The Washington herald., 1913-08-03

Trotter and PAGER

a kick from a horse, It would have
lbeen a human act had the promising sire
and good racing prospect been put to
death before he ever caught sight OF the
National Capital Alonzo Corbin. who
made Alcyne the racing tool she was
before her accident at Parkway. deserves
jbetter luck than that which has befallen
him. He is a painstaking man in the
stable And trusts nothing to chance. In
the sulky he measures up with the best
who travel the twice arounds. This week
Ihe goes to Lebanon. Pa, and will race
that circuit, which includes Allentown.
with Russell Cozine, Herbert Cozine. and
Shannonade. He may pick up other
horses as he goes along. but his cam
paign, from a financial viewpoint, Is badly
crippled. Alcynes are rare beasts.
Turning from Corbin to Crawford, we
find the latter In hard luck at the outset
tof his campaign. We see nothing dis
couraging, however, in the fact that
Berka did not win her first start at Park
way, week before last. nor in the fact
that Koroni did not lead his field home In
straight heats 1t Is quite too early yet
to condemn Crawford or his horses. Their
campaign is yet in its infancy. II they
continue sound. each horse will have up
ward of eight weeks of racing in different
parts of the East. At the conclusion OF
| that period of time we shall be better
able to give a verdict on Crawford's s ability
as a trainer and general in the field. and
better able to decide whether his horses
are better or worse than they were in
1912. There are well meaning persons in
this city who have predicted insistently
that the owners of Berka and Koroni
made a mistake when they transferred
their horses from Corbin's stable to that
of Crawford.
| Each trainer and driver has warm par
tisans in this community. Corbin has been
| in our midst for upward OF a score and
a half Of years. Crawford is. compara-
| lively. a fresh arrival Corbin. perhaps,
has the longest list Of admirers. To be
exactly fair and just. We must give
Crawford a chance to make good. The
tree is known by its fruits" OF course,
no one can keep tongues from wagging
and prophets from prophesing. This is
a free country. and every mans tongue
is his private property. This much, how
ever must be conceded: The respective
owners OF Berka and Koroni had a moral
and legal right to do with their horses
as best pleased them, and those of US
who do not approve OF what has been
done may go to. That, We believe, Is
the way they feel
W. Z. Miller. with his wagless tongue
and mysterious ways, struck the top note
of success at Salem, n. j., and Whining
| ton, Del, with Alice VI. and Mary Ellen.
and left Monday last for Tasley. where
he will race this week. 1t is not at all
probable that Miller will encounter better
horses on the Eastern Shore Circuit than
he has encountered. Probably the major
share of them will be the same horses.
Alice NJ. and Mary Ellen appear to be
in high form this year. and it now looks
as IL he had landed them in comparatively
soft spots. Miller's racing policy Is,
seemingly, to not get too far from shore.
and to avoid deep water. Big game is
not altogether his forte. He would rath-
er bag two $500 purses per week than to
aim at a sl,e0 purse once or twice a
month, and take the chance of missing.
Some OF the credit of his success thus
far is due to Crawford. who conditioned
his horses, an element TO be reckoned
with, in a final estimate. Is the horses
themselves; add to this MIler's faculty of
turning on their speed when the clock
strikes high noon and you have the secret
Of his combination.
Before II slips our mind. we should state
that while sojourning at Colonial Beach
a few days since with the trotters and
PAGERS, We saw perform a four-year-old
filly BY Cooper's Hannis (sire OF Alice NJ,
2:l3 Ia, that resembled the last named
in color. conformation. gait, and dispo-
sition. Several Washington horsemen who
saw her perform. looked her carefully
over and would have brought her home
with them IL the price had suited them.
The experience of local horsemen 1T
Colonial Beach shows that wherever one
goes nowadays with a good horse, one
is liable to meet an animal from the
tall weeds Of some rural district equally
as good, IL not better. With Vir-
ginia Girl out of the class A trot or
pace two Washington owned horses had
a look in for the big end of the purse
Hal Hardin and Sfax. Mccarthy was
handicapped by the fact that Sfax was
short of work, and by the other fact
that never before had he sat behind him
in a race. Hardin might. possibly, have
won the race had not he raced in what
was a false start, when the horses were
called for the sixth heat. He finished far
in front Of everything, trotting like
wild horse. After this much was taken
out OF him. Andrews did not try very
hard in the final heat.
Frank T. felt good, but the track was
too hard for him. Red Torch could
dition to carry his speed from lack of
work. Gay Mckinney kept improving as
the meeting proceeded. While there was
not much of glory or money gained at
Colonial Beach, Washington horsemen
had a grand outing. with lots of fun
thrown in on the side. and have reason
to feel satisfied with their trip. We have
seen in the long course OF our turf career
East, West. North and South better
tracks to race over than that at Colonial
Beach and a few equally as bad. On
the other hand the sport was of a high
order. The track is simply a ring in an
old field. with the grass growing in spots.
The turns are on a level with the land;
hence horses have to negotiate them at
greatly reduced speed. DR.. Dunn expects
to have them thrown up at the meeting Of
August IA and Is. and he also expects
that all Washington horses not engaged
will enter in the several classes The
tentative card is a three-minute trot or
pace, 2:40 trot or pace. and fast class
to suit the speed of the entries. The
amount Of money to be hung up will be
about $500. In 1914 a new half-mile track
will be constructed at the edge of the
town, and will be easier Of access to citi-
zens and visitors
ssss
The week at Grand Rapids among the
top notchers was one of high class sport.
The event Of the week was Uhlan's won
derful mile on Monday. 1:5s "a. in an
effort to beat 2:06 IA. the tracks record,
and that Of all other Michigan tracks.
We have become accustomed to sensa-
tional miles Of late years that the blood