view raw text
BELMONT POSTS 00,000 PURSE FOR MAY 30 RACE ea 1 Westchester Association Directors Believe Spring Date Most Logical Contend Too Much Can Happen Between Now and Proposed September Date Possibility of War Ad- miral-Seabiscuit Match Now Up to Owners NEW YORK, N. Y., April 12. The board of directors of the Westchester Racing Association made the most significant move to date in regards to the proposed War Admiral and Seabiscuit contest when it met in its Park Avenue offices here yesterday afternoon and posted a 00,000 purse for a spring, rather than an autumn meeting of the two champions. The official statement, as released by C. V. "Sonny" Whitney, is as follows: "Voted that the unanimous opinion of the board of directors was that 00,000 purse be authorized and offered to the owners of War Admiral and Seabiscuit for a race to be run during the spring meeting at Belmont Park, on Decoration Day, weather permitting, each to carry 126 pounds, g J- "1 J I TIT. ax une mue aim a quarter, we are offering this race because public interest is high and the two horses are sound and at the top of their form." BELIEVE IN EARLY DATE. Originally it was proposed that the race be held during the September meeting of the Nassau County course. However, the association took the only logical course and is hanging up the purse for a meeting of the Samuel D. Riddle and Charles S. Howard horses at its spring session. The public interest in such a race is intense now and the heads of the association believe a September date too far in the future. In making the announcement, Whitney stated: "We are offering to hold the race on our best spring date. It now rests with Mr. Riddle and Mr. Howard to agree on the proposal. We shall endeavor at once to bring this about. In the event that the race is staged on Decoration Day we probably would change the date of the Suburban Handicap." War Admiral is a candidate to that 0,000 race, Seabiscuit is not. Present at the meeting of the board of directors were P. A. B. Widener, George and Henry Bull, A. G. Vanderbilt, John E. Cow-din, C. V. Whitney and J. H. "Jock" Whitney. Joseph E. Widener was an absentee. HOWARD MAY OBJECT. The general belief is that the switch In dates for the proposed contest will prove more agreeable to owner-breeder Riddle, of War Admiral, than to owner Howard, of Seabiscuit. War Admiral now is at Belmont Park, and it is understood that he is being prepared for such of his engagements as the Suburban, Brooklyn and Massachusetts handicaps. Seabiscuit now is in California, where he is a candidate for the Bay Meadows Handicap, to be run April 16, and the Continued on sixteenth page. BELMONT POSTS 00,000 PURSE FOR MAY 30 RACE Continued from first page. 0,000 Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap, to be decided on July 16. Howard has indicated that he prefers to keep his horse on the West Coast until after the decision of the feature at the new Inglewood course, in which he is interested. It would be possible, of course, for Sea-biscuit to come across the Rockies for a May 30 engagement with War Admiral and then return to California for the 0,000 event. Also for War Admiral to fill his major early summer engagements and still start in the 00,000 affair. The Seabiscuit-War Admiral special is called a "race" rather than a "match" because of a technicality in the rules of racing. In offering the tremendous sum for a meeting of the two champions at the spring, rather than the autumn meeting, the Westchester Racing Association undoubtedly considering that by September they may have previously met, may have "gone wrong" in racing and training, may have gone .off form and been decisively beaten, or may be over-shadowed by the deeds, of some performer yet to devlop such ability. The possibilities of some such contingency between now and next September were simply too great. Herbert Bayard Swope, chairman of the New York State Racing Commission, who originated the idea of the match race and had pushed it through to the point of complete agreement by both Samuel D. Riddle, owner of War Admiral, and Charles S. Howard, owner of Seabiscuit, expressed .himself as being satisfied with the action taken by the Belmont directors. Chairman Swope had been invited to attend the meeting by C. V. Whitney, vice-president of the Westchester Racing Association, but declined, saying his attitude was well known and that it was up to Belmont to take it or leave it. Mr. Swope said, "The action of the board is quite understandable. It would be useless for anyone to deny that a match race six months away is a pretty long shot. The thoroughbred is a delicate instrument and may not be adjusted properly when the date rolls around. "Spring at Belmont is delightful. The only reason the date was not set that early is that Mr: Howard has an engagement for his champion on the coast that he may be loath to break. That we shall know about presently, for I am continuing my interest in the race and am working with Joseph E. Widener and C. V. Whitney of Belmont, to smooth out the difficulties. We have not heard from neither Mr. Riddle nor Mr. Howard as to the change in time. "There is no talk of making it more than a two-horse race. Every turfman will agree that a three-horse contest is poison. It is rarely run through; besides, the original plan called for a match race, and a match race it remains. "We have already proved that a match race will do enormously well, because the interest of the public is shown by the press and by the radio. We have every reason to believe the match itself will be a thrilling contest and, finally, the meeting of champions is a helpful thing to any sport and especially to the turf."
