Evening star., 1938-12-18
Yule Star, Picked Up as Lead
Pony, Made a Winner, Offers
Example of Turf Fortune

VA SeAA tliOASlA WIG WllltEl, dllu
into the spring and summer.
Rough Time came back to the
races last fall, made good Yancey
Christmas gamble. He took the
measure of fleet band of sprinters
at Laurel and tossed a $1,000 purse
into his owners lap.
We sought out Eugene Drillon
one fall afternoon at Belmont to
find out what keeps the small
er-trainers solvent. He is q
tall, heavy -shouldered man with
soft voice and gray hair. Mrs.
Drillon was with him. They were
wandering about disconsolately in
all that Handicapped grandeur, awed
bit likely as not by the fancy
paddock out under the trees. After
all Of their years on the smaller
sracks-the racing fraternity sums
them up as the leaky roof circuit
they weren't used to such trimmings.
I'm not sure" he said, motioning
toward Mrs. Drillon, a genial sort
who likes to talk about Illinois,
where she was a farm girl, that
folks like us have got any business
here"
Loafer Delivers in Pinch.
We weren't either, to be frank,
as he had only three horses in his
stable. and all of them of the cheap
claiming variety. One had a sore
leg, and Yule Star was being rested
for winter racing That left only
Loafer, who hadn't any business
with name like that.
Drillon found only one chance
to enter Loafer in a race at Bel
mont.
The sore-going oldtimer must have
had a hunch the Drillons needed
money to ship back to Narragan-
sett in Rhode Island. so he went
out and picked up $700 purse. He
won his next two starts up there,
and that made New Orleans a cinch
for the winter. Loafer. by the way,
was another bargain. He was picked
up for $1,000 and last year he earned
$4,000 by winning 13 out of %
races. In race at New Orleans
this fall he stumbled and it was
necessary to destroy him.
The last IL months are typical
of what has been going on for Is
years in the Drillon household, and
longer in many others. They don't
read about people who live out of
suitcases. such as actors on the
road. They do it themselves.
Just about year ago we were up
at Longacres in Seattle" Drillon
said From there we shipped to the
California tracks. Bay Meadows and
Tanforan. After that we wintered in
New Orleans, and this spring we
came north to Oaklawn in Arkan-
sas. lost horse there. too Master
Time. Fellow claimed him from me.
The wife and I never had been
up to New England. and we thought
it was about time After the Suffolk
Downs meeting we campaigned at
Rockingham and Narragansett We
had bad luck up there all spring and
summer. Loafer was lame then. and
Yule Star hasn't been worth his salt
for months. He's only won once
since we left New Orleans
The Drillons hadn't been in New
York before. and she wanted to hear
a radio broadcast and he wanted to
take in the world series Race tracks
didn't mean sopnistication and gam
bling to them. for they haven't
changed much since they lived on
an Illinois farm. We suggested
cocktail the evening they heard
Rudy Vallee at Radio City.
Just a glass OF sherry will do. if
anything" he said. and she agreed.
I'VE amt drinking folks
Good 2-Year-OIds Scarce.
The several thousand owner-train-
ers, like the Drillons. concern them
selves almost solely with the cheaper
claiming races listed daily at the
tracks. But claiming races cover a
multitude of horses.
For instance, not more than Is
good 2-year-olds are found in the
annual foal crop of some 5000 fillies
and colts. The rest of them, those
that ever get to the races at all. end
up as Chalmers So it is that most of
the $15,00O000 purse distribution
goes every year to those who race the
cheap horses.
Even so, the going is tough.
For every winner there are half
dozen losers. Only 600 trainers
won 10 or more races last year, and
many of that group had gross
income of less than $1,000 Ever
try feeding and shipping horses
on that money? Some of the train
ers themselves couldn't explain later
how they do it.
Everybody hasn't a horse like
Loafer to bolster his bankroll with
surprising regularity. What about
the others? Well, they ease through
the tight spots somehow, sleeping
in stables if necessary, and turning
up at the next track still hoping
for windfall. Usually they manage
to feed their horses, or horse in
many cases even if they go hungry
themselves.
The wealthy stables want glory
and the rich prizes of the turf, and
no part of the lesser lights. Not so
the owner-trainers. They make
racing business and not a sport,
and grab for the horse who can
pay his own way. That means he
must earn at least $500 in purses
every year. Some of the pampered
plugs in the big stables don't even
pay for their feed, let along the
shipping charges and jockey fees.
That would never do for the Drill
Ions. The sheriff would be around
with a paddock in short order; there
even might be an auction of horses