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HORSES THRIVING DOWN SOUTH. Martin ? Nathanson, secretary of the Harlem Jockey Club, returned yesterday with a big batch of entries to the spring stakos of his association. Mr. Nathanson has been for two weeks visiting the southern breeding farms and training grounds. "The great feature of the training grounds," Nathanson said, "i3 the forward condition of the horses. They are in far better shape than I have ever seen them for this season of the year. It might be even said that they are a little too far advanced, considering the distance from the opening of racing. A large percentage of the horses in training arewithin one month of the races. This should insure good racing in the early part of the season. "Another thing that impressed me was the immense size of the prominent stables. Thoy are all carrying a larger number of horses in training than at any time heretofore, For instance, Edward Corrigan has sixty-eight horses in training at Louisville and fifteen at New Orleans: Fred Cook has thirty-five or more, more than twenty of -which are two-year-olds; P. Dunne has thirty odd head; John Madden, forty or more; Robert Tucker, thirty or more of the horses of Capt. S. S. Brown: George Long about twenty-five, and so on. These are at Louisville and Lexington and the same condition prevails at Nashville and Memphis, whore Schorr, Tichenor, Ellison, Hildreth and others all have big stables. "The best two horses I saw in my swing around the circuit wore Owouton and Runnels. Owenton -was not in very good shape last year, but now, in his four-year-old form, he is a splendid specimen of the thoroughbred. And so of Runnels. By the way, John A. Drake, to whom; Runnels belongs, has the best looking stable of any of those in winter quarters. I never saw so fine a looking bunch. A large number of his horses have not been taken up and are running in the paddocks adjacent to Cumberland Park. Some of the number have not even had a brush -upon their coats since last fall, yet the entire string looks fine. Drake thinks so well of Nashville as. a winter training ground that he is going to build quarters there for permanent occupancy each winter. At every point the horses are looking exceptionally well. "Savable, Von. Rouse and High Chancellor, the iihree-year-oldstof tho Drake striDg entered in the American Derby, look every inch like Derby horses. Mr. Drake does not favor Savable a bit more than he does the others for the big race, and Savable does not look a bit more like a Derby horse than Yon Rouse or High Chancellor. There is a great deal of interest at Nashville in the Gorman and Bauer Derby trio Bardolph, Lem Reod and Sinner Simon. They are a fine-looking lot and may cut a figure in the Derby. Tom Hayes has a great horse in Orlando, and much is expected from him. This is true of one of the lot of Hayes and Van Meter, the horse Incubator. Perhaps the finest looking filly anywhere to be found is the mare Hoodwink, sold by C. E. Brossman last fall to S. G. Morton, the old ball player. She is a big, fine-looking filly, with quarters like a quarter horse and one of the most improved horses that can be imagined. She is at New Orleans and has not boon raced, Morton reserving her for thoj.campaign in Chicago. Bessie Spahr is another wonderfully improved .filly. She is in training at Louisvillo and gives every indication of being as speedy as she was in her earlier form. " Bub May has the biggest two-year-old in training, a youngster called Pulses, and a crackorjack. It is said May refused 0,OCO for this one. It is as big as a three-year-old, and a big three-year-old in the bargain. The Tichenor stable at Memphis is composed of a splondid looking lot of thoroughbreds. They are so far advanced toward a race that trainer Poole told me he feared he would have to let up on them. There are twenty odd horses in the string, and they have gone through the winter finely. The Derby candidate, Sidney C. Love, does not seem to have grown a bit. He is still a littlo bit of a horse but he is pretty much horse at that. " T. C. McDowoll is coming to Chicage to race. Mr. McDowell, it will be recollected, had charge of the Vanderbilt horses last season. He has taken up Allan-a-Dale and will campaign him, together with others. "I saw a half-brother to McChesney, which is almost McChesney over again. It is a three-year-old by First Mate Manola Mason, and is called First Mason. He is marked like and has the conformation ot McChesney, with perhaps just a little moro white in the face than has the great son of Macduff. I also saw a two-year-old half-sister of McChesney by Handball, which horse died on the ocean while being transferred to England. This twe-year-old filly is a pretty good specimen. She is in D. OBriens hands at Lexington. "From the number of entries I have brought with me, and those arriving by mail, I think the total will exceed that of last year. The work of compiling them for publication will be begun Thursday, but it will be ton days before they will all be in. They close at midnight tomorrow, and it will take at least four days for those mailed in California tomorrow to reach here."
