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Here and There on the Turf Decoration Day Racing. Arlington Innovation. Success of Steeplechasing. Racing for Brooklinc. e - s Seldom has there been a better day of racing than that given by the Westchester Racing Association on Decoration Day, and seldom has a day of racing been more generously patronized. With seven races down for decision, there were five of them worthy of the feature position on any program. The Juvenile Stakes was the big attraction, but the Memorial Day Handicap, run in two divisions, brought out some of the bost in training in each division. Then there was the Ladies Handicap, always a fixture of importance for the fillies and mares, while the steeplechase j I of the day added greatly to the entertainment of the afternoon. And during the afternoon there came another evidence of the wisdom of the Widener rule regarding scratches. After the running of the Juvenile Stakes there came a heavy downpour of rain and in consequence the track surface was completely changed. That, under the regulation, permitted the scratching of any of the promised starters. That brought about the scratching of Replevin from the last race. Under the scratch conditions at many courses the owner of Replevin, even had he been excused by the judges, would have been taxed a percentage of the purse. Under the Widener regulation there is no such fine for the withdrawal of the horse and any horse may be withdrawn when there comes a change in the condition of the going. The immense gathering at beautiful Belmont Park was just one more evidence of the continued and growing popularity of racing. Until late in the afternoon the day was an ideal one and with so many other attractions for the Decoration holiday makers it was truly surprising that the racing at Belmont Park should have brought out such an immense throng. With the opening of the Arlington Park meeting of the American National Jockey Club in Chicago on Monday, there will come the opening of the big racing season in that city. Every preparation for i i the meeting gives promise that it will be a tremendously successful one, and it is to be held on one of the most magnificent race courses in thi3 or any other country. H. D. Brown surely outdid himself when he built this wonderful racing ground for Chicago. With a long experience in the building and managing of tracks, Mr. Brown uLed all his vast experience in conceiving Arlington Park and he went far beyond anything that he had ever accomplished before. And the meeting is not remarkable alone for the magnificence of its surroundings and the rich stake races that are to be offered, but it will be remarkable in several innovations, all contrived for the benefit of the public. Possibly the chief one of these is the promise that the exact price against each starter is to j I i i be posted before, instead of after, the running of a race. The promise is that this can be accomplished readily while the horses are at the post, after the betting has been closed. Naturally this may cause a slight delay before the starting of each race, but the scheme, as it has been outlined, is to permit the jockeys to dismount at the barrier, and turn their horses over to grooms until the totals are reached and posted. The public will hail this as a big thing in the way of advancement and it will give positive assurance of the closing of all betting places promptly. It will do much to establish confidence, and if it is found that the delay is of no moment it will be a tremendously big thing for any mutuel race course. Like all innovations it may take some time to perfect such a system, but its many advantages are so apparent as to admit of no argument, provided the work of the calculators can be completed without any unusual delay. The success that has attended the steeplechasing at Belmont Park, during the present meeting, speaks well for the cross-country racing that is to come. There remain two special steeplechase features before the close of the meeting cf the Westchester Racing Association. The Corinthian Steeplechase is to be decided en Saturday and the Meadowbrook Steeplechase is down for decision next Thursday. These are both handicaps, with the Corinthian over the two miles course and the Meadowbrook a race of two miles and a half. Fairmount and Jolly Roger remain at the top of the handicap in the Corinthian Steeplechase, as well they might, and there is little to choose between the sterling pair. They met under equal weights in the Charles L. Appleton Memorial Steeplechase and Fairmount beat Jolly Roger, though he was beaten by Bangle himself. The weights of the two stars on that occasion was 162 pounds. Now for the Corinthian Steeplechase Fairmount has been boosted to 175 pounds, while Jolly Roger is under 172. There usually does not seem to be more than three pounds, if that much, between the pair and it cannot be remembered when there were two jumpers out the same year that were so evenly matched. This is considerable of a jump for both of these horses when Fairmount is raised thirteen pounds and Jolly Roger ten, but Bangle, which beat the pair, has had his weight jumped from 134 pounds in the Appleton Memorial Steeplechase to 153 in the Corinthian Steeplechase, a jump of niucteen pounds, and he barely beat Fairmount. Signal, which raced in the Appleton Memorial Steeplechase under 332 pounds, has to take up 147 and Skedaddle, in the Appleton Memorial Steeplechase under 132 pounds, has to shoulder 144 pounds Saturday. Thus it will be seen that all of the "/eights have been raised materially. And while on the subject of steeple-chasing it is fitting that attention be called to the fact that entries for the three big fall stakes of the Belmont Park meeting are to be closed today. These are the Grand National Steeplechase at three miles, to which 5,000 is added; the Brook Steeplechase, at two miles and a half, with 0,000 added, and the Broad-hollow Handicap Steeplechase, at two miles, with ,500 added. The Grand National Steeplechase is by long odds the greatest of American cross-country races and last year, when Jolly Roger beat Fairmount home, with a two pounds pull in the weights, it netted the Grecntree Stable 4,750. Preparations arc going forward for the Brookline race meeting, which is to be conducted June 16 and June 18. And following those two days of racing J. R. Macomber will conduct one day at his estate at Framingham, Mass. Thus it is that the Boston and Brookline sportsmen will have three days of racing of the real sporting variety. The entries for these various races close today and alrcr.dy nominations enough have been received to promise rare sport. In all there will be seventeen different races, of which eleven will be for hunters and steeplechasers. Of the number the big feature is naturally the Country Club Grand Annual Steeplechase Handicap to be run Monday, June 18. This has a value of ,000 and it is a trophy highly prized by the hunting set. This year Fred H. Parks and William Doyle will officiate as judgc-r, while Edward J. Brennan will do the handicapping. ■ - i
