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:JHHHHHHI Maryland By NANCY G. LEE Pistorio Farm Now Has 700 Acres Acquire Stall Sections From Havre First Crop of Tuscany Impressive ELLICOTT CITY, Md., May 31. —Three years ago this June the Samuel M. Pistorios moved their horses from Three Cousins Farm. Farm, Hyde. Hyde, Md.. Md., to to Farm. Farm, Hyde. Hyde, Md.. Md., to to their new farm near Ellicott City. When they started work on the farm in the previous November, there were no roads, no fences, the lane to the "farm included a stream which had to be forded and the only buildings were at the bottom of the the hill hill and and were were made made :JHHHHHHI the the hill hill and and were were made made up of the farm house, a few buildings near it and a silo. The recent purchase of the Davis Farm now makes over 700 acres in the Pistorio Farm and the changes which have taken place over a three-year period are nothing short of drastic. When Havre de .Grace was shut down and the buildings sold, there were two 23-stall sections bought and taken to the Pistorio Farm. Profiting by mistakes made at other times, there was no hit and miss methqd employed in laying out this farm. Everything was planned well in advance and the re-_ suits prove that such plans were followed in detail. The Havre de Grace sections provided the nucleus of the training barn, each section complete with tack and feed rooms. The stalls were re-erected to face the morning sun and the 1-8 mile indoor track is built behind the stalls. The track is 18 feet wide so that three yearlings can be worked side by side without fear of bumping but at the same time they learn to gallop along in company. Plans were made specifically to plaGe the buildings far enough apart to lessen fire hazards. The four tenant houses and the home of the manager of the horse department were built between the training barn and the large broodmare barn and were placed in such locations that if a house caught fire it is away from the farm area, but if one of the barns caught fire the men can get to it in a hurry. The woods near the training barn was cut back so that there is plenty of cleared space in case of a woods fire. Water is of prime interest and importance. One artesian well was on the place, but another one was dug and, while each well has its individual pump, they are hooked to the same system so that they can run one or both. A two-acre pond at the bottom of the hill from the training barn will eventually have a pump by it so that fire hydrants can be constructed close to barns. An irrigation system is also in the future for the farm. Roads and bridle paths are being worked on daily and stone from their own quarry supplies the finishing touch to the roads. While they have bought the posts for the literally miles of plank fencing, their saw mill has been utilized to the fullest extent. Lime from a quarry and plenty of fertilizer have been added to the fields and the trees have been cleared in sections so that the remaining groves are most attractive. At the present time there are 100 box stalls but plans have been made to add about 50 — more. Thus the stabling space will not only take care of the homebred horses but there will also be facilities for boarding mares. The Pistorios are very pleased with the first of their homebred crop and raced sire, Tuscany, and his book is full this season. To date 12 foals have been reported, the majority of whom are colts. This stakes-winning sire accounted for 16 winning efforts out of 29 starts, winning in excess of 40,000. His sire, The Rhymer, is at the farm as is also Golden Bull. The latter sire still holds the record at Laurel for one and one-sixteenth miles which he established In 1950. The first reason he was bred to only a few mares and the progeny are now two-year-olds. His first starter was the brown filly, Hidden Hand, who is out of the Whirlaway mare Dizzy Whirl. Dizzy Whirl is one of the 14 broodmares owned by the Pistorios and this yearshe has a bay colt by Princequillo and has been bred to Tuscany. Among the broodmare band the patriarch is Roman Matron, dam of the stakes-winning Princess Lygia. She goes to The Rhymer this year but her chestnut yearling colt by Phalanx has already, made the. headlines. The Laurel race track and the Baltimore News sponsored jointljL a .cofltejsjb. . tpname -ra , yearling and came" to trie* Pistorio" Farm to" select ia Continued on Page Forty-Eight Maryland By NANCY LEE • 1 Continued front Page Six youngster. Shown two yearlings, they picked Roman Matrons. About 25,000 names were sent in and the winning one was Latin Lancer. Along: with Dizzy Whirls yearling, there are two other Pistorio-owned ones at the farm. Occupying: the spotlight is the brown colt by Golden* Bull — Dark Beauty who won the class at the Maryland Breeders Show for the colt foaled in Maryland in 1954, the produce of mares covered in Maryland in 1953, The other yearling is a bay- filly by The Rhymer — Canicula, she a full sister to the stakes winner and sire, Tiger. Canicula was sold last fall during the Maryland Fall Sales. . Three new mares,. have joined the group; Hyp Home Hypnotist H and Amphispirit Amphitheatre who are booked to Tuscany and Deb Party Piping Rock who goes to The Rhymer. * The mares who have foals this year number six and along with the previously mentioned Dizzy Whirl foal there are four foals by Tuscany;* a bay colt out of Evening Shot; a bay colt out of Flash Bulb; a bay colt out of Pruning and a chestnut colt out of Night Again. The first three mares have been .returned to the same sire but Night Agains foal was just nine days old and a definite decision about her booking this year had not been determined. At the track at the present time are Brazen Beauty whose next outing was to be the Colonial Handicap at Garden State on the 28th, Ellen Spy and the home-breds, Singing Beauty and Hidden Gold. The farm not only breeds for its own racing stable but also sells at the Maryland Fall Sales. Trainer B. Bond handles the racing string while George Thomas is the manager of the horse department and running the agricultural end of the farm is Phil Blair. Upon its completion, not only will the Pistorio Farm have all the necessities for a modern breeding farm but it will also be one of the outstanding farms in the countryside-in appearance.
