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I Maryland Breeding Farms — Nos. 5-6-7 j By NELSON DUNSTAN I I i j | , ! I , I I I | ! i i j | | j I SAGAMORE FARM. The busiest farm in Maryland today is that of the youthful owner, A. G. Vanderbilt. Comprising only 400 acres at Glyndon, Md., it is a compact estate where every available acre is utilized for one or another farm purpose. When miles away the visitor can plainly see the cerise and white buildings in the distance, but on closer approach it is soon obvious that what appeared to be a quiet gentlemans estate is actually a bus-I tling center of thoroughbred activity. Once within the grounds the car pulls up at a massive circular barn which, built in 1927, is one of the finest buildings of its kind and purpose in the world. The huge-I ness is not fully realized until seen from within, where the eye takes in the long cor- nidor of stalls, all of which have an indi-I vidual cabinet and water pail painted in the Vanderbilt cerise and white blocks to give color and aid to accentuate the buildings size. In the center of this circular barn is an indoor training track, and around it some ninety stalls, in which are housed the sev-I enty-five horses in training and eight more which will be taken up and trained at a later date. From stall to stall we viewed Speed to Spare, Airflame, Postage Due, Gallant Mac, Identify and the numerous others which have made the name of Vanderbilt one to conjure with in present day racing and breeding activities. The track inside the circular barn is one-i quarter of a mile around, thirty feet wide and is filled with an oil-treated sandy loam. On the south side of the long runways of the covered track the stalls are located with a glass fronting, offering the advantages of southern exposure. Watching from the indoor barn a visitor can see the Vanderbilt horses working over the three-quarter mile outdoor track, equipped with stall gates and timing stand. Nearby to the circular barn is a small I three-stall building which houses the Vanderbilt champion, Discovery, and the two stallions, Balko and Rock Man. Discovery had arrived from California but a few days before and, far from down-hearted, was rolling on his back in carefree fashion when , we peeked at him in his stall. Balko 1925, the black son of Omar Khayyam and Rahu, by Disguise, was one of the : fastest sprinters of the 1930 and 1931 seasons, and still holds the Belmont track record Widener" course, 1:09 for six furlongs. He ran second to Jack High when that speedster established the mile record of 1:35 in the Metropolitan Handicap of 1930. From his first crop of four foals of 1933, only two raced — Speed to Spare Maryland Futurity and Balcony, a winner and third in the Arlington Lassie. Balkos present service fee is 00 and return. Balkos contemporary. Rock Man 1923 is also a black horse, and besides being third in the Kentucky Derby, defeated such good runners as Canter, Display, Pompey, Sarazen and Scapa Flow. Among his get are the good youngsters Cherry Stone. Buds Choice, Rock X.. Parva Stella and City Slicker. He is held at private contract. There are two separate barns of nineteen large, rocmy stalls for the brood mares, but as forty-five are now stabled there some for mating with Balko and Rock Man the I overflow is maintained in a small nearby barn. The yearling barn has a capacity for twenty-four head, besides a two-room suite for the groom in constant attendance. This years yearling crop comprises twenty youngsters, mainly by the sires Blue Larkspur. Sir Greysteel. Balko. Sting and Swift and Sure. No less than thirty-five two-year-olds will be sent from Sagamore to the racing wars this season. In traveling thousands of miles to breeding establishments, this writer has yet to see a farm with more comfortable quarters for employes. Two long, low buildings, one for white, the other for colored, each with a - recreation room containing pool tables and other games, are joined together by a community dining room. Twei.ty-five jockeys and exercise boys are housed in these buildings, each having his own room, tastefully furnished, with "hoss" pictures of the old, and expensive, Currier and Ives collection on the walls. Four Japanese cooks, wise in the I ways of gastronomic concoctions that are appealing, yet not fattening, prepare the food for this youthful workout army. A | modern refrigerating plant, which any large butchers establishment might envy, is adjacent to the kitchen and in plain view of I the visitor. The latest of the many buildings at Saga- more is the modern fireproof garage, where, ; besides the many cars used personally by the youthful sportsman, a visitor sees the eye-filling new white truck which will transfer the Sagamore horses from one track to another. The second floor of the garage is divided for storage and the necessary mechanical woik a farm such as Sagamore requires. One section is given over entirely to two men who are kept busy painting the Vanderbilt equipment. Next to the garage is a small building housing the work horses and mules. Probably the only building at Sagamore which is not painted in the Vanderbilt colors is the modest dwelling the owner occupies when he is at the farm. He stays there until the horses in training are shipped away anJ then moves to his New York home. BRANNCASTLE FARM. Located at Frederick, Maryland, the Branncastle Farm is one of those "big-little" establishments where considerable activity is carried on in the comparatively small space of 150 acres. Operated for sport, with profit a secondary consideration, the partners maintain a racing string of twenty-one horses and had a fair degree of success in the Florida season just closed. W. L. Brann ; takes personal charge of the racing stable, while his partner, R. S. Castle manages the farm, living rn the homestead on the property. Equipped for stabling seventy-five horses, Branncastle now houses eighteen mares twelve yearlings and the two stallions, Challenger II. and Swatter. With a full book, | Challenger II. was in the midst of a busy ! season when we visited the farm, but although we observed him in his paddock j for fully an hour, he was oblivious to our presence as he constantly circled about in an endeavor to take his tail unawares and catch it in his teeth. Beautifully bred, Challenger II. 1927, is a son of Swynford, from Sword Play, the latter a daughter of Great Sport-Flash of Steel. A leading sire in England, Swynford is also the daddy of Sansovian, Blandford, Blenheim, Saucy Sue, Swift and Sure and many others. Taking a son of Swynford from the shores of England is no simple task, and for that reason the story of Challenger II. s importation is an interesting one. At the time of Lord Dewars death, there was an old ruling on the books of the Eng- J lish Jockey Club to the effect that horses ; : automatically lost their stake nominations in such races as the Epsom Derby when an owner passed away. Having lost his nominations. Challenger II.s value decreased in J England, thus giving the American partners, the chance to buy him at a price reported i I as 00,000. To prevent other horses being ! j taken from the country, the ruling was changed shortly after the sale of Chal-1 lenger II. | Swatter, companion stallion to Challenger II., is now making his first season at Branncastle. - ! BELMONT. I Belmont is a name long associated with | I the American turf, but the Belmont Farm ■ in Maryland is best known today as the I home of Billy Barton, one of the two jump- j ; ers to complete the course in the 1928 Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree, I England. Located some ten miles from the city of • j Baltimore, Belmont is the property of the ! well known Democrat and sportsman, Howard Bruce, and is an estate of 1,000 acres I in rolling, well-watered country. About 300 acres are in good pasture, and from the I colonial mansion on the property, the visi- I tor gets an ideal view of the farm, the Patapsco River below, and the skyline of the city in the distance. The Belmont home-ttood 1 once belonged to Alexander Contee Hanson, president of the Colonial Congress, | while the great commoner of Kentucky. j Henry Clay, frequently visited there. Billy Barton is the same headstrong fellow that once made him the despair of his handlers. In all turf history, however, there have been few horses who attained his ranking as a flat racer, then went on to become one of the greatest jumpers developed in America. A winner of the Cuban Derby, Cuban Grand National and other important flat races, he finally proved to be such a rogue that racing officials refused his entry. For quite a spell, Mr. Bruce schooled Billy over the jumps, and once under colors, the bay son of Huon and Mary I j | Lebus swept everything before him. A fall j I at the last fence caused his defeat at Liver- , ! pool, but remounted, Billy finished second to the 100 to 1 shot, Tipperary Tim. Still a powerful horse, the big bay tolerates his handlers, but from his actions, seems ready to run a stranger out of his stall at the slightest provocation. Only twenty head of horses are now stabled at Belmont, and all are in charge of Roy Shilling, who. for over a decade, has been with Mr. Bruce at Belmont. Four brood mares are stabled in one barn — Amora dam of Searcher, by Peter Pan, and booked to , the Labrot stallion. Kantar; Cherokee Sal, a daughter of Peter Pan and also booked to Kantar; Effort dam of Ilchester, which will visit the court of Chance Play; and The Squaw by Jim Gaffney, dam of the useful Acautaw. The Squaw will be mated with the Brookmeade Stables High Quest. Four good looking two-year-olds were being prepared for shipment to Frank Garrett at Pimlico. One in particular, a son of Flying Ebony and Gary Abbess, she by | Grey. Lag, will be of interest to the racing ! world, for a few weeks after his birth, the dam died and the youngster was raised on dried milk. For a companion he had a sheep to run with, and the pair were a I great source of amusement to visitors at Belmont. To get a peek at the yearling barn, a caller must run the gauntlet of a heterogeneous group of foxhounds, Chesapeakes. cocker-spaniels and others of doubtful breed. Trudging along as a guard of honor, the dogs escorted us to the yearling barn and stayed with us for the rest of our visit. »
