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i « - -S Here and There t ■ on the Turf ] * Comparing Handicaps. , Duties of McCully. Office Important One. t Cross -Country Racing. • ; • s Comparing the weights assigned by l Joseph McLennan for the Harford Han- dicap with those of Walter S. Vosburgh s for the running of the Paumonok Handi- £ three-quarters dashes, the Harford was s run at Havre de Grace yesterday, while the Paumonok is the opening fea- I ture of the Jamaica meeting next Mon- day. « Both handicappers placed Bernard 1 Baruchs swift-running English sprinter * at the top under 128 pounds in the Mary- land race and 129 at Jamaica. Scapa 5 Flow, rated at 124 pounds in the Harford Handicap, is not an eligible to the Pau- monok Handicap, while Sweepster, second to Happy Argo in the Paumonok, is not eligible to the Harford Handicap. Buddy Bauer, Edisto and Rock Man are not in the Paumonok Handicap, but were ! in the Harford Handicap and a difference is found in Kentucky II., which was in the Harford Handicap under 110 pounds, against an impost of 118 in the Paumonok Handicap. ] Foundation Stone, an imported sprinter • that is to race for Mrs. Herbert Pulitzer, was at 112 pounds in the Harford Handi- , cap, against 115 in the Paumonok Handicap. There was a difference of three pounds in the estimate of Son of John, winner of the Bowie Inaugural Handicap. He was in the Harford Handicap at 112 and in the Paumonok at 109 pounds. There was the same difference found in Poly with the Maryland weights at 111 against 108 in New York. Though the three-year-olds that were engaged in both races the New York weights, generally, were at bit higher, but the New York scale is higher and, altogether, - there was no wide difference in the estimates of horses engaged in both races. One of the truly important Jockey Club appointments this year is that of Dr. McCully to have a paddock supervision over the starters. Dr. McCully will have full authority to pass on the fitness of horses to race and to watch for any use of prohibited - stimulants. This is sure to have I a salutory effect on the sport and it will make for greater public confidence in its protection. There is always much loose talk of the j use of drugs on the race course, but, , from time to time, some unscrupulous 5 trainers have been guilty of "lighting up" a starter. With an official of the ability r and integrity of Dr. McCully in the paddock, - that danger will be eliminated and, , at the same time, it will silence much of f the vicious talk that has no foundation in fact. Then there is another assignment to 3 the duties of Dr. McCully that has equal, I, if not greater importance. This is passing - on the fitness of the horses to be B raced. He will be qualified to prohibit t the starting of a lame horse or a horse e that, in his opinion, for any reason is not t fit to run. In this connection there will also come e a a B f p +. h ,, u t h rj o of U „ p C O of s c i: E 1 t « • " i ■ t ] * , t s l s £ s I « 1 * 5 ! ] • , - - I j , 5 r - , f 3 I, - B t e t e new supervision of the trainers and, * through the work of Dr. McCully, there might readily come the suspensiln or revocation of the licenses of trainers who prove to be palpably incompetent. It requires no skill or knowledge ol the horse to obtain the license to train, * but Dr. McCully might readily demand a degree of skill, evidenced by the condi- i tion of the horse, for incompetents to hold the licenses that have been issued. The trainer who proves by the condition his horses that he is unworthy of a license should have that license revoked and the presence of Dr. McCully in the a paddock will at least keep the trainers I in on their toes. J It must not be imagined that the use a a drugs by trainers has grown to be j such a menace that the appointment was c considered necessary. It must not be c imagined that violations of the rules f made it imperative. There is nothing ■ like a drug evil at this time, such as l there was many years ago, but there has been too much talk on various occasions and with a man such as the latest offi- i cial in charge, it should go a long way toward quieting these scandal mongers. r i When Stupendous won the dash for i two-year-olds at Bowie on Thursday it marked the first success for Joseph E. i a Davis as a breeder. That gave the New z l York turfman an additional thrill and a I i becoming and early reward to his modest J breeding enterprises. Stupendous is a well-made daughter of the Futurity winner Trojan and Prodigious, a daughter of Fayette that Matt I Brady campaigned for Mr. Davis with , satisfying success. This filly is one that i may readily go on to better things than her victory at the first asking. She has an abundance of speed, is sensible and, ! after making all the pace in this race, ■ ! she was going away at the end. I Stupendous was fitted for the races at Benning by Brady and he also promises I to show some steeplechasers of ability . J during the Pimlico meeting, the first op- ■ | portunity that will come to the jumpers. ; One that has taken kindly to jumping, of which much is expected, is the good 1 sprinter Storm King. Another that has ! been schooling well is the three-year-old I i Polish, another of extreme speed. Brady has a way of bringing fit horses I to the races and he has not lost his skill, I as was shown by the performances at - Bowie of both Stupendous and Polish. He i has high hopes at this time for several that wintered at Benning. The manner in which the steeplechase stakes for the Belmont Park meeting have been promised suggests that there ; will come marked improvement in that [ branch of racing. This is not only indicated by the number of good ones that t have been entered, but by the number of f new interests that are represented in the nominations. Of these newcomers to cross-country racing, one of great importance is Jefferson Livingston, for whom Bob Smith, assisted by "Specs" Crawford, has a I considerable stable with several importations in the band. These horses were e wintered and trained in Maryland and, I taking a line on the fitness of the flat t runners that Smith sent to the races during the Bowie meeting, it is natural to 3 expect that the jumpers are ready. Belmont Park offers the first opportunity for steeplechasers, after the two-day - meeting of the United Hunts Racing .r Association at Aqueduct on Thursday and Saturday, and the racing at the big a- Nassau County course will afford an ex-i cellent line on what is to be expected u later in the year. Several of the owners are still cam-l paigning vigorously on behalf of a resto-5 - ration of hurdle racing and there are hopes that some of such races will oe ie offered during the racing season. One of the chief arguments for hurdle e racing is that it will afford a chance for y a quicker return on any jumping invest- ment. Naturally it does not take as long g to fit a horse for hurdle racing as it does ?s for steeplechasing. This is not so much a question of the difference in the ob-q 3- stacles as it is in the distance of such h races. Many a horse is fit and ready for a- a mile and a half over the hurdles, while two miles, or two and a half miles ;s through the field is a bit beyond him and a hardship that may keep him away from m the races until after the close of the le Aqueduct meeting, which means idleness ts until the Saratoga Springs meeting in in August. And, while efforts are being made to :o g ?s 3- h a- ;s m le ts in in to :o bring back hurdling, other efforts are bell ing made to have courses that have never offered races for the jumpers add such races to their programs. Steeplechasing would be a part of the racing in Ken-le tucky and Illinois should there be enough public interest shown to warrant the of-d fering of such races and, generally, the racing associations are in a receptive mood, but western patrons are not. Should it be shown that the owners of jumpers would respond, it would prove a public attraction that would become popular in time.
