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and ? Here and There on the Turf More on Lachen Case. Rule Is a Good One. Racing for Saturday. Peanuts and Mars Return. S : S It was eminently fit and proper that Lachen was not permitted to start for S. C. Hildreth in the running of the Rock-away Claiming Stakes at Aqueduct on Tuesday, but the reason given for not permitting him to race was, to say the least, a peculiar one. It was announced that the colt was barred from going to the post for the reason that Frank Hackett, who made the entry, is agent for both S. C. Hildreth and the .Itancocas Stable, for which Hildreth trains. To show how ridiculous all that is, it is necessary to again tell all about this Lachen case. The colt was claimed from the Rancocas Stable for ,000 by J. H. McAvoy, during the Jamaica meeting. Under the rules he was barred from starting under the colors of the Rancocas Stable for a period of sixty days, and was harried from returning to the same management Hildreth bought the colt back in his own name and he was returned to i the management from which he was i claimed. Of course, it was an individual claim by Hildreth, and not for the Rancocas Stable. On that plea Lachen was i permitted to start at Belmont Park and long before the expiration of. the sixty days, a term that has not yet expired. There was general surprise that Lachen i .was permitted to race at Belmont Park : under the rules, and the same bar against ; his starting in the Rockaway Claiming ; Stakes could have been advanced Tuesday. There was no reason for the Queens i County Jockey Club to be governed in i any fashion by what had happened at : Belmont Park, should its officials rule ! that there had been a violation of the ; claiming rule in permitting Lachen to i start But the reason assigned, that Frank : Hackett was agent for both the Rancocas ! Stable and for S. C. Hildreth, readily sug-. gests that the rule was violated at Belmont - Park; for Hildreth is trainer for both his own horses and those of Mr. Sinclairs Rancocas Stable. The association - there is closer than is that of : Hackett to the two racing establishments, , and, altogether, as the tangle progresses, , i i i i : ; ; i i : ! ; i : ! - - : , , it becomes more and more evident that a violation of the claiming rule was condoned at Belmont Park, when Lachen was permitted to start after being claimed back by Hildreth from McAvoy. This playing fast and loose with the rules of racing is sure to bring disaster. The present claiming rule of the Jockey Club is an excellent one and it was only enacted after the evils of the old rule were set forth time after time. It is a rule that makes the claiming race just what was intended in the old days, when the selling race came into being, to afford opportunities for sale of the ordinary thoroughbreds. That old rule was so frequently abused by the racing of horses at less than their real value that the new measure was adopted. At the time there was much opposition on the part of many of the horsemen, most of whom were guilty of taking advantage of the old regulations. It was to make the claiming rule just what it should be that it became possible for anyone to claim a horse for his en- tered price from any claiming race. It was only such a provision that would absolutely check "friendly" claims, and then the further suspension of the horse from racing for his former owner for a period of sixty days from the date of the claim, was still a further safeguard against an abuse of such racing. From the beginning the rule has been opposed by many of the horsemen, and it always will be opposed, but that in itself is a recommendation. It is a rule that compels the entering of a horse for a fair market value, and that surely is the intent of the claiming race. It would be a calamity to have this rule amended in any fashion to suit the ideas of those who find it too drastic. It suits those who put a fair value on horses and it provides excellent racing. But the rule means nothing unless it is enforced to the letter. If trainers are permitted to take liberties with the rule then they might as well be permitted to take liberties with all the other rules of racing. No sport is better safeguarded by its rules than racing, but that means nothing unless these rules are enforced. The Lachen case is one that, if not an actual violation of the rule, which it seems to be, is certainly a violation of the intent of the rule. Saturday is another of the big racing days. The American Derby is down for decision at the Washington Park course of the Illinois Jockey Club; the Brook-lyri Handicap is to be decided over the Queens County Jockey Club track at Aqueduct; the Enquirer Handicap and the Harold Stakes for two-year-olds is the Kentucky Jockey Club offering at Latonia and at the Collinsville course of the Fairmount Jockey Club, near St. Louis, the offering is the Illinois Stakes for two-year-old fillies. That affords plenty of variety for the patrons of racing in each section and there is a prospect that each and every race will produce a great contest The East will again be represented in the American Derby and, of course, the West is well equipped to keep the money of the race at home, as it was kept at home by Edward R. Bradleys Boot to Boot last year. From New York two of the aspirants to the mile and a half race are Harry Payne Whitneys Kentucky Derby win-. ner Whiskery, and E. F. Cooneys Dolan, a son of Huon Rocking Chair that has shown ability to race the trying distance. And, of course, Mr. Bradley will try to repeat the defeat of the East, as he ac-. complished it in the Fairmount Derby when his Buddy Bauer turned the tables on Whiskery. And at Aqueduct the Brooklyn Handicap promises much more than it did a few days ago. It promises more by reason of the return of Mars and little Peanuts. Mars, after being away from the races ever since his victory in the Dixie Handicap on May 2, ran a smashing race in the Queens County Handicap on the opening day of the Aqueduct meeting when he was a good third to Light Carbine and Chance Play, under a burden of 128 pounds. Then Peanuts, in his victory of Tuesday proved his readiness. Both of these, at the weights, may make the Brooklyn Handicap something more than a walkover for Crusader, even though the Suburban Handicap winner appears such a real champion. Mars is in the Brooklyn Handicap under 124 pounds against Crusaders 132 Continued on eighteenth page HEBE AND THERE ON THE TURF g, Continued from second page pounds, while Peanuts seems to be leniently treated when he has only to shoulder 112 pounds. He takes up no penalty for his victory of Tuesday and this little horse, under 112 pounds, need fear few horses over the mile and an eighth distance. Those are the two that give the Brooklyn Handicap an altogether new complexion. There is also the Hudson Stakes for two-year-olds as another of the Saturday attractions at Aqueduct. The Enquirer Handicap at Latonia as well as the Harold Stakes at the same course, have notable eligibles from which to draw fields, while the Illinois Stakes at Fairmount, with its ,000 added, will bring out some of the best fillies in the Middle West. o
