Evening star., 1939-04-05
Poisson, Fine Hunter,
Once Unru|y Race
Track Horse
Picked to Win Potomac
Meet Plate for Third
Time in Row Saturday
BY ROBERT HENRY.

SiXteen-year-o Margaret San
derson and her gray mare. Poisson.
will pe trying for their third straight
victory Saturday in the Riding and
Hunt Club Plate, one of the fea-
ture attractions of the five-event
card of the Potomac Hpt hunter
trials which are to be held on Mrs
Paul BroWer's farm in Bradley Hills.
II they succeed the handsome trophy
will retire permanently to the San
derson homestead,
Although she has been riding only
five years Miss Sanderson, daughter
Of Dr.. Fred Sanderson, joint NJ F.
H. of the Potomac Hunt. has had
good luck with the well-mannered
thoroughbred. The first time she
went into these trials she picked
up two victories. That was TWO
years ago. She won the Junior
Hunt Plate from a flock of young
sters, and then beat all the hunt
members of the Hunt Club Plate.
That is her main objective Saturday.
Last year she repeated her Club
Plate triumph but had to be con-
tent with fourth prize in the Junior
class, mainly because she miscalcu-
lated the judges way of figuring
things. Rain turned the course into
a slippery proposition so Margaret
decided slow, careful pace would
appeal to the officials. But upon
completing the distance they in
formed her she and Poisson had
performed very well, jumping, man
ners, style, but too slowly.
Manners is Poisson's specially
One day about four years ago Marg-
aret was hunting with her when they
got into trouble over a good sized
fence. On the landing side q tree
stump caused the mare to twist
suddenly to avoid hitting. Marg-
aret toppled of, and despite the
fact that they were bit behind the
field, Poisson stopped in his tracks
and waited for the girl to remount.
Most horses would have lit out for
home pronto.
Poisson wasn't always so man
nerly.
She was bred for the race track
and had plenty of speed. Dion
Kerr of Washington, who at present
is handling Mrs. John Hay Whit
ney's string, trained ner and de-
clared her to be extremely fast but
that she would choke up when
the real racing began. She became
somewhat unruly and finally went
back to Virginia where the Sander
sons purchased her.
Apparently they made a new mare
of her. Besides her present man.
ners she shows no signs of quitting
when the going gets hot. In the
recent Potomac Hunt point o-point
races, she hooked up in a gruelling
stretch duel with Robin Riddick's
Cheyenne and held on with rare
courage to be beaten a short nose.
Although she is not considered a
show-ring performer her record in
that sport is better than average.
In her first show, at Fort Myer two
winters ago, she was member of
the successful hunt team class, and
got two seconds and a third in her
only other efforts around the ring.
Miss Sanderson has hunted Pois-
son for the past several years and
not once has the mare fallen Or
caused any real trouble to her trust
ing rider. She responds to the
constant flow of soothing chatter
Margaret gives her and when the
going gets tough applies extra pre-
caution to take care that no one
meets grief. That's why Margaret
IS so fond of her; she does every
thing good mount is supposed to
do, and takes care of her rider.
Not many horses can have that
said of them, but Poisson is a very
individual one