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Here and There on the Turf i Peculiarities of Bowie. How It Deceives Trainers. Revival of Seattle Racing. , Favorable Report of Duet- tiste. Haymans Bowie Special. Horses for courses, or courses for horses, 1 which ever way you care to put it, is a wise old adage of racing that is particularly applicable to Bowie. There have been horses that show to great advantage at Jamaica that are of little account at Belmont Park. Others that like Belmont Park are not at all suited at Aqueduct. Empire City has been a favored racing ground for some that could not do as well over any one of the other Long Island tracks and Saratoga suited and was unsuitable to plenty of horses. But Bowie is in a class by itself when it comes to courses for horses. Many a good one that may have been going great guns all year have scant chance at Bowie, while others improve in racing through .its going. Time was when it was looked upon as a course that would be in favor of any horse capable of racing well through the muddy going. It always will be a slow track and the natural inference was that it would suit the slow track horses. But such is not the case. Many a superior mud runner does not do well in the going at Bowie and there are some that have always shown to best advantage when the. track is fast that do well in the going of the southern Maryland track. While it is now an excellent track over which to gallop a horse and a perfectly safe one, the soil cups out in some places in a fashion that is a handicap to many of the runners. This affects some horses more than it does others. The only way to discover whether or not the track is favorable to this or that horse is to race him over it. Trainers there for the first time have been puzzled, but one thing is certain that once a horse shows a good performance he can be expected to repeat. It is also safe to predict that very few horses that not do well on the going there will learn to gallop over it successfully. Few tracks bring about so many fighting finishes as are staged at Bowie and it may be that the track surface has something to do with this. Horses with high speed tire in the going, and, when they tire, it means more than to become tired on a pasteboard track. For that reason a tired horse will lose ground faster, and time and again a leader that may come into the stretch looking all over the winner will collapse badly in the last eighth. That, of course, brings about a battle at the end and thrill follows thrill in each program. An evidence of how the track may fool trainers was had Saturday when James Boden expressed fear that his three-year-old Opper-man M-ould not run well on the going and Opperman was returned the winner in a good field. Other trainers have been fooled in like fashion and it is only by racing that it can be determined whether or not the going suits the horse. I i , 1 Efforts are going forward to bring racing to the State of Washington and the Washington Thoroughbred Association, with headquarters at Seattle, is hard at work to that end. Robert A. Hiller, executive secretary, is seeking a state-wide membership in the association to further the plans. Some of the best men of the state have already joined and are lending their aid to the fight for the sport. Mr. Hiller has had a long and honorable association with the turf and is well known to those who remember the old days of the Hawthorne track when Ed Corrigan was its master. Mr. Hiller took up his residence in Seattle some years ago and has always wanted to bring racing to Washington. Now an effort will be made to have a breeding and racing commission law enacted that will permit twenty-five days of racing in the state each year. "Thoroughbred," a publication of which Mr. Hiller was the founder, did good work in behalf of racing and the thoroughbred interests of Washington and the present association promises to do even more. With our present thoroughbred production and its steady growth, it would be well if there was a considerable widening of the turf horizon. Washington, with twenty-five days of racing, would be a most welcome addition to the far western circuit. It is proposed to conduct racing on a high plane, should the legislation sought be enacted. When only twenty-five days is sought there is evidence that it is a real sporting venture. The movement should receive the support it deserves from those outside the State of Washington. Word continues to come from England of how Jos. E. Wideners good steeplechaser Duet-tiste is going along in his exercise gallops and hope is expressed that trainer Escott will be able to bring him to the post for .the Liverpool Grand National next year. His going wrong just when he seemed such a promisnig eligible for that most coveted of all crosscountry races was a bitter disappointment and it is devoutly to be hoped that he will have better fortune this time. Bowie has always suffered something of a handicap on account of its location and the transportation facilities. These have been improved from time to time, until now it is possible to travel in comfort, but the real boon to New Yorkers has been the "Hayman Special." This train, which has been put on each year, is a tremendously popular way to travel to and from the track and it is arranged that a "standing load" is not permitted. Mr. Hayman has, by his management of this particular train, made both a comfortable and rapid way to and from the course.
