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I $ -4 i Here and There j on the Turf Progress of Toro. The Saratoga Changes. , Reasons for Outlaw Rule. Opening of Old Aqueduct. I «e f Edward B. McLeans Toro is surely a sturdy colt, from the way he comes right | along for each of his engagements. He has missed no big three-year-old race, | with the exception of the Belmont Stakes, when he was profitably engaged in taking the American Derby, and trainer John Schorr promises to have him at the post for the Latonia Derby, at a mile and a half, which is to be run a week from Saturday. When it is remembered that the son of The Porter and Brocatelle has been in hard training since tne early days of spring, and that trainer John Schorr had him possibly almost at the peak of his form on May 11, when he was beaten by Victorian by inches in the Preakness Stakes, he proves himself of sturdy mold. It also testifies to the skill of Mr. Schorr as a conditioner. It is some task to bring a horse to the top of his form for a gallop of a mile and a quarter, and it is more of a task to successfully keep it on edge. And by the same token one ; must have a colt of good class to make such training possible. Toro had hard races in the Preakness 1 Stakes, Kentucky Derby and the Fair-mount Derby, in each of which he shared in the money. Then moving on to Chicago he finally was the winner when he ! took the measure of Misstep, which had beaten him in the Fairmount Derby. ■ Now, over the mile and a half distance, 1 his most trying engagement, he has a 1 real chance to repeat his Chicago y triumph. It is expected that from the 142 nominations to the Latonia Derby Toro will be called upon to meet several of the colts he raced with in either the Preakness Stakes, the Kentucky Derby, Fair-mount or American Derbys. They are s eligible and a goodly number of them 1 will go to the post. Of course, Reigh 1 Count will be an absentee, but Victorian 1 is in the list and Rowe might decide to 5 send him after the race, to give the son 1 of Whisk Broom II. a chance to atone for his failure" in the Belmont Stakes. And that would mean meeting the winner of the Preakness Stakes. Misstep is looked upon as a sure starter and he was the winner of the Fairmount Derby, while Vito, winner of „ , the Belmont Stakes and conqueror of Victorian, is also an eligible. Thus it is possible in the Latonia Derby for Toro to establish himself over all the best three-year-old winners, with the exception 1- of Reigh Count, which will probably not be seen under colors until August. Dark Phantom, the five-year-old mare e by Light Brigade— Bellita, has proved j conclusively on several occasions that bhe possesses a wonderful turn of speed. 1 Her latest demonstration of this quality y was at Arlington Park Monday, when she c ran three-quarters in 1:11 with 11G g pounds up. The inrceasing popularity of Arling ;- I j r , * I , I a ] ] 1 ] | I i j , I | | ; 1 ! ■ 1 1 y s 1 1 1 5 1 „ , of is 1- e j 1 y c g ;- ton Park was further illustrated Monday when an attendance estimated at 12,500 was present. The fact that ladies day was a contributing factor in bringing out so many two days after the record Derby Day crowd in no wise detracts from that popularity. The opening of the twenty-one days meeting of the Queens County Jockey Club at Aqueduct, on Monday, was an auspicious one and the immense throng r that was out bore testimony that the racing ground has lost none of its popu- 1 i. larity. 2 2- The running of the Brookdale Handicap, 3 at a mile, brought forward another 4 4. worth-while candidate for the Brooklyn 5 0- Handicap in its winner, A. C. Swartz . C imported four-year-old Kentucky II. This -colt was an easy winner under 115 pounds and it was a race that was infinitely better than his showing in the 1 j Suburban Handicap, in which he was soundly beaten under a pound less -weight. Kentucky II. is weighted in the 3 Brooklyn Handicap at 114 pounds and -his Brookdale Handicap triumph will add three pounds to that assignment, bring- 5 5 6 ing his weight to 117 pounds. That does not seem to be in any way excessive, 7 taking a line through that Monday performance. Dolan, winner of the Sub- 1 1 urban Handicap under 105 pounds, had 2 - 3 3 been raised to 114 pounds for the Brcok- 4 dale Handicap and he finished far back 5 5 of Kentucky II., after never having 6 ■ 7 shown anything in the running of the race. Dolan is in the Brooklyn Handicap under 114 pounds and Kentucky II. 1 1 surely gave him more than a three 2 pounds beating on Monday. The return of Kentucky II. to his good 3 winning form was not the only happen-M 4 ing of the opening day. It was a day to 5 introduce Ariel as a threc-ycar-old and f 6 his first race of the year was a sparkling -t 7 one when he outsprinted such flyers as Croyden and Happy Argo. Hildreth took his time with the son of Eternal and 1 1 Adana and he was rewarded with a , sterling performance at the first asking. What is more than that, the colt looks 3 4 infinitely better than he did last year and the doctoring of his bad legs seems to 5 6 have been particularly successful. 7 " Some description has already been given of the vast improvements that will be found at the beautiful Saratoga Springs course, but it is impossible to so describe all that has been accomplished since the last meeting to give a fitting . picture of what is awaiting the August 1 crowds. It would be painting the lily to attempt to add to the natural beauty rnd general surroundings of this most delightful of I ; all eastern racing grounds. It would be , [ impossible to add to that wonderful pad- dock and the beauty of the infield, and the lawns had reached the acme some ! years back. But the patronage outgrew the stands long since and it is here where the ingenious work has been done. • The club house that has taken the place 3 of the old structure is a model of beauty and convenience, while it is so con- - . structed that no longer is the start of races out of the mile chute concealed 1 from any part of the stands. The old 1 club house blanked out that start from 1 the rear rows of the grandstand, as well 1 as from several points in the club house, but now the buildings are so arranged 1 that from any point in either club house , or grandstand a perfect view is obtained I of every part of the course. This in itself is a big accomplishment, apart t from the beauty and the increased .ca- pacity of the most popular course. While wonderful changes were going » forward at Saratoga Springs there is S also a new stand for Maryland that will i delight the patrons of Laurel in October. . The Maryland State Fair Association is ■ building a monster new stand for its 3 next meeting and it promises to outdo O the Bowie stand in point of seating ° capacity. As was the case at Saratoga Springs „ and Bowie, the new accommodations S were imperative to take care of the constantly _ growing patronage. All of this s means much in the hold that racing has on the American public. And with all the growing popularity there is a corre-[t sponding growing importance in keeping the racing on a plane that will hold the interest. That is only accomplished by seeing to it that the sport is kept free from those who would bring it into disrepute and only accomplished by as far as is pos- sible prohibiting such promoters as would tear down the whole structure merely in the chase of dollars. There is an ever present danger in prosperity. The appeal of the racing, and the vast crowds, excite the cupidity of those to whom the racing means nothing other than a lucrative business. They have nothing in common with sport except the dollars to be made from conducting a meeting.
