Here and There on the Turf: Silver Fox Makes Good. Two Promising Juveniles. Chicago Racing Affairs. Reasons for Publicity., Daily Racing Form, 1927-04-27

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Here and There - on the Turf Silver Fox Makes Good. Two Promising Juveniles. Chicago Racing Affairs. Reasons for Publicity. € * When Sam Hildreth paid a big price for an imported yearling by Grey Fox II., from Mary Queen of Scots, many good judges were of the opinion that he had obtained the best offering of the August sales of 1923. As a two-year-old Silver Fox, for so the colt was christened, proved a bitter disappointment and at three he had improved somewhat when he won the Carter Handicap as well as both the Empire City Derby and the Cincinnati Derby, while he was second to Worthmore in the i Toboggan Handicap and only beaten by American Flag in the Withers Stakes. Hildreth was so disappointed with Silver Fox in his early racing that when another Grey Fox IT. — Mary Queen of Scots yearling was offered at Saratoga the year following his purchase, he scouted the idea of taking another to his stable. But this same Silver Fox, while | | he did not develop into the horse that Hildreth i expected, has at least become a sprinter of note. His victory in the Paumonok Handicap last year was a good class race and when he came back on Monday to repeat in the same race he gave promise of keeping the best of the sprinters exceedingly busy this year. It was a race to indicate that he had a real excuse in the running of the Harford Handicap, for which race he was shipped to Havre de Grace. A horse of faultless conformation, he has a great turn of speed and in his Paumonok Handicap victory displayed becoming game-ness. Incidentally he was ridden with surprising skill by Laverne Fator and with that talented rider up he will probably be the best horse in the stable this year. Silver Fox was in rather close quarters in that big field on . Monday and Fator. with rare coolness, worked ! his way out of difficulty and when he sat I down to ride a furious finish he had horse enough under him to carry him to victory. Stephanus, the two year-old chestnut son of S;efan the Great and El Dorado that races I for Walter J. Salmon is a two year-old that may make his mark before the racing season is old. In his race on Monday this colt showed a great turn of speed and the manner in which he relaxed, after turning into the stretch, suggested that he was startled by the cheering crowd on the lawn. He was apparently racing so easily at the time that no other reason could be given for his action in that last eighth. He looked all over the winner when he suddenly, and surely not because of tiring, shortened his stride until he was passed and l»eaten by Dice, a son of Dominant and Frum-pery, which races for the Wheat ley Stable. Dice is surely a useful sort and he showed that he has education, but it is safe to promise that when Stephanus has had a bit more education he will show to greater advantage than he did at Jamaica on Monday. There was another in this race which fin ished fourth that is destined not long to re main a maiden. That one is Glade, a chestnut daughter of Touch Me Not and Idle Dell that races under the colors of the Greentree Stable. This filly showed a lack of barrier education and when the webbing flew up she was actually backing away. Before Ellis had her under way she was virtually out of the race and, while she showed a great flight of speed, she was away so as to have no chance. In the early spring there is always the danger of good ones racing green, but both Stephanu.- i | | i . ! I I and Glade showed enough in the race to create the impression that each is a good class two-year-old. The two Lucullite colts, Mowlee and Suble-vado that Hildreth sent to the post for the Rancccas Stable did not show enough to furnish any line on what to expect of the program of this young sire and the other did not impress particularly, besides it will take soma racing to obtain a line. There has come a still closer welding together of the Chicago racing interests by CoL Matt Winn and his Chicago associates taking over a considerable slice of the stock of the Illinois Jockey Club. This was the one Chicago racing association that met with some financial difficulties last year and by the coming in of Mr. Peabody, Colonel Winn and his associates, the club is at once placed on a sound financial basis. This will place the Lincoln Fields Jockey Club and Washington Park, the home of the Illinois Jockey Club, and a neighbor, in harmonious relation, and, while the coming together of all the associations in an amicable agreement as to dates and running time for the features, it is readily appreciated that this purchase of stock brings these two associations even closer together. This important deal will have little to do with the plans as already made for the racing at Washington Park. The meeting will open as announced, at the conclusion of the present meeting at Aurora and there will be no alterations in the stake list, nominations for which are to clos? next Saturday. There stakes include the American Derby, with 5,000 added, as well as five other special stakes races, each of which has an added money value of ,000, while through the meeting there will be no purse with a value less than ,200. Joseph E. Widener has complained that greater publicity is given the Kentucky Derby than is accorded the Belmont Stakes, which is an older race, while there is scant publicity given other famous old New York stake races. I j That is easily explained. In the first place i i ; publicity for the Kentucky Derby is especially j easy to be had and the average sporting editor | ! is willing to give space to such matter, when ■ it contains real news, and invariably the D?rby | j publicity is decidedly newsy. The news of the I I Belmont Stakes is not as easily obtainable and i | that b the prime reason for ils not being broadcast as generously. Col. Matt Winn is also a reason for the publicity that the Kentucky Derby has been receiving. It was not until Colonel Winn became such a prominent figure in the Kentucky racing scheme that the Derby attracted so much public notice. It was Colonel Winn who made the Kentucky Derby a 0,000 race and it was Colonel Winn who is responsible, more than any other one man, for the tremendous popularity of the Kentucky Derby and the consequent publicity. It is news and live news to exploit in the Kentucky Derby. Admitted that the Belmont Stakes is an older race and that it is probably at the times the best of all races for the three-year-old, there has been a lack of effort to have it exploited and it has always been much harder to obtain even the news of the race than has been the case for either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness Stakes of the Maryland Jockey Club. Speaking of the Preakness Stakes, the Maryland Jockey Club has issued a handsomely printed history of the famous old race, which I contains the nominations to the 0,000 con test. There are various helps to publicity for i the Kentucky Derby and as far as the Belmont Stakes is concerned, for the most pari, the l writer who desires to give it a fitting publicity, has to dig up all this news himself. Thus it is not altogether the fault of newspapers that the Kentucky Derby receives so much more publicity. In the first place it is a race that is worthy of publicity and in the second place much of the publicity is right at hand for use when desired.


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800