Evening star., 1900-03-31

Is the Benning track seemingly fitted for
horses Of the mud digging class; that is,
thoroughbreds whose best performances are
shown In sloppy going. Some Of the best
Of the mudders that have raced at Benning
when the track was dry declined to extend
themselves in the sandy going. When the
Benning track is sloppy after heavy
rain. however. 1t is always safe to play the
horses Of known mud ability. Perhaps the
greatest mud horse that ever raced in this
country, Morello. who has transmitted his
Tud-racing ability to all of his sons and
daughters on the turf, was developed on
the Bennfng track. So battling is the going
out at Benning when the track Is dry, and
therefore sandy and holding, that 1t is per-
haps the only race course in America where
greater percentage OF favorites win on
days when the track is sea of mud than
on days when the track is in it's normal
condition However, after all is said and
done. real race horse will do the best that
lies in him in any kind of going. lightning
fast or heavy, sticky or muddy. and the
animal that pins back his ears and declines
the issue because the track doesn't suit
him generally shows, sooner or later. that
he has yellow streak in his make up.
Rail Birds.
For couple CT months past the Benning
track has been visited every day by num-
bers of horse-learned men hereabout who
like to have their good things" all picked
and cut and dried and made to order before
who may generally be observed smoking
the penitential pipes Of poverty when the
racing is all over and the horses have de-
parted for other courses up the line not
that good things don't go through at Ben
ming, as at all other race tracks, but the
good things of these early birds-rail birds
is the racing term for them-very rarely
happen, indeed; and for months after the
windup OF the racing, right up to the be-
ginning of the next meeting. in fact these
wise young men are verbosely busy in ex-
plainlng unto their weary friends Just why
the good things they carefully selected and
decided upon before the beginning of the
racing didn't finish first under the wire.
Some Good Things Go Through.
The frequency with which the beloved
but slippery good thing goes through at
Benning, once the tide of them sets in, was
New York plunger who had borrowed a
500 note from friend but short time be-
fore contrived to put a succession of long
shot horses first across the plate. and when
the Bennfng trumpeter sounded taps
after the final race on the last day of the
meeting this Sh1fty-eyed. velvet-toned turf
pursuer was good $t0o, 900 richer than he
was when the call had sounded for the first
OF the fall races on the track. And it was
In real, not property, money. There is now
upon demand. a little gelding who was
trained for and proved to be one of the
notable and historical good things of Ben
ming. This horse is Boney Boy, a son
OF the famous Bitten the iron horse
Boney Boy was a little bit of a baby two
year-old when he was brought here in the
spring of 1895 to make his first try at rae
Ing. He was showed into race with an
inoiscrlm1nate lot of maiden two-year-olds
that had never faced the flag, and a select
few, including half a dozen Washinstonians
were made wise" to the fact that Boney
Boy was going to be the trick The little
morse bV HhorIf a
mouth wide open and his head swinging
at 100 to in the betting. and he has never
gone to the post since at Benning that he
hasn't been the recipient of a mighty cheer,