The Washington times., 1906-10-26
EVERYBODY HAPPY
OVER HUNT RACES
That Is, Except Bookies,
Who Were Hard Hit
by Good Things.
SOCIETY OUT IN FORCE
Hundreds of Prominent Persons See
Gentlemen Riders Compete-Court-
land Smiths Great Day.

The opening day OF the second annual
meeting Of the United Hunts AssOCia-
ton at BenninG yesterday provided the
best sport seen in Washington in many
a long day The class OF entries was
high and the races IN nearly every in
stance closely contested. II Is said tnaJ
the card for tomorrow. the second day
Of the meeting. offers even better Op-
pOTtuniues for sprI.
As had been predicted, society was on
hand in large numbers. CTOWdlng the
Jockey club house ana spIlllng over into
the grand stands. Hunting neople were
on hand from New York and Baltimore.
1hiladeiphia. and Virginia. and they
found the races Wei worth the trip
And when the suns lne broke over the
track early in the afternoon IL lighted
up a brilliant scene, and one of the most
picturesque meetings ever held on the
historic track The colors of the jock
eyes, the green and white BACKGROUND
offered by the turf OF the inreld and the
white fences, the pink-cOa ted clerk OF
the course who led the starters in each
race 10 the barrier. painted a gay pic
ture.
Two Accidents
That four of the races were steeple-
chases added 10 the interest. lending a
spice of danger. AS IL happened. there
We're very few falls. and only two in
which the Jockeys We're Injured. Mr.
=
bone in his fall with Anna Bruce. and
the Jockey riding Mrs. kernochan' $
Spender was knocked ont in a fall.
OF all the races the most closely con
tested and also the most Interesting,
from The fact that il was the big stake
race of the day. was the Capitol SteeDle-
chase The sight of four horses coming
into the stretch and well on 10 the unlsA
with less than length separating the
leader from the last of the four, and
finish in which the winner only nosed
out a victory. is. 70 say the least. UNI
usual in steeplechasing. and when Wool
gaJheTeF, owned by CORTLAND Smith,
crossed the line first the crowd was
bowling with excitement.
There were seven starters In this
event. which had 81. COO added. Bound
Brook opened the Iavorite. but went
back Macmillan, Worthwhile, and Ida
Woodlands were heavily backed The
race was for about two and nalf
miles, and Tor the first mile Setaukct
led. WOOlgatheTer then forged ahead
and set the pace. He was closely fol-
lowed By Macmillan. Coming into the
stretch, WColgatherer was evidently tlr-
ing, and NOTJLFllle and Bound BCDuk
moved up. From that point on il was a
terrific drive. and looked TO be any
bOdv's race. But Ray, who was riding
WOOlgatherer. made Il wonderful finish
and pushed his mount across the line
10y sheer good work Worthwhile was
second by nose, with Bound Brook
well up.
CORTLAND Smiths Good Luck.
Yesterday was certainly Virginia s
day. CORTLAND Smith was the biggest
winner He rode two of his own horses
10 victory, Oriflamme and Pete Daley,
and his Woolgatherer won the Capitol
StecpleChase. Dion Kerr rode beau
Tiful race on Follow On in the AleNan-
dria SteepleChase, and won handily.
The meeting was well managed The
races were run of on time and In DusI-
ness-lilIe manner. This was largely que
TO the competent officials, j. II. Brad
ford, it.. was especially fortunate IN
starting the horses. There were "A dozen
bOCkmakers in the betting rlng and
everyone who wished 10 put down
bet was accommodated II was an
especially good day for the talent and
IL is not on record that the boONieS took
away much money, IN fact, they were
the losers yesterday.
The tlrst event, q nat race about I'VE
furlongs, was won by OTifiamme, a win
ner at BrOOkline and at Scranton. who
was the faVOriJc- He Outcidsscd his
field and won by ten lengths The Col
onel crossed the line second, beating out
Anticipation by half a length.
Dion Kerr the Goods
Dion Kerr sustained his reputation as
a steeplechase rider Of the first water
in the Alexandra Stecplechase. He
rode an eXcelIeHuy judged race on Fol-
low On, which, by the way, is one of
the cleverest jumpers at the track. The
odds were . 10 / against the black mare
and her hackers were well repaid for
their faith. Follow On has been con-
sistent performer this year. Mr.. Kerr
winning several races on her in Canada
and the North earlier in the season.
Allegiance and CalOOrahatChee We're we'll
backed and finished second and third.
In the Clark Steeplechase James J.
O'Brien, who has captured several
purses on Metropolitan tracks this sea
son. took Gypsic. mis- own horse, over
the jumps in good style and won. Anna
PruCe. the property of James MadduX
Of WarrentOn, was favored by the Vir-
ginia crowd and looked 10 have an eX-
Ccllen chance 10 finish first until the
last jump Percy Evans was up and had
carried the mare over the jumps with a
rush. but the rail fence on the far side