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Here and There on the Turf The Deceptive Angle Brooklyn Weights Heavyweights Dangerous Belmont Stakes Outlook Bfore the Widener Course was constructed there were many howls against the old straight course where it was impossible in the stands to have anything like an interesting view of a race until the horses were inside the final eighth The Widener Course was a wonderful improvement over the old course and it was so pronounced when it was opened this year An excellent view of the runners became pos ¬ sible and altogether there came new interest in the straight races Now there is another complaint registered and it is the angle at the finish This was inevitable as was pointed out in this column the first day the new course was put into use useBut But since that time there have been sug ¬ gestions made to remedy this fault and thus far not one of them lias any merit The least meritorious of all the suggestions is the shift ¬ ing of the judging stand lo the other or grand ¬ stand side of the course This would be all right if the horses raced down next to the other rail but it is impracticable to put the stand next to the lefthand rail railIt It has been argued that the outer rail is the proper place from which to judge a finish That is admitted but the horees running through the straight course make the grand ¬ stand side of the course the inner rail That is to say that in this country the left hand rail is the inner rail of all the courses and as the Widener Course is cut through the field the grandstand side of the course becomes the inner rail Thus the judging stand is in the same relative position to the running horses as it is on any other course courseAnyone Anyone who has tried to judge a finish from an inner rail position knows how utterly diffi ¬ cult such a position is to obtain results The horses arc running too close to the rail to make it possible to separate them with any degree of accuracy The stand for the Widener Course could be in no other position than exactly where it is to make possible the judging of fin ¬ ishes ishesThe The fault is not in the placing of the stand for the judges but in the fact that the finish line forms such a difficult angle looking from the lawns and grandstand that there is scant chance for judges and spectators to agree when the finish is a close on onThe The judges are in the right position They have every opportunity to properly sight a finish and there is no reason why they should make any more mistakes at the finish of races over the Widener Course than the would in judging races over the main course There i everj reason why the spectators should make infinitely more mistakes in trying to judge the Widener Course races With the announcement of the weights for the Brooklyn Handicap one is reminded that the Belmont Park meeting is rapidly drawing to a close The meeting of the Queens County Jockey Club at Aqueduct will begin June 14 and it is the Brooklyn Handicap that is the big affair of the opening day It was to be expected that Sarazen would be at the top of the list by reason of his victories this year if not those of seasons that have gone but Mrl Vosburgh is to be commended in not pil ¬ ing on the excessive weight that might have been expected expectedSarazcn Sarazcn carried 128 pounds to victory in the Dixie Handicap at a mile and threesix ¬ teenths at Pimlico early in May His next start saw him winner of the Metropolitan Han ¬ dicap at a mile carrying 129 pounds yet he was handicapped at 128 pounds for the Subur ¬ ban Handicap at a mile and a quarter On top of that weight there was a natural penalty for the Metropolitan Handicap victory that brought the weight up to 133 pounds but it is the handicap that is to be discussed here hereFor For the Brooklyn Handicap at a mile and an eighth the weight on the Son of High Time and Rush Box was fixed at 130 pounds The scale weight for a fiveyearold in June racing a mile and a quarter is 126 pounds so that Sarazens impost is only four pounds over the scale The scaling down of the others is a much better method of bringing horses together than the piling of excessive weight on the best horse of the list When the handicaps climb five or six pounds over the scale weigh for a mile or greater distance the top of the handicap has just about climbed as high as he should be asked to go Eligibles that cannot find a chance in the wide range between 130 pounds and the bottom of the handicap hardly belong and there is no good reason for putting a greater burden on the champion In 1913 the Brooklyn Handicap was run be ¬ fore the Suburban and that year Whisk Broom II was the winner of the first named under 130 pounds Then in the Suburban he should ¬ ered the crushing burden of 139 pounds to win again But it was the last race run by that great Eon of Broomstick He was broken down training for the Saratoga Handicap in which as a matter of fact Mr Vosburgh cut his weight considerably and arranged his han ¬ dicap by dropping the others down downThere There have been various feats of carrying excessive weight Exterminator was one rare weight carrier but it is always possible in the wide range of handicap weights to avoid the really crushing burdens Some horses are natural weight carriers and there have been exceptions that apparently will carry 126 pounds as readily as they would carry 110 pounds but there comes the additional strain on the tendons no matter how easily the horse may carry weight that will eventually take its toll Even pound adds to this tendon strain with a fast galloping horse and it makes for better sport and for a longer Jifeof use ¬ fulness fbrthe best ones when handicap weights are kept within reasonable bounds boundsThis This year the handicap division is far below what it has been in many other years and it is proper that Sarazen should hold his place at the top The best of the older horses are gone and there does not seem to be the customary crop of good fouryearolds thus far to take the place of the best handicap horses of other years The threeyearolds have a better op ¬ portunity to race to handicap fame than they have enjoyed in many a year and Sarazen is about the only real stumbling block they will have to encounter With the Latonia Derby of 1926 nojv a part of history the next big race for the threeyear olds is the Belmont Stakes the mile and a half dash to be run at Belmont Park next Satur ¬ day the closing day of the Westchester Racing Association meeting meetingThis This is one of the most famous of American races with its first running away back in 1867 and it has been carried on from old Jerome Park through the life of the Morris Park course and now there is no more famous race run at Belmont Park on Long Island In its long life it has been run at various distances ranging frdm a mile to a mile and fiveeighths and this year it is back to the mile and a half distance It is at scale weight with geldings ineligible so that it is fashioned exactly after Derby conditions
