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* — . _e j Here and There j on the Turf i c Petee-Wrack and Brooms. i Both Show Real Class. I More on Starting. Racing on May 19. ! _ ® t Two of the trulv notable candidates for the highest three-year-old honors met at Havre de Grace Tuesday Avhen J. R. Macombers Petee-Wrack, a maiden up to the running of this race, took the measure of George Sloans Brooms. It J was over a mile and seventy yards and Brooms, under 115 pounds, was giving away nine pounds to the winner. The race was run over a track that was heavy and it was a performance by both colts to show readiness for the Preakness | Stakes, which is to be decided over the Pimlico course May 11. This pair stood out over the others that started when Folamile, which finished third, was a full seven lengths away and Negopoli and Arcturus, the other starters, still further back. . This was the first appearance for Petee-Wrack since last November, when he was only baaten a head by Reigh Count in the running of the Walden Handicap at Pimlico. But Reigh Count was taking up 126 pounds to the 118 pounds carried by Mr. Maeombers colt. It was the first start for Brooms since the running of the Futurity at Belmont I Park, in which he stumbled right at the , rise of the barrier and unseated Johnny Maiben, who had the mount. . It would have been more satisfactory if the going had been better for the meeting . of these two Tuesday, but both have every reason to race well through the , heavy going, and possibly the result would have been the same over a more , favorable track. There is no reason for . offering an excuse for Brooms, for his i was a good race, though he Mas beaten, but he went much further than the Macomber colt and he was not ridden , with the same skill by Elston that was shown by George Fields on the winner. Any way one looks at the first race of the two, the conclusion must be leached that each qualified for his engagements . in the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby, in which both are entered. On any estimate of the two-year-olds of last year Brooms and Petee-Wrack surely belonged in the first division and thoy certainly still belong in the first division of the three-year-olds. There have been several criticisms of f the walk-up starting system that has 3 been used by Mars Cassidy since the e opening of the new racing season, but t for the most part they arc unfair and j the system has not been in use long g enough to have a thorough trial. And j it must be remembered that the conditions ;_ have been trying in the extreme. , With cold and rainy weather and a a muddy track, it is always a tough job 0 to obtain results at the starting gate. - It is a tough job at any time, but doubly so ui ler such weather conditions. The horses are doubly fretful by reason t_ of both the state of the track and rj the weather, while the riders cannot have "CJ • 1 . j I C i 1 ■ * ; J • l I , j j i c i I ! t J | . I , . . , , . i , . f 3 e t j g j ;_ , a a 0 - t_ rj "CJ the same control of their mounts. It is * harder for the assistant starters to offer the proper help and, in fact, everything is against the best results in the starting of races. Two of the starts that have been criticised were those in the Initial Han-si dicap at Aqueduct last Thursday and the Paumonok Handicap of Monday, both of which races were won by William I Ziegler, Jr.s Polydor. In each race he appeared to beat the barrier, and possibly he did at Aqueduct, though at Jamaica, in the Paumonok Handicap, the start was a good one. But the chances are that Polydor would have had an m even greater advantage had these been ?J "standing starts. el Polydor is probably one of the quickest c horses at the barrier in training at the c present time. He seems to leave in full b« stride and that trick of being under h way at once is calculated to make any start look like a bad one. There have 3t v been horses from time to time with that ti same alertness and they have a way of cl leaving the starting post that always made it appear that they had an advan- ii tage at the start. *j One of the striking examples was Lady Amelia of some years ago. It made no difference from what position Lady Amelia left the barrier, and it made no a difference how fast the others of the : j t, field were, she would neck into the lead sl with the first stride and be so well clear tl of the others at flag time that the start A would almost appear ragged. Polydor ! in if has been leaving the post in the same c fashion and, as a matter of fact, the r others have a much better chance to leave with him, when they are in motion f than if they were started from a stand. There is no reason to condemn the walk-up start until it has had a longer Z trial and a trial under more favorable A conditions. n ■ a May 19 is the greatest day of the rac- d nig year in Kentucky, for it is the date of • the running of the Kentucky Derby at t Churchill Downs. That date was chosen ■ during the winter and it was chosen to t a fit in with the date for the running of e the Preakness Stakes of the Maryland Jockey Club, which is to be decided May 11. Such dates afford a three-year- J old time to meet both engagements com- fortably. But there is another three- . l year-old stake race of importance that • is to be decided on Derby day. That is I is the Withers Stakes of the Westchester _ Racing Association. And, as a matter of I » fact, this May 19 at Belmont Park, will i J be something of an occasion, for there I t will be seven races decided. This be- c comes possible by the adding of a steeple- . chase for hunters with gentlemen riders ; in the saddle. This is known as the Aiken Hunters Steeplechase and it will i be a sweepstakes of 5 to enter and I 00 additional to start, with ,200 and a trophy to both the owner of the win- - -| ner and its rider. The other feature of that holiday seven- race program, besides the Withers Stakes, is the Keene Memorial Stakes for C two-year-olds at four and one-half fur- longs, over the Widener Course. Of course, it is natural that the Withers Stakes wor.id attract many of the nomina- - lions made to the Kentucky Derby, run a the same day, but the Withers Stakes, is over a mile route, while the Kentucky f Derby is at a mile and a quarter. For r that reason the conflict cannot be taken as a really serious one, though, of course, it is always better, when possible, to 3 arrange the running datesfor such races s so that conflict will be avoided. This year the meeting of the Ontario 3 Jockey Club, at the old Woodbine course, , will be conducted from May 19 to May 26, • and, as usual, it is a seven days meeting of vast importance to the turf. Four of the stakes that are to be decided •- at the meeting are to be closed by y W. P. Frazer, in Toronto on Wednesday * next, and, with the meeting so close at ,t hand, the responses to the stakes will ii be a good index of the number of starters S that may bo expected at post time. The e richest of these stake races is the e Toronto Cup Handicap, at a mile and an n eighth, with 5,000 added, This is a race that has always brought it together a remarkable field and last year it fell to Walter J. Salmons Display, f, which will doubtless try for a double e this year. The King Edward Gold Cup, p another handicap at a mile and a six-.. r_ teenth, with ,000 added, is another of f the big stake races and the other ,000 10 added races that arc to be closed are the ie Woodstock Plate at a mile and a six- E- _ .Continued on sixteenth rase. HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF • i Continued from second page. teenth, for three-year-old and the Victoria Stakes at five-eighths of a mile for the two-year-olds. At this same meeting there will be a steeplechase each day with two of them, the Aintree Steeplechase and the Woodbine Steeplechase, both handicaps, have an added money value of ,000. These are races that attract much attention of the turfmen south of the great lakes, and each year there is a considerable number of nominations made of horses that will be seen in action later at Belmont Park and in Kentucky. While in this country it is generally considered that May 1 or 2 is a bit early tc have horses ready for the Dixie Handicap, at a mile and three-sixteenths, at Pimlico, and that the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby come a bit early in the year, it is well to remember that the Great Metropolitan Handicap was run in England at Epsom Downs, April 24. It is at two miles and a quarter and there were twenty starters.
