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Here and There on the Turf Bowies Weather Handicap. Stake Entries for Pimlico. Score With Winter Horses. Osmands Latest Move. • 9 The Southern Maryland Agricultural Association, which conducts its racing at the Bowie course, midway between Baltimore and Washington, has been particularly unfortunate in the matter of racing weather. Of course that is more or less to be expected when the association opens the northern racing season in the early days of April and closes it in the latter days of November. These are in seasons when it is more unusual to have bright sunshiny weather than it is to have a brand that is cold and disagreeable. When this association came into the Mary land circuit there was racing at Pimlico, in Baltimore, Havre de Grace and Laurel. Havre de Grace and Pimlico conducted two meetings, while the month of October was given over to Laurel. It was considered that there was no room for Bowie and the new track was in no way welcomed by the then existing associations of the state. Bowie had its first meeting in the fall and was forced to race against Laurel, but even with such strong opposition, the new track was so popular that there never was another conflict and it took its place in the Maryland scheme. Of course, being the last of the big tracks, it was natural that Bowie should take what was left in the allotting of racing dates and that is why it opens and closes the season. For the opening this year the association was particularly unfortunate in the matter of weather. The eleven days meeting began Friday and, right up to the opening date, there was every promise of bright weather but Friday forenoon brought rain and it continued most of the day. Then, on Saturday, naturally a big day of any race meeting, conditions were even more disagreeable, for in addition to almost incessant rain, there was a considerable drop in the temperature, which added to discomfort for out-of door sports. But, with all this handicap, the opening was one of the most successful, as far as attendance was concerned, in the history of the association. In saying this, it must be remembered that several of the openings have also been seriously handicapped by inclement weather, and snow has brought about the calling off of the racing for the first Saturday of a spring meeting. Of course, under such conditions, it is proved that racing has a tremendous appeal in Maryland to bring out such immense crowds under the most adverse weather conditions. Entries for the various stakes of the Maryland Jockey Club, to be decided over the old Pimlico course, closed Monday and, before many days, the various nominations to the 0,000 Preakness Stakes for the three-year olds, which is to be run May 9, will be made public. It is already known that by reason of the late closing the Preakness Stakes will not bring out as many nominations as were made ! to the Kentucky Derby, with its earlier closing, but the list includes virtually all of the best of the two-year olds of last year. It is also known that the other rich stake races brought a liberal response from the horsemen and. for a considerable time, many of the candi dates for the big events have been training brilliantly at the old course. The Pimlico meeting, following as it does the spring meetings at both Bowie and Havre ! de Grace affords the trainers an opportunity to sharpen up their horses by racing at both meetings. For the first two days of the Bowie meeting the weather and track conditions were so utterly unsatisfactory that the best horses were not shown, but just as soon as these conditions improve, tlie good ones will be seen in action. Then there are some others that will not be uncovered until the Havre de Grace meeting and at that meeting, which opens April 16, there will be several more of the horses now at Long Island training grounds that will be shipped to Maryland. For the Bowie racing of Friday and Saturday, the horses that had raced through the winter showed a considerable measure of success over the ones coming out for the first time and those hailing from New Orleans showed a better record than those that journeyed up from Miami. But the Inaugural Handicap saw one that was coming out of winter retirement the winner when Aucilla nosed out Contemplate. Then, Saturday, Contemplate, which had raced at New Orleans before the Inaugural Handicap, was the winner of the best offering. Honors were even for the first two days of racing as far as two year olds were concerned vhen one of the two offered went to Skavar, a New Orleans campaigner, and Maurice, starting for the first time, won the other one that was offered. Battle Shot, Maxie and Pleasant Smiles were the only others that rested through the winter and were returned winners. The New Orleans winners were, besides Contemplate and Skavar, Tester, Golden Billows, Sun Rajah, Long Point and Lancaster. Those to win that were raced at the Miami meeting were The Heathen and Madlyn. But, of course, the track condition prevented these first two days of racing from being a real test of either the winter campaigners or those that remained at home. With the racing of Sunday the last remaining winter meeting came to a close at Tijuana when the 102 days of racing was completed. The Jefferson Park second meeting came to an end after its twenty-eight day meeting with the racing of Saturday. This means that there are still a considerable number of the winter campaigners that will shortly appear at one or other of the spring meetings. Osmand and Royal Julian are the two Kentucky Derby condidates at Churchill Downs that are attracting almost all of the attention at this stage of training and first one and then the other is credited with a workout that is more or less impressive. Just now it is Osmand when the Joseph E. Widener gelding is credited with a mile in 1 :45%, over a track that was slow. That was his Saturday task and what was of particular importance was the even pace that was maintained. The fractions show that Osmand covered the first quarter in :25, the second in :26:tf„ third in :26% and final in :26%. Tnat is a character of galloping that should set at rest the often expressed doubt of the | ability of this good gelding to do other than sprinting. That is finishing out the mile rapidly enough, at this stage of his training, to indicate that he will run all the way on May 14, barring accident or an unforeseen setback in his training. Such an even pace suggests that Osmand is amenable to being placed, so essential to the success of a stayer, and each gallop from now on to the running of the race should show a bit more speed in that steady pace. Some time ago it was set forth here that the real interest in any Derby gallop is the time for the final quarter and Osmand has shown that he can already finish out a mile going easily. A .
