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Here and There on the Turf Derby Day in Chicago. Now Comes Aqueduct. That Outlaw Rule. Importance of Blue Bonnets. e Derby Day in Chicago. While the colorful scenes of other days, including the Fashion Parade along Michigan and Grand Avenues, were missing, Saturdays journey to the scene of the renewal of the American Derby was more in keeping with modern times, the speedy auto and motor coaches taking the place of the tallyhos, victorias, phaetons, etc., in addition to twenty or mere special trains, which were necessary to convey the tremendous crowd to Arlington Park. An overcast sky and cool breezes failed to halt the Derby trek, the ribbons of concrete leading to the northwest being congested with a seemingly endless line of autos, taxies, coaches with their enthusiastic and happy occupants, all eager to reach the scene of the third renewal of the famous old American Derby. When the bugle summoned the horses to the post for the first race there were over 25,000 people within the colossal racing grounds and thousands more pouring in the gates at such a rate that the prediction of the management that 50,000 would witness the running of the Derby appeared certain to be realized. Surely this third attempt to revive the American Derby has met with well merited success and once again Chicagos famous race of other days is in a fair way to be restored to its rightful place among the great races of the American turf. Monday the New York racing scene changes over to the Aqueduct course of the Queens County Jockey Club. Another chapter has been concluded in the 1928 turf campaign with the brilliant closing of a brilliant meeting at Belmont Park. All through that meeting there was a patronage that exceeded that of previous years, and the new rules for the sport that were put into operation seemed to meet with hearty public favor. At Aqueduct there will be a continuation of the *no scratch" rule as well as the. naming of-the horses on the printed program in the post position order. These are both New York innovations of this year and they have undoubtedly come to stay. The opening card that has been prepared by Henry C. Pebler is an excellent one and, with the ,000 added Queens County Handicap as its chief attraction, it affords fitting entertainment for the opening day. The Queens County Handicap, besides being a feature of interest and value, has a still greater importance in the relation it bears to the Brooklyn Handicap, to be run next Saturday. The Brooklyn Handicap is at a mile and an eighth, and the Queens County Handicap is calculated to give a line on the candidates for the more valuable race. The Brooklyn Handicap has 2,500 added this year, giving it a greater monetary importance than the Suburban Handicap, to which the Westchester Racing Association added 0,0.00. The stewards of The Jockey Club, in calling attention to a rule of racing, intimated, without naming the track, that horses, horsemen and jockeys and others taking part in the Firemens Fair at Els-mere, Delaware, would not be welcomed back over the courses under the direct control of The Jockey Club. This rule 33, to which the attention of the horsemen was specially called by the stewards, reads: "33-A — If a horse runs at any unrecognized meeting he is disqualified for all races to which these rules apply. "B — Any person owning, training or riding horses which may run at any unrecognized meeting is disqualified, as are also all horses owned by, or in charge of, any such person. "C — Any person acting in any official capacity at any unrecognized meeting may be disqualified." The definition of a recognized meeting is fully set forth before these penalty clauses appear in the rules, and all that has been promised for the Firemens Fair at Elsmere, fails to come wiihin the qualifications for recognition. It is always unfortunate when there arises any reason for an application of this rule, but it is an essential law of racing and only its strict application can maintain racing on the high plane that is desired. Without stringent regulations on the conduct of race meetings it is easily understood confusion could come to the turf. It is seldom that this rule has been put into operation, but it is still a truly important rule of racing and the fact that the stewards, at this time, have brought it to the attention of the horsemen seems to be a warning that it will be enforced for any contemplated violations. And there must be no false sympathy for those who would violate the rule. There must be no criticism of the stewards of The Jockey Club for the promise to enforce the rule. It is only by the enforcement of such a rule that racing may be kept above reproach and endure. It is always to be commended when racing is conducted purely as a sport. It is always to be commended when the turfmen carry on in the face of losses, even though there is regret when the racing does not pay its way. There have been various racing ventures made purely for the pecuniary gain that may come from the running of horses around a ring, but that is not worthy to be called racing, and if that is the sole object of the promoters it is entertainment that should be suppressed. And of all the various racing associations on this continent there is no one more entitled to commendation for the manner in which the sport has carried on in the face of loss than the Montreal Jockey Club. For fourteen years the racing was carried on at the Blue Bonnets course, at Montreal, at a loss. Last year there was a slight profit and it was immediately followed by increasing the value of the awards to the horsemen. The Montreal Jockey Club is composed of the leading citizens of that city, and men financially able to carry on the sport and maintain the best racing that is possible. The course itself is the greatest in Canada, being a mile and an eighth in circumference, with both a mile and a seven-eighths chute. It is 125 feet in width, with a three-eighths straight course in the stretch. Racing under the auspices and control of the Canadian Racing /-s.ciaticns, Blue Bonnets has always been an important member of that controlling body and, year after year, that sport has been under the guidance and control of officials of long experience and high reputation. 1 And in the racing itself there has always been a disposition at Blue Bonnets to have the races at distances long enough to offer an adequate test of the thoroughbred horse. It is racing that, year after year, attracts some of the prominent turfmen and their horses from the metropolitan district and for the meeting that is to open next Saturday there is a promise of continuance of that patronage. There is no more wTorthy racing than that of the Montreal Jockey Club and it is to be congratulated that after carrying on so generously in the face of losses, that a small measure of success came with the racing of last year.
