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r Here and There on the Turf Oaks Fillies Arent Much Hostility Won Slow Race Likely Juveniles Appear Parks Work Is Pleasing Very little can be said for the three-year-old fillies this season, at least the eleven going postward in the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park Thursday. Successful in the mile event, having §12,100 for the winner, was Hostility, an exceptionally well-bred filly, but until the Acorn running she was little better than an empty stall to Mrs. Henry C. Phipps and her Wheatley Stable. The daughter of Man o War and Marguerite de Valois, the latter a sister to Sir Gallahad III. and Bull Dog, Hostility managed to finish second in six starts as a two-year-old and in her two previous races this season she also went unplaced, although pitted against some rather ordinary maidens. In all her eight efforts, prior to the Acorn, she could not get within five lengths of the winner. Hostility caught a, bunch of slow-moving fillies in the Acorn and they all came back to her after the opening quarter. In fact, they came back to her so steadily in the stretch that she was placed in the lead about a sixteenth of a mile out. If her contemporaries cant do any better than they did in the Acorn, Hostility, as slow as she is, ought to win the Coaching Club American Oaks by the length of the Belmont Park grandstand. The only other eligible to the Oaks that 1 seems likely enough to make, trouble for the Wheatley miss is Bass Wood, hut the E. R. Bradley filly doesnt appear to have done much in the training line since arriving at Belmont Park from the. farm, and so cannot be regarded as a candidate for the event just now. And Mrs. Anthony Pelleteri has a right to regret that Alms, her half-sister to Twenty Grand, and Pimlico Oaks winner, wasnt kept eligible to the Oaks. She had been originally nominated by the Greentree Stable. Outstanding two-year-old prospects have been slow in appearing on the New York front this spring and the same may be stated for the youngsters that campaigned in Maryland. Several fast youngsters were unveiled in Kentucky, but in so far as class was concerned, Roman held a distinct edge over them as he so clearly demonstrated in the runnings of the Lafayette Stakes at Keene-land and the Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs. The son of Sir Gallahad III. and Buckup, however, had to. play second fiddle to Marogay at Hialeah Park, where Russell Firestones fast youngster accounted for the Championship Stakes and his division of the Dinner Stakes. Marogay hasnt run this spring, but his trials at Churchill Downs indicate his readiness to don silks again at the first opportunity. Some promising juveniles were in the two fields of maidens, clashing at four and a half furlongs, straightaway, at Belmont. Park Thursday, and both winners may develop stakes quality, although some finishing behind them may do likewise as they gain experience. Bashful Duck captured his race Continued on forty-third page. HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from second page. in :52%, a fifth faster than the time required by P-arasang. Both colts had to be ridden briskly to score. The former a son of Chicle and the Acorn winner Baba Kenny, defeated another first-time starter. Conscript, by three-quarters of a length, as the promising Set was a faltering third. Parasang, giving C. V. Whitney his first victory since returning to the sport as an owner, was losing ground toward the end to Asp, but managed to defeat the latter "by a. length. The Whitney colt ought to improve, but so should Asp, a fast youngster having trouble getting into his stride. Roman Flag was another of this group that should improve. As far as he has been able to go, Fred Parks has done a swell job as secretary and handicapper for the National Steeplechase and Hunts Association. This capable young man succeeded Frank J. Bryan, when that veteran official resigned the position last fall, and the first program of steeplechase events he Tias programed is being offered during the current Belmont Park meeting. Most of the races already staged have resulted in good finishes from fields of fair size. Parks has encountered the usual difficulties of the office — some trainers desiring a higher scale of weiglits and others a decrease in the imposts — but as long as he can provide good, interesting contests, he shouldnt change from his present theory. Nothing will bring back steeplechasing -more quickly than the kind of sport so far offered at Belmont Park.
