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_ _ ™ i j : New England [ = By Teddy Cox ■ Fine Masscap Brochure Aids Press Corps Stotler, Trainer of Discovery, Seriously III Horsemen Find Stall Walkers Hard to Outwit SUFFOLK DOWNS, East Boston, Mass., June 24. — In these days pertinent, pressurized, personalized publicity operators, such as Edward J. Sullivan Jr. and _ _ Bobby Bobby Goldman Goldman here here at at Suffolk Suffolk _ Bobby Bobby Goldman Goldman here here at at Suffolk Suffolk Downs, the task of the turf journalists in gathering fifeures and information is made comparatively simple. When such a race as the 0,000 added Massachusetts Handicap, slated for decision here Wednesday, comes up, the • drum-beaters usually drop all of the necessary background information in your lily white mitt, and the rest is easy. There was a a day day when when you you were were forced forced to to ™ a a day day when when you you were were forced forced to to spend -the best part of a day combing through the voluminous charts and records in ah effort to locate a fresh angle. This time element has been reduced to a matter of minutes by Sullivan-Goldman and com-I pany through the employment of a fine brochure, with sll of the previous charts of the race. In any event, a quick glance shows that Calumet Farms great thoroughbred, Whirlaway, victor in 1942, was the last horse to capture the event with as much as 130 pounds on his back. In bold relief, it is also emphasized that many owners and trainers who participated in past renewals of the "Masscap" accepted crushing imposts in stride. Among the lead-packers were Fenelon, 130; Challedon, 130, at a time when he spotted no less than Eight Thirty the winner in 1940 four pounds; War Admiral, 130; Seabiscuit, 130, and then comes Discovery with 136 in 1936 and the same horse with 138 in the initial running of the event in 1935. News of a Veteran Horseman Along with receiving the brochure, we also received a rather sad letter from Baltimore, Md., this morning that concerns Joseph H. "Bud" Stotler, who developed and trained Discovery for Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt. Oddly enough, Stotler s 69th birthday comes up on Wednesday, when the Massachusetts is run, and it would be nice if he could be here to watch the fine band of thoroughbreds, none of whom, however, would have belonged on the same track with Discovery, compete. The chances are remote. Bud is a very sick man. He broke his back in an auto accident en route to Havre de Grace in April, 1939, and has never recovered. In recent years arthritis and complications have set in and during the last seven or eight months he has been bed-ridden and has not been out of his home at 27 Kenoak Road, Baltimore, for more than a year. Those of you who remember Discovery, who wTas the greatest weight packer and one of the best horses this world has ever known, and those of you who know and remember Stotlers magnificent training feats, would bring a ray of joy to the veteran if you could find time to drop him a note or a letter. Bud was the nations leading money-winning trainer ol 1935 and was second in number of victories to Hirsch Jacobs the same year. This was the year that | the Vanderbilt horses won the money title and in the course of - the season Bud saddled the winners of 37 stakes, which undoubtedly is a record for one barn in one year. ISven colossus Calumet, with Citation, Coal-town, Bewitch, Free America, and other good ones under the shed, couldnt match it. Bud trained for Mrs. Charles Minot Amory, Vanderbilts mother, before A. G. was presented the stable on this 21st birthday. For Vanderbilt it was Stotler who recommended the purchase of Discovery, and he also claimed Identify for ,500 for the master of Sagamore and won five stakes with him the following year. Valued Friend and Advisor During our days as a youngster, we spent many wonderful days at Sagamore, located in the lush sloping hills of the green Spring Valley of beautiful Maryland. It was Stotler who developed the farm, north of Baltimore, into one of the showplace nurseries of the nation. Bud Stotler was a valued friend and adviser to a young newspaperman who didnt know too much about thoroughbreds and breeding and racing and many of the observations and opinions that often creep into this column were passed along by Stotler. He is a great horseman, and we fervently hope that therell come a day when he will return to the shedrows and develop another Discovery, or a Balko, or Ladysman, or one like some of the other stalwarts that blazed a path of invincibility and glory when he was at the top of the heap. Over coffee at the track kitchen this morning, Bill VHinphy, always good for a story, for he at one time served with the chart crew of the Daily Racing Form; Joseph A. Leone, trainer of his wifes stout Rockcastle, and Al Donofrio, were discussing stall walkers among the thoroughbreds and the various methods of forestalling the nimble-witted thoroughbreds. "Ive got one in my barn that .beats everything Ive tried," said Hinphy. "He is old Brown "Bantam. Ive tried bells, tin cans filled with water, rubber tires, music, two by fours hanging on a chain and everything else, but he finds a way to beat me all. Now, when Continued on Page Forty NEW ENGLAND I By TEDDY COX Continued from Page Six I start getting him ready for a race, I tie his head to a chain and this allows him only freedom enough to get from the hayrack to the feedtub and water. "I had a horse likeBrown Bantam, too," related DonofrioT""and I thought I had finally arrived at the cure-all. An old-timer told me to put a couple of large mirrors in his stall, and I did. The horse looked at mirrors for several days and it seemed that he was enjoying the company of two other horses. However, it did not take him long to find out that he was looking at his own image, and once again he started building himself a race track around the stall." "Ive had luck ,with bales of hay and goats and chickens and other animals," reported Leone. "But horses, as you say, are mighty smart animals -and if they develop a bad habit, theyll usually outsmart their trainers in an attempt to pursue it." Evan Shipmans passing: was a stunning: shock. He was a beloved character of the turf and a marvelous, beautifully informed journalist. He was my friend, too, and when youre lucky enough to have a friend, or two, you cant very well spare them.
