The Washington times., 1938-02-17

aroused, you'd better be IA
miliarized with the routine and
approach. First, it is necessary
to find ones way through the
etrangest menagerie of stable
mascotS which sun themselves
about the barns.
Billy the Goat
For instance there is Billy,
the goat attached to the
menage of the late Admiral Cary
T. Grayson and hi associates in
improving the thoroughbred,
Messrs. Loughton Metcalf and
H. S. Clark. Billy is a lazy indi-
Vidual with defiant eyes which
seem to warn off approach
either to him or any of the 36
horses in the string.
Then there is Brownie, the
German police dog; Sissie, the
bob-tailed maltese kitten, and a
brood of Chinese silks-chickens
to you.
Friendly Mr.. Frank James,
overSeer of Benning, volunteers
to take the visitor on a tour Of
the track as we'll as the stables.
Next to Columbia. s. c.,
James explains, Benning win
ters more horses than any other
center, and the reason there
for is the soft. sandy soil that
makes for excellent footing, par.
ticularly for the tender 2-year-
olds, constituting 80 per cent of
the Benning household.
The racing oval is irregular,
IN that rather than having uni
form turns, the track is egg
shaped. It will be 80 years come
April since competition occurred
on the track, legislation against
gambling putting old Benning
out Of commission April IL,
1908.
!. It was originally owned by the
late August Belmont, and then
by Sam Ross, and is the only
regulation mile race course ever
to flourish in the confines of
the District of Columbia.
Famous Trainers
The colony of horsemen
boasts trainers whose names are
familiar to racegoers every
where-names like Big Jim
Healey, Max Smart, Elmer True
man, Louis Shaffer (the former
jockey, w. Denham, c. c.
SmithSon, Norman Corbin and
C. D. Maxwell.
Smart handles the Grayson-
Metcalf- Clark menage and Big
Jim Healey, of course, is the
standby of the j. w. Whitney
string, which requires three
stables to house. Shaffer is in
charge of the Brand Farm and
Truenan the Milldale Stables,
including the Maryland Futur-
ity winner last year, "Toddle
On"
Since the latter will be racing
as q three-year-old month after
next when the competitive scene
shifts northward and eastward,
I'd say he'll bear watching, par
ticularly in view Of Trueman'S
reputation for having his
horses ready for the Maryland
openings.
I was permitted the intimacy
of a pat on the neck with Mrs.
], l.. Furr's famous Counter.
pass" now a 5-year-old, who was
in the money IL times out Of II
atarts last season. Mrs. FUR is
a Hyattsville lady who finds
time during the week to slip
over to Benning and spoil that
big, beautiful chestnut tilly
with lump sugar offerings.
What, No Candy! ,
Fact is, I found "Counterpass'
sniffing around my own pockets
and condemned myself for not
knowing better than to visit any
female without the conventional
gift of candy.
Then, too, was privileged a
closeup of windsor Boy" an
unusual case in equine lore, in
that he's a 3-year.old and never
ran a race.
windsor Boy" you might
call a problem horse. Huge Of
frame as a 2-year-old they
wouldn't race him because it
was feared his bones had not
hardened enough to carry his
weight, even in those short
stretches for babies.
Thus foregoing possible in.
fury to this grand.l looking geld.
ing, his three.year career should
be auspicious and personally
I'm making a mental note Of
him.
And say, it'll only be. about
Gix weeks till you can see him
yourself-at Bowie.
Can spring be far behind?