Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-06
GOOD PROGRAM FOR
BENN|NG THIS WEEK
Big Handicap and Soldiers
Race to Come Off Next
Saturday.

This week Will be q gala one al Ben
ming With the many stakes TO be de-
cided within the six days. the sports
should be interesting and exciting. When
the last event is over next saturday
practically all the big races of this spring
meeting will have been decided. and the
sport for the remaining two days is hardly
worth mentioning.
Saturday will be the great occasion
here. On that day the second running Of
the Benning handicap OF 1905 will take
place. and another feature will be the
army officers race
The handicap will be at seven furlongs
which will be one-eighth farther than the
contest on the opening day. All the
horses that were nominated for the last
race are eligible to run in this event
Forty-four thoroughbreds were sent in
as potential starters In the first Benning.
but the same field that measured strides
on the previous occasion will probably
meet again.
Bellwether May Not Repeat.
Bellwether. the winner of the stakes on
the opening day, will have harder strug-
gle to capture the purse this time. Ber-
kelley. which finished third in that race.
has shown great improvement and will
be dangerous contender. Smoker. which
ran second to Bellwether. has not set
any rivers afire since. and probably will
not be as strong a factor. Giles faced
the barrier in the first handicap, but II
he runs next Saturday he will take lot
of beating. Oraculum. Howard Shean.
Lally and Samuel II. Harris also look
possible contenders, but their races do
not give them much Of a chance. Sitting
the field as it now stands. the finish
G. RRllWpthQr
Smoker.
The Army Service cup for horses owned
by officers stands second in Importance.
and the commissioned men Of all the
army posts of the United States who
have fast horses will strive for it next
Saturday. This proposed race is at one
mile.
Has Seven Nominations.
Ever since the announcement a month
ago of the conditions Of the race the
army officers. who own Thoroughbred and
half bred horses have been training them
assiduously in order to find out If their
horses had a chance to win. The result
of many private trials brought forth
seven nominations
The competing horses must be four
years old and upward, the property. I'M
conditionally and free from contingency,
of officers of the United States Army
j L,
A gold cup will be awarded to the
regiment corps or staff department to
which the winner belongs. The cup to
be retained at the regfmental headquar-
tiers or at the office of the corps or stafr
department for one year. when 1t shall
be returned to the secretary OF the
Washington Jockey Club. to be again
competed for. Should It, however, be won
twice mot consecutively Of necessity by a
representative Of the same regiment
Sfa shall become it's per-
manent property.
New Jockeys Arrive.
Today the jockey contingent will be in
creased by the presence of Joe Notter. "
Powers and several other boys who are
on their way from New Orleans. This ad-
dition will be a welcome one. as the
riders. with the exception of Mccarthy
and McCahey, are not of great caliber
This excludes Willie Shaw and Tommy
Burns. These old-timers can only ride at
certain weights. SO they get fewer mounts
than their younger rivals The arrival OF
Notter will enable the turtles to get
real line on Mccarthy, who has been do
ing all the winning since the opening.
John E. Madden, when asked regarding
the jockey situation here, summed 1t up
in the few worOdS:
There are no good riders here"
The failure Of Mcdaniel. Brussel and
Horner three boys who have been In the
saddle for several years. to Improve,
shows that if boy does not snow clever
ness his first season he is unlikely to be-
come a star. Brussel and Horner have
caused bettors to fret and fume on many
occasions when they saw their mounts
beaten for no other reason than that the
riders were asleep. McInerney. who rides
for j. W. Colt. has not received any
medals for recent performances. Shaw
and Burns will have to step lively when
the New Orleans delegation arrives and
it will then be possible to get a line on
their present ability Mccarthy leads the
list with twenty-four victories. His fol-
lowers had a Waterloo on Saturday. when
he failed to bring one horse home In
front