Evening Star Newspaper, March 22, 1931, Page 77

T IS a far cry frcm the one-gallus country, of middle Tennessee to that painful plateau of Aintree, near Liver- pool, Englard, where the Grand Na- tional will be run next wéek over what has long been known among horsemen as the hardest jumping course in the world. But the single suspender, poplin shirt district south- of the Mason-Dixon line holds a new steeplechase course that provides the sportiest and the cruelest test for the jumping thorough- bred that has ever been devised. That course is Grasslands, where the idle moments and the money of millionaires have built the sternest test a blooded Horse could ask. Grasslands, with its 26 bitter barriers, is America’s challenge to the supremacy that for years has been unquestionably Aintree’s. Sport- ing men who have seen both courses call Grass- lands the harder. Middle Tennessee, the country betwzen Galla- tin and Nashville bordering on -the Andrew Jackson pike, is mildly scornful of the high- hatted huntess who pursue the fox in the moments between steeplechases at Grasslands. The neighborhood fails to grasp the crushing necessity of many of the high-toned rites. and ceremonies conducted religiously by the gentle- men of the hunt in the scarlet coats. .- But the country is just a little prideful, too, for Grasslands is a sporting hazard and. it is laid out in a country that looks back upon ancient sporting tradition. Grasslands is a terrific course. Whereas _horses fall at Aintree, they must.learn to turn somersaults at Grasslands, In the building of the jumps, 11,000 cedar trees were used, and these have .been pressed into unyielding baer- . riers, In 2 recert chase at Grasslands, only three horses cut of 17 entries succeeded in com- pleting the course. Two .of the horses were killed and several others missed death by inches. “One -jockey suffered a concussion. Another broke his collar bone. Every horse in the race gell at one jump or ancther. - Por Grasslands, while a copy of Aintree and as a test for American horses destined run in the Grand National, is made actually sterner stuff than the British original. Ain- is flat, but Grasslands is pifched over roll- ing country. The obstacles at Aintree are stiff, yet there is some “give” to them. A horse may strike a barrier and it will bend or yield a little. But at Grasslands when a horse’s majesty usually goes into a disastrous nose dive. Riders at Grasslands must know their aero- nautics. ON! of the important events at Grasslands s is the “King of Spain’s Cup.” The cas- ualties listed above were wrought during the little-heralded running of this fixture last De- cember, Despite the lack of ballyhoo for the -affair, 18,000 were gathered to take in the * thrills, many of them neighbor folk who came _to sneer, but remained to cheer. _ In the members’ enclosure were the John Hay (Jock) Whitneys and the Joseph Thomases “of New York; Col. Grant Morden of England, s member of Parliament; the du Ponts of Wil- .; Stephen (Laddie) Sanford and his sister and many others whose names are woven into the fabric of what Gallatin refers %o as high-falutin’ carryin’ on. Those who saw that first steeplechase will "mot forget it soon. Rains had enhanced the of the course and thrill followed thrill as THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, ‘D. C, MARCH 22, 1931 'America’s New Paradise for Horsemen At Grasslands, Near Nashville, Tenn., Ambitious Sportsmen Are Sponsoring the Largest and Hardest § teeplechase Course in the World——Fortunes Spent to Make It More Famous Than Aintree, in England. the 17 horses struggled with the difficult ob- stacles. . Sumner County’s constables were present and declared they’d be “‘goldarned if they'd let any- body go to bettin' on them nags,” but sly bookmakers moved among the crowds. As the horses went to the post for fhe 4};-mile grind, the favorite was Alligator, a 12-year-old - thor- oughbred carrying the blwe and yellow packet of Mrs. M. K. Stevenson of Roslyn, N. Y. Alli- gator’s chances were quoted at 7 to 5. The steeplechase is only another demonstra- tion of the idea that the race is not always to the swift. Horses would flash into the lead with swift sprints after taking the jumps, only to meet disaster further on. Horse after horse fell. Silver Down II, fencer of Willlam Wocdard of Lexington, grabbed an early lead and held it for a complete circuit of the course. Suddenly then Silver Dawn’s hoof caught in a barricade and he stood on.his head. Kilbairn, a horse_with a remarkable record in England for taking ths jumips safely, forgot %7 E: Alligator, the horse that was able to stagger to its feet and win the big Graes- lands event after the other horses had fallen at the jumps. The King of Spain’s Cup, which is the primary object of attention at Grass- lands, especially during the Bal Poudre preceding the big steeplechase event. that he was jumping when he reached what is called “the canal turn,” went in for diving, and when last seen was trying to master the in- tricacies of the Australian crawl Mount Etna found the burden of his rider onerous, so he shook the man off and continued along the trail, as full of running and jumping as & boy just out of school. At the eighteenth jump, where Silver Dawn had turned his somersault, Red Gold also went down. Red Gold was badly used up at this - X'he governor of Grasslands, John Gourlay, at right. Mrs. Gourlay at left, and w. . dohn F. Wall, in charge of the remount service, United States Army. point and took the count of nine before trying to struggle to his feet. The stout heart of Irish Lad, the entry of Julius Fleischmann of Cincinnati, stopped beat- ing after he plihged to earth exhausted. In the meantime, Alligator and Waverly Star had been following the others cautiously but steadily, well back of the pace, but no mistakes. On the last turn around the wheel only these two were left in competition, tmt what a battle they put up! Pounding along, almost in unison, they soared across the twenty-second, twenty-third snd twenty-fourth barriers. As they rose over the ~twenty-fifth, Alligator hit the fence first and came down with his rider. Waverly Star, seem- ingly in an effort to avoid tangling with All- gator, swerved in mid-aid and fell, too, heavily on his side. The two riders leaped to their feet and scrambled for their mounts, as there was but one more of those body-racking jumps to make _before they would come into the home stretch. Al'm some argument, Rider Charles Plumb, jr., coaxed "Alligator to his feet, and the game horse staggered on. But Waverly Star wanted no more. Rider:Skinner huffed and puffed, wheedled and wheezed, but to no purpose. Even a horse has to have wind to run; Waverly Star’s wind head left his body in a great gust when he fell flat on his side. He would be just as well satisfied to watch that sort of racing, and he did. Fron far back, y Yarn, a timber-topper, entered by Mrs, W. P. Stewart of Unionville, Pa., came sloshing along to take the place. The show horse, Maitland, owned by Austin H. Niblack of Chicago, finished the race only to be formal, and really as an afierthought. Mait- land had gone tumbling down 2t one of the jumps and his rider; with the horse’s bridle dangling over his arm, was standing near a rail fence giving some friends an account of how it all happened. Some- one came along with the news that the race. Maitland came breezing across the finish line a good eight minutes after Alligator had been escorted away $o his oats, The steeplechase is not ali that occupies the people who come to Grasslands. Millions have helped to transplant a bit of Merrie England to Tennessee, and bring to life in America the colorful legend of the British hunt, “tan-tivvy” and all. During the seascn at Grasslands, there is the spectacle of hounds breaking into full cry as sly Reynard scampers across .flelds and through forests. 7 » Social life at Grasslands has been painted with all the color that great wealth can buy and blend. At night there are balls in grand old Fairview Manor House agleam with candles. One of these events especially brings to Tennes- see what the society editors are pleased to call “the cream of the Nation’s wealth and beauty.” That is the Bal Poudre, an Old World recep- tion, carried out true to the pattern of masks and powdered wigs. - Among the names of soms of those who at- tend these affairs are many prominent in so- ciety in the North and East-—Admiral Cary T. Grayson, Col. R. R. McCormick of Chicago, the Stanley Reeves of Philadelphia, the Henry Vaughans and Charlie Birds of Boston. Formally the place is known as the Southern Grasslands Hunt and Racing Foundation. It spreads over 28 miles of Sumner County’s roll- ing terrain. Members are shareholders in the foundation, which crosses England’s sport with Southern tradition. Included in the original commitiee advising the founders were His Grace the Duke Beau- fort of England, Eugene V. Connett, William du Pont, jr.; Tommy Hitchcock, Joseph E. Widener, Jock Whitney, A. Henry Higginson, Judge Robert W. Bingham, Mason Houghlafd, ‘W. W. Justice, Dr. Archibald Randolph, the late Lord Stalbridge of England, Louis E. Stoddara, Windsor T. White and Henry G. Vaughan, all prominent in the realm of sport. GRABSLAN’DSmeonstnctedvlthmides to furnishing an acid test for American aspirants at Aintree. Paul Brown and Erie Atterbury copied Aintree in building the course. fered in the first big steeplechase. Norman Weeks met a similar inconvenience. Besides Irish Lad, one other horse found the race fatal, Red Gold dying two days afterward. The course itself is laid out in a natural amphitheater and is two miles in circumfer- ence, the horses starting in the center of the tract. The 26 obstacles are almost exactly like those at Aintree, except that they are made of sterner stuff. For fox hunting a better expanse of land could scarcely be selected. Gray foxes abound, and there are a number of the much-sought reds. Enough cover has been left for the pro- of the game, and not too much to hinder the chase. The first thing the builders did was te wire fences, the bane of fox hunt- When the building of Grasslands was begun, & charming, century-old building of the ram- bling Southern type was selected as the center of operations. It was given the name of Race Horse Tavern and serves now as & club house. It is flanked by spacious kennels, stables and cottages of the members, Nearby is the office of John Gourlay, governor of Grasslands, and final authority on all quastions arising on hunts, races and other matters. While the primary aim of the foundation is the furtherance of sports under ideal conditions, other pursuits indigenous to life in a sequestered section are not forgotten. The members own -great tracts -of land and much of it is well farmed. Thore are herds of cattle and flécks “of sheep. One of the members, Arnold Hanger, was the proud owner of a matched pair of white steers, and when one of them died Mr. Hanger traveled almost around the world before he found one to take its place. At least three times a week the members -gather at dawn to cast the Grasslands hounds and rout Sir Reynard. Tennessee looks with mild disdain upon such folderol as “whippers- in” and “master of the hounds,” but the neigh- borhood is gradually being won over to the thrills of the sport itself.