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ERDENHEIM WORK DAYS NEAR Trainer A. J. Joyner Ready to Start Training Widener String. Twenty-One Horses Under Care of Veteran Turfman Hi-Jack to Be Seen Under Colors. NEW YORK, N. Y., Feb. 16. With George D. Widener as its proprietor, Erdenheim will live long and grow in -its traditions as one of Americas most famous cradles of the thoroughbred. Few American sportsmen are more interested in thoroughbred production and its accompanying test, racing, than the owner of the light and dark blue silks. , For more than half a century horses bred at Erdenheim have earned fame at home and abroad. It was at this famed nursery that Iroquois, the only American-bred horse ever to win the Derby and St. Leger, was foaled. He was but one of the many makers of turf history that romped those celebrated . paddocks in their youth. While the proprietor of Erdenheim has ; not in the past wholly relied on this well : equipped stock farm to provide him with his racing material, preferring, like so many ; other breeders, to raise his requirements in : the Blue Grass regions of Kentucky, he will, ; in the future, give Erdenheim another ; chance to prove it has lost none of its old- ; time charm as a blood stock nursery, as ; many of his choicest bred mares are housed there at present. In recent years Widener raised many good winners in the state of Pennsylvania, including the sterling race horse Jack High, present holder of the American mile record in competition. The speedy son of John P. Grier commences stud life this season, and will be bred to sixteen mares, the property of his owner. No outside mares will be allowed to. visit his court in his first season. At present Jack High, a perfectly sound horse, can be seen daily at exercise, with a string of a dozen horses that the American trainer, Andrew Jackson Joyner, has in his oare in winter quarters at Erdenheim. TRAINER IS FIT, TOO. Trainer Joyner, who for half a century has been in the front rank of his profession at home and abroad, has twenty-one head of stock ready for training at Erdenheim. The veteran is in splendid form and just as active and eager for the sport as he was in yesteryears. All his charges have wintered well and ara ready to be put in training. If the stable is somewhat weak in its older division there is quality in it if only Jamestown, Hi-Jack and Finite train to the satisfaction of their astute mentor. Jamestown has recovered from the unfortunate mishap that put him on the shelf at Saratoga last summer, and is now absolutely sound and in perfect condition. Hi-Jack, a front liner in his juvenile days until misfortune overtook him and prevented his racing in his second season, was brought back to the races last year to add to his two-year-old laurels. All going well with the five-year-old son of John P. Grier, he will be a force to be reckoned with in the handicaps this year. Finite, a speedy racer when at his best, can be excused for his fall from grace last year, as a seedy toe, which did not make itself discernible until near the close of the campaign, mitigated against the continued success of the seven-year-old son of The Finn. He is now sound and, though advancing in years, still looks to be capable of hooking up with the best sprinters. SIX THREE-YEAR-OLDS. There are but six second season performers at Erdenheim at present. Of these four are fillies. While none was credited with any outstanding performance last season, they are the type that improves vith age and shows to better advantage over a distance of ground. This especially applies to Tittanita, a rangy miss with all the qualifications of a distance runner, both in breeding and conformation. There are great possibilities in Errant, a half-sister to Finite, and the good looking Sheltered, a filly that was sparingly raced last year, has been allowed time to grow and develop. Autumnal, a winner last year at Saratoga, but badly cut down in her second race at the Spa, is now sound, and if she stands 1 the test of training, she may prove the pick of the second season filly batch at Erdenheim. " Of the dozen two-year-olds that trainer Joyner will bring to the races, one can say they are "a good-looking, well-developed, - evenly-balanced lot, and collectively make ! more appeal than last years crop" did at ; the same period. Sation, an upstanding good boned chestnut son of speedy Galetian, from l Salacia, catches the eye as a promising sort, as does Absolute, a chestnut son of Infinite and May Lily, that will sport the silks of : Mrs. George D. Widener. An. unnamed bay unsexed son of Ambassador IV., from Princess Anlo, for which the writer ventures to suggest the name of Papal Legate, has the appearance of a colt : that will pay his own way. Of the juvenile s fillies, Yankaway, a chestnut daughter of : John P. Grier and Yankee Princess, vith i plenty of size and quality to recommend I her, has the markings of a smart race horse. . The eighteen horses that trainer F. Mul-holland is so successfully campaigning under the George D. Widener silks at Hialeah t Park, with the exception of the smart stake i winner, Evening and Blackmock, are for sale, and no doubt will find new homes ere i the Florida racing season closes.
