New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-21
HARNESS RACING GOSSIP.
THE STAKE PLAN GROWS IN POPULARITY.
LARGE PATRONAGE FOR FUTURITY CONTESTS
~ All, THE IMPORTANT cIEcUITs-ALIx.

,.rpoSAGE FOR FUTURITY CONTESTS
~ Ar. THE IMPORTANT CIRCUITs-ALIx.
TIE CHAMPION FOUR-YEAR-oLD.
u,,,,,n tho last week number Of Important stakes
for both trotters and PAGERS have closed, and the
,ro,.co .ytcnded to these proves beyond a doubt
ho, IN, owners and trainers OF the lighharness per-
ormer are thoroughly In favor OF this method OF max
inc eneac ements for their horses. Not only In the
cs,nd Crrcu,t but at all the important meetings OF
Tho year the stake plan Is popular the only pos
s,e objection being the large amount OF money re-
.,r,rad 10 carry a stable OF any Size through the
s.oson Even this is scarcely more Of tax than
,,., ,mnosed when three more meetings OF the
Grand Circut closed time, and 10 per cent OF
eoch purse had to be put or guaranteed. For ex-
mi. n was the custom to make up the entries ut
cleveland Budalo and Rochester on the same day.
pcneraly the Monday OF the week Mt Detroit, ana
n,ainc the average OF the premium list for the three
meetings mt 500 900. 1t required $4,000 to secure the
right to start In all the ciasses' Pio'lded tue co'
tons were strictly fulfilled.
n frequently happened that a promising horse
mot an accident or went wrong before the campaign
had fairly begun, and besides the depreciation IN
y,,uc came the additional burden OF paying up for
fei,s There was no evadIng this unless by special
orran cement. This gave rise to the "condi'iohal
ontry which has done much more harm than gooc,
and in several instances has ruined 1ourishlng
driving park. The Grand Circuit itself has not es-
coped the evil results OF this collision between the
borsemcn and It's members, though the earlier points
like Cleveland and Buffalo have not been affected Us
those which came later In the series.
Utica where the sulldcs were once In high favor'
struggled along for couple Of seasons after the
GRAND stand was practically deserted, and then the
proprietor Of Hutchinson Park found II advisable to
dispose Of the property for building purposes Jacob
Ruppert one Of the weathiest OF the big brewers In
this city, made a commendablc effort to conduct the
Hudson River Driving Park at Poughkccpsie IN con-
formty TO the rules OF the National Trotng Assoca-
tion and his manager. ID. b. Hcrrngton tried nara
10 abolish the conditional entry. The reform was
conducted at great expense that after Two
years In the Grand Circuit the excellent track OF
Pouchkcapsie dropped out OF the line.
This year all the associations In the Grand Circuit
have opened stakes. even Cleveland, where the reg-
inr purses have been long In vogue Iono"ihs
the fashion. Pttsburg has renewed the valuable
prizes OF last July and for the opening mectlhg OF
the Grand Circuit at IIomcwood Park there Is
large support The Newell House stake OF Sj.ooo
for o 10 trotters has nominations from such breed
Ing establishments as the Village and Jewett farms
Buffalo and Prospect lilll Farm, Franklin fehh
Last year the richest plum for the trotters NJ 'he
smoky City open to the e:26 class ana 'he
stallion II. G. T. first money In straight heats
Tie Monongnhea House Stake for PAGERS mas hesh
renewed the speed handicap OF "a being practically
tho same rs when Nelly y. outlastcd her six com
netltor, last July and won the lions share OF the
800.
Dufalo. the senior member OF the Grand Circuit
! loads all It's associates with n programme eA'chu-
| ing over two weeks The total amount OF money
hung M Is close to 100000. including TWO DIG
stakes for the open classes, trotting ana pacing
r, latter docs not close till June J. and Is guaran-
feed st $4,000. Already there have been suhc'cht
| promises from those who have lightning size
wheclers TO insure the filing Of this most valuable