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j y Here and There j on the Turf I Winter Classics Draw Well j j 23 Nominated for Both j Await Announcement of Weights j Fields Should Be Best Yet j j . .-.---.-----.---a j I j Santa Anitas 00,000 Handicap attracted 1 107 nominations and Hialeah Parks 0,000 Widener Challenge Cup drew seventy-eight .eligibles, but the numerical advantage of the! western special does not necessarily mean it will attract the better field. Both rich events should attract the best line-ups in their history and either very easily may have the most outsanding field ever assembled in winter racing. Twenty-three horses were named for both races, some perhaps as a compliment to one and meaning business o the other and for some strategical purposes, the weights for the Santa Anita Handicap being due December 15 and to the Widener Challenge Cup, January 4. Candidates for both now are on the two sides of the continent, but with plenty of time to reach the other point with sufficient time for final preparation. Saturday, March 4, is the date set for the two winter classics. The most noted eligible to the two events is Seabiscuit, now a habitant of Columbia, His -visit there since winter weather struck Maryland before the season could be concluded is only temporary, but how long he will remain at the South Carolina grounds is as much your guess as it is that of the writer. Trainer Tom Smith is known to be awaiting the arrival from the Argentine of j Sorteado, Charles S. Howards latest importation from South America. While awaiting the shipment of that horse Smith may linger until the Santa Anita weights so as to determine which race may offer the easiest opportunity. Victory in either would put Seabiscuit ahead of Sun Beau as the worlds leading money winner, there being no secret that this is his principal objective before retiring from competition. For the first time no maximum top weight is stipulated for the Santa Anita and Webb Everett may see fit to assign Seabiscuit more than 130 pounds, the ceiling arbitrarily fixed for former runnings of the event. Unless his allotment is too excessive, however, Seabiscuit is expected to try for the western special, which he failed to win by inches in its past two runnings. Along with his stablemates Kayak .H. and Sorteado, other horses nominated for the two fixtures include Stagehand, Dauber, Pasteurized, Thanksgiving, Jacola, Heelfly, Main Man, Cravat and Ligaroti. The presence of this group in either handicap would give it a classic field, but they undoubtedly will be divided when March 4 comes around, even if some of them have fallen by the wayside during their preparation for the mile and one-quarter test offered by both events. Outstanding candidate aside from Sea-biscuit for the Widener, of course, is its last winner War Admiral. The Hialeah Special is to mark the Man o War colts farewell to racing and he undoubtedly will try to make it victorious. In .view of his defeat by Seabiscuit in their match at Pimlico, War Admiral ordinarily may be expected to be notched a pound or two under the Hard Tack veteran, but do not be surprised if Charles J. McLennan thinks otherwise, it being an open handicap started out of a stall gate. War Admiral was not named for the Santa Anita as he was last year. Without Seabiscuit or any of the others eligible to both races, War Admiral may encounter much more trouble than he did in the last Continued on twenty-seventh page.. HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from second page. Widener, as Lawrin, Bull Lea, Cravat and Volitant, to name a few, are as worthy if not more so than those with which he toyed in the last Widener. Among the only candidates for the Santa Anita are Marica and Esposa, the two best of the fillies and mares out this past season. There are also a pair of smart three-year-old prospects in the Belmont Futurity winner Porters Mite and the undefeated Xalapa Clown and either may seek victory in the worlds richest .race if he performs creditably in the 0,000 Santa Anita Derby. Volitant is the only juvenile of note in the Widener list. Other formidable horses among the 107 eligibles to the Santa Anita are Count Arthur, Bourbon King, Flying Scot, Honey Cloud, Specify and Bottle Top, not to mention the outlanders of unknown quality. Both Hialeah and Santa Anita may feel justly proud of the eligibility lists of their classics and neither should have to bow to the other when the fields for the two winter classics are definitely established.
