The Washington herald., 1914-09-27
laurel TO TAKE
BENNINGS PLACE
Month Of Thoroughbred d Rae
ing Starts at Maryland
Track Thursday.
TO BE FALL SARATOGA
Col. Winn Has Just Completed $780,
600 improvements on Plant.
Famous Horses to Race.
By GEORGE n. MORRIS.

~ GEOhGE IL. NORRIS,
The well-lnown sport OF kings" Is
again in our midst, and for the next
month. starting Thursday, October !, the
Capitals lovers OF thoroughbred racing
will live In the halcyon days. King
Horse, as the headline writer's delight in
calling him, will do job Of reigninH out
at Laurel Park, under the auspices of the
Maryland State Fair Association, and
| some Of the highest class Of horses on
the continent will participate.
The horse Is being classed as q deli
| cacy along the well-known Aisne, ac-
cording to latest cable dispatches, and
occupies a high place on the menus Of
the contending armies. But while Europe
Is shooting the horse into the sausage
grinder at an enormous rate America is
watching him run. and some Of the best
runners in the country will do that very
thing for the edihcation Of the thousands
who will throng Laurel Park during the
justly popular month OF October.
The most prominent stables on this
side are represented and a galaxy OF
champions is holding down barn space.
Turfmen from all parts Of the country
are arriving for the meeting, and with
the construction Of a new clubhouse.
which Manager Matt J. wfnn declares
is the superior Of anything OF its kind
on an American turf, society folk OF
New York, Washington, Philadelphia and
Baltimore will flock the course.
Final touches on improvements cost
ing 100000 are being made, and when
ever you hearIof any one spending 10000
large silver dollars in these days OF
war taxes and collaborating 1t Is a
pretty safe bet that he il going to have
something to show for It
Manager Winn has laid out the Sloo.-
600 and as result he has what to his
mind at least IL the most modern and
complete racing plant under The Star
Spangled Banner" II has been MANAGER
Winn's ambition. and an ambition which
now seems near realizatioH,to make
Laurel Park in October what Saratoga
is in August. To this end he has laid out
fortune, Of which the 10000 Is merely
an added starter, and even to the un-
practiced eye he has a lot to show for It
The new clubhouse is the magnet which
will draw the social leaders Of the east
who love racing to the track Member
ship is by invitation only and the rolls
are full The grand stand has been put
In tip-top condition and Of the track
itself there is nothing left to be said.
Trainers who have worked their horses
over IL pronounce II TO be excellent The
machines have become quite popular In
Kentucky, and Manager Winn l. con-
fident that Eastern patrons win prefer
them to the layers. The machines wfn
be given a thorough trial at the course
this afternoon, when the hundred or
more employees who will operate them
will be drilled in their work.
Several hundred horses already have
arrived at the track and barn space Is
at premium. By Tuesday close on to
800 horses will be on the grounds. The
stables of Harry Payne Whitney, James
Butler II. G. Bedwell. and Andrew Nil
Ter have been at the park for more than
week, and the Belmont string. owned
by August Belmont. president of the
Jockey Club, J. Z. Madden and others
prominent in racing are due within the
next day or so from Belmont Park.
Six races will be run each day and six
teen stakes will be decided. A steeple-
chase Is scheduled for every other day
The steplechase course has been recon-
structed and there is a new Liverpool
Every available inch Of barn space has
been taken and despite the fact that the
number Of stables have been increased
there are a number OF horses which will
be forced to go outside to seek shelter.
Since the recent announcement Of Man
ager Winn that he is seeking to bring
about match race between Roamer, the
star three-year-old OF the Miller stables
and the champion two-year-old Pebbles,
owned by James Butler, much interest
has been expressed by horsemen.
Roamer Is sure to be a starter in the
Baltimore Handicap, the feature Of the
opening day. The race will be a mile
and a sixteenth. The weights will be
announced in a day or so. There are
to be forty-four nominations for the
stake. Two special trains a day will
be run to Laurel over the Baltimore and
Ohio. reaching the track in twenty min
utes from Union Station.
All those employed on the pari-mutuels
will be Maryland men, and something
over $4,000 in salaries will be left in
Maryland as a result of the meeting
Gray's Military Band of Laurel, will
dispense the latest rags.
Whatever success is won belongs to the
credit Of Manager Matt J. Winn, Assist
ant Manager H. F. Brievogle, Frederick
Dallam, R. A. Johnson and other such
men who have put their shoulders TO
the wheel to build up racing at Laurel.
II long has been the belief of Col. Winn
that Laurel by every right should take
the place Of the old Benning track which,
when 1t shut down six years ago, left
pang in the heart of every lover of
thoroughbred racing and a vacancy that
has been long untitled. The so-called
"horsey set" found an autumn mecca at
Benning, and this year Laurel offers the
same opportunity to them
1t Is Col. Winn's intention to keep on
spending large sums in improvements
until Laurel Park Is admittedly the
American Longchamps and to sportsmen
Of the East what EPSON Downs and
those other tracks are to the King and
his set