New-York tribune., 1908-02-03
|COMMENT ON SPORTS,
THE HANDICAP WEIGHTS
Nesrs and Vie.cs on Current Topics,
amateur and Professional.


riais. of s25.o .oeo each. was fair and equi'aele
IN the main and that W. S. Vosburgh the or
ocsai han6icapper of The Jockey Ciup' hau
provided. as usual. one OF those racing Po%~ies
for which he is justly famed Ihere hHs 'ee'
some unfavorable criticism-u could not DC
orherw;se-of some horses harshiy ires'eu anu
others TOO leniently dealt with out. on Di'e
whole the weights were SATISFACTORY l" """
.rs ard trainers. as will be proved. no doubt
CT February 20 when declaration can pe haoe
at sI5 The announcement of the weights means
something more than the allotment OF what
ce-fsin horses must carry in races some tiiie
next SIMMER Ii amounts to the first of1iciai
rating OF practically all the best hofses 'iis''
were in training last year Mr. Nosbufgh Is
considered by many the cleverest weight au-
jusfer in the country. and for that reaso" ms
ratings can he accepted, on the whole as Deihs
,be fairest that. under the circumstances. can
he made Still he IS not impeceabie' anu hiS
+ orin;on of James r. Keene's great colt conn
.,,, ,,,,.a.s- son Of Commando 50 high as IT Is.
falls short of that of many prominent horsemeh-
In my humble opinion Colin is the greatest morse
eyer bred and developed In this country ii h''
! in the world. and this is said with sue" sie"'
horses in mind as Domino Hamburg SssoiipH'
Ar1fui Irish Lad. Hermis Staiwart f'ieioef''
orr Wells waterboy. Burgomaster, imp 6ei
..,e and Commando of recent years. ana
Hanover.
ton Miss woodford and Lexington CONN dlu
-,t;r. recuired of him last year in winning
su.lve straight races in such a commanding anu
r,rr,ncfnp way and under conditions not always
favorable that il is hard 10 believe tha' any
horse in training can defeat him al any INNS
ike even weights with the UNDERSTANDINGS, "
-se that he is at his best or, at least. close
n IL In the light, then. Of his wohoerlui pei
<or-,ances last wear. which are still fresh Id
dc int q
.,s suburban and l12 pounds in the Brighton
ave hardly a fair measure Of his greatness
p.r1o+ which is al top weight with 10
n,,,,as Is good horse. and IL is only nalurai
,ha. he must this year suffer the hardshlps vi
~-ea-ness He was badly beaten in the brlsh'oh
rur hv Salvidere and Running water pu' he
was hardly himself that day AND had pfe'ious's
defeated his conquerors on that occasion III po'Ii
-,he First and Second specials al Sra'eseho'
Ballot won eight fixtures last season inciuoiiis
those mentioned and the Great hepuoiic an"
c.r,,,rv stakes and earned s54.5S0- In the
opinion OF the official Handicapped ne Was hNe
mounds better than Sslpidere. the champion two
a-ola or ,oAs and there can be no quarrel
with this in spite of the fact that SaiVldere was
NOS scuud horse ard had to be handled with
..ea, care II is hard to believe. however. tha'
Ballnf was or is good a horse as-Colln anu
vet Mr. vosburgh ranks them the same accord
ing To the scale. SO far as the Brooklyn anu
Suburban are concerned. and asks the son Vi
Voter TO give Colin two pounds in the Brighton
The form of horse from two TO three years
cid is hard 10 gauge and the unbeaten son "i
Commando may not live up TO the position ne
made for himself last season, but the chances
are in favor Of his being even better III oy
good fortune such proves TO be the case he
ralI lot
pounds and a beating over mile ard quarter
Assuming that Ballot on Mr.. Kosburghs rating.
is The best horse in training. Colin in truly
run race would have one or more OF the big
handicaps at his mercy If Sysonby as -FOUR
vear-old was five pounds better than Hermls'
according 10 the ratings OF 1906. fact unfoftu-
nately that was never demonstrated owing 10
the unti1nelv death Of the former and the en-
forced retirement Of the latter. then Sysonby
in the opinion of the Handicapped was a better
horse than Colin as few will acknowledge that
Ballot a greater horse than Her'nis- In all
probab bity the question viii never be settled. as
Colin with engagements not far short OF sl500OO
among horses Of his own age. viii hardly be
poir1ted for the big mile and quarter specials
where he must meet older horses under condl-
tions unfavorable to him but whether he starts
or not the fact remains that he seems 10 have
been thrown in at the weights
II was not my purpose when started TO take
Dup a discussion Of the weights as TO the proba oie
I chances OF one horse or another. The races are
i far off in the future and much can happen par
ticalarly when the allotments were made on last
years form. Ii is a fact, however. that year
after year the handicaps provide close, hard
fought and sensational battles. under the
rather questionable method Of assigning the
weights far in advance and with a year-oid
form as basis. For that the amateur
hsndicappers can feel that their time is not
wasted in figuring the probable contenders.
Leaving Colin of consideration. the horses
which appear To be worthy of most considera-
tion are Ballot la6: Salyidere l2l: Running
Water. lI5: McCaFter. ia: Dandelion, III:
Frank GIN. 1l9: CeIp. lri: Uncle, lo5: Law
renee p. Daley. lU2, and Jim Gaffney. l01. 1t
looks 20 me as il Nealon. l2-. the Suburban
Handicap winner last year under ll3 pounds:
Giorifer. 1o0. winner OF the Carter and Metro
politan handicaps: Montgomery. 12o, and Super
man III winner OF the Brooklyn Handicap p,
were slightly overweighted. while Charles Ed
ward I22: DR.. Gardner. lis, and Electioneer.
lis have rarely shown a disposition go a
route in the best company. Running Water
seems to have slight pun a line through
Ballot and SalVidere. and McCarter s in about
right. Peter Pan would have been top
weight with 12s pounds in all proba bility, if he
had been entered. and that son of Commando
gave NcCarter fourteen pounds and beat him a
neck last year in one of the best and fastest
Brighton handicaps ever run. James II. Keene's
Celt gives promise and If ne trains on will be a
good running mate for Ballot. as il has been
whispered around the Eeene sta bile that he was
far behind Colin last season. and he GER
tainly did all that required of him in his
two races