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MIOLAND REFLECTIONS By CHALLENGER Many Rich Purses for Older Horses Handicap Stars Come Into Own three years had ever won more than 100000 in one season Golden Prince accomplished the feat in that season by winning the Agua Caliente Handicap and earning 98250 in the doing That year can be considered a mile ¬ stone in the earning value of a horse as will be seen in the following paragraph Since the year 1929 ten horses racing in the handicap division have earned 100000 or more Prior to that year seven twoyearolds had earned 100000 and since then only six ju ¬ veniles have been added to the list In those years the big value races were mainly for twoyearolds but in late years there has been a definite trend in increasing the value of threeyear old events and also for the handicap performers Kayak II established the earning mark of 170000 for fouryear olds in 1939 while Seabiscuit set the fiveyearold record when in 1938 lie won six of his eleven starts and earned 130395 It will be clearly seen however that the Santa Anita Handicap and the Hollywood Gold Cup played a prominent part in these earning records Kayak II won 91100 in the Santa Anita Handicap and added 35075 to that figure when lie won the Holly ¬ wood Gold Cup in the same year Sea biscuit won 37150 in the Hollywood Challedon Mioland in Gold Cup How Much Will Whirlaway Earn One of the many new trends in racing is the possibility of an older horse winning a large sum of money in a comparatively short time The Hollywood Park meeting offers an example of this with the 75000 Hollywood Gold Cup quickly followed by the 25000 Sunset Handicap It is very possible of course that some day an outstanding performer will win the 100000 Santa Anita Handicap the 50000 San Juan Capistrano then go on to win the two Hollywood races mentioned above Should that ever be accomplished the winner of these four events would accumulate approximately one half of the 437730 which is the worlds record made by Seabiscuit in eightynina starts from a twoyearold through his sevenyearold season In that one item alone we clearly see the change in values since 1929 a year up to which no horse older than Gold Cup and added 25000 to that figure by finishing second in the Santa Anita Handicap In the last staH of his career the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap he earned 86650 Needless to say a horse winning these four California events will also have many other opportunities not the least of which is the 50000 New York Handicap Back in 1929 when Golden Prince became the first handicap performer to win 100000 in one season twoyearold values were at their peak In that same year Whichone won the Futurity Stakes to earn 105730 From that year on the Futurity purse has dropped steadily for last year Our Boots in defeating King Cole and Whirl away earned but 65800 approximately 40000 less than Whichones figure in 1929 Naturally breeders are mainly for keeping the values for twoyearolds at higher levels as it means a better market for the yearlings they offer annually The public however is more interested in the races for older horses and also in seeing the champions of the handicap division perform This has been proven very conclusively in late years For whenever War Admiral Seabiscuit Challedon and Eight Thirty were scheduled to run they were certain to draw a goodsized throng to the scene On Suburban Day at Belmont Park the largest crowd in the history of New York racing was on hand and it is safe to say that there would have been more had Eight Thirty and Mioland met to settle the longdisputed question of supremacy At the moment racing fans throughout the country are interested in the coming meeting between Mioland and Challedon in the Hollywood Gold Cup When 1941 came over the hill Mioland had earned 100930 In view of the many rich races ahead of him there was considerable speculation as to how close he would come to Seabiscuits record at the end of 1941 His defeat by Bay View in the Santa Anita Handicap dampened the hopes of his followers Hope was revived however when in the very next week he won the San Juan Capistrano then headed east for important events in Maryland and New York His eastern campaign was a series of setbacks and now he is on his way west to meet Challedon the horse of the year for the past two seasons At the end of 1940 Challedon was credited with 322835 giving him fifth honors on the list of American moneywinners His campaign since January has also been a dis ¬ astrous one Still this one race the Hollywood Gold Cup would bring either horse close to the 100000 mark for the season and should the winner also take the Sunset Handicap he would be certain to pass that figure That brings up the question of how far Whirlaway will go on the moneywinning ladder As a twoyearold the Calumet champion won 77275 In the winter and spring he added 6766 to that figure and by his victory in the Kentucky Derby swelled the sum by 61275 A week later in the Preakness he added 49365 and although the purse was small he came to New York to win the Henry of Navarre Purse from Mio ¬ land bringing his total earnings to approximately 196000 If he continues to win in the Belmont and other threeyearpMd engagements it seems safe to say that he will come within the 100000 of Seabiscuits earning record before the end of this year Should that prove the case and he goes on as a fouryearold once again we have the possibility of a new worlds moneywinning champion some time in 1942 There are many ifs to such an argument of course but the fact remains that purses for threeyearolds and older horses are of such a rich nature there is no telling how high a champion will go in earnings
