Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-12-25
CARRINGTON'S CAROL
HOW GLORY WON THE CHRISTMAS
HANDICAP BY A NOSE.
Santa Clans Came q Little Late, But h
Was Laden With Good Things Tor
Folks ON Franklin Streets.
fror the dispatch, by Roger stanton,

dor the Dispatch. by Roger staunton)
Young Darlington, stop-watch In hand,
sat on the sill OF his stable door. intentiy
overlooking the back-stretch OF the Gut
tenberg race-track. hoping that Tornado
Tom would loosen his hold on the hard
held black filly White Wings. and let
ting her "go a bit" would reveal the
truth or falsity Of the industriously cir
culated rumors of the splendid turn OF
speed said to be possessed by this crack
nag from the Oakhurst stables.
1t was the day for the big Christmas
Carol Handicap, and II seemed hardly pos
slble that the trainer of White Wings
who had foileC every attempt OF the
touts and bookmakers to gauge his fillys
ability, would now at the last moment
disclose White wings's real speed.
And Carrlngton's fancy was not far
wrong: however. his alert and experienced
eve discovered that White Wings was
.out' for only an easy gallop'' out
even Al this moderate pace The mare
showed that she had been overworkeu
I'm the preparation for the race, ana was
a trjfe sore from the severe strain "
which her dainty legs had been supJecte1'
Herein Darlington saw at least one ray
Of hope. ,,,a
He would beat White Wings; but wouid
ne heat all the other starters IN the race
That was the question which criss-crossed
the young mans face with lines OF uouo1
and distress
1t was anything but merry Christmas
for the young horsemen' I'll.
He could hear the peals OF the peiie
calling the faithful to the CHRISTMAS
services In the churches.
Everybody seemed TO be saturated WIN
the iovous spirit of the season, but the
music of the Christmas bells and the evil
dent cheer of every other heart were 10
him to-day as sweet bells. tangled out
of tune" There came TO him viva pic
ture of Christmas joys. and the Christ
mas-day's services in the little country
church down in Henrico. and then he re-
membered how four years before this, as
his reward for months of laborious study
at the University of Virginia, he had
earned the title of Bachelor of Laws, and
how. having come into his fortune within
a month thereafter he had made the
sweetest girl in Richmond his wife
And then the orange blossoms of the
bridal wreath had scarcely faded before
the sporting spirit inherited from his
grandfather had stirred in the young
er-horseman' veins and the grandson
found himself knowing by heart the col
umns of the Turf Guide and the Racing
Calendar long before the leaves of his
Law Journal were cut.
A RACING STABLE.
l.. raOairt
to his guardian for his inheritance had
hardly become dry before Darlington had
possessed himself of racing stable and
all its costly appointments. Ill luck
frowned on his stable from the start.
Time and time again, after weeks and
weeks of careful preparation, Glory, the
splendid chestnut horse, the pride of the
stable, after showing trial miles way
down in the forties. had. In the races
when the money was up, stopped In the
stretch when the money was well nigh
won, and, quitting like cur had been
written down by the racing reporters az
among the "also rams" And this too,
from Glory, he of the royal breeding.
Burkes Peerage never chronicled purer
strains of royal lineage among men than
did the turf books show 10 be Glory's
inheritance, for his pedigree traced back
to the equine Plantagenets. whose MIN
BILE hoofs had spuTned the Arabian sands.
In the Stud Book 1t was written: Glory,
black colt, by Sunrise. dam Hallelujah,
Glory had the pedigree and received all
the stables pettlng. while the few hOnors
and the scant purses that fell TO the
Hanover Stable were won by his humber
stable companions III luck had followed
Carrington's sporting ventures through
a long lane that seemed to have no end.
At last, however. Joe Trout, the trainer.
early In December. in great glee had
come TO Darlington. with ilatterng tale
of the phenomenal turn of speed being
shown by one of the despised horses in
the Hanover Stable. Julien. the ugly
brown colt, was reeling off miles in ~,
with welter-weight UP. None of the rival
horses entered in the Christmas Carol
Handicap had as yet shown better than
1i5 Here was the chance OF a lifetime.
Barring accident. julien would win the
$4,000 purse. and, perhaps, the high-bred
counterfeit Glory might get second or
third money.
And so Darlington had paid the en-
trance fees for both horses. Not only
had the young horseman's cash been ex-
hausted by the long run of iii luck sha-
downing him. but he had found 1t neces-
sary to mortgage "Chesterfond," his old
home In Hanover. the title TO which ran
uninterruptedly through his ancestors
from sire to son, even from the days when
the first Virginia Darlington had acquired
the gently swelling hills and the level
stretching low-lands by the Kings grant.
These mortgages-there were two OF
them-were both overdue, and so rapa-
cious had been the demon of disaster
following Carrington's stable. that not
even the interest on the loans had been
paid TO stop the howl of the hungry
usury-eater, and already the Richmond
Dispatch for fortnight had been run
ming the advertisement of the trustees
sale of "Chesterfond Two weeks more
and the auctioneer from Richmond, with
his hated red flag and his harsh-toned
bell, would be at the old homestead and
a motley crowd would profane the lawn
and the portico of the aristocratic old
place.
.
THE BETTING RING.
A holiday mob of gambling-crazed men
throng the betting ring under the grand
stand.
Hastings, the horse owned by Heiney
Stein, the bookmaker, Is the favorite in
the race. Only even money is offered
against his chances to win. Caring
toms julien is third choice at to /, and
so slender are Glorys chances considered
TO be that the pencilling fraternity write
on their states 20 to / against the son
of Sunrise and Hallelujah.
And now the Christmas Carol Handi-
cap is about to be run. Julien comes
from he paddock to take his prelimi-
nary warming-up gallop. He covers a
half mile with ghost-like speed. It's
mile gone, and at a racing gait, too,
and now it's another half. and julien
is speeding as In a whipping finish.
In an instant the truth dawns on the
crowd. ITS a runaway comes from
a thousand throats, and Darlington stag
gers sickly towards the fence. as he
realizes that with every stride his horse
is killing every chance Of victory when
the real race is to be run.
For a week Julien will not have the
speed of a cart-horse.
He's a winner in the bankrupt stakes.
He'll run from palace to poor-house.
and never turn n hair" blurted Heiney
Stein. the bookmaker. with brutal sar-
casm. "He cost you three, I'll give you
a thousand for him. Hes your horse"
answers Darlington; take him and write
me your ticket; six thousand TO the thou
aatI h.