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NASHVILLE GOSSIP. "Already the Nashville delegation of trainers are speculating upon the probable winner -of the Cumberland Park Derby," says a Nashville dispatch to the Enquirer of December 22. "William Gerst, the Nashville brewer, furnished the favorite for the last Derby as well as the winner, and it looks now that he will again furnish the favorite and the most likely winner in the good colt Brancas, the son of Knight of Ellerslie. Trainer McDan-iel will give the colt a special Derby preparation. Mr. McDaniel knows how to fit one, too, for he has captured more derbys than any trainer in America, he having captured the Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and the American Derby all in the same year. "From the barns of T. P. Hayes, George Hendrie, John Ferris, Frank Bruhns, John Walters, E. S. Gardner, Wood Clay, Church Allen and one or two other local trainers will come candidates for the Cumberland Derby, and the race should prove, as last year, one of the best races for horses of the three-year-old division. "The local association is a breeders organization, and all stakes, except the Derby, are named in honor of local breeding establishments around Nashville. The Belle Meade Stakes for two-year-old fillies, the Avondale Stakes for two-year-olds, the William Gerst Stakes for three-year-olds and upward, are fixtures, and nearly every stable on the grounds of the Cumberland Park Association would rather win one of these than a Derby. Aside from the rich stakes, the local association will have a liberal purse program, 00 and 00. "It is regretted that John Drake will declare out all his horses that are engaged in the Tennessee events. In the Tennessee Derby he has Van Esher, Ort Wells, Turtle and Rudabek, and in the Oaks Miss Veracity and Matronia. Trainer Wishard was in Nashville only a few days ago and gathered together all his horses and moved bag and baggage to Sheepshead Bay, where he will winter. Drake will race exclusively in the east next year." Fore and Aft, winner of the Cumberland Park Derby last season, has been turned out ! on the Gerst Farm, near Nashville, for several months. He will be taken up next week and put in active training. Gold Heels, the great son of The Bard, is training well. T. P. Hayes, who has" been so successful with cripples, thinks the horse will train certainly. He will ue entered extensively in the closing events in the west this season. His first start will be in the Citizens Handicap at Nashville. The school for stable boys and jockeys at Cumberland Park is in full swing and the school will be continued each evening until the opening of the spring meeting in April. Prof. T. C. Abbott has the boys under perfect control and they are very much interested. Classes are arranged from the primary to the eighth grade. This school is the first one that has been in existence on a racetrack. About thirty-five boys are enrolled. A steeplechase field will be built at Cumberland Park and cross-country races may be S- af eature of the coming meeting. There are quite a few jumpers at Cumberland Park. W They will also be entered in the stakes at Memphis and Louisville. I The stable of -R. F. Meyers, now located at I Dayton, Ohio, will be shipped to Nashville 1 the first of the month. I An effort Is being made to have starter Mars Cassidy to start at Nashville next spring.
