view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Growth of Bowie Racing Its Humble Beginning in 1914 Stake Races Now Attract AttractStar Star Horses One of the most remarkable turf develop ¬ ments in recent years has been that of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Fair Asso ¬ ciation that conducts its racing at Bowie Back in October of 1914 Bowie came into being It cannot be said that the new rac ¬ ing organization was welcomed to the state with open arms That is the other and older associations made it just about as difficult as possible for the baby But James F OHara pnd his associates were not discouraged and though no open time could be obtained the first meeting was boldly carried on with the powerful opposition of the Maryland State Fair Association at Laurel LaurelThat That was a ten days meeting and for a time there was some scratching for horses sufficient to furnish entertainment The meet ¬ ing went right through the ten days grow ¬ ing better and better each day and while the purses offered were only 400 at that time Laurel was offering 500 so that the Bowie start was not a cheap one oneThis This meeting was so successful that Bowie had no trouble in obtaining the recognition it requested the following year Since that time it has enjoyed open racing time both spring and fall fallAs As the sport prospered a becoming liberal ¬ ity was shown in the purses and the horse ¬ men have shared handsomely in the success that came to the track From purses of 400 the program has grown until last fall no offering had a lesser value than 1300 added and a large percentage of them were con ¬ siderably over that figure In addition to these stakes were added to the racing pro ¬ gram and last November there were two of ¬ ferings of 5000 added each and another of 10000 added addedThe The decision to put on stake races was not reached until success was assured for the reason that overnight purses were swelled as became possible and no real bid was made for the topnotch horses The growing im ¬ portance of the racing brought the big stables and with the coming of some of the best horses it was decided to make a further bid for them by putting on stakes stakesAn An idea of just how Bowie has grown in importance as a racing ground is furnished in a roster of some of th2 owners who raced there last November Among those to show their colors were August Bclmont chairman of the Jockey Club Harry Payne Whitney Edward B McLean the Grecntrea Stable Ilicharil T Wilson W R Coc II K Knapps Oneck Stable Samuel Ross Nevada Stock Farm General J A Buchanan Quincy Sta ¬ ble Walter J Salmon Montfort Jones Lex ¬ ington and Xalapa Farm Stables John E Madden Joseph E Davis J B Smith C A Stoneham George W Loft Max Ilirsch S L Jenkins G H Bull J S Cosden G L Biackford Salubria Stable Riviera Stable T W OBrien Robert L Gerry C K Harrison Jr F E Brown and many others whose names are familiar on the turf turfWith With such owners participating in the rac ¬ ing at Bowie it made certain that the horses would be of better class than ever before and never did the Southern Maryland Asso ¬ ciation hava such a meeting meetingSome Some of the horses that were there were of the best that had been shown all year and they were kept at it right to the end of the Bowie meeting when the 10000 Thanksgiv ¬ ing Handicap brought out a field of fourteen fourteenIn In this field were such as Lucky Hour Rock roinister Maximac Hephaistos Nedna Cap ¬ tain Alcock winner of both the Bowie Handi ¬ cap at Pimlco and the Pimlico Cup All Over John Paul Jones Blazes Emotion Paul Jones Opperman Bon Homme and Copper Demon These were horses that would grace a pro ¬ gram at Saratoga in August but they were kept in training for the last day of the Mary ¬ land racing season And it was a meeting that was remarkable for the good twoyear olds that raced In that division among oth ¬ ers were Oui Oui Vigil General Thatcher Fly by Day Osprey Moonraker Best Love Felside Amusement and many others othersAltogether Altogether Bowie soared to new heights last fall and now it appears to be the inten ¬ tion to continue to merit the importance that has come to that association This determina ¬ tion is shown by the announcement of the two 5000 stake races for the April meeting These will be the Inaugural at seveneighths mile to bz decided on the opening day and the Prince Georges Handicap at a mile and c sixteenth for April 14 the closing day of the meeting There will also be a general raising of purse values and the plans contem ¬ plate the distribution of something like 140 000 in the eleven days of racing racingMaryland Maryland has been a popular racing ground to prepare for the Kentucky Derby as well as the Preakness Stakes and formerly can ¬ didates for these rich prizes were sometimes first shown at Havre de Grace This year not a few of them will move forward to the Bowie meeting for the early public trials for the 50000 races and it is assured that tho class of racing that was the rule in Novem jber will in a great degree be continued through the racing of next month monthAlready Already there are several stables in Mary ¬ land and at Benning making ready for the opening of the new racing season and Bowie will probably attract a greater number of them than ever before in its history
