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Here and There on the Turf The death of H D Curly Brown marks the passing of one of the most colorful sportsmen of the American turf He grew up with racing and accomplished much in his long life of usefulness Owner and trainer of his own horses when he first came into any prominence he was a starter for sev ¬ eral seasons and finally came into track building and the promotion of race meet ¬ ings ingsIt It was there that he came into his real fame His first venture of any importance was the building of City Park in New Or ¬ leans That brought about one of various internal wars of racing and Brown purchased and operated an evening newspaper in New Orleans largely for the purpose of carrying on his battle From New Orleans he directed his talents to Jacksonville then to Marianao near Ha ¬ vana where the beautiful course of the HavanaAmerican Jockey Club is still a monument to his trackbuilding genius He built and operated the Laurel course of the Maryland State Fair Association until it came into its present ownership ownershipThen Then after being virtually out of that active end of the sport for some time he constructed the magnificent Arlington Park course which he later disposed of ofAnd And when this man of many interests was promoting racing in different parts of this country and Cuba he amassed a fortune that permitted his establishment of a breed ¬ ing farm on Mount Shasta known as the Brown Shasta Farm There he bred thoroughbreds successfully and on frequent occasions he threatened to settle down on his far western farm and devote the rest of his life to the production of horses But that was not the life for a man who had been in the thick of it for a lifetime and he returned to racing until there came the breakdown and eventually his fatal stroke Curly Brown may be long remembered as a stormy petrel of the sport but he has many lasting monuments to his skill in track construction and his farm has sent out many a good horse He was a fighter but he accomplished much in his fights and his was a useful life in expanding the turf hori Every estimate of the probable field that will race fir the 50000 Preakness of the Maryland Jockey Club Friday afternoon suggests that at most there will be not more than twentytwo starters Of course that would mean a big field but it seems to take in just about every possibility and it would not be surprising if the number was cut in two before the horses are called to the post postThe The Pimlico Trial of Monday should make certain that Woodcraft Crack Brigade and Michigan Boy will be seen under silks but the unaccountably bad race run by Desert Light lowers him considerably in the esti ¬ mation of the public This fellow when he raced behind Sandy Ford later winner of the Dixie Handicap gave evidence of high quality He was taking up 126 pounds to the 116 pounds carried by the Shea gelding and the concession of twentynine pounds on the scale to such a trial horse made Mrs Vanderbilts colt appear a particularly brilliant prospect for the threeyearold classics classicsThen Then came the Wood Memorial in which Desert Light was so decisively beaten by both Gallant Fox and Crack Brigade It was in ¬ timated then that the race with Sandy Ford might have worked a harm instead of a good and this race of Monday again brings that thought though Desert Light was not put to his best in the Sandy Ford meeting meetingThe The colt would not extend himself in his last effort and he had the appearance of having gone stale It is possible this may result in his not being seen at the post Fri ¬ day although the stable plan was to start him in the Preakness and then move on to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby DerbyBut But while Desert Light failed dismally Woodcraft Crack Brigade and Michigan Boy each raced in a manner that was impressive Desert Light and Michigan Bay were each giving Woodcraft the winner fifteen pounds and the son of Ormandale certainly did not administer a fifteenpound beating beatingWoodcraft Woodcraft would be greatly favored should the going be muddy for the running of the Preakness but that seems to be his only chance to beat such a colt as Crack Brigade BrigadeBut But giving each one of the candidates full credit for what has been accomplished in public there is not one of them shown that seems to have a serious chance to whip William Woodwards Gallant Fox winner of the Wood Memorial Then on the same program there was 4the Jlennert Handicap in which G Wi Foremans Ned O moved up a bit This fellow being a gelding is not a Preakness eligible but he is being pointed for the Kentucky Derby His racing this spring has been a bit disappoint ¬ ing but in that six furlongs he was fairly running over his company to finish second in the fast time of 112 It may mean that he will be ready for a first class mile and a quarter on May 17 There is a racing holiday in Kentucky until May 10 It is an unusual arrangement of the racing time but it will afford the trainers at Churchill Downs opportunity to become thoroughly settled there before the opening on that date Then the second Satur ¬ day at the Louisville course May 17 is the biggest day in all the racing year for the club with the running of the Kentucky Derby DerbyLexington Lexington had staged a longer meeting than had been the rule when the sport was carried on for a term of fifteen days but it was entirely satisfactory and tended to show that Lexington will support racing for such a term There is no surprise in the reported offer of 50000 for Tannery the E F Prichard Derby Hope There is also no surprise that the offer was refused Tannery has been training for the Kentucky classic magnifi ¬ cently and with the many bountiful oppor ¬ tunities for threeyearolds besides this classic there is less surprise in the refusal of the offer offerBy By reason of the upward trend of all turf prizes thoroughbreds of every class have an entirely new value and this is peculiarly applicable to the threeyearolds with pre tentions to the top class Horsemen are not making a proper re sponce to the racing of the Metropolitan Jockey Club at Jamaica when the card for the Monday sport only attracted a total of thirtyseven horses for the six races When there are so many fit horses ready to per ¬ form this is indeed a small return to the sport There was nothing in the program to warrant such a scanty entry list for horses of various ages and classes were in ¬ vited to race raceMany Many of the trainers who are now refusing to start their horses when opportunity af ¬ fords will rue it later in the year when the competition becomes stiff er and they will not be entiled to any consideration by other rac ¬ ing secretaries secretariesThe The utter lack of sporting spirit is to be deplored when the best efforts of a racing secretary result in such a program as was served up for Mondays racing
