The times., 1901-03-28
THE RACING BEGINS TODAY
Spring Meet of the Washington
Jockey Club at Benning.
Clear Weather, "a Fast Track. and
Good sport Promiscd-Hntcrcst i'm
the AH-AbsorbinG Handicap and
Tyvo-N Eyents-The Entries.

The spring meeting of the Washington
Jockey Club will open at the Benning
race course this afternoon and will inaug
urate the racing season in the East The
meeting will continue for fifteen days.
and Judging from the outlook viii be
one of the most successful ever held at
the track. There are more than 400
horses quaTtered on the grounds. or at
stables on the outside 1t was utterly
impossible to accommodate the many ap-
plieations for stalls.
A grand programme has been arranged
for the first nine days, and as the fields
will all be large and pretty equally bal
anced by the Handicapped, close and eX-
citing finishes should be the result
A great deal of interest is being mani
tested in the juvenile division. and just
how the debutantes will perform in actual
racing is more or less guess work. There
are some grand looking two-year-olds st
the track that have shown very fast
trials; hut the question is, Will they race
up to their work? That question will be
solved this afternoon. and the Arlington
Purse will come pretty near determining
who has the best two-year-old at Ben
ming.
The feature of the card today, how
ever, is the Spring Handicap at six fur
longs, listed as the fourth race. The en-
tries closed February u, with thirty-one
nominations, OF which seventeen have de-
cided to start Among the starters are
some of the best known overnight hand
leap horses in the country II would be
difficult to bring a better class of horses
together, and the weights are so nicely
adjusted that any of them may be con-
cid in the tptTtI-
sive carries the top weight, 127la pounds,
but even at that from his recent per
formances in New Orleans. looks as If he
should win Still, he is meeting good
horses in Charentus, Knight of Rhodes.
Sidney Lucas, Speedmas. Alsike, and
Robert Wadell-and if he wins he will
have to establish new record for the
Renning track.
The winner should be looked for among
the first four above mentioned, as they
are certainly the class of the race. Still,
the unlocked for often occurs in racing,
and an outsider may carry off the honors,
and, incidentally, the liberal purse that
goes with them.
AH the horses are in good shape, and
ready for a bruising race. Intrusive is
perhaps in the best condition of the lot
in fact. be is a better horse today than he
ever was
Another feature Of todays card is the
steepIechase at two miles This class OF
sport has always been attractive 10 Ben
ming patrons particularly the fair sex,
and the race today should be no eXcep-
tion.
The track will be fast, in fact. it has
been getting faster every season. anu {
trainers who are working their horses
over il claim ii is faster now than ever.
There will be no scarcity of jockeys, as
there are plenty already on hand The [
list includes r Burns, Mitchell, Slack, !
Booker, Wonderly, Landry, Miles, Bren-
man, Hayes. Lyme, and r. Burns. with q
possibility of several ex-outlaws being
permitted TO ride. The grand stand. !
grounds, pavilion, paddock, etc, are
looking clean and bright, and nothing has
could add to the comfort of the Benning
patrons.
There will be six races daily-the first
race starting promptly at o'clock. Mu-
sic viii be furnished by Haley's Band, |
and this feature will he much appreciated |
by the ladies in the grand stand.
The officials of the club are the same as !
last year. They are as follows: PTesi |
dent. ). s. Rowland; stewards for the |
meeting. :. S. Rowland, Samuel Ross, /
Jesse Brown, and Secretary f. Q. Hanlon; /
racing officials. Clarence Mcdowell. /
Judge; W. S. Vosburgh, handicapper; /
starter, Mars Cassidy; j. l.. Hall, pad /
dock and patrol Judge; w. II. Barretto, !
timer; H. G. CriCkmOre, clerk OF the |
course and scales. and DIR. James Kerr, |
rack surgeon and physician.
The accommodations to and from the /
track are ample. Columbia Railway |
electric cars run direct to the track every |
few minutes. and special trains leave |
Sixth Street station at 2:04. 2:30, and 3:I5 |
p. m.