The Washington times., 1922-07-02
TURF TITLE
AT STAKE IN
THE TRAVERS
Big Race at Saratoga to De-
'ternine Championship
Among Three -year-oId Stars

'ternine Championship
Among Three -year-oId Stars
nACING luck appears to have
X. reserved for Saratoga the
~ distinction Of staging the
contest that is to be determine
tive Of the three-year-old cham
pionship of the current season.
With only a few exceptions the
colts and fillies that aspire to the
honors that were prevented by
influenza or the casualties Of
spring training from participat-
ing in the recent renewals Of the
Preakness, Withers, Belmont
Stakes, Kentucky Derby and the
$50, 900 Kentucky championship,
are eligible to start in the Trav-
es, Saratoga's greatest August
special for three-year-olds.
The important exceptions are Nor
vich, Snob II. Olympus. Broomster
and Star Jester, the last named an
unlucky discard from the stable Of
Admiral Cary T. Grayson, which,
since he left the Grayson barn has
become a champion OF his age and
class In Canada. For some reasons
or other Adolph B. Spreckles failed
to nominate Norwich for the
Travers when the race closed for
yearlings a couple Of seasons back,
although he did not neglect to name
Runstar. the other Of the first-rate
two-year -olds his great stallion
Runnymede gave to racing last sea-
son. .E#..
Snob III Not Entered.
John Sanford, likewise. neglected
to nominate Snob II. Admiral Gray.
son did nominate Star Jester, son OF
Black Jester, but declared the Brit
lsh colt last season because he was
not growing fast enough. Broom.
-Bter and Olympus were among the
H. p. whitney nominations for the
Travers. but their eligibility was
invalidated last winter when they
were gelded by James Rowe at
Brookdale Farm.
Colts and fillies Of the first class
expected to start in the Travers
renewal are June Grass, Oceanic.
Hea. Runstar. Lucky Hour. My
Play, Missionary, Kai Sang, Whisk.
away. Bunting. Pruddish. Pillory
and Startle. And among the po-
tential starters. several of which
may. between this and Travers day,
have improved sufficiently to be
classed with the great. are Sere-
nader, Pirate Gold, Galantman, Let
terman. st. Henry, Little Chief.
Mercutio. Spanish Maize, Southern
Cross, Nantucket. Native Land, EX-
celsis. Macduff. Firm Friend, North
cliffe, Mustard Seed, Many Smiles.
Master Hand, etc. No Travers Of
the last fifteen or twenty years
has eight weeks ahead Of It's re-
newal had better prospects than
this seasons. The directorate Of
the Saratoga Association may rea-
sonably expect a field Of recognised
record size and representative class.
Trayers Oldest Special.
The Travers is the oldest OF
American three-year old specials Of
continuous, or nearly unbroken, his
tory. Its inaugural In 1864 ante
dates by several years the inaugural
dates Of the Belmont, the Kentucky
Derby. the Latonia Derby and the
Withers. The Preakness In brand
new alongside OF the Travers. A
gallop Of one mile and a quarter
for entire colts and fillies, the i'm
pending Travers will have a value
of about $4,000 It originally at
tracted 100 nominations and sixty
six Of these mighty starts.
Possibly II will be in the Travers
renewal that Lucky Hour, son Of
Hourless and Lucky Catch, and his
stable companion, My Play. own
brother Of Man o. War. will first
show to q New York crowd their
three-year-o stuff. Lucky Hour,
after training brilliantly ut Havre
de Grace for the Kentucky Derby
renewal, contracted influenza late
meet Norwich at Churchill Downs
about recovered from his filtration
with the coughing sickness when
he arrived in New York, In mid
May and was ready to begin serious
training for the Belmont renewal
when a stable companion, one
Southern Cross playfully kicked
him in the face and inflicted an
injury that necessitated q surgical
operation. This accident gave
Lucky Hour another setback, but
the son Of Hourless il going
famously now and patrons of Sara
tosa racing will see In him q rare
distance runner.
My Play, a failure as Q two-year-
old, came through at Havre de
Grace in April, almost as hand
someiy as Lucky Hour did. In
fact he raced at the Maryland
track as q brother Of Man o. War
might have been expected to race.
Kai Sang. son Of The Finn, rated
by most handicappers the best Of
last seasons two-year-old colts after
Norwich. was at the summit Of his
form ut Saratoga last August and
u win be there this coming August