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I on the Turf i "*~ Belmont. Stakes Too Cheap Can Afford Richer Offerings i Wright Riding Too Roughly . j Boston Conflict to Stick . ... .J t,.. - ., --,.........,..... Belmont Park made a lot of money this spring and went a long way toward making up the., deficit incurred during the past few years. Furthermore, -Be.lmont will earn even more money during its meeting in Septem- , ber. Joseph E. Widener and his associates made a - gesture o£ appreciation for the increased patronage by raising the value of purses this spring, but theyve overlooked a splendid opportunity to further express their thankfulness by elevating the values of the late closing stakes on the autumn program. - Six stakes on the flat, which will be renewed at the Nassau course in September, will close for nominations August 4. One of these events will have ,500 added money, the others will be endowed with ,500 each. During the first week of the Belmont meeting, both Rockingham Park and Narragan-sett Park will be in operation and the former will be still running during the final week at the Widener course. Both of these tracks will offer stakes worth much more than the Belmont events closing August 4. Not only would it appear good business for the Westechester Racing Association to have raised the value of these stakes, thereby insuring classier fields, but to have done so would have been a further mark of appreciation of the manner in which many stables stuck to the New York sport during the lean years. Belmont will make sufficient money to retire its indebtedness on a satisfactory schedule without being compelled to squeeze the sport. It has been made possible for New York to have the finest racing and finest race tracks in America and it is up to the associations to live up to this trust. This cannot be done with poor racing and with competition such as it is, a track like Belmont should not offer a cheap program. Pete Coyne, first trainer for Joseph E. Widener, has departed from Arlington Park for Saratoga where he is preparing his horses for the coming meeting. He left behind him in Chicago to ride the horses attached to the second string as well as to make a few extra dollars for himself, Wayne Wright, one of the nations better jockeys. Wright is due to report back to Coyne for opening day at Saratoga, but if the young man does not trim up his work at Arlington Park, he will be without permission to ride when he makes his way east. Wright has been getting away with considerable roughness during the past few days as Arlington, even though an extra patrol judge has gone on duty, but he cannot get away with . it forever, not when riding under such vigilant stewards as Arlington has. Despite his rough tactics, Wright has developed into a first class jockey. He has everything it takes to be a leader in the profession, especially brains. But the lad might exercise some of his mind and resolve to ride only one horse in a race, hell find that he will last longer in select company. Latest word from the Boston area is that there is very little chance for Rockingham Park and Narragansett Park to avoid the conflict in dates which will occur from August 25, until September 3. Efforts have been made to reduce the conflict if not to avoid it entirely, but an amicable arrangement has not been made. The conflict will do neither track any good because each will draw the bulk of its patronage from Boston. If race tracks persist in hurting the sport by such tactics, something will have to be done about it. Horsemen hold the upper hand if they are properly organized and it is to their benefit that good racing and good public feeling is to be maintained, even at the expense of shorter meetings. One of the most promising of the younger stallions will be offered at auction during the Saratoga sales with the dispersal of the stud maintained by the late James Butler. In Questionnaire, the Butler estate will be selling a high class race horse, one that might have gone to even greater heights but for recurring leg trouble. As it was, the son of Sting and Miss Puzzle won the Brooklyn Handicap, Metropolitan Handicap and many other stakes and forced Gallant Fox to the utmost in the Lawrence Realization, many observers believing he would have prevailed with riders reversed. Questionnaire stood in Maryland this spring in charge of Adolph Pons.
