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ThistleDown By Fred Galiani Charley Brown Jr. Back on Ohio Turf Scene Among Mostx Colorful Personalities in Sport Arizona Rancher Noted Trainer of Animals THISTLEDOWN, North Randall, Ohio, June 5. One of the turfs most colorful persons is back racing imOhio this year, but unfortunately he did not bring any of his trained menagerie with him. Charley Brown Jr., the Scottsdale, Ariz., rancher, would make Clyde Beatty look like a claimer. After all, Beatty only trained cats, albeit they were big ones. But Brown, who is racing his own string of 11 horses here, at times has had Brahma bulls, baboons, black bears, spotted mules and every conceivable breed of horse jumping at his command over the years. At Delaware Parks pre-meeting press party, it was always a howl when Buddy Raines would bring out his performing pony and lead him up to the bar. The consternation registered by newsmen who turned around to see a horse right next to them drinking coke out of a bottle at the mahogany defied description. Imagine what pandemonium reigned in Phoenix, Ariz., when Brown would ride bareback into a saloon on a Brahma bull, have a drink and ride out again. Brown was born in 1905 in Columbus, Kansas, but raised in Oklahoma. His father was both a rancher and horseman and it merely followed the natural trend that young Charley would pursue the same bent. As a lad he was a racerider and was such a promising apprentice that he was signed by Col. E. R. Bradley and rode for him for a year and a half, theii later for Pat Knebelkamp. Brown still has a clipping of him as ah apprentice which appeared in the Daily Racing Form in days of practically daguertype. Weight as it does most riders, finally .caught up with Brown and he turned to performing as a clown in rodeos. For two decades he alternated as a rodeo star and a horse owner, going wherever he felt he could do best. As late as 1949 he was still doing his did tricks in the cowboy arena. One of his stars for years was his Brahma bull, which could leap over parked cars, like a steeplechaser. Accepts Reversal as Part of Sport Brown ran his War Marshal here in the Flmtstone Stakes Saturday, then sent the colt right back Monday. The ,horse finished first but was disqualified for bearing outand impeding a rival. Brown took it philosophically. "I knew all those fellows in the stewards stand," he said this morning at his barn at Randall Park, "and if they saw fit to disqualify, it meant the horse did something wrong in the race. I know if it were the other way around, Id get the same treatment. Its one of the things in racing." As a western horseman and from his handling of War Marshal, you know that Brown is of the school that believes in handling a horse rough. "Theres no sense pampering them," he commented. "Horses are like any animal and Ive trained all kinds. They dont know what you want them to do. You . have to show them. But once they know what you want of them, its easy. Training requires a lot of patience." "I am of the opinion" he continued, "that its better to race a horse than use him up training him. You work a horse hard in the morning. So what? You dont get anything for it and you run the same risk of him getting hurt as in a race. I put them in races. If your horses are fit, it wont hurt them and you might get part of the purse. Take War Marshal, I claimed him at Bay Meadows for ,000 and hes earned three times that for me. Last year I put him in a trailer Saturday, vanned him up from California to Seattle, ran him Sunday in a feature race which" he won, threw him back in the trailer that night and he was home Monday. We made the same type run from Portland to Vancouver and he won there, too. Hes a tough horse. He won on all types of tracks, mile or half mile and at any distance. But babying him or any horse isntgoing to make them any better." The last time Brown was in Ohio he won 56 races that summer and if he does half as well this year hell still be going wild. Meets the Press Wild West Style The weather beaten, round faced trainer is a gregarious, jolly sort of chap that one encounters from the West. One of his favorite tricks was to take his pet baboon, dress him up in boys clothing and take him down town to Phoenix restaurants. Browns exploits with animals made himthe subject for a display in Life Magazine some years back. In typical prankster fashion, Brown and his boys met the reporter, at the train, immediately handcuffed him, threw him in the back of a cart pulled by, a Brahma bull and went flying down the streets to the hotel. It took some time to get the reporter back into the mood for working. Browns technique for handling animals and his pixie like sense of humor lead to some weird experiences. One time at a fair in Oregon, Brown was performing with a trick spotted mule of his, and a catch-all race was carded. Just for a lark, Brown got on his mule, went to the gate with the field but broke from the outside. Well give you one guess who won. Which only leads to the conclusion that Browns mule had supersonic speed or that field of horses must have been one of the worst ever assembled. Brown is listed, naturally, as a trainer, and in his case, the word is ap- propriate. He can train any kind of animal and is a wizard with horses.
