Arizona republican., 1899-01-30
SAY IT IS WONDERFUL
What Two Eastern HorSemen Think
 of inc SaIf River Valley.

Among the late arrivals in the city
 from Chicago are two distinguished
 eastern horse racing men, L. A. Davias
 and his fellow traveller, George Mid
 dletOn, of the well known theatrical
 firm of Kohl & Middleton. During their short stay here they have noted the peculiarities of the climate which are favorable to the breeding of blood ed horses. They soon lost track of the particulars and agreed that for a spot adapted to the successful raising of horses designed for the turf, Phoenix
 has no equal in the world. Speaking
 on the subject last night MT. Davies
 said:
 Tn contrasting Arizona with Illinois
 I find that while a colt may feed on
 green grass here the year around, in
 Illinois they have that privilege for
 only five months. This results in the
 quicker maturity of your stock, and
 consequently the colts compare favor
 ably in speed with eastern colts of
 the same age The principal racing
 stakes are offered to colts of three
 years and under; therefore, these eli
 matic conditions are of marked inn
 port.
 But of still greater benefit to your local horse men are the seasons at their disposal for breeding According to universal racing regulations a colt is considered to be one. year of age on the first Of January after it's birth, and
 while colts are born here in the early part of the year, in the east they are born from six to eight months later; yet they are chased as the same age. Obviously the advantage of an Ari- zona bred colt receiving birth so much earlier is large over it's eastern neigh bOr, especially ia races of yearlings and 2-year-olds. In the latter class, the young horses from this section are ont jogging while the colts of the east are housed up in closed barns, and by the time eastern horses are at the jog ging stage Arizona stock is in good condition for the turf
 MT. Davies has farm in Geneva. Ill.,, where he winters about fifty racing an imals among which is his fastest horse. the well known Roy Wilkes, a pacing stallion. Between the years 18S9-93 he defeated all corners in his class and held a record of 2:O61a. MT. Davies takes great pleasure ill training his stock and usually drives thsm in races. He is noted in his section as having driven ir some of the speediest matches
  sires more speedy horses than any other stallion in the world.
 He mentions a drive he took to the Phoenix race track, where he was pc culiarly struck with the open stalls. The stock is practically without shell ter and the wind and indictment weather has opportunity for full sway. At his farm he has folding barn 900 feet long which contains stoves fer heating purposes. He ventures to say that in the whole length of that barn there is not a crevice large enough to admit a lead pencil.
 Unlike his companion, MT. Middleton | does not drive, nor does he train his ! stock. but makes up for the deficiency by backing them heavily. He is the | owner of the noted Jack" by Nlot | Medium, who has made a record of | PIP in high wheel sulky. With this horse Mir. Middleton at one time won | over $50,000 in one week, and his bet ting career since has always been such | that his horses have not lacked for | sufficient backing
 In speaking of a trip through the i valley taken by MT. Davies and him self, Mr Middleton said: We were engaged in conversation relating to | the coidness of Chicago, where the | has lately been far below | zero, when we passed a lady driving a | horse with one hand and holding an | with the other. From an other direction came an Indian who i was barefOOted and without a sign of | 2 coat and only shred for shirt All | this goes to show the superiority Of | this winter climate over others fO. | horse breeding"
 MT. Middleton's stock farm is situ- ated at Battle Creek, just outside of Both gentlemen are liberal | in their praise of local advantages of | climate in general, and congratulate the people CT their beautiful drive ways, which afford such excellent | courses for jogging. They wonder hat many wealthy iavalids who have taken abodes in the valley do not en- gage in horse breeding. This occupa- ton would afford thsm Outdocr exer- cise and at the same time be exceed ngly remunerative.
 Chicago especially presents an unlim- ted market for blooded stock and will pay on an average of $175 a head for stock we'll sired. The cost of raising. they estimate, will not exceed $2G a year, while shipping by fast freight in carloads should not cost over $25 p6r head. One thing they believe we are of timothy hay. Dur conditions, they think, are such as Q permit the growth of that grass and when this is accomplished we cer- -ainly outciass KeLtucky and Califor- lia, and, in fact, eclipse the world as far as climatic advantages and culti- yated resources are concerned
 Both men will remain in Phoenix 'or few days as they desire to extend l, ~1,c Of +lo yol1 Ions