Grasslands Downs

When an organization called the Southern Grasslands Hunt & Racing Foundation bought 15,000 acres of bluegrass land in Tennessee for its members to hunt and race over, it was announced that this was the biggest tract made safe for private chasing since William the Conqueror set aside New Forest (TIME, Jan. 29). Prime mover of the Grasslands project was Joseph Brown ("Joe") Thomas, 51, a hunting gentleman of great determination and self-expression. A major in the War, a mining man by profession, Mr. Thomas has not been happy hunting at Middleburg, Va. and on Long Island. His brusque manners have been interpreted as rudeness and even earned him requests not to ride out with other gentlemen and their ladies. But his friends like him as warmly as his critics flay him and in Tennessee he has found a hunting paradise--natural panel fences, no wire, springy turf--which he has organized efficiently with himself as Master of Fox Hounds. Last spring the Grasslands group got going with an inaugural steeplechase for a cup put up by the Duke of Beaufort. Last week they held their great promised event--a steeplechase modeled on the English Grand National at Aintree. The King of Spain had donated a cup for it and the Grasslands group added $5,000 prize money. Partly the race was a promotion scheme to attract other sportsmen to take out $10,000 memberships in the Grasslands Foundation. Partly it was a genuine attempt to give U. S. horses a test that would show what they might do at Aintree. Entered were three good English horses--St. Roy, Kilbairn, and Man-amber. Best of U. S. entries seemed to be Stephen Sanford's Mount Etna and Mrs. Maud K. Stevenson's Alligator, winner of many jumping races, including the Meadow Brook, Rose Tree challenge and the Maryland Hunt Cup. Round Peytona Brook and over five fences the bobbing horses--17 of them-- swung in a half-circle, and down the straightaway past the enclosure. The course was wet and the horses ran warily, in the heavy manner of jumpers, and slowly, for the finish in front of the club enclosure was four and a half miles away around the serpentine folds of the course. Grasslands Downs is not so hard as the famous course at Aintree, but hard enough; it has 14 fences, ditches, water-jumps, some of them with difficult drops to sloping ground, whereas at Aintree the drops are generally level. The first five fences behind them, the horses crossed the first ditch and had their tails to the stands. The horses going fast in front were falling at every jump. Julius Fleischmann's big chestnut gelding, Irish Lad, threw his jockey, staggered on a little farther, fell dead. At the tenth jump Red Gold fell on his head and hurt himself fatally. Eric Atterbury, codesigner of the course, was thrown from Kilbairn and had concussion of the brain. They were more than half way round before Alligator, who had been running ninth, began to move ahead. Shrewd Charles Plumb Jr., a goodlooking young Long Island horse dealer, was up on Alligator for Mrs. Stevenson. He had been letting his rivals eliminate and trample each other. Alligator, slow but steady, surefooted, was second coming into the last turn. Wav.erly Star was two lengths in front. Waverly Star rose for a jump, fell coming down. In a stride Alligator was at the jump, rose, fell the same way. For a second both horses were squirming, both jockeys on the ground. Then one horse got up and his man mounted him. It was Alligator and Plumb. Bally Yarn was second. Only other finisher among the 17 starters was Austin H. Niblack's Maitland.

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