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Here and There on the Turf ; Pimlico Seeks Good Sport ! Deserves Horsemens Support !! Winn Expands Derby Appeal ; Arcaro Shows How Its Done. I. - Under serious discussion by Alfred Vander-bilt and his enterprising associates in the Maryland Jockey Club during the autumn meeting was abandonment of the stake-a-day program for the spring term. The - nderly-ing reason for the conferences was not because of any financial shortcoming but rather due to the size and character of the fields brought out in many of the races. They just werent good enough to make the outlay appear worth while. So it is all the i more commendable that the Pimlico big wigs, which is to say Vanderbilt and those of his friends who have had to purchase the , stock of reactionaries to gain full control, are j committed to the policy of better sport and , the hope that it can be brought about by giv- i ing a stake daily. Pimlico, as usual, will feature its spring meeting with the Preakness and Dixie Handicap and it will be restoring the Pimlico Oaks to its former high position in raising the value from ,500 to 0,000. Another jump is being made in the Jennings Handicap Purse, it being doubled to ,000 but this is understandable when considered that the Swift Handicap, like the Jennings and Baltir more Spring Handicap a dash of six furlongs for older horses, has been abandoned to make way for the Green Spring Valley Steeple- j chase. Pimlico couldnt have steeplechasing j last spring because the course was in the process of remodeling, but the Green Spring Valley is an event of former importance and simply is being revived now that conditions warrant. If horsemen have any appreciation for associations that put sport above commercialism, they will support Pimlicos stake-a-day policy just as earnestly in the spring as they do in the fall when the competition for horses isnt so keen. Another move is being made by Matt Winn to further the Kentucky Derbys position as Americas most popular horse race, and the latest, that of an enclosure requiring only fifty cents admission, should make a tremendous hit. Not only will the new section be used by persons of moderate circumstances living in Louisville, but also by many, perhaps thousands, of people from other communities. In the reconstruction of the infield last spring, Winn made it possible lor thousands more to enjoy the Derby running, and the new plan will so further increase the acommodations jat Churchill Downs that a crowd of 100,000 eventually will see the great three-year-old classic. The veteran impresario wishes to see such a gathering during his lifetime, and the only manner in which he can achieve his ambition is to give assurance visitors can see the Derby once they get there. Eddie Arcaro has no chance of establishing himself as the countrys leading rider for 1938 in so far as the number of victories is concerned, but the Kentucky Italian is doing what he can about making the public realize that he is a stand-out nevertheless. His triple on Wednesday put the crockery store proprietor in the lead among the many jockeys plying their trade at Tropical Park, and by keeping up the pace he not only will be hard to beat in taking riding honors for the meeting but for the winter season as well. Entering the present week, Arcaro was in fourth place in the list for the season, ; ; but his percentage of .22 is highest, being the result of 172 victories in 779 mounts. Johnny Longden, who is safely leading the field by nineteen over Johnny Adams,- has 232 triumphs out of 1,131 chances, indicating that ne has been nearly half again as busy as Arcaro. But for taking matters easy following the Belmont Park meeting during the latter half of September, Arcaro might have given Longden a race for the championship, but he accepted only a few mounts at Keeneland and Pimlico and called it a day until the opening of Tropical Park. With the tremendous expansion of racing, too few of the topnotch riders take time off such as Arcaro has done. They as quickly as anyone connected with racing become track sore, the only remedy for which is a vacation. Some evidence of this was apparent in Longdens iriding at Tanforan. He rushed there from Maryland that he might protect his lead over Adams, and while he rode enough winners to hold the latter safe, the Canadian veterans work was not quite as sharp as that for which he is noted on the eastern front. The respite between the Tanforan and Santa Anita meetings should do him good.
