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m Here and There on the Turf , : Joseph McLennan has always been able to obtain excellent results with his program books that require horses to race over a suf- ficient distance to make it a real test. He has followed along the same plan for the meeting of the Southern Maryland Agricul- tural Association which begins the Maryland season at Bowie next Tuesday. For the eleven days of racing at that Bowie meeting there will le seventy-seven races, and of these there are thirty-one of a distance greater than a mile. That is surely an excel- , lent percentage for April racing, but former meetings assure that these races will be liberally patronized by the horsemen. Joe McLennan, opening the spring sea- son as lie does in Maryland, has always set the pace for other racing secretaries, and no 1 official so convincingly demonstrated that these comparatively long distance races are possible at any season of the year. Then he lias a condition in some of these races that has helped such sport immensely. This is an allowance for such horses that have never won over as long a distance as a mile. This allowance lias frequently successfully tempted trainers to send out horses that up to that time had been utilized merely as sprinters. They are races that have uncovered new qualities, and at the same time such races offer a good test of training ability. They call for more than mere speed, such as the only requirement for a trivial sprint. Then there is the further commendable quality in races of a greater distance than a mile In the demands made on riding skill. Such a race means more than ability to have a Iiorse away running. It requires more of a head and more of a knowledge of pace. As far as the spectacle, is concerned the public always finds more of interest in a long distance race. It makes little diiference whether it be a race for the platers or those of higher quality, the test is there and that is the real object of all racing. Announcement lias been made that the Bahr starting gate will be used on all the Illinois race courses this year. This is a stall device that has been pretty thoroughly tested and it needs no description. Naturally, it is a stall gate, for all of the various starting machines that have attracted any recent attention have had stalls as the basic feature. In the bid for popular favor this Bahr gate has more than held its own and, should the expected results come from its use during the Illinois season, it might readily come into almost general use on the various other race courses in other sections. One reason for expecting excellent results in Illinois will come from the same machine being used at all the racing grounds. That will enable the horses to become thoroughly familiar with its workings and that is of paramount importance no matter what the starting device. It is natural that the horses that meet with many different starting machines may become confused themselves and it never is fair to the thoroughbred to make changes In the starting equipment. Too often the horse that is well behaved and of perfect post manners at one device becomes first nervous and then a rogue at another. It is not the fault of the horse. When the time comes that the starting machines adopted are at least closely similar to one another it will be possible to look for better starling. It will mean that when a horse learns one of them he is familiar with . all and there will not be the mixing up of starting systems that are confusing to both riders and horses. Some objections have always been made to the stall machines on the ground that they are too mechanical and that they detract, in some measure, from the sporting side of racing. This is more than answered in the protection that is offered horses while at the post. Any machine that will lessen the chance of a horse becoming injured at the post more than offsets any loss of sportsmanship in the racing. $ 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 " 6 7 7
