Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-29

who breeds and races horses for pure love
Of the thoroughbred, he is James K.
KeeIe. When he speaks of the horses
that have made fame for him and that
have won some of the richest purses to be
acquired on the American turf, his face
lights UP with animation. and the great
affection bordering on love for his favor
ties shows in his features.
Keene Chats About Colin.
Colin" he said. has wintered eXcep-
tionally well. He is about 100 pounds
heavier than he was during the racing
season. Nature endowed him with a big
frame, and he is now a very powerful
horse.
There are not many colts which en-
dured such an arduous season as he did in
1907 that went into winter quarters with
more flesh on their frames, harder and
stronger than they We're when they began
the racing year. He started in the spring
and finished in the fall. He ran in wet
weather and IL. dry, over fast ard heavy
tracks, and thrived through it all.
No one can tell whether he will be
the great horse the coming summer that
he was in 1907. / wish that / knew but
have every hope for the best. Too
frequently we know that colts finish a
racing season with honor and deteriOrate
during the winter months. TWo-year-
olds are often likely to fall far behind
they are called upon to race in their
three-year-old form. The cold months
seem to sap the vitality of some horses.
Colin Is a splendid feeder and that,
think. is much in his favor. He never
leaves an oat in the box. No matter
how tired he might be after a race last
summer he was always eager to greet
the rubber when he came into his stall TO
replenish the feed box.
In many Of his races he showed a dis
position III c q
lazy horse l never owned an animal
that was more willing to race He simply
lopes with another horse because he de-
sires company. He will do that sort of
thing when at work and when galloping
through the stretch with his pony mate.
AS a yearling he showed some better trials
than we anticipated from him. In one
Of his workouts. when we were sitting
he ran quarter of mile In twenty three
seconds. He carried at the time 122
pounds, while one Of his stable mates car
ried but 107 pounds. The latter was fast,
but Colin could beat him easily.
II never knew how courageous Colin
was until at Belmont Park for three fur
longs he stood the whip and beat Beau
coup in the mud. although my colt was
suffering at the time from buched Sims
Some said that he did not like the mud
They did not know the condition of the
horse. l and my trainer did
That Ballot should have been chosen to
carry the greatest 1mpoSt Of any horse
In the Keene stable this year is not
wholly a surprise, as the colt showed his
stamina last year under adverse circum>
stances.
That it was known only to the owner
and the trainer how III the horse was in
son. become matter Of history. 1t was
believed before racing had got we'll under
way that the horse would die. Careful
nursing pulled him through, and he
proved, when he had recovered. that he
Is creation OF sterling material by beat
ing some of the best horses that he was
asked to run against.
Keene and the Trotters.
Perhaps it will be interesting to some
Of the western horsemen to learn, that
Mr.. Keene first began to race with trot-
ting horses. He admits frankly that be-
fore he left California in the middle '7O's
he purchased the trotting stallion Sam
Purdy. The horse won some races on the
slope. He brought him east and gave him
to his brother-in-law. Maj. FoXhaI A.
Parenthetically it may be stated that it is
to Maj. Daingerfield that Mr.. keene as
cribes no small amount of the success
Of his stable.
One year later. at Jerome Park. Mr..
ling from Col. Thomas Puryear of New
Jersey. He won the Withers stake with
Dan Sparkling and the Bemont with
Spendthrift. There was one little Incl
dent at the very inception of his Won
derful career on the running tracks which
gave him no end of discomfort at the
time. In the Withers stake he named
both Dan Sparkling and Spendthrift, and
declared to win with Dan Sparkling in
order to save a penalty on the other
colt. Barbee. the Jockey who rode Spend
thrift, had such hard work to keep the
horse in second place at the finish that
many country visitors Kissed him, the
horse and the colors, and kept it up as
the colt was logged back to the scales.
II is true that they were not well-inform-
ed in regard TO the rules, probably knew
nothing of them but nayerthe,eSs the in.