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Here and There on the Turf Two Withers Possibilities Field of Seven Expected Weights for the Suburban Purses Raised at Belmont Two of the races at Belmont Park Mon ¬ day were of particular importance in the introducing of George D Wideners Chic straw and the Greentree Stables First Min ¬ strel as threeyearolds Both performed exceedingly well for a first appearance and the races were such as to indicate a com ¬ plete readiness for the mile of the old Withers SaturdayChicstraw Stakes to be run Saturday Chicstraw was beaten in a swiftly run six furlongs that went to John Simonettis Sgt Byrne which began his racing career this year by winning the Paumonok Handir cap at Jamaica It was at Sgt Byrnes best distance and after a killing pace he raced in 110 over the main course courseChicstraw Chicstraw finished second and while he was beaten some four lengths he had closed ground in a fashion to indicate that he would be better suited at the mile The son of Chicle and Last Straw wound up his ju ¬ venile year with three victories last Novem ¬ ber These came in the Walden Handicap of a mile and a sixteenth the Pimlico Han ¬ dicap of six furlongs and the Endurance Handicap of a mile and a sixteenth at Bowie In the Walden he took the measure of Discovery and Cavalcade but in that run ¬ ning Mrs Sloanes Kentucky Derby winner was carrying top weight of 121 pounds to the 118 that was assigned Mr Wideners colt In both the Pimlico Handicap and the Endurance Chicstraw was top weight beat ¬ ing Time Supply in the sprint while it was Time Clock which finished second to him in the Endurance EnduranceThus Thus Chicstraw went into winter retire ¬ ment with scores over juveniles that have already come back this year to make good Cavalcade with his Chesapeake and Ken tucky Derby must be given the call but Discovery has proven himself a thoroughly good colt Time Clock has the Florida Der ¬ by to his credit and Time Supply in a win ¬ ter campaign proved his quality qualityA A J Joyner has not hurried Chicstraw but he appears to have him right on edge for his engagement in the Withers Stakes and is sure to improve over his showing of Monday The performance of First Minstrel was the more impressive of the two trials for the reason it was over the mile route though the sprint was really a better speed test for the killing pace that was cut out by Sgt Byrne There was no such pace in the Camp Fire which went to First Minstrel but what impressed more than anything else was the game fashion in which he tri ¬ umphed over Joseph E Wideners Peace Chance after a gruelling stretch drive drivePeace Peace Chance is a rare miler as was shown when he hung out a Churchill Downs record of 135 shortly before the run ¬ ning of the Kentucky Derby The Derby proved too big a contract for the son of Chance Shot but he remains a sterling trial horse over the mile distance In the running of the Camp Fire First Minstrel gave the Widener colt seven pounds and the fact that he was starting for the first time testified tq the excellent condition in which Brennan brought him to the races JIe is sure to improve over this debut and it is safe to promise that never again during the season will Peace Chance be able to give him such a stern battle On what various eligibjes f or jthejWjthers havc shown it would appear that thatas as many as seven will go to the post These should probably be Mrs Isabel Dodge Sloanes High Quest winner of the Wood Memorial and the Preakness George D Wideners Chicstraw the Greentree Stables First Min ¬ strel Willis Sharpe Kilmers Sunador Mor ¬ ton L Schwartz Identify C V Whitneys Roustabout and Joseph E Wideners Peace Chance Should as many as seven be raced the Withers will have a gross value of 19500 and of course it is possible that Bob Smith will send out the Kentucky Derbx wijnner Cavalcade to bear High Quest company as he started the pair in the Preakness to have them fight it out in one of the greatest renewals of that Mary ¬ land classic Handicapper Walter S Vosburgh has re ¬ quired that Equipoise carry 134 pounds In the mile and a quarter of the old Suburban Handicap to be decided at Belmont Park May 30 This is two pounds more weight than the champion carried in the Metro ¬ politan only to be disqualified for a stretch foul after he had ledtheiield ledtheiieldover over the line Continued on twentysixth page HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from second page It is a heavy impost for such a gallop but on two occasions since the first running of the Suburban greater weight has been car ¬ ried successfully Whisk Broom II the greatest son of the mighty Broomstick car ¬ ried 139 pounds when he was winner over Lahore and Meridian in the 1913 renewal and Harry S Sinclairs Grey Lag under 135 pounds in 1923 was winner over Snob II and Exodus Incidentally Whisk Broom II is credited with running his mile and a quarter in 200 and it is one record hat does not belong in the book any more than the official placing of the 1924 Kentucky Derby when Beau Butler was placed third to Black Gold and Chilhowee when it was Bracadale that ac ¬ tually finished third But Father Time Barretto insisted that his timing of the Suburban was right if the flags were dropped properly and ac ¬ cordingly it stands as a record The red board was hoisted on the Derby placing and both these mistakes have gone into the records recordsHowever However all of that has nothing to do with the weights of the 1934 running of the Suburban There may be no good reason to quarrel with the weight that has been assigned Equipoise but there are some other assignments that are to say the least hard to understand understandOne One of these is when Spy Hill and Caval ¬ cade are found at the same notch of 112 pounds These colts have met this year and Cavalcade has plainly proven himself many pounds better than the son of Spion Kop Another criticism is offered when the weights put Chicstraw and Revere under the same weight of 107 pounds poundsOther Other faults might be found but these are so palpably out of line that they can ¬ not go unchallenged Possibly not a one of the threeyearolds mentioned will be raced in the big handicap but the fact remains that it is a gauging of these colts that is not worthy of Mr Vosburgh Joseph E Widener made announcement at Belmont Park Monday that hereafter the lowest purse value will be 900 He pointed out that with the allowance races and over ¬ night handicaps carrying values of 1000 and 1200 it would be a distribution that In his opinion was eminently fair fairHe He pointed out and with good reason that the value of the purse should be in keep ¬ ing with the quality of the horses invited The cheap selling platers should not have the same earning chances as the horses of higher grade gradeIt It is always commendable to hold out in ¬ ducements tobring better horses in compe tition and when there is the same value fixed for the cheap ones as for the better horses there remains no incentive to de ¬ velop the good horses The division of the C V Whitney stable that was sent to Detroit for that long meet ¬ ing continues to meet with satisfying suc ¬ cess over the Michigan racing ground Mon ¬ day another of the lot Elf Lock hung out a new mile track record of 137 Inci ¬ dentally the silks hung up a double for Sassafras had won before Elf Lock ran her recordmaking race A return to the old selling race with the auction after the running has been an ¬ nounced for the Hamilton Canada meeting It has the novel condition that while the winner is to be offered at auction after the running all the other starters are subject to claim with no refund of the claiming price in the event more than one makes a claim for the same horse and should be unsuccessful in the draw drawThe The money so obtained from running up and the claims not returned is to be added to purses under similar conditions the fol ¬ lowing meetingThis day or later in the meeting This may be a good scheme to raise money for purses but it appears to be manifestly unfair that money deposited for a claim is not returned when the claimant may lose in the draw for the horse
