Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-24
READY TO SHAKE
THE PLUM TREE
Passing the Word to Look Out
for Billy Garth's Horses
! at Benning.
By Clarence L. Cullen.

BY clarence L. Suieh.
Look out for BILLY Garth
That has come to be the spring slogan AT
RennIng. 1t will unquestionably be the
patchwork at the meeting which begins To-
morrow. BILLY Garth has fine culver of
speedy arrows for his winning bow this
wear than he ever had before. But, even
nere hIs string considered mediocre, or
were the quality of his horses quite I'M
known the word everywhere about the
grounds would still be the same: Stand
cIear for Garth" The answer Is easy.
Garth has that winning habit at the Ben
ming spring meeting. He had that winning
habit at Bennings spring meeting long De-
fore the watchword about him chystallized
into a universal phrase. He had 1t long be-
fore he ever engaged Walter Miller TO pilot
his horses-before Miller was heard OF as
rider BILLY Garth had a way of putting
EN- over at Benning's spring meetings. at
any old price until everybody following the
game fell into the way OF keeping al eye
on him.
SAY, that fellow Garth's got something
in this hasn't hep the bookie, about TO
chalk up the prices on twooyear-3 ,h race ace
Well. I'll just let that one run Tor me-
and the LAYER would stick up far smaller
price against the unknown two-year-old
than ne would otherwise have written,
solely because the unknown baby two-year-
old was owned or trained by Billy Garth.
That's all right about what Belmont has
got in this sprint, the experienced pettors
say. "but how about this one OF oarth ;
Tim going to have a peek at that one warm
ing up. r.,
Equally. the punters at the moon, the fell
lows who don't profess 10 Know tIlils
about the game have got into the way OF
playing Billy" Garth's horses ihey IL pe
playing that string at this meeting TO an
adios. and it would be fatuous turf prog
nosticator who would predict that the9
wouldn't get the money thereby.
That Cleanup by Little Woods.
Washington business man who knows
a good deal about the game was talking
about the Garth end of 1t a few evenings
ago.
DO YOU remember that Little Woods
thing-the first time Little Woods cleaned
up. that is?" he inquired. We'll, i was
making a business tour through Virginia
week or so before the Benning meeting pc
gan that year. Every place | went heard
hints about Little Woods. They were there
with knowledge of il in Richmond IN Lees
burg in Fredericksburg. in Lynchours. In
Roanoke. in Norfolk-everywhere-lo De-
fore the bugle summoned the hors5s TO the
post for the first race at Bennlng that
spring Even in the little crossroads towns
OF Virginia the news of that Little WOODS
thing had percolated. 1t was the hrst time
that I'd ever had a chance to observe the
genesis of a horse race tip, and it was pc
culiar. ,,..,
cone day | drove up in front of little
country store in Culpeper county couple
of young farmers in hickory shirts ana
rough topboots were talking with the store
keeper. 40
II heah.' one of them was saying to the
storekeeper. that Billy Garth mas got q
two-yeah-or that's all hawss. Named Little
Woods BY Flambeau. out o Ragner. Gooo
siah, Flambeau, and that Ragner maluh
wa'ant no SLOUGH. They tell me Billy says
oil .nn
al heahd the same remarked the other
young farmer. 'Smaht hawssman, Mlstuh
Garth.
ago nut i'm the storekeeper. Right peart
colt they're sayin'. You boys goin' up TO
Washington? ,..,
Ion, just 70 the day-the day Little
Woods runs they both replied at once.
Now that's the kind of thing L heard
all over the state of Virginia fully a week
before the beginning of the Bennins meet
"It struck me as being rather pathetic
this calm and imperturbable belief of those
countrymen and residents OF the nttle
pokey towns in the prowess of one OF Nir-
rinja's colts and in the ability of Nir-
ginia trainer. l felt a bit sorry Tor them
couldn't help but wonder what chance IN
Me those fellows would have IN pettihs
ring. But when / heard them taking
among themselves about breeding, ana all
the inside and esoteric kinks of the breed
Ing game wondered If they could be right
a
chaps were descendants of families after
whom Virginia counties were named. and,
from hearing them talking so much ABOUT
the breeding of horses-a subject with
which they were absolutely famlliar
crOund-I got TO looking them over more
carefully Well, clumsy and roughly clad
and burdened with labor as they were,
good many of them had the marks OF thor
oughhreds themselves; and when l FOUND
how much they appear to know of their
subject their implicit confidence in that
Little Woods thing didn t, somehow or an.
other. seems so pathetic to me. l wish that
l had taken that strong hunch-but l
didn't.
The Virginia Contingent.
''NIaybe YOU remember how the night
before that Little Woods was run, all
Of the up-trains from Virginia brought into
Washington little parties of quiet chaps In
obviously new ready-made suits of clothes.
They were young, mddle-aged and old
They were weather bronzed for the most
part and had rough hands. The majority
Of them carried black glazed bags OF an
old pattern. and they kept to themselves,
repairing To small and inexpensive hotels
for the night That they kept their good
thing to themselves was perfectly manifest
from the fact that the Little Woods thing
vas utterly unknown TO the smart players
a. Washington.
Long before the first race hundreds of
these Vrginians were on the Renning
grounds and the bookmakers, early to ar
rive AT the track, wondered what was up.
They futtered their programs to find out.
But there were number of Virginia horses
cardrd TO go that day and none of them ap-
pcared to have the slightest chance.
When the horses went to the post for the
FIRST race the Nirginians were standing in
little groups by themselves. Few of them
went near the betting ring to get down on
the race and they weren't talking. But
when the states went up for the second
race. they made their swoop for the ring
with long strides