ! [ i I . ! ■■ j j i | j j i i | | ! I : j [ | 1 . j pounds. And that is about enough for the older horses. The three-year-olds at this time of year are much more interesting. It seems that the winners of the two Optional handicaps which are run at the start of the season — one at Maisons Laffitte; the other at St. Cloud — over the mile distance, should belong to that category of horses that come to hand quickly which I was just now discuss- ing. However, the performance of Sarton, which won the Optional at Maisons laffitte. was notable for the comparatively good time which M. Girches colt showed for the straight mile. 1:41%. The Baron Baeyens Tilly. Porte da Fer, which won the corre-| sponding event at St. Cloud, went the mile in 1:47, but, of course, that was around turns. With the exception of the fillies. Sherry and Canalette. and of Ptolemy, which was considered the best colt of his age as a two-year-old last season, we have already covered all the best of these foals of IMS. Ptolemy, it is understood, is being reserved for the Epsom Derby, but he will make his return to racing in the Poule dEssai des Poulains, which is to be run at Longchamp May 17. I had occasion about a month ago to visit this colt of Capt. J. D. Cohns In his box. He is a well built bay or brown [colt, if not beautiful, certainly powerful. He outclasses all of his stablemates, of which Aethelstan appears to be test. This Aethelstan. in his three-year-old de-| but, won the Prix Delatre, March 20. at Maisons I.affitte. covering the mile and a quarter in 2:11%. This performance, which appears at first glance to be better than that of Cadum in the Prix des Sablons, is really much less noteworthy when the deference in the courses is considered. Since then Aethelstan has been beaten two times: at Maisons Laffitte, April 8, in the Prix Miss Gladiator, by Si Si, a son of Sea Sick, which carries the colors of the Due Decazes, and again at Longchamp. April 19. in the Prix Greffulhe. the first of our great classic pro-j duee stakes. The winner of the Prix Greffulhe was Belfonds, a good looking son of Isard II., which, like Filibert de Savoie. has inherited the gray coat of his sire and probably also his quality. Belfonds belongs to Martinez de Hoz. He appears to be one of the best three-year-olds of the year. In his 1925 debut, he finished second behind Sous Pre-! fet, April 3, at Maisons Laffitte. In the Prix Lagrange, which is under similar condi-| tions to the Prix Delatre. Sous Prefet, which belongs to M. Moulines, took 2:13 to cover the mile and a quarter straight. His advanced training probably explained his vic-j tory over Belfonds. DARK DIAMOXI DISAPPOINTS. In this same Prix Lagrange Dark Diamond, owned by the Baron Baeyens. which was classed as the fourth best two-year-old last season, finished a poor third. Dark Dia-! mond made his three-year-old debut at Le Tremblay. March 25, and his vivctory in the Prix Bend Or had been considered sensational. His defeat in the Prix Lagrange was a great disappointment. His admirers have found a thousand excuses for him and were exultant when the colt redeemed himself by winning the mile and three furlongs purse at Longchamp, April 13. I do not share their enthusiasm. In this purse Dark Diamond just beat Sarton. and that is not much of an exploit. It is better to wait for something more convincing. How-i ever that may be, he is a handsome colt, a son of Dark Legend, which was a good winner during his racing career in British India. Among the fillies it seems that the situa-i tion is even more puzzling. We have scarce-: ly had a chance to judge La Habanera, which the handicappers last season rated next to Ptolemy. M. Matossians filly made her 1925 debut half fit at Longchamp in the Prix Vanteaux, April 19. She finished fourth in this race. The winner, Frisette, owned by Martinez de Hoz, covered the mile and a quarter in 2:10. A corresponding race for colts, the Prix de Guiche. was won by Paul Wertheimers Coram, which, like Epinard, is trained by the American, Eugene Leigh. Paul Wertheimer is a brother of Epinards owner. Coram showed excellent speed when jhe went the distance in 2:08%.
