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• — 4 Here and There on the Turf Only Two Holdouts. Rule for Contract Eiders. Victorian at Aqueduct. That Kansas City Meeting. • g The promise that the Widener rule regarding scratches will be used at the Yonkers meeting of the Empire City Racing Association, as well as during the August meeting at Saratoga Springs, is cheering. That means only Jamaica and I j Aqueduct have stuck to the old rule that has resulted in so much dissatisfaction. It is not surprising, as far as Aqueduct is concerned, for the Queens County Jockey Club has never been famed for progressiveness and it was there that the idea of an earlier closing of the entries was so vigorously opposed some years back. It will be interesting to see just how the trainers will show an appreciation of the decision to permit scratches up to 1:30 oclock, with no prohibition against the withdrawal of horses that have been entered. At Jamaica, on various occasions, there was scant appreciation shown the Metropolitan Jockey Club, when on several occasions the scratches all but wrecked what promised to be good programs. The Queens County Jockey Club may have better luck with its racing, but on past performances it is hardly to be expected, with the trainers still invited to do just as they please in the entering and scratching of their horses, except that no horse may be entered in two overnight races on the same day. That seems to be the one regulation of the club regarding the entering of horses. This stubborn sticking to the old regulation, after the excellent results that have been obtained at Belmont Park, is certainly hard to understand, and it is an utter disregard for the rights of the public that at least is to be deplored. The rule of various courses prohibiting a contract jockey to ride against an entry from his employers stable is an excellent ! one. It is a rule that prevents much of the loose talk that always follows a race such as the third at Belmont Park last I Wednesday. George Fields had the mount on Oh I j ! I r Say and P. Goodwin had the mount on j Diavolo. They are both employed by | R. A. Smith, who had Jefferson Living-r stons The Diver in the same race. He ■ was ridden by a little apprentice, S. Ren-ick. The race went to Sun Meddler, with • The Diver a fast coming second, while Diavolo and Oh Say both finished far ! back. The assignment of the jockeys gave reason for a deal of talk that was heard after the race. Oh Say probably ran the worst race he had shown all year and | the fact that Fields had the mount brought him in for much of the criticism. Both Oh Say and Diavolo were at no time | in a forward position during the running of the race. Probably under any other riders these 1 horses would have done no better, but the fact remains that they were ridden t: jockeys in the employ of a trainer who had a starter that gave a good performance. That is where the prohibition against such jockey assignments is a ; good one. It silences scandalous talk and that i.: greatly to be desired. No matter what the outcome of the promised meeting between Mrs. John Hertz Kentucky Derby winner Reigh Count, and H. P. Whitneys Preakness Stakes and Withers Stakes winner Victorian, in the running of the Belmont Stakes, on June 9, the Whitney colt has a chance to come up to Saratoga with a greater amount of money earned to his credit. Reigh Count is not engaged at the Aqueduct meeting of the Queens County Jockey Club, while Victorian has many engagements. In addition to having an opportunity to race against the older horses in the handicaps of that meeting, he is eligible to both the Shevlin Stakes and the Dwyer Stakes, which are exclu-j sively for the three-year-olds. He is not eligible to the Broadway Handicap, for the reason that a condition is that it is a handicap for three-year-olds that have not won 0,000. The Shevlin Stakes has ,000 added, while the Dwyer Stakes has an added money value of 0,000. The first named race is at a mile, while the Dwyer Stakes is at a mile and a half, the same distance as the Belmont Stakes. Each of these races have penalties which can bring Victorians weight to 128 in the Shevlin Stakes, with the bottom weight 108, while in the Dwyer Stakes, penalties can bring his weight to 126 pounds, against a low weight for those with the maximum allowance, in at 110 pounds. In addition to these three-year-old opportunities, Victorian is also engaged in the Queens County Handicap, with ,000 added; Brooklyn Handicap, with 2,500 added; Brookdale Handicap, with ,000, and the Carter Handicap, with a like added value. Thus it is that the son of Whisk Broom II. is engaged at Aqueduct in stakes that aggregate 2,500 in added money. The promise to attempt a race meeting at Riverside Park, near Kansas City, Mo., does not appear to be inviting. It does not seem possible that such a meeting can in any way advance the turf in the state. t There are various reasons for this and one of them is that the track will be less thr.n three-quarters of a mile in cir- cumference, and it is a track that was formerly used for dog racing. The Amtriean turf has progressed be- yond the days of the half-mile tracks and the bush racing. There are still a few of the half-mile rings, where there are short five days meetings of the fair variety, but for a-meeting of longer dura- tion such tracks are not worthy of a place in the racing scheme. That constitutes racing for revenue solely. The sport is so completly sub- merged by the sordid business view that it is not worthy of the name of racing. -It is the mere running of horses around a ring. That sort of racing does not belong and unless this new move for Kansas City can show something more than has been shown at this time it would be better for the state and better for the American turf if the meeting never materialized. ft e r e I j t * i X . ■ ■» 1 l 5 " t • : : ! : . i 7 I 2 j 3 4 J 6 7 1 2 : 3 4 4 C 7 I
