view raw text
"PA" BRADLEYS HEALTH !S FAILING. Virrjinia Horseman Is Sufferina from Paralysis and It Is Feared He Cannot Recover. i e friends oi Bo erl Bradley, the breeder and racing man of Charles City County, who is better knows to the Imeri in turf as Virginia Bradley, or Pa Bradley, bare serioos fear that be may not see another Benniog meeting," says .i dispatch from Richmond, Vs., to the Morning Telegraph. "The veteran of he Virginia tidewater country la in ■ bad waj tl his home si WIlcoi I. .Hiding. He is down v.iiii |iaralyais snd almost oat. His lower limit* ■ I at useless, snd be can no longer be about hi- dairy chori - among liis horses. Being ■ man ".to always liked to superintend personally every detail •• ■ his rarm work, be Is fretting away the U • that remained to him after his last m I "The best nerve i of Richmond and Norfolk have been la attendance u Mr. Bradley sines last ivn. but they do not hoM oat to ins familj and friends much hope of hi., ultimate re-Mr. Bradlej is beyond seventy years old - rHalitj has been sapped these twenty years by rheumatism. Mr. Bradley himself is not optimistic. He ided the breakdown of his rol - constitution and he lias in the last live yean frequently predicted its occurrence. Mr. Bradley waa taken seriously with paralysis at Benning daring tht ckey Clubs autumn mcrtlnf of 1908, and he has sunk steadily since that time. His wife, who alwaj s accompanied him on his trips about the country, has been his caretaker and constant companion and Bh i-- now the manager of his breeding and racing ventures. The Bradley katerests are in eminently capable hands. Mrs. Bradley la a won • rd judgment and great energy, It Mr. Bradley hud always followed her counsel lie »©i Id be better off in this worlds goods than he is today, ile has had more than one mans . luck in i purse winning way, but against his wifes protestations be has bet most of his earnings away." Wherever horse racing i- ■ popular sport, "Pa" Bradlej is known as i picturesque figure. IK1 *urh whimsical and truculent, be lias always been ■ , kindly n in snd he i- fairly popular. If fate *e reea thai lie s ■■• to Bensdng in March and April, be will be sadly missed A Kenning meeting without Bradleys Charles City County two and • r ids will not seem natural. Patrons • ■ Washington sport look forward to the advent : "i the gaunt, bent, Virginian philosopher, with his i shrewd sayings and homely witticisms, a* they look t for green foliage on the Doanwood bills. Bradley baa raced bis horses % I. bad and la- different In all parts of the country since away ; before the war at Guttenberg and Gloocestes, ar t New Orleans, at Ban Francisco, at St, finals, at Chicago, in Kentucky • id rennessee and all through Canada. He has had rarious trainers. Theodore Coles, Virginian, s native ■ ,r Albemarle, prepared Booty Bag and Robert Wadded for their fan ■ victories in the western circuit in Paul. Bat as i general p ope I Hon Bradley lias been his owa man. lie is ■ rotary of the theory that rare buraeS W e Created to r:oc. and hi- runnels have had to earn I beta oat*. Although Robert Waddell won the ftmnrlra* Derby and dtrers othei I op rtant western raced of 1901 Esc him. Bradley has always maintained that Btitaea was the greatest iiiihmi thai bore his silks. ssVtaea waa the grvs •■ I of the sons ot Blasts and bs a w I known a- the Iron horse ol umttenfcerg. Bradlej i used tO i nil bin all time- a week when be Was in real good fettle and gramme because there were ao races on S hn . AfttC BlllQIS «ulliod hi- BsefUl I ik-ss as a racehorse, Bradlej retired him to bis i farm and from there he sent Bsney Boj to the races. I - = • ~ j = = _ j - . I I • Roy was not a horse of the class of Blltzen. IRoney but he von many a purse and he WM I game and ! eoiiMster.! performer. Robert Waddell took the sstasort of sack casters i cracks as The Parader. Bonnibert. Beau Gallant and l Sadie S. in the American Derby. He had been carefully freshened for the race by Ioles and Ihe eastern aspirants for the Derby were no match for htm, although The Parader made a gallant bid. Robert ! Waddell ran the mile and I half in 2::;:;i. which 1 was two ami one-fifth seconds better thaa the record 1 for the race, held Jointly by P.oundless and Bel el 1 Santa Anita. In MM The Picket won in 2:.".:; and the following year, the last running of the American 1 Derby, Highball duplicated The Pickets time with seven pounds more weight. Bradley had more ready ■ash after the American Derby than he had ever hi fore possessed at one time or lias had since. I "ii" winners enj of the Derby was |u,273, and Bradley bet upward of 12,000 on his gelding at from 50 to I to 12 to l. Coses, who believed la iopi that be trained the greatest racehorse alive la Robert Wad- dell, made Bradley save op his aaoaey and back the ■ Virginia gelding. Both Coles and Bradley believe that Robert Waddell WOUld have won one or more ■ i : the great handieana of 1M if he had not broken a shoulder In the arbiter of l.Mii -j. Bradley made a -tronuoii-. bat unavailing effort to get Robert Wid dell back to the races after this accident. The little gelding broke another leg soon after be was released from the sling in which be was suspended while the ragged ends of the first broken bone were 1. nit ting. Bradley bred Robert WaddeH at his Charles City farm. He bought Aloha, his sire, In the west. Aloha is still alive and is ■ sen of St. Mango, wniej was brought to this eolinlry from F.ngland. John McCafferty owned him when he was ■ high class racehorse. There is no handsomer stallion on this side of the Atlantic, and many thoroughbred breeder are of the opinion that he would have made I worldwide reputation as ■ sire if Bradley had placed l.im in the stud In Kentucky or the mountain region ol ii ginls . Aloha has not had i fair chance in Charles Citj count] for two Important reasons. Be lui-- not been mated with the best mares, and the grass in that pari of Virginia is not of the beat. Bradleys farm baa and docs produce horses of speed, endurance and courage, but they are generally nndersined and ragged. But no argument would shake Bradleys be lie! that the tidewater country Of Virginia is the best in the world for the raising of thoroughbreds. He la very much enamored of his native state, and especially that historic tongue of land which lies between the fames and Rappahannock rivers.
