“A Racetrack Dies As Bel Air Is Dismantled,” was the headline of the demise of the half-miler in Maryland.

Founded in 1937 by the late G. Ray Bryson, it held its final race meet in 1962. “To all of those dear old friends who helped provide so much sport and fun at Bel Air, The Maryland Horse again says ‘we wish you well,’ ” wrote the editor. Three half-mile tracks remained on the racing schedule: Marlboro, Timonium and Hagerstown.

 

Another new stallion announcement: *Endeavour II, sire of two divisional champions, has been moved to Larry MacPhail’s Glenangus Farms near Bel Air for the 1964 breeding season.

Owned by Mrs. M.E. “Liz” Tippett, *Endeavour II will stand for a $10,000 fee, live foal guaranteed.
The stallion stood the previous season at Tippett’s Llangollen Farm in Upperville, Va. The 22-year-old Argentine-bred was the sire of 1962 handicap champion Prove It and 1953 2-year-old champion Porterhouse.

Only two stallions to ever stand in the state had sired the earners of more than $3 million–*Endeavour II and Saggy, who also would stand that season at Glenangus.

 

Maryland-owned Kelso, selected as the nation’s Horse of the Year for an unprecedented fourth time, topped the list of the memorable accomplishments by local horsemen and horses in 1963 for writer Joe Hickey. “Kelso, foaled in Kentucky and raised in Delaware, calls Maryland ‘home.’ Well traveled though he is, the Woodstock Farm in Chesapeake City is his permanent mailing address.” The gelding owned by Allaire duPont was “now within shooting distance of the money-winning championship of the world,” added Hickey.

 

Another person of note was Marylander Frank Y. Whiteley Jr., who made the trainers’ top 30 list by money won. The native of Centreville was first licensed at Marlboro at 21, and early in 1963 trained the Hill-N-Dale Farm string that included stakes stars Bronze Babu and Polarity. He left that position in May to condition the Powhatan horses of Raymond Guest, their big horse being top 3-year-old prospect Chieftain.