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Here and There on the Turf Opening at Havre de Grace. Juarez Meeting Prospects. American Flags Campaign. E. F. Simms Horses. Racing today opens another chapter of the sport for Maryland with the beginning of the Havre de Grace meeting of the Harford Asso ciation. The big event, as usual, is the run ning of the Harford Handicap, at three-quar ters, which had its first running in 1913 when Spring Board was its winner for the late Major Cassatt. Since that race the Harford Handicap has brought about many a notable contest and its roster of winners contains the names of many a good one, with Billy Kellv the winner for three successive years, until he was beaten in his fourth attempt by the mighty Exterminator. All has been in readiness for this opening for several days and long since all the stalls have been engaged for the meeting. Most of the horses that will be raced are already on the ground, one of the - latest shipments of importance being a special from Bowie that journeyed to the Harford County track on Sunday. Then vans have been transporting horses from the other Mary-land training ground? for a week past, until there will be no lack of fit horses to furnish the entertainment. This year there will be no steeplechasing at Havre de Grace. It was decreed by the Mary land Racing Commission that the field at Havre de Grace was too soft for safe steeple-chasing and superintendent Ross leveled all th;-jumps during the winter months. But with the doing away of the steeplechases the association took the money formerly devoted to cross country racing and added it to the overnight races, so that there was no reason of economy in the change. Steeplechasing never was a satisfying success at Havre de Grace, not alone by reason of the condition of the field, but. for the reason that it was impossible to properly fill fields so early in the racing season. The turf was so soft that owners did not care to take a chance with their good horses and others were not ready. The- elimination of Havre de Grace from the cross country circuit leaves Pimlico open to that style of racing. That old course has al ways been a popular one with the cross country owners and the number of horses in training indicates there will be plenty of good class contests. It would seem that Juarez ■ not going to want for an abundance of racing material for its meeting. Judge Charlie Primrose has writ ten that he has obtained all the horses he hoped for from Tijuana and he predicts a satisfying success for the revival of racing at the old Mexican track that is over the border from E3 Paso. This Juarez meeting is only one of a circuii that will give the horses an abundance of op portunity, with Salt Lake and Omaha to follow the Juarez meeting. That is what is being held out to those who ship and it has been a bait that has been relished by many a horse man. Then other of the Tijuana horses are to ship to Utah and in this consignment there will be All Over, the winner of the Tijuana Cup last Sunday. This horse will be remembered in the East for his races for Jim litzsimmons. He was not exactly considered a cup horse in those days, though on occasions he proved himself a good and useful racer. The horses of Samuel I. Riddle i Glen Riddle Farm that George Conway is to campaign f or | c the Pennsylvania turfman this year are all u up comfortably quartered in the big stable that | was formerly occupied by the horses of Ed-1 s ward F. Simnis, while a second stable of that j ir in owner is ample to take care of his reduced r; racing stable. j tl And these two stables house two of the best H looking thoroughbreds at Havre de Grace, if j tl indeed not two of the best looking thorough-, , si breds in this or any other country, and they j w are opposite?. They are American Hag, the | I e; champion of 1926, in the Riddle string, and I j 1, Prince of Bourbon, which carries the colors of Ci Mr. Simms. 1 si American Hag. the magnificent son of Man : a o War and Lady Comfey, is of a particularly , ; b sturdy big boned type, while Prince of Bour-1 bon is built along much finer lines and does j not suggest the same rugged strength, though j j j tj all of his lines tell of the super thoroughbred. I . and the fact that he is much closer to racing i condition than the Riddle colt accentuates; that difference of type. I Then American Hag is almost phlegmatic in j his apparent lack of nerves, while Prince of jof Bourbon, though a horse of perfect manners, i is a veritable bundle of nerves, or as Jim McClelland aptly puts it, "His nerves are close I j of . ■ j c to the surface. ! But for two opposites of the thoroughbred family it would be hard to find two more striking examples and each is well nigh a perfect horse. By reason of the accomplishments of American Flag last year it Is natural that there should be a bit more interest in his coming back this year than in the return of the son of Prince Palatine, but the racing public will have to wait longer to have a look at him under colors than to see Prince of Bourbon in action. American Flag was not raced after r August of last year and in his long idleness he took on some weight that must still be fined 1 1 down before he is in racing fix. Trainer Con ~ way is well satisfied, as well he may be with 3 the condition of American Hag, but it is * 4 5 apparent that he does not intend his champion G c for any particularly early racing. 7 I Prince of Bourbon is much nearer racing condition and it is probable that he will show his wares at the Havre de Grace meeting. 1 1 1 2 a The Simnis horses, in the able care of James 3 J McClelland and Roy Waldron, enjoy some ad vantage over several of those that have been 5 ° shipped in from winter quarters, though hav 6 g ing been at Havre de Grace for all their 7 ~ training, but the Maryland track Ls just about two weeks back of other years, as has been the general rule this spring, and it would have been well if all the horses could have had that 2 two weeks for their preparation, but all of them have that healthy glow that tells of rare c u up s ir in r; tl H tl , si w | I e; j 1, Ci 1 si : a , b ; j j j j tj I . i I j jof i I j of j c ! condition and it will hot take long to sharpen ! speed, with such horses to work upon. Memory Lane and Forever and Ever, both , sons of Negofol, are a pair of three-year olds the McClelland string that cannot fail to 1 race to importance, if looks count for anything when backed up by the best of blood I lines. Enough has been done with each of 1 these to prove their ability to run fast and, should Memory Lane race to expectations, he will be sent to Churchill Downs to fill his I engagement in the Kentucky Derby on May 15. He is a slashing big colt of magnificent I .conformation and the fact that he was not started last year has permitted him to grow and develop to a greater degree than had he been trained as a two-year old. Forever and Ever, also a Derby candidate, , was only raced once last year and he too is a three year-old of rare promise and one calculated • to take his place among the good class performers of 1926. Dress Parade and Crusader are two of the , Riddle candidates for the Kentucky Derby and this pair Dress Parade is the better advanced, though it is doubtful if Conway will jhave him ready for that engagement. Both these good sons of Man o War look ex cedingly well, but Press Parade is closer to racing condition than his stablemate and it is natural to expect that he will be shown first. «
