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- 1-S- Here and There on the Turf Cleansing the Chasing. Some Rare Bargains. Kentucky Fall Season. The German Importations. s $ It is evident that the stewards are determined to go to the bottom of all the charges of fraud in steeplechasing. It is not expected that all of the various charges that have been made from time to time will be sustained by the evidence, but it is just as important to obtain an aquittal. There is no denying that many of the charges made from time to time of fraud in racing are groundless. Steeplechasing has always been subjected to many groundless charges of fraud and, of course, there have been some races through the field that have brought about investigations that fixed guilt. It is a particularly hard matter to fix the guilt in such cases, but the present determination to make a searching investigation of every charge should do much to further the sport. There is a better chance for steeplechasing at this time than ever before. Races have been added to the list that make the spectacular branch of racing of vast importance, and the importation of foreign jumpers has given it altogether new impetus. It must not be in any manner checked by those who would debauch racing, and the stewards at Aqueduct, by their recent investigations, have demonstrated that they will do everything in their power to keep it clean. . Some idea of the bargains that may frequently be found at the yearling auctions was furnished in the field that raced for the Canarsie Stakes at Aqueduct on Friday. Eight of those that raced L had been sold at the Saratoga auctions and Polls was the top-priced one, when Robert L. Gerry bought him for ,200, surely little enough for such a colt But some other bargains in the field were more remarkable. Henrietta Wildair cost only ,300; Gordon Plaid was sold for ,700; I Hope , So brought only 00; Miss Boyd was . an ,100 filly. Aster and Mi Vada each l sold for ,000, and Eddie Ahearn cost ,100 as a yearling. Of course, there are 4 many high-priced ones that never make good, but there are many more of the cheap ones that go on, year after year, to prove profitable investments. These, of course, were only a few of . L , . l 4 the bargains, but it was rather a remark-1 able field to be brought together in one race, and that race a stake race of the value of ,250 to the winner. That award was just ,050 more than the most expensive yearling in the list cost last August. And Henrietta "Wildair, which has been such a consistent filly, won several times her purchase price in that success, even had it been her first winning race. These are bargains that always do much to keep the yearling market active and they really do more good than the extravagantly expensive sales. What is i desired for the yearling market is a fair price for all the offerings, rather than a few that go to five figures and the others bring next to nothing. With Kentucky provided with sixty- six days of fall racing the sport in that 1 state, the home of the thoroughbred, will continue from September 3, until Novem- l ber 26. This is an increase of nine days 1 over the schedule for last year and the , increases are made at Latonia which raced twenty-three days last year against , the twenty-nine provided for this year, Lexington, which has eleven days, against the ten of last year, and Dade ; Park with thirteen days, against the eleven days of 1926. The Chuchill Downs meeting, at Louisville, remains , thirteen days, as it was in 1926. Just now there is something of a poli- tical battle raging in Kentucky with racing one of the big questions that is under discussion. There have been fights of a like character before and each time the racing has been victorious, ever since the passage of the present law of government by a racing commission. Year after year this question is brought up and it will probably be an issue as long as there is racing or breeding in the state. The racing and breeding constitute a big industry in Kentucky and the excellent government of the sport has thus far carried the day. It is confidently expected that the racing will not be disturbed in the coming elections in the state. There will always be those who will make a fight against racing. The turf will never be free from such attacks, but of all states, it would seem that Kentucky, with its vast thoroughbred breeding interests would never be seriously threatened by such attacks. The recent arrival of German thoroughbreds in this country is of great interest. The arrival is of interest, not only to racing, but to breeding and the German market, but recently opened up to this country to any extent, is sure to become a tremendously popular and im- portant one. The German yearlings that were sold at Saratoga last August have developed into two-year-olds that are sure to make their way and it is expected that some of the developments will be in the first flight of two-year-olds before the end of the racing year. And this most recent shipment of the stallion Axenstein and two breed mares, as well as eleven yearling fillies, that in the natural course of events will be-. come brood mares later. The importa-, tion of good mares is of really more importance than the bringing over of stock horses. American breeders are bountifully supplied with the best blood in its stock horses, but frequently there has not been enough attention paid to the bringing in of new blood through the dams. Far sighted breeders have from time to time made important purchases of foreign mares for breeding purposes, but these importations have not had anything like the volume they should have for the infusion of new blood in the best of the " American strains. The coming of the steeplechaser Laufjunge in this same shipment is of vast interest and his progress will be watched with interest. Several of the good jumpers that have been imported to this country were not altogether successful, for the reason that our steeplechasing is more like the hurdling abroad. For that reason the outlanders that did not race at their obstacles were always found lacking in speed when they met the American jumpers. They might be better jumpers and better steeplechasers, but they were not better over the country they were asked to race in the United States. For that reason Laufjunge will not strike terror into the hearts of the others until he does something on this side of the Atlantic. -
