Evening star., 1902-03-24
Everything in Readiness for
Benning Opening.
MANY HORSES ON HAND
CHIEF INTEREST CENTERS IN
BIG OPENING DAY HANDICAP.
Base Ball News and Gossip-Jeffries
and Fitzsimmons May Not Fight
Chevy Chase Golf Tourney.

Almost perfect weather the last few days
has stimulated matters at the Benning
track to a wonderful degree. and at noon
today almost every little detail had been
attended to. By the time the gates are
thrown open tomorrow 1t will be found
that Superintendent Lee has everything In
spick and span order and the latest i'm
prOvements will be eye-openers for the new
arrivals. Mr.. Lee told an Evening Star re-
porter yesterday that he has been working
continuously since the fall meeting, and for
the past two weeks has worked his men in
two shifts, day and night. Yesterday there
was no let up, and everybody was cleaning
away the debris collected all over the in
closure since last fall
Never before has there been such a large
crowd at Benning on Sunday gathered
a the track yesterday. The close followers
of the racing game began journeying to-
ward the track at an early hour. and the
curiosity seekers then fell in line. and
poured out to the grounds in such numbers
that the street railway company was
simply Swamped. from the car barns to the
end of the line. a conservative estimate
placed the number of sightseers at the track
from early morning till nightfall at 10000,
and there were fully 800 track followers
out this morning looking over the horses.
The greater crowds collected around the
stables and the hills overlooking the
track in front Of the paddock. The stable
boys were going and coming all day from
the track, giving the ponies good try-OutS.
and all this exercise work was watched
with great interest by the spectators. The
course has dried out considerably, and the
chances are that by tomorrow the going
should be fairly fast
Clerk of the Course II. G. Crickmore ar
rived in Washington Friday, and although
he was busy all of Saturday and the best
part of Saturday night, he was head over
hpl Ia in W. nrlS al Ha dow Mr. ,i,ly
more had all his assistant clerks with him,
and his office reSembled beehive of In
dusry By tonight he will have everything
working smoothly for the opening tomor-
row. Mr.. Cricknore has arranged a pro-
gram for the horsemen that fills all re-
quirements
Every train that arrived In Washing
yesterday and this morning brought its
quota Of horsemer. bookmakers. plungers
racegoers and thoroughbreds. SO numer-
GUS are the mon who follow the ponies
that II Is almost impossible to walk in any
section Of the city without meeting some
Of them. Accommodations for men and
horses are rapidly diminishing. Rooms at
the principal hotels are at premiRm. and
the lodging houses in the downtown dis
trict are almost all filled up At the race
track Superintendent Lee has his hands
full providing quarters for the many horses
that are continually arriving. and the
chances are that many Of them will have
to find quarters outside the inclosure.
During the last thirty hours twelve
strings of thoroughbreds have arrived at
the track The most recent are those of
August Belmont which came in early this
morning. and Wyndham Walden. which
arrived yesterday about noon AS usual,
Mr.. Walden's lot comprises two-year-olds.
and they look in good condition and ready
to race at once Three Of the bunch are
Fred Littlefields and the remainder belong
to Morris and Walden. The list is as fol-
lows:
Walden string-Blue Delft. chestnut fiIly.
2. Ornament-Mary NJ: Enhance, brown
fflly. 2. Galore-Edith; First Chord. bay colt.
2. Ben Strome-Last Ban: Juggernaut. chest
nut colt. 2. Star RubyTyranny: Red
knight, chestnut colt, 2. Knight OF Ellers-
lie-Belle DAILY: Merry Sister. chestnut filly.
2; The Friar-Merry One; Dolce Far Nientee.
chestnut colt, 8, Hanoyer-Hoiday: Obliged,
chestnut filly. 4, Henry Of Navarre-Grat-
itude; The Hoyden, d. f.. 3. Esher-The
Maid.
Littlefields are Fair Edna, chestnut Ally
2. The Friar-Olle Vic; F'lckle Merle. bay
filly. 2. Marsh-Glde: Mount Hope, brown
colt. 2, Silver FoX-Chantte.
The arrival of the Walden string makes
things look brighter for good contests in
the two-year-old events. Walden's two
year-Old successes are prOverbal. but the
Goughacre stable youngsters are well
thought Of by the stable, and with the Bel
mont and Daily strings to compete there
should be no lack of interesting sport be-
tween the baby racers
The chief topic of conversation among
the hOrsemen Is the big handicap tomor-
row., There will be at least twelve starters.
and the caliber of the field will be high,
as all the best horses now in good racing
condition will make bid for the valuable
stakes Many of the hOrsemen located at
the track are backward about expressing
preferences for the handicap. but those
that could be persuaded to talk had lik-
ing for Father Bill" Dalys Himself.
When asked as to how information was
cleaned about DAILY and his string, all
had to admit that they depended upon the
newspaper reports from New York. and
as one OF them put 1t Yesterday, they are
foxy set over there"
A few trainers said that William had
stolen march on them by securing Otto
Wonderly. the crack jockey who will re-
ceive S1J,VO this season from ]. B. Haggin,
for second call on his services to ride Him.
self
All the horsemen agree that Himself was
most 1enienty treated by Handicapped
Vosburgh when he allotted him only nine
ty-six pounds Last spring this horse Won
several races with ten and fourteen pounds
more on his back than he is at present as
signed and ha accommodated hiS fosly