view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Revising the Estimates Lessons of the Derby Breeding in Illinois Kentucky Claiming Rule The victory of Whiskery in tlie Ken ¬ tucky Derby on Saturday makes neces ¬ sary another revision of the threeyear old estimates There is no reason for a revision as far as Whiskery is concerned but there is every reason for a revision of the estimate that had been formed of Osmand Recent races of Mr Wideners gelding forced the conclusion that he was merely a sprinter but he stuck it out for the mile and a quarter and it was only in the closing strides and after a des ¬ perate drive that he was beaten a head headScapa Scapa Flow has had his second chance and if he had any excuse in the Freak ness Stakes and he did not seem to have any the Derby confirmed that form and he must be set down now as purely a sprinter The race run by Rip Rap was so utterly bad that he will have to be for ¬ gotten until he at least proves himself all over again againJock Jock is another that raced himself into a new place There was nothing the son of Colin had done to suggest his being of Derby class but he hung on to save third place after making a fast pace nearly all the way As for Bostonian the Derby was more or less of a con ¬ firmation of his victory in the Preakness Stakes for he never had a chance to stride freely in the Derby being secure ¬ ly bottled up and pocketed for most of the race raceThe The others of the Derby field did not show enough to merit much comment and it will probably be shown long be ¬ fore the end of the racing year that the field was one that will be considered as nothing better than ordinary Early in the year there appeared to be every promise for a great band of threeyear olds to contest the great stake races but now with the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby decided hardly a colt has been shown that is worthy of the values won or worthy to have his name inscribed among the other chief winners of the Preakness Stakes Kentucky Derby Withers Stakes Belmont Stakes Realization Stakes and other big three yearold races Fortunately there re ¬ main some others to be heard from but the threeyearold prospect for 1927 is sad indeed at this time It may come to pass that the Derby of 1927 will be looked upon as one of the worst in the history of the famous old race That is to say there is more than an even chance that the running of the race failed utterly to uncover the best threeyearold of the year though a month ago it was so rich in promise promiseAlmost Almost every one of the best twoyear olds of 1926 was brought to the Derby and the best ones were hardly worthy Of course it may be that the champion was in the field and that he will prove himself later in the year but the Ken ¬ tucky Derby did not show enough to name the champion and it is almost safe even at this time to predict that both Joseph E Wideners Chance Shot and Harry Payne Whitneys Valorous will prove master of all in that field It is of great importance to the turf of Illinois to see the breeding and the rac ¬ ing moving along together so famously The Leona Stock Farm was established by John Hertz before the racing was really brought back and the thorough ¬ breds from the farm are already bring ¬ ing fame to Illinois as a native hearth for the thoroughbred horse horseThe The most recent fame was when the twoyearold filly Anita Peabody was winner of the Debutante Stakes pf the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs on Friday It was the second start of this good filly and her second victory victoryAnita Anita Peabody is a daughter of Luke McLuke La Dauphine by The Tetrarch and was bred by John Hertz at his Illin ¬ ois farm where he proposes to demon ¬ strate that it is possible to breed and develop just as notable thoroughbreds as may be bred in any other state There are others from the Leona Stock Farm that are calculated to bring still greater fame to both the state and to John Hertz HertzAnd And it was fitting that this filly should be named afer Mrs Peabody the charm ¬ ing wife of Stuyvesant Peabody presi ¬ dent of both the Lincoln Fields Jockey Club and of the Illinois Turf Association which controls and govern the racing in Illinois IllinoisMr Mr Peabody himself has come into racing in a big way and in addition to holding high office in the Illinois Turf he is gathering a stable of horses and laying his plans to follow the sport with a thoroughbred farm While the Kentucky rules of racing contain many clauses that makes those regulations better than any other there is one that might well be amended for the reason that it is just a trifle confus ¬ ing That is the section of the claiming race rule that requires the purse to be added to the programed claiming price for the claim of a horse horseThis This just serves to complicate the rule a bit and at the same time it cheapens the thoroughbred That is to say it makes him appear a cheaper horse on the printed program The horse that is entered to be claimed for 500 in a race having a purse value of 1200 is really entered to be claimed for 1700 How much better it would be as is the case in the New York rule to print the actual claiming price There is no reason for that plus the purse All it does is to require the man who wishes to make a claim to practice a bit of addition just as the trainer who enters the horse must also figure out just what he will receive in the event his horse is claimed claimedThere There does not seem to be the slight ¬ est reason for not amending the rule re ¬ quiring that the actual claiming price be announced on the program There is no reason for requiring this simple addi ¬ tion and at the same time it on paper gives the thoroughbred horse a more im ¬ portant value It would indeed be in ¬ teresting to know of any one good reason for the antiquated clause that requires the purse as well as the claiming price
