The Washington times., 1938-05-03

the middle of
this month,
buys his club
- "a 'sSa house ticket
/ Lillian Ri1ey and sips high
balls at the bar, with one eye
on his S. ticket and the other
wandering occasionally in the
direction of the bangtails COM
ing down the stretch, has no
conception of the months Of
training that precede a photo.
graphic finish.
To give you a picture of what
does go on before-here is a
rather Sketchy idea of one day
out Of the life of Miss Betty
NeSbit Of Warrenton, Va, while
her compact and able string of
four horses are being readied at
Charlestown, w. Va, for the
opening of that heavy half-mile
track.
Since 7 a. m. is not to soon
for the morning workout, Miss
NeSbit must rise at $50,
grabbing a cup of coffee on the
run, to cover the so miles be-
tween Arlington Lodge and the
track. BY the time she arrives
at Charlestown, Rouge Catalan,
Dolly Tour, Speedy Tour and
Speedy Dolly have all had their
breakfast and their morning rub
down.
Racing Family
On hand to greet her are her
trainers, the Dalys-the father,
Old Mike, 81, Young Mike and
William. Larry is at Beulah
Park, near Columbus. Ohio, with
some horses of his own and one
of Mainot Towards. John will
be back from the South later
in the month to take up his
duties as timer at the Charles
town track, where William is
also paddock judge.
Old Mike and Young Mike con-
centrate on the Nesbit string
and are first forward with the
news that Speedy Dolly is more
than living up to her name and
is just about ready for her
maiden. There is grief, too.
Speedy Dolly is running a cold
in her left noStril and has been
given anti-distemper serum. But
the big chestnut steeplechaser,
Rouge, was never more fit and
has become "a good doer. -
Which means that he is eating
properly, without coaxing or
fretting.
There is talk of entering him
for the mile-and-a-half brush
race in the Gold Cup at Warren
ton this Saturday. But, first,
Miss Nesbit must see what he
can do. So Gentleman Jockey
Mainot (Manny) Howard,
weight 1876, climbs aboard.
Fine Workout
Each with a stop watch
clutched in his hand, Young
Mike and Old Mike and Betty
stand inside the rail with their
eyes glued to the far side of the
track, till they see a swish of
flying chestnut pass the white
post. Click! Click! Click! And
before you can say Sonny Work
man, click, click, click again.
'Three furlongS and he made
It in an easy SO seconds" says
Young Mike. mot bad, not bad,
at all for a Steeplechaser," gloats
Old Mike. "Hm-m-m," says
Betty, noncommittally, but her
eyes are shining.
Next, Dolly and Speedy stage
a double workout at three fur.
longs. Half the course they run
neck and neck, then Dolly pulls
ahead. She's in with 361a sec
onds. Old Mike gives the darky.
exercise boy on Speedy fruity
tongue-lashing for letting him
pull out a bit. He's got an
alibi. Speedy is a speedy cut.
ter" which means he gets going
SO fast that his backlegS some,
times take small slices out of
his forelegs.
Work Cut Out
Old Mike and Young Mike
have their afternoons work cut
out for them. Speedy must have
the cuts on his legs treated and
weighted shoes put on to slow
up his speedy back hoofs: Dolly
Is to have a bit of schooling
over a 31a-foot jump to see if
she shows steeplechasing abili-
ty: Speedy Dolly'S cold must be
attended to; and all the horses
must be fed twice, rubbed down
and watered before the Days
can call it a day.
Nor is it a day yet for Miss
NeSbit. Leesburg, 80 miles up
the road, is the next stop. At
Raspberry Plains, william Lips.
combs stables, she drops in for
a look at Arlington Dolly's
lateSt-a lanky.legged, two
month-old colt. There Betty's
mare has been stabbed since she
foaled last March. The diminu.
tive thoroughbred has a good,
flat. intelligent head, and his
deep, full4chest promises plenty
Of power for the half miles.
But horses are, if anything
more unpredictable than people
Two years from now there may
be another Corn Dodger, an
AkLaa,s ekaavaIaaI1o eax I;Izn Y.I1,,