Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-19
HARNESS HORSE NOTES.

Washington harness horse owners, train
ers. drivers and care takers are full of
| life these days. The racing campaign
| near at hand promises TO be the most In
terestng and exciting in the history of
the sport. and all are anxious to get in
right"
The trotters and PAGERS that will be
taken out of Washington this year to con-
tend with all corners will be OF eNcep-
tional quality. r. +. Hall. as he has been
for the last three years. will be the lead
er. Mr.. Hall will take out a string of a
dozen or more horses Only one will be
PAGER. This one will be the very speedy
mare Manuella. that took mark of
e"i'e at the grand circuit meeting at CO.
, lumbus last fall. The stallion kushan.
with his mark Of us. will go out as the
champion trottcr of the Hall string, but
it is doubtful whether he comes home
with that honor. The gcding Country
Boy. that showed the fast New Jersey
mare May Dillon the road home at Pros
pect Park last fall, when a peck of money
was lost ON her, is capable of chOpping
hushan's record whenever he gets ready
TO do some racing. Country Boys record,
made in the race with May Dillon, is
...Ji4. The remainder of the Hall lot are
green. bat there is some promising stuff
in it.
Beside the Hall bunch J. r. Jones,
George Hileary. Frank Crovo. Charles
W eaveE, +. ]. Okeefe, Michael Morris,
John Morris. Harry Dooley and D. j. Me
Carly will have horses out.
i: 4 !;
One Of the most Interesting subjects
now before the harness horse, frequently
the country over. Is that of barring
hoppleS This matter is of particular i'm
portance to Washington horsemen; be-
cause, with the exception of about three
PAGERS owned here. all the others wear
TIE straps, and d year hence according
10 Il rule adopted by the National and
American Trotling Associations, the hop
pied element will be out of commission.
The free-legsed wiggler will then hold
sway. and with few exceptions the new
condition will he cordially welcomed by
owners for the topples have cheapened
PAGERS to a decided degree.
Discussing the present day hoppled
horse and the old-tme PAGER Il party
Of local horsemen. who met recently,
brought out some interesting facts. There
were five men i'll the bunch four owners
and one trainer-one owner was fiercely
opposed 10 barring topples. when the
the way the old-time side wheelers had
TO race and records made by them.
The first PAGER to go a mile better than
y. minutes was a bay geiding called
Dover. He took a record of Dds. This
was i'll 1880 This performance was nm
beaten until 1915. when James X. Polk
paced a mile in 2..I. and shortly after
ward "A chestnut geiding, called Unknown,
went mile to IL wagon in - Poca-
hontas. chestnut mare, whose name
viii last as long as horse history is
written, was the first TO turn mile
better than 2:2o. Pocahontas took a
wagon mark Of ..l1la. This was in 1880.
In 1865 BSlly Boyce. under saddle,
Tom. blind one. took mark of 2.12A:
i'll 1851 Little Brown jug reduced the rec
ord tn liza. and three years later the
great bay ge,ding, Johnston. clipped the
..O5i2: Hal Pointer. 2O41s. and Frank
Agan 2.4, came TO the front. In 1894
Robert J. smashed the record down to
::o1',, and in 1876 John r. Gentry put
it at .ool2. Star Pointer was the first
horse to go mile faster than !. min
utes. He beat the 2-minutc mark by
one-luarter Of second. and in 1865
Dan Patch set the peg at 1:J5A. And
not one of this lot concluded the train
el. knew what hopples were
DR. John T. Sansbury announces that
latter part of May. irrespective of what
)ther track managers in this vicinity may
do. DR.. Sansbury has creditable half
mile ring. He began operations a couple
of years ago. He has been liberal and
fair with horsemen and the public alike,
and only the worst of luck will stop him
from success in coming ventures.
The statement that the new officers of
the Montgomery County Fair Association
are against betting seems to have been
Pre- mature. 1t is now claimed that there
will he bookmaking at the coming Rock
vile fair. and that all privileges will be
given liberal rein.
Charles Weaver of Georgetown has a
kushan tily and DIR. Bell colt that he
will have trained this spring. They are
three-year-oids and look good. Harry
Bowling. who is now III southern Mary
land. will train them. He will do his
work ut Rockville.
AlnnZo Corbin is getting his charges for
the coming year together. He will have
likely lot He has eight or ten good
ones already under contract He will
do hi' training at Laurel Among his
let Will he Siiosraph, "a three-yeapold
stallion by Allerton. that trailed better
than 30 as a two-year-old.
Another novice that -Alonzo Corbin will
develop this spring is Keenworthy.
three-year-old son. of Bole Axworthy.
Kecnwcrthy will be the first offspring of
his sire 10 be fitted for racing. He is Il
splendidly made colt. and if he shows
anything near the merit of his daddy.
should make Sure-enoush race horse.
Two Of tie most recent purchases of
r.. T.. Hall. Clifton s., by Sidney Prince,
and Winifred. by Director General, have
been sent To the country. TIiida by
Sidney Prince, the third one Of the bunch,
is still in Washington and will he trained
here fer racing. She * a Mare of APP
parent high class and Mr.. Hall expresses
high hopes for her.
Mr. Henry Copperthite is in study about
a race meeting at his track al Burks, Va.
this spring. Mr. Copperthite has had as
his money making day for the FAST two
years May ~. Decoration day. Nothing
heretofore has interfered with him. But
this year there will be races at both
Forrestvile and Laurel about Decoration
day time, and ii i a serious question
whether all can be pulled through with
out loss To some one.
FAVORITES WIN.