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Here and There on the Turf Earl Sandes Popularity. Another Butler Victory. Importance of Training. Future of the Nursery. The spontaneous outburst of enthusiasm with which the Jamaica racing crowd welcomed Earl Sande back from the scene of his Ken tucky Derby triumph was a rare demonstration of the jockeys popularity. It was Sande, rather than the horse on which he made his first New York appearance since his Churchill Downs triumph, that attracted the applause of the crowd. The horse, Billy Warren, faild in the race that followed, but there were .10 caustic criticisms for Sande on that account. The crowd has immense confidence in this rid mg star and when one of his mounts is beaten, the appreciative are satisfied that the horse was not good enough. Sandes reputation ;s worth as much to him as his skill. He possibly is not as strong physically as he was before his accident and he may not be able to ride quite as well in many ways, but the other riders respect his reputation and most of them find themselves at a mental disadvantage as soon as Sande appears in the saddle on one of the rival horses. These mental hazards are often as much a factor in the decision of a race, as the sped of the contenders. A jockey who fears that he will not be able to match Sande in a hard finish will try to avoid the necessity for such a trial by one means or another and in so doing he may use his horse up to such an extent that he will be beaten before the stret-.h racing starts. A fear of this kind on the part of some of his rivals makes it much easier for Sande to win races, even if he cannot ex ercise all of the strength that he once pos sessed. Sande still has all of his old skill, however, as was shown in the running of the Kentucky Derby. He knows how to judge pace and he knows the danger signals that indicate when a horse needs the assistance of the rider to keep going. He takes full advantage f his knowledge in such respects and. while his rivals are at a loss to figure out what is to be done, Sande has already done whatever happens to be necessary and possibly haf won the race as a result. When Bright Steel won th? Southampton Handicap at Jamaica Tuesday he scored the tenth victory of the meeting for the stable of James Butler. His success was also the sixth stake victory of the Jamaica meeting for the master of Empire City. Bright Steel is not one cf the first flight of three year olds, but properly placed and with out too much weight up he will make it inter esting for the bst of the division before the racing season is over, if he continues to race in his present form as he showed in the South ampton Handicap. Condition tells the story in the spring and the Butler horses that have faced the starter have been ready. The skill of trainer J. John son has been rather thoroughly demonstrated by the series of Butler victories this spring and the fact that the Butler horses M a whole are of a far better class than their previous racing would indicate has been firmly established. The work of William Duke with the hor-es of Gilford A. Cochran and that of Johnson with those of the owner of Empire City may be compared in that respect B, th Duke and Johnson took over horse* which had failed in other hands and turned them into high class performers. Johnson has not done anything quite as sensational as Dukes Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stable double, but he has won plenty of races with horses that were not suspected of possessing such speed as they have shown under his training. The cases of the Butler and Cochran stables are alike in other respects. Both owners have established breeding farms in New York state. The Cochran farm near Mount Kisco and the Eastview Stud, both represent large invest ments on the part of the owners. The master of Empire City has not been so lavish in his expenditures for horses of racing age as Mr. Cochran, but he has been breeding horss from excellent stock at Eastview. Neither of these turfmen had realized any thing of importance on his investment until this year. The Butler horses have previously been reserved, with few exceptions, until the Empire City meeting, but even at the home track their victories were not startlingly fre-qupnt. The maintenance of the stable undoubtedly cost far more than the establishment returned in stakes and purses. The Cochran sstesansoment, housing some of the most ex pensive blood stock in the country, until this year had cut remarkably little figure in the sport. These examples simply serve to bring out the importance of trainers in bringing about the success or failure of a racing stable. Th; I mere spending of money for high class thor- oughbreds will not assure the success of a stable. Even the best horses are not l.kely to earn their krep unless they are properly con ditioned and the cheapest horses, if they belong on a race course at all, can be made to win races, if they are trained correctly and properly placed. The news that Adclph Pons has leased the Nursery Stud Farm with the idea of con tinuing the operations of that establishment along the lines laid down by the late Maj. August Belmont wiil be w;elcome to those interested in the welfare of the breeding industry. Mr. Pons, who served the late turfman and breeder as private secretary for twenty four years, had a wonderful opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted with the breeding the ones of Major Belmont and, with their sue cess in practice. His knowledge in this respect should be invaluable in directing the destinies of the stud farm. Of course, the mares and stallions that mad; the fame of Nursery Stud secure wherever there is racing have been rather well scattered, but Mr. Pons obtained enough of the stock at the dispersal sale to form the nucleus for hio new venture. His associates in the project have not been announced as yet, but it is possible I that some purchasers of the choice offerings at the sale are to be identified with the new Nursery Stud. In any case it is encouraging news that the great breeding farm is to be continued by the man who is apparently most eminently qualified to maintain it under the same management and method as employed so successfully while Major Belmont was alive. Next Saturday the Canadian racing campaign will open at the Woodbine Park track of the Ontario Jcckey Club in Toronto. The sport in the Dominion has been subjected to serious handicaps during recent years and it is marvelous that it has survived at all. But the associations have carried on and conditions this season appear more favorable than at any time during the past three years. Woodbine Park has announced an elaborate stake program and there is every promise that the best racing of the Canadian campaign will be crowded into the seven days of sport that begins there Saturday. The big feature, from the Canadian stanpoint, is the Kings Plate, which is the oldest race of unbroken history run on the American continent. The other stake races, which are open to horses from the United States, promise more speed and sharper contention, however, and they are sufficiently well endowed to assure the presence of many stars in the fields.
