Mr. and Mrs. Vernon tardy and (wo of Iheir purchases from Ihe Aga Kahn
(for reputedly SI 65.000) — Ncmrod. II. and Karkeb. — (Photo by V. Nicholson.)
Southern Pines' Mayor L. T. Clark,
doing a little bragging at the Rotary
Club the other day. commented on the
Sandhills' growing importance as a
winter horse-training center, and
guessed. "There must be a million
dollars’ worth of horses here this sea¬
son."
Up spoke Lloyd M. Tate, veteran
horseman and show entrepreneur of
Pinchurst. who exclaimed. "A million!
Its more nearly $25 million. One or
two stables alone have got a million
dollars’ worth."
Lot of Horse
These are big figures to be throwing
around, even for fine horse flesh,
and this reporter decided to check up
on them. Some other leading horse folks
substantiated the Tate estimate, though
one conservative dropped the figure
by $5 million or so. But another said,
positively. "It's probably more."
No specific figures came out — own¬
ers are understandably reluctant to set
a public price tag on their equine hold¬
ings. It wasn't possible, either, to get
a count on the actual horse popula¬
tion; what with the coming and going,
buying and selling, it varies.
All agreed, though, that more new
people are bringing horses there today
than ever before; that every phase of
horse activity — and there are several,
some overlapping — has boomed in the
past two or three years; and that this
balmy little heaven in the North Caro¬
lina Sandhills has become the undis¬
puted winter horse-training capital of
the East.
The area includes Southern Pines.
Pinehurst and the immediate environs
$25,000,000
Bij VALERIE
of the resort towns, just six miles
apart.
The Specialists
The largest single group of horses,
and the most exclusive — since they are
specialists, and stick to their last — are
the nearly 300 trotters and pacers
training at the Pinehurst track. Four¬
teen stables are winter-quartered there,
handling the horses of some 75 own¬
ers in a dozen or so states. These highly
bred, highly trained animals represent
a terrific investment, which occasion¬
ally pays off. Pinchurst-trained horses
won almost $1,000,000 on the 1953
harness-race circuit. One of them. New¬
port's Dream, owned by Octave Blake
of South Plainfield. N. J.. and Pinc¬
hurst, won $94,333.33 in purses, by
far the largest amount ever won on
the harness track by a two-year-old.
Ihe public gets a taste of this ex¬
citing sport at harness-race matinees
held at Pinehurst on four successive
Sunday afternoons in April. Then,
horses, drivers, trainers, handlers and
all pack up and head northward to¬
ward the big-time.
Show Horses
Next largest group of horses in¬
cludes the hunters, jumpers and show-
horses — listed together here because
they often are interchangeable. These
are the amateurs of the horse world;
a good one can cost up to $10,000,
but money is not involved in what
they do. Frequently their owners prize
them above any amount that might
reasonably be offered.
Left. Newport’s Dream, top-money winning trotter of 1953. shown on the Pinehurst track with trainer Del. Cameron. — 'I
(ilemmer Photo.) Right, The Moore County Hounds, led by W. O. Moss of Southern Pines. — (Humphrey Photo.)
