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California By Oscar Otis Claim Man o War No Cap Star Type of Race Clearly Defined Reveal Grand National Mishap EN ROUTE TO HOLLYWOOD PARK, May 9. — Just for the record, wed like to clear up a misconception that may exist regarding the term "handicap" as commonly used in America today, a miscon-c e p t i o n highlighted nationally by one of our favorite and most readable columnists Ed Durling. The man has taken the stand that M a n o War proved himself a great handicap h or.se by winning the Stuyve- sant Handicap at Jamaica, carrying 135 pounds, and Potomac Handicap at Havre de Grace, carrying 138 • pounds. But both these handicaps were for three-year-olds. Only once did Man o War step out of his age group. That was when he met Sir Barton in the Kenilworth "Gold Cup, a match race, and left that four-year-old up the track. Man o War carried 120 pounds to 126 on his rivals back, scale weight. The proposition then is can a horse establish himself as a handicap horse by racing solely in three-year-old. handicaps? Frank E. Kilroe, an arbiter of such matters in American racing, racing secretary at Greater New York tracks and Santa Anita, has decided against Man o War and all such claims. Says Kilroe, "As the term handicap liorsc is generally understood and accepted by professional turf peopie, I would -say that a horse who runs in handicap races limited to three-year-olds and wins under high weights, such as Man o War did, merely confirms that he was the best three-year-old p_f his year. It would not entitle him, in my opinion, to ranking as a true handicap horse, under any circumstance. This honor is reserved for three-year-olds who step out of their age group, usually in the fall of the year, and beat the best in the older division at handicap weights. The more weight the three-year-old carries, and wins, as judged by scale, is the only valid yardstick of rating." KiJroe agrees with us that the word "handicap" means many things to many people, and it is one of the few words in the English language which, broadly speaking, is its own antonym. Another example — cleave, which means to cling together, also means to divide, or separate. For instance, one meaning of the word handicap is to reconcile a set of weights, as based upon past performance, with the idea of bringing together at equal chances, so far as is humanly possible, a field of horses. " Another is a table of graded selections which attempts exactly the opposite, i.e., to separate the horses in the order which the "handicapper" believes they will finish. Thus, one "handicapper" attempts to bring the horses together, another kind of "handicapper" attempts to break tliem apart. The handicap races for three-year-olds in America are a necessary part of this modern day American racing of ours, in some ways an unfortunate necessity. By the time the Triple Crown has been decided, the folks know either definitely or in a general sort of way the upper crust of the three-year-old crop has established itself, and most great races for .three-year-olds from then on are carefully conditioned allowance races, with weight off for lack of earnings. Without these weight concessions, the upper echelon of three-year-olds, insome years* this echelon consisting of but one, or maybe two horses, would find themselves without racing opportunity. .Either that or walk-overs, and the latter is unthinkable in this day of pari-mutuels. In an area like California where breeding is progressing but hasnt yet come into true maturity, handicaps for three-year-olds are a commonplace as early as April. They prove nothing excepting that one horse can beat another at a given weight, excepting when the top weight wins, which merely reconfirms, as Kilroe so aptly points out, that he is the better of the crop. This makes sense when we point out that the handicap weights are based upon the few scale or allowance races which prevail during the Continued on Page Forty-Seven fcy OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Seven winter, or, worse yet, upon two-year-old form of the previous year. We dont like to belabor, the subject of Man o War, but it must, in fairness, be mentioned that in the Stuyvesant, in which he carried 135 pounds, the only other starter was Yellow Hand, in at 103. The records of 1920 clearly show this fellow a selling horse. Tne Potomac was a much [more impressive victory, for there were three other starters in that race — the most that Man o War ever met that year lowing his decisive Preakness win. His j Belmont victory, for instance, was scored [over but one other horse, Donnacona. We scill think Man o War great, but not as ? handicap horse. j j In Louisville, we chanced into Frank Warton of the Illinois Racing: Board, and even though the event is now history, it might be worth while to clear up a point that has had a great many people puzzled. This was the "collapse" of the Queens horse, Devon Loch, in the Grand National at Aintree, the reason for-wliich is said to he a mystery to many in Erig--* land to this very day. Wharton, who was within 100 feet of the spot where the mishap occurred, says there was no mystery to. it at all. "What happened was that Devon Loch saw a reflection of a - jump in a pool of water on a fence just adjacent to the finish run and jumped the shadow. When he landed, his front feet hit a muddy spot, and he did a split." Irving Gushen, national president of J,he HBPA, says that the more successful, and the more of them, such proposals as that of Hollywood Park to bring Swaps and Nashua together for a "super race" the better. "Such events have a way of getting racing great national publicity that it could get in no other way,! observes Gushen," and almost as important could bring thousands of new people out to the races for the first time in their lives. Many of those thousands undoubtedly would like what they saw, and come again to become turf-minded sports folks. Racing must do* something to advance itself nationally competitively with other entertainment for the leisure time of everyone, and such a proposal as Hollywood Parks is all to the good in this direction."
