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jifl 9 ■* | Here and There I on the Turf ? c ==_==___=_=====_== a Maryland Season Closes. a Stakes Still to Come. Eligibles for Belmont. • Need for Future Speculation. c a $ i The racing at Pimlico this afternoon brings the Maryland spring racing sea-,41 i son over the big circuit to a conclusion, : j r It has been a wonderful racing season I from the first dav of the Bowie meet- j j ing to the last day of the Maryland l a Jockey Club meeting. With the close; ! at Pimlico, many of the horses will be , I I1 shipped to New York, to take part in I the racing there, while many others will ! | journey to Canada or the West to con- j tinue campaigning. Maryland always begins the racing , season in the East and the racing in that . state has grown to tremendous impor- tance. In fact its importance is such that . many of the big racing establishments , 3 : : desert the New York courses for what is ; offered there. This makes the dates of f . the Metropolitan Jockey Club at Jamaica anything but attractive. With the closing of Maryland racing r . and the opening of the Belmont Park meeting to come May 17, there is sure j to be increased interest in the New York f offerings. It means the bringing back l of many good horses to New York as s well as the return of various of the patrons of the sport who remained in Maryland to attend the meeting at Pimlico. And Maryland is an excellent index of f what is to be expected in a racing way „ _ throughout the year. The racing there did not develop any outstanding champion in any of the age divisions, but the e racing was uniformly good and the e interest that was shown from the beginning tells of the popularity of the sport. j The Pimlico racing gave an excellent line on what is to be expected in steeple-chasing and it must be admitted the outlook it exceedingly bright. The crosscountry ._ racing at the old course was IS bountifully patronized and there should be no lack of material to carry on for r the offerings at Belmont Park and the e Aqueduct meeting, which is to follow m _ that of the beautiful Nassau County course. The imported jumpers that did not t show to as much advantage as was expected c_ last year, are coming back in a fashion now that gives them real importance, j_ while such of the old favorites s as have been shown have lost none of 3f their form. All of this should mean large fields and well contested racing. After the running of the Preakness Stakes and the Kentucky Derby there re still remain several other rich opportunities for the three-year-olds, but the . greatest of them all is the Belmont Stakes of the Westchester Racing Association, to be decided at Belmont Park rk on June 9, the last day of that meeting. g This is a famous old fixture that had its ts first decision in 1867 at the old Jerome ae Park track, and, accordingly, it is of of , much more venerable age than either ° of the May feature races. In 1926 the distance of the Belmont _* Stakes was fixed at a mile and a half, If £ £ . j I j 1 , J. • jifl | I ? c a a • c a i i : r j I j j l a ! , I I1 I ! | j , . . , : 3 : ; f . r . j f l s f „ _ e e j ._ IS r e m _ t c_ a j_ s of 3f re the . and being at scale weight it closely re- * sembles the Epsom Derby in its conditions. The added money is 5,000 and should as many as ten horses go to the post, which at this time seems to be a modest estimate, it will gross something more than 0,000. There are seventy-six of the original 515 nominations still eligible and from such a number it is reasonable to expect ten to accept unless there comes a marked change in the three-year-old division before the date of the race. Those still eligible are: Sun Edwin, Bobashela, David Bone, Fire Fighter, ■ Bludgeon, Bright Spangle, Tuskegee, d General Grant, Dark Eagle, Genie, tl the Propus, Algernon, Blarney, Centaur, Caesarion, Nogdan, Vito, Muriatic, Bar li None, War Flier, Oh Say, Valsovian, f; Ironsides, Reproduce, Reigh Count, Sea tl Rip, Taras Hall, Beelzebub, Master to t David, Lane Allen, Replevin, Old Black . Joe, Sun Beau, Sun Friar, Spear Rock, f 1 Sun Roman, Petee-Wrack, Coronel, Sour f Mash, The Little General, Golden r Auburn, My Chum, Nassak, Sublevado, Mowlee, Daric, Ariel, Me Own, Night Life, Sun Meddler, Sunchen, Heres How, r Scotch and Soda, Brcomwhisk, Black f Friar, Stephanus, Mere Play, Charle- v magne, Knapsack, Money Musk, Dileas * be Gu Brath, Eugene S., Gallantry, Kakie- * doodles, Redcliffe, Distraction, Diavolo, h Honker, Agitator, Victorian, Flyacross, Gerard, Yesanno, Kirkover, Gerfalcon, v and a colt by Polymelian — Sandspit, J nominated by T. Doyle, but not named. ■ It is moderately safe to promise that c the name of the three-year-old champion of 1928 is in this list, for it has been almost an invariable thing that the Belmont Stakes is won by the champion. , Coining in June as the Belmont Stakes I does, the three-year-olds are well able to , • race its mile and a half, while it would | i be an unreasonable hardship in May, I I J j when the Preakness Stakes and the Ken- t itucky Derby are decided. The mile and j half is an accepted route to try all that . is best in the thoroughbred. The fact that it closed for foals in 1925 of course J eliminates importations that did not have i a nomination and for that reason, and that only, Strolling Player is not among those eligible. It costs just 5550 to bring . a nominee to the post, but the reward t and the fame that goes with a victory J makes it one of the greatest of all the « American stake races. 1 i Each year the Kentucky Derby brings I about a deal of early speculation on the , ] result and, from the time the entries are I made known, odds are laid against the . chances of the various eligibles. This ! , has been peculiar to the Kentucky Derby alone, yet there seems to be no good 1 reason why the Preakness Stakes and the - Belmont Stakes should not attract a like interest. All three races so closely resemble each other that there would be every opportunity for doubles, and even triples, that would interest many of those who desire to back their choices. After the running of the two great May races it might readily happen that there would be one colt that would stand out prominently over the other eligibles to the Belmont Stakes, but the time to offer the Belmont Stakes prices would natu-,_ rally be before the running of either of the two earlier stakes. Then again the Belmont Stakes is at a mile and a half, against the mile and three-sixteenths of the Preakness Stakes and the mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby, so that it has a difference that would appeal to those who had picked out some probable stayer. The Belmont Stakes has seldom had its share of publicity and that has frequently come from the fact that there was some doubt of the remaining eligi-a bles to the big race. That is not the case this year. It is known that of 515 nominations there are just seventy-six ; remaining in the eligible list and virtu-re ally all of them have some sort of established reputation. It becomes a race that should be a popular medium of ■ speculation and doubtless any venturesome . layer who would undertake to 1 quote future prices against the list would [ find some ready and eager customers. It I is worth a thought and it would increase , the interest in the big race at this time.
