Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-13
rHoRoUaHBREDs ARRIVED.
Five Stables Reached the Benning
Track Yesterday.

With the annual fall meeting Of the
Washington Jockey Club at Benning only
four days off. the owners. trainers track
followers and thoroughbreds are beginning
to drift into the city. and by Wednesday
night strangers will be arriving by train
loads. But for the Pimlico meeting the
city would be crowded with strangers by
this time. as the entire outfit will move
from Baltimore to Washington on Wed
nesday.
The hundreds who journeyed to the Ben
ming track yesterday met with disappoint-
ment in their anticipation of seeing the
thoroughbreds take their workouts as
there are very few horses quartered there
just now. and a majority of the runners
that were given exercise belong to the tim
ber-toppers class. The first big assignment
reached the Benning track yesterday. com
Ing down from Aqueduct and Sheepshead
and from this time new arrivals from
the metropolitan tracks can be looked for
daily.
The arrivals yesterday comprised five
stables, as follows:
nard. of which Santa Catalina Is the best.
Charley Hughes brought In Samson
Royal Scot and Navahoe.
w. p. Burch unloaded Sunray, knight OF
Rhodes and a couple other good ones
Charles Ellerson, who is reported to have
cleaned UP 100000 the past season in bets
brought down eight thoroughbreds from
Aqueduct, and CORTLAND Smith and Harry
Graham unloaded fine bunch of timber
tOppers.
Superintendent Strahan was a happy man
yesterday, as he had been able to discover a
fine quantity OF spruce, which enabled him
to trim up the jumps in the infield in the
most perfect style. Heretofore Mr.. Strahar
has had difficulty in finding the right sor,
of greens, but the present condition of the
Jumps demonstrates that he has at las,
secured what he has been looking for An
other innovation which has escaped the
eyes of the reporters is the newly built
track that leads from the first jump to 'the
turn. In seasons past the jumpers raced
over the sward and down a short embank-
ment, which was somewhat dangerous in
even this class of sport. but from now on
the way will be found to be clean cut and
on the level, with a properly constructed
turn.
Superintendent Strahan put himself or
record yesterday as weather prophet. pre-
dieting clear skies and balny breezeS fol-
the best part of the meeting. Mr.. Strahan
has become weather-wise through his long
connection with the horse game. and saio
to Star reporter that he looked FOR good
weather account of 1t being very cold
this early In the season. A week ago two
of the pipes In the grandstand anG betting
ring froze up and burst, something Mr.
Strahan says that he has never witnessed
before in this locality at this time Of the
year.
The track has been worked UP to state
of perfection with its light top dressing o,
sand, and unless rain should fall before
Thursday it will be lightning fast for the
initial events.
The Junior steeplechase, the original race
exclusively for three-year-old steeplechas
ers in this or any other country, has beer
changed from two and one-half miles tc
two miles. This was at the request o.
many Of the prospective subscribers, who
felt that 1t was little far to send three
year-olds