Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-29
HANDICAPS IN
TROTTING DERBY
AMERICAN STAKE CARDED AT
READVILLE
NOVEL, ARRANGEMENT MADE FOR
BIG RACE
Future of Handicap Racing VIII BE
Settled by Outcome Of Chief Con-
test on CIassiest Program in
Harnessdom

PHILADELPHIA. Aug. 2s.-The
American Derby, with it's $4,000 prize,
holds first place on the Readville pro-
gram this week. or this sum $4,000 is
for trotters and $4,000 for PAGERS. The
fields will be the largest in the history
of the sport in America. There Will be
no trial heats to tire and the sight III
each race as the horses come tearing
down the stretch will be one worth
going across the continent to see.
The handicapping is the work or
Charles NJ Jewett, and 1t looks as IL
he had performed his difficult task
WELL
Uhlan he has rated as a 2:07 trotter
for q mile and half and The Eel as
a 2:05 PAGER for a like distance. These
are the scratch horses in their respee-
tive divisions, and to their competitors
they give forty-fve feet for each sec
ond of speed. Uhlan will be asked to
concede Sonoma Girl and San Fran
cisco one second. Next to these come
Lady Jones and Sterling Mckinney,
rated as two seconds slower than Uh-
Ian. The half-mile track horses-that
is, those who have made records or
have been racing on the two-lap rings,
have been asked to give the mile track
horses three seconds for the difference
in the tracks.
The handicap system is at stake, and
IL the scratch horse is not n factor at
the finish the distance handicap Is a
failure in this country, where extreme
speed must always be considered.
Uhlan is a fresh young horse, un-
questionably capable of lowering his
record. He is good-headed and race
horse. Now, If he meets with no hard
Yluck after the bell rings and is not
contender in the stretch, the distance
handicap system fails in its purpose to
bring the fast and slow trotter together
on equal terms.
What applies to Uhlan hardly holds
good in the case of The Eel, for the
gray Canadian wonder wears leg
harness, and how much Of an influence
the extra rigging will have the last
eighth of q mile and one-half dash Is
something that has yet to be known.
In fact, trainers are generally a bit
doubtful as to how even the free-going
PAGERS are going to cover the distance.
When 1t is considered that more
money will be paid to the horsemen
in these two races than has been given
by any other track in the country for
their entire program 1t can be realized
what big event ii is. In the two
events thirty horses will receive money,
the smallest division being about twice
the amount of the entrance money.
The two supplementary handicaps,
the Blue Hill, for trotters, and tho
Neponset, for PAGERS, filled finely
The horses in these races will not be
handicapped until the night before the
races, which will be on the last day
of the meeting.
The 2:09 trot failed to fill, but 1t will
be reopened, as there are enough good
trotters in sight to make a good race.
Seventeen trotters have been kept in
the $4,000 Massachusetts stake, and
the race promises to be one of the
greatest battles of the year, with the
roam mare Margin, who has already
pulled down two $4,000 events this
season. the faVorite.
The trotting division will be decided
on Tuesday, while the PAGERS will go
on Wednesday. The $4,000 Massachu-
setts is the feature Thursday and the
American horse breeder futurity Fri
day. The arrangement of the other
classes has not yet been decided on.