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W. H. WRIGHTS 1928 STABLE ♦ - ~ Canadian Establishment Strong in Kings Plate Material. ♦ Additions to Hand and Several Improvements to Already Pretentious Farm Are Planned Uj Owner. TORONTO. Ont., May 11— A Canadian stable that gives promise of playing a much more important part in the racing of the coming season than it did last year, is the establishment of W. II. Wright, of Allandah . Out. Without exception, every thoroughbred in the stable is looking its best, and trainer 11. M. Stevens Is hoping for an early break in the winter weather, so the best advantage may be taken of the remaining time between now and the opening of the first local meeting at Woodbine Park, on May 19, for outdoor training. The 100 acres of the Brookdale Farm, the old Dyment property, is one of the most complete breeding centers of this country, but Mr. Wright is net yet satisfied and is planning a program of improvements that will make the property one of the finest establishments of its kind anywhere. There are 100 acres in the property, the buildings including a main barn occupying two sides of a quadrangle, two smaller barns completing the square. The ground enclosed is utilized as an exercising paddock. All the stables are connected and are laid out on the same plan, with roomy box stalls and a wide passageway along the full length of each structure. The interiors are made bright as day through the many window openings on both sides and frequent applications of whitewash to the walls and woodwork help materially in maintaining a bright, cleanly atmosphere in the stables. A HAPPY FAMILY. A large residence, maintained by the farm manager D. H. Barrio ?nel his wife, is useel as sleeping and dining quarters by most of the stable hands. There is another smaller house which serves the dual purpose of a tack room and sleeping quarters for trainer Stevens. The main room of this house is a popular gathering place for the stable hands when their wcrk is finisheel. In the center of the room there is a coal stove of the old-fashi-jned feeder type and, with their conversation and the assistance of a radio, they keep themselves entertained during the long winter evenings. The terrific snowstorms of the past week have practically isolated those at the farm from the outside world, the huge drifts obliterating roads, fences and even smaller buikl-ings and defying the efforts of sleighs to get through. They are well prepared, however, to withstand a long seige, even as far as food is concerned, for the cows and chickens keep them well supplied with dairy products. ONE MILE TRAINING TRACK. An important item of the farm is the mile track located in close proximity to the stables. It is equipped with a starting gate for schooling the racers, and the racing strip proper is of a sandy loam nature that dries rapidly. There are four other patldocks besides the main one, which is enclosed by the barns. The stable is maele up of practically the same banel as last year, the only addition to the racing division being the two-year-olel bay filly Paranymph, by Taragon II., from the Rabelais mare Jesava. Trainer Stevens believes he has one of the best juvenile prospects in the country in this miss and in appearance, at least, the filly justifies his confidence. She is sturdy, of good size and in conformation has what horsemen term four corners. Her legs are straight and strong muscled, and yet with all her characteristics of strength she has graceful lines, nicely arched neck anel intelligent head. Mr. Stevens states Paranymph may not get to the races till late in the season, for he does not believe in harrying young horses; and the short period between the advent of weather suitable for outdoor training anel the opening of the racing season necessitates too hurried preparation to have the youngsters ready for the first spring meetings. THREE PROMISING YEARLINGS. Three smart looking yearlings round out the younger division of the stable. The first of these, a bay filly, by the imported sire Archaic, from Syria, has been named Arcadian. The dam Syria, also imported, was in foal when purchased by Mr. Wright at Saratoga in August, 192G, along with several other horses. Another of the yearlings named Flanders Fields is a sister to the two-year-old 1ara-nymph, referred to above, being by Paragon II. — Jesava. Like her sister, Flanders Fields is a dark bay in color and gives promise of developing into just as fine a looking filly as Paranymph, for she is a straight-legged, well-formed youngster, already of good size for her tender age. Samoa, a Cylgad mare, also bought at Saratoga, in foal, has produced a raey-look-ing bay filly that has been named Syrian Queen. She compares very favorably with the other two yearlings. There probably is not another stable in the province as well off for- Kings Plate material, in point of numbers, at any rate, as is the Wright establishment. They have no less than i ight that are eligible for the Guineas, namely Bloomtip, First Find. Grubstake. Auto da Fe, Hawthorn, Flying Column, Cold Era and Sweetest Song On performances, Bloomtip would appear to be the pick of this lot, but being a four-year-old he would have a big weight assignment and, on the manner in which some of the others in the above lot have improved, it is altogether likely that the stables main dependence for the great Canadian-bred classic will be other than the son of Tippecanoe. — May Bloom. They have all done so well since the close of last season that one- tan hardly pick out any outstanding prospects, but First Find, Flying Column and Sweetest Song are trainer Stevens favorites of the Plate eligibles. The first two were raced very little last year, in fact, they started only three times each, and Mr. Stevens claims that those races give no idea of the quality of these two. They certainly look the part right now and. should they train to expectations, will give the stable a strong hand for the coveted prize. Worthmore, the stables star, will, contrary to rumors, be raced again this season, though he is ultimately intended for strd duty at the Continued on eighteenth page. [ i ; i i ! i L • . c l 1 . , t . r " 1 J -» - 1 e * 1 2 W. H. WRIGHTS 1928 STABLE on, inucd on seventeenth paj;e. farm. This splendid chestnut seven-year-old son of Thunderer indeed looks at the present time as if he has many years of racing usefulness in him yet. and his trainer expects a better season for him this year than last, when he beat the best sprinters in these parts on various occasions. .v A great deal of difficulty was experienced by Mr. Stevens in keeping The Detective in racing trim last year, a cold and catarrh impairing his usefulness considerably, but he has recovered entirely now and should prove his worth in this, his three-year-old year. FINE DEVELOP3IENT IN COLT. Royal Watch, the bay three-year-old son of On Watch — Royal Mint, has grown a lot since last year. In fact, he is the biggest horse in the stable right now, standing more than sixteen hands high. He is not clumsy, however, but well proportioned and has a free moving gait that gets him over the ground quickly with apparently little effort. He promises to show a surprising improvement over his racing effort as a two-year-old last season. Arrant Jade, winner of the Coronation Stakes in r.i26, .when he beat Ever More, Listcrine, and all the best Canadian-hreds of his age, was another which did not show his true form throughout the greater part of last season, but he is doing exceptionally well now ; in fact, he is showing so much pep that he can scarcely be kept in his stall, and Mr. Stevens is confident he will train well this spring. Westward Bound, three-year-old daughter of Westward Ho — Roslina, and one of the Saratoga buys, will be kept for breeding purposes, having failed to show enough racing usefulness to justify keeping her in training, and it has also been decided to retire Miss Content, one of the stables candidates for the Kings Plate last year. FILLY II A KB TO TRAIN. The latter is a very puzzling proposition. At times, says Mr. Stevens, she has shown rare speed in her trials, but is very unreliable and, when it was expected that she would turn in her best effort, she would sulk and simply refuse to extend herself. Mr. Stevens has finally lost patience with the filly and will put her aside this year. They have a choice lot of mares at the farm, many of which were bought at Saratoga, and they are practically all in foal at the present time to either the stables sire, Spey Pearl, or Red King, which was leased for breeding purposes last year. Woodrace, a Marathon mare, in foal to Spey Pearl, is due to foal early in June. The well-known Jean Crest, which figured prominently in the Canadian-bred events during recent years, is due to foal any day now. She. too, was mated with Spey Pearl. Others in foal to Spey Pearl are: Samoa, the French-bred mare Fille de Guerre, the Canadian-bred Ann Scott, Jesava and Wal-kyria. The latter is a nine-year-olds, and when bought at Saratoga was supposed to be in foal to Epinard, but no produce resulted. Sweet Violet, a McGee mare, is in foal to Red King. The stables sire, Spey Pearl, is a handsome son of Spearmint — Pearl of the Loch, and is one of the Kings contributions to Canadian breeding. Though he carries royal blood on both sides of his family, his sire, Spearmint, was particularly well known for the turf fame he achieved. He won the English Derby in 1906, defeating such famous horses as Picton, Troutbeck, Radium, Lally, The White Knight and many other notables. He also captured the Grand Prix de Paris. greatest of the French classics, in the same year, defeating the best that could be mustered against him. Pearl of the Loch counted among her stake victories, a triumph in the July Stakes and the Granby Plate, well-known English fixtures. Spey Royal is her third foal. Jack Hewlett is the stables jockey and in Andy Watson, "F. Gunn and Alex. Findlay they have three promising apprentices.
