The Washington herald., 1911-06-11
By L. D. SALE.

Mary County, Nd, Is cutting a mighty
wide sWath in spring racing in these
parts.
1t was not always so; for we recall
to mind that in 1910 by reason of his
stable training of, partly through errors
Of judgment, he quit the season q loser
in reputation, and, also, in q monetary
sense. It Is as hard to gauge horses as
it is to Judge men, sometimes, for, not
withst pding that Mott began early this
year to get his stable in racing condition,
snd, Notwithstanding weather conditions
were against him, he opens the season of
1911 with the best field of trotters and
PAGERS that has thus, far answered to the
starters bell within 100 miles of the
National Cepital.
Probably not horseman in the District
of Columbia could have. thirty days ago,
predicted the results accomplished with
the material at hand One of the lot. the
black stallion Palm Cozine, was, in 1910,
a fairly good tEree-year-old. He trained
off early, but came again in the fall and
closed the season In a very creditable
manner, showing himself to be at least
2:5 trotter. Russell CoZine as three
year-old last year was a distinct disap-
pointment to trainer and owner. He
SpCCN III SpOlSt DuL was NAASeSS@NS :"
In his very best form he possibly might
have paced a mile in 2:45. The writer
started him in two races at Leonardtown
last fall, and was not impressed with his
possibilities as a race horse. Harvester,
the other trotter in the Mott string. never
raced until the present year. He is rated
sure 2:2O, or better, trotter.
No other Washington trainer, up to
NJ hae ha in charge
such a promising lot of comparatively
raw material. Every one of them was
bred in St. Mary; two of them are by
the dead Don Cozine, 2:1O. A horse whose
merits as a sire were not disclosed until
he had been under the turf for months.
AS the years go by, and his sons and
daughters make their appearance on the
race track or in the stud, his fame as
a sire will increase and we shall then
begin to appreciate what a loss he has
been to the breeding interests of this Sec
ton Of country
Last November we sat in the parIor OF
the Hotel Gettysburg. Gettysburg, Pa,
and listened to the details of his early
life from the lips of the man who pur-
chased him in Kentucky as a colt, and
who trained and raced him. He was an
unwilling purchase, but as other horses
had been purchased and the colt was
bald at a cheap price, he was finally
taken to fill up the car. While the
story was being told there came into the
parlor gentleman whom the man who
brought Don Cozine East tried to get
interested in him. He declined, he said,
because the colt looked too much like
goat and too little like a horse. This gen.
tleman was a skilled horseman, and his
judgment as to horses is a demonstration
that sometimes the best of horsemen are
deceived in weighing the merits of
I horse
The little black stud; with few advan-
tages in the matter of training, soon paced
himself into the 2:10 list, and was rated
as a sure stwo-minute PAGER. He was
taken to New York City and raced some
on the Speedway where he met with an
accident that forever put him out of
commission as a racing tool. Finally he
found his way t. Madison Square Gar
den, where he was purchased by Mr.. P.
J. Steubener, of Bla6ensburg. and Mr.. ].
r. Bryce, of this city. Later still he
passed to Mr.. F. c. Combs. nf Beauvue,
everything that came his way. He was
Mir Combs property when he suddenly
died in the spring of 1910.
Among the mares with which he was
mated while owned by Mr.. Combs was
breedy looking bay mare of 15.3 hands.
Through an accident the owner of the
mare was killed and the bay mare was
purchased from the estate by George
Hardsworth, of Leonardtown, for s., go.
By her side was a colt now known as
Palm Cozine, 2:20 IA, which record he
got at Prospect Park on Thursday last,
and Inuetero was Palm Cozine's full
brother, Wolverine, now a three-year-
old, and more promising as colt trotter
than Palm. Neither the bay mare nor
her offspring can be registered as stand
ard bred, because the bay mare belongs
to the long list of unframed dams, made
so by the negligence of the man who
first purchased her. His neglect is SINH
lar to that of other men who buy mares
without seeming to cGre how they are
bred. All they do seem to care for is
the horse.
Russell Cozine is the property of a
NJ. PIlkerton, of Leonardtown, an ex-
cellent young man of very limited means
Probably his only visible property. aside
from the clothes he wears, is this little
black stud, in makeup on the direct
2:o6 IA order. He is now a four-year-old.
and is by Don. Cozine, dam by Happy
Russell, that much abused and under
rated sire, who in spite of undesirable
environments has an up-to-date, In
cluding Russell Cozine, IS in the 2:30 list.
Russell Cozine, 2:1s Ia with a trial mile
In 2:1s, is q sure 2:15 PAGER, and he may
be If all goes well with him a 2:1o
or better PAGER.
Taking into consideration what he was
as q three-year-old, and the advantages
he has received, he is the most phe-
nomenal performer At the pace that
has thus far loomed above the turf hori-
son for 1911. East or West. What may
happen to him sixty or ninety days
hence Is not to the purpose, nor, should
disasters befal him, can that misfor-
tune dim the luster OF his achievements
as q turf performer. He Is sluggish
colt by nature and will wear we'll Un-
fortunately he races in hopples.
While Mott is gathering in the shekIes !
. at Baltimore. corbin is plugging doggediy !
along ct Laurel. seemingly content With |
what he ts accomplishing and intent on |
getting HIS horses to racing edge. He, |
Of all men, knows best what he has 1
got and when to get to the races with |
them. II is evident that he does not in l
tend to commit the mistakes OF last |
Ysar by q too early preparation; but ex- |
poets to be racing when the early birds |
are laid up for repairs and the purses /
larger than they now are