New-York tribune., 1908-03-24
RACING SEASON OPENS
T4TN MFRS THE SPORI
RelIrefier Wins First Stake OF me
Benning Meeting.
TBy Telegraph to The Tribune

TBy Telegraph to The Ti1oune-3
Washington March cs-Beliwether the three
...er-ors ann of Wooisthorne-Favor Bells, running
=. the name and colors of W. T. Matthew's a"u
,uo,as al 10 l. won the First Benning Sprihs
Handicap at furiongs. az the Bennii's TO- TO-
,,-ack To-day r. r Htchcock's Smoker WIS
,,ya and the Bevervyck Stables BerAeles I'm -
.,,.c,,,ur, tb. farorite backed from Z TO 10
: .c was badiy outrun all the way ano hnishso
:, ne ,,,cl The race was run over j heavy uach-
1; zss the opening day of the spring 'heeuns u
- Washington Jockey Club, aho' "
,,.-arher gods frowned. good sizeo cro"o
out to welcome the return OF the 'hoi""e :,
fnr .he Eastern campaign under the controi oi '".
Jockey Club The rain came coWil s'eSS
consistently until noon converting the track il''
something resembling duck pond aiio 0"d.
the plans of many who had meant 10 at'o"u u ~
.,7,eniug During the afternoon II rsined py n''
ano starts making il extremely unconifo''doe iV'
tfs LAYERS and be.torS the lawn
The threatened raid on she books did not ma
seriaiize although some rneasiness was mahileS.
from tim. time on runners that Z" h'ili'e -
warrants had been issued The perambuia'hns s>s
ron of bookmaking adopted two years ago was
used 50 that the LAYERS wandered arouno III snid"
circles on the lawn and in The paddock There ap-
,.aar.d tn he plenty of business but the players
.lid not fare particularly well. as four faNorites
were beaten
The sport began with stunning surprise IN me
,i,4orv If Sugar Pine. at - 10 i, and ended WIN
backed from a high price Of to
Mr.. Page tho well known gentleman jockey. got
p bad fan IN the steeplecIlase. but escaped with a
shaking up and the loss OF his monocie He ac-
cep1ed tho mount Wanna ChTfsty. but the morse
fenced badly and finally came TO grief Calendar
-en also. bat Bernhardt struck "A soft spot ana
picked himself UP unhurt- Bernhardt began the
season in his usual way He gets twice as many
<aTs in q var any other steeplechase rloer.
Fourteen horses aers the post for the First
T:enninS Handicap. which had an added money
ealre of sI.o0. This number Was surprising in
view Of the heavy track most of the trainers
ana Owners seemed tc think that mud was the
strong suit ~ their particular charges THIS was
To a marked degree with George odom the one
5ockcs-. VINO saddled Oracuium and the rail-
birds and form players agreed with him and made
-ho son Of Sorcerer d strong favorite- Berkeley
and Rsnysh colpled as the Beverwyck Stable
entry 1ero ucxt in demand. around 10 J. Bell
>yerhcr was quietly backed from To 10 5 to l.
-yGso the others were at fancy prices
The Start was good. all things considered, al
,l,o,frI, Lazy Ksrr7a Samuel II. fIarris and Gra-
zaIlo had slightly the worst Of it, Simple hononrS
snd Feilv-ether jumped off In front and fought 1t
out stride for stride. the turn. when the latter
drew out and opened up gap Of two ie1stilS-
Coming dcrn through the stretch Siinpie f1ohonfs
dropped back beaten. and Smoker and Berkeley
moved up TO give battle to Bellwether The last
named MAS firing but ". Walker. who had the
mount went to drive and the colt won all oGr
lsy 3 length while Smoker beat Berkeley three
parts of length for the place
Samuel H. Harris liked the going and came from
Gar back in the stretch. He was running over his
field in the last sixteenth. and might have won #
the distance had been a flrlonE further He will
bear close watching in a race at 4 mile or over.
oraculum with some interference shortly after
tho start and Mcdaniel. who had the mount. could
not find clear sailing until the race was practically
over FL Dorado. an added starter, was never
prominent
Willie Shaw and Tommy Burns. who rode abroad
last year were on hand and accepted mounts.
Shaw rode winner. lie had the leg up on
Fred Joilnson's Kwai in the race for two-year-
olds and brought the youngster home three ength5
before = Struggling field. The boy well re-
ceived when he came back so the stand. Tommy
Burns finished third with Al Busch in this race.
was third also with Berkeley after of .lls
old fashioned '-hustling'' rides.
Sugar Pine. which won the opening race the
''set-Ticl-quick price of 20 20 /. not entirely
neglected a good 100 to / quoted against
! him in places. and a number Of small bets were
placed on him a stable hand bet 3 at this price
rooted him home in the characteristic way
made famous by Inp's rubber when the BLACK
HhirlNind' in her prime Sugar Pine had a
big lead turning for home. but barely lasted long
enough 10 win by a head.
Prince Of Pilsen the steeplechase for J. W.
colt Nj. Kerr made the running with Cioldfeur
for a mile and 4 half. but the horse was short and
finished a distant third
Joe NaToue admitted The track to-day
after buying a badge. the fall meeting he was
denied adrlittance following the alleged doping
of 81. Joseph He brought suit against the Wash
ington Jockey Club for S0oeo damages. which :s
still pen ling.
Billy I3- Van was played for a good thing" in
tic third and backed from 10 TO / to ; TO I.
IJe beaten By KingsessinE. IN TO shoE. after
= spirited Grlve