TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 3 9090 013 420 209 Webster Family Ub^^rj nf \/nfornq|-y iv^edicine Ciimmings Schoo! oi v. ary ivledicine at Tiiii o RACEALONG By, W. H. GOCHER PUBLISHED BY W. H. GOCHER, HARTFORD, CONN., 1930. Copyright By W. H. GocHER, 1930 INDEX Page Peter Manning's Outing . . 7 Guy Axworthy's Grandam 10 Robert Bonner's Horses . . 17 Charter Oak Park 22 Three Good Buds 29 A Sporting Wager 30 Grand Circuit in 1919 ... 32 Frank Bogash 39 Madden Exit 40 Peter Volo 43 Amateur Racing 50 Class in the Trotter 55 Training Methods 59 Grand Circuit in 1921 ... 63 Fading Families 67 Poughkeepsie Passed .... 71 Thomasville Shack 84 Leading Reinsmen in 1921 86 Turf Trial Balance 91 From Gay to Grave 92 Epsom in Winter 94 Syracuse Ten Thousand . . 97 Mysterious Depositor .... 100 Fashionable Families .... 104 New Speedport 109 Changes Expensive 113 Grand Circuit in 1925 . . .114 Two Bright Ones 119 Hidden Horses 120 Page Billy Barefoot 123 Striplin the Fairmaker . . 126 Chestnut Peter 128 Larry Jerome 130 Grand Circuit in 1927 ... 137 Trotting Teams 143 Van Ness 144 $25,000 Purse Winners ..150 Burdette Loomis 153 Bay State Circuit in 1927.155 Town Named for a Horse . 160 John Farris 162 Wilkes Brewer 163 Geers over the Border . . 165 Gift Horses ...167 Holdovers 171 Orange County Circuit in 1927 ..173 Spotlight Drivers .176 Building a Champion .... 180 Sulky Style 184 Bay State Circuit in 1928 . 188 Peter the Great and Bingen 191 Bishoped Trotters 193 Tipton the Builder 198 Easton ...'. 201 Winning Drivers in 1928.203 Florida Products 208 INDEX — Continued Page Why Grant won at Shiloh.211 Sires of Winners in 1928. .212 Chilcoot 215 Climbing the Ladder . . . .217 Under Four Flags 220 Winning Drivers in 1929. .223 Fading Mile Tracks 229 Worth While Winners . . .234 Baldy and Mig 239 Money Makers in 1927 ..242 Periscope 246 Making a Futurity Family .248 Grand Circuit in 1929 ..252 Racing Values 260 Sires of Winners in 1929 267 Preparing a Champion . . 271 Page Trotters in England 274 Making Mr. McElwyn . . .275 Occident Stake 280 Ye Good Old Times 282 Ringers 283 Auction Speed 313 Lost Race Track 316 Chance 318 Miss Woerner 320 Sulky Dusters 321 Palatial Stables .330 Murphy's Gallery 335 Jobbers 339 Four Forty-Niners 355 Philadelphia Tracks 358 Brusie's First Trip 361 Derby Day 372 Five Great Unknowns ..377 ILLUSTRATIONS W. H. Gocher Frontispiece J. M. Chase, Alta McDonald and Billy Andrews at Syracuse in 1908 162 Highland Scott Shoe 252 St. Julien Shoe 272 RACE ALONG » PETER MANNING'S OUTING In 1929 after Peter Manning had been let down for the winter at the Hanover Shoe Farms, Law- rence Sheppard and Tom Berry decided to turn him out in a paddock. From the days when he was a three-year-old back in 1919 the champion trotter of the world had never been turned loose except in a box stall. Romps over green fields were unknown to the gelding which had thrilled thousands by his flights of speed, first in races as a four-year-old and later in his trips against time at one and two miles over all kinds of tracks and under all sorts of con- ditions. A pleasant day was selected for Peter Manning's outing. When he was led into the paddock and his halter removed the champion stood for a moment and made a survey of the surrounding fields in which brood mares and colts were grazing. This was fol- lowed by a few snorts and a couple of bounds into the air like a broncho in a rodeo. He then lashed out with his hind feet as if he were trying to kick a fly off the cap of the man who had him in charge. Fortunately he was on the outside of the gate look- ing at the antics of his pet. When Peter Manning landed on all fours every muscle in his body was tense. He quivered like a horse ready for a supreme effort. The boss trotter was at liberty. He did not know what to do with his freedom. Finally after cropping a few mouthfuls of grass he started for a trip around 8 RACEALONG the paddock. Gradually the rate of speed increased until he was trotting at top speed with his mane waving and tail floating like a flag behind him. With the perfect gate that carried him faster than any other trotter had ever shown in harness the big gelding whirled around the paddock. As there was no hand to restrain him or driver to say whoa he continued until he felt that he had enough of that sort of thing for one day. Stopping he put his head over the fence toward a paddock where Guy McKin- ney was grazing and blew out like a locomotive under full steam standing at a station. There Peter Man- ning, stood bare-footed and as free from restraint as when he followed his dam in W. M. Wright's pas- ture at Libertyville, 111., in 1916. This was followed by a few cat jumps like a boy at play. Finally Peter started off to graze, stopping from time to time to snap up his head as if he were looking for a starter to give him the word, and whinnied to all creation trumpeting the fact that he was free. Within an hour Peter Manning discarded this diversion. After he had eaten all of the grass he wanted and had a drink from a pail with his name and record of 1 :56% painted on it the champion trot- ter stood in a corner of the paddock where he kept the flies on the wing by switching his tail and stamp- ing his feet. By that time liberty was an every day affair. Later while cruising about the large paddock Peter Manning found a depression in which there was a puddle of water from rain that had fallen the pre- RACEALONG 9 ceding day. After sampling it he pawed the turf until it was broken and some of the earth mixed with the water making it look like a delightful spot for a mud wallow. Down Peter went for a roll which was accompanied by a series of grunts showing his satisfaction with this new feature on his liberty day ticket. Rolling on one side until it was soaked with the water and stained by the grass and soil Peter turned over after a number of attempts and gave the other side nature's treatment for animal comfort in the open. When he finally bounded to his feet Peter Man- ning was a sight. His light bay coat from his shoul- ders to his tail was wet and marked with grass and earth stains. One-half of his mane was on the wrong side of his neck while a little stream of water trickled from his thoroughly soaked tail. Peter was happy. He had found protection from the flies which bite sharply during the autumn days. As the sun began to dip towards the horizon the groom came to the paddock gate with a halter in his hand to lead Peter back to his stall. Peter de- cided that he would not be taken up. For half an hour he would either come up to the man or let him approach but when he made a move to put on his halter Peter bounded with a snort to the other side of the paddock. When coaxing and offers of sugar did not get any result the matter was re- ported to Lawrence Sheppard. He told the man to let him remain in the paddock. No more attention was paid to Peter Manning 10 RACEALONG until the groom was getting ready to turn in for the night. Deciding that it was rather rough to leave Peter out in the cold he took the halter and walked over to the paddock. As he approached the gate he saw the champion waiting for him. When he opened it the big gelding after rubbing his nose against his shoulder placed his head in position for the halter and walked to his stall. As he was released Peter Manning turned around a few times on the bedding and flopped for a roll in the straw. This was followed by a shake to get the loose earth out of his coat and a stretch. After tak- ing a drink Peter turned towards his feed box in which there was a portion of broken oats and bran. While he was eating it the farm lights went out and as his groom patted him on the neck with a friendly good night the night watchman passed by with his flashlight. Peter Manning's outing was over. GUY AXWORTHY'S GRANDAM Guy Axworthy is the leading sire of trotters. In 1929 his service fee was $2,000. The speed and rac- ing qualities of his get placed him at the top. For several years his get dominated the colt stakes. In 1929 he led in the aged events with Full Worthy, High Noon, and Gaylworthy, while his son Mr. McEl- wyn was represented in the two-year-old events by Main McElwyn. The returns shows that Guy Ax- worthy has sired four two-minute trotters, one RACEALONG 11 hundred 2:10 performers, and four hundred with records of 2:30 or better. Notwithstanding this flood of speed no steps were taken to trace the remote crosses in Guy Axworthy's pedigree and connect his inheritance with the racing quahties of his get. Peter the Great, the super sire of his day, had a bogus cross in his pedigree almost to the end of his career. In the case of Guy Ax- worthy his maternal line stopped with a doubt as to the sire of his grandam. Guy Axworthy was foaled in 1902. He was bred by John H. Shults and registered as a bay colt by Axworthy, dam Lillian Wilkes by Guy Wilkes, grandam Flora said to be by Langford, a son of Wilhamson's Belmont. If anybody felt disposed to make further inquiry the records showed that his dam Lillian Wilkes trotted in 2:17% and that his grandam was registered as Flora, pacer, -m, foaled 186-, said to be by Langford, son of Williamson's Belmont. Bred by California, owned by Wil- liam Corbett, San Mateo Farm, San Mateo, Cal. Neither the color, age or breeder of Flora appears in the Register. Without these the name of the alleged sire should have been dropped. A list of Flora's foals up to 1884 appears under her name. One of them, Joe Arthurton, retired with a trotting record of 2:201/2- Lillian Wilkes was foaled in 1886. After being raced in California she was consigned to a New York sale. John H. Shults purchased her. He bred a num- ber of foals from her. All of them disappeared 12 RACEALONG except Guy Thistle, Lilly Stranger, Lilworthy, and Guy Axworthy. Guy Thistle made a pacing record of 2:18l^ and sired Loota 2:081/4. Lilly Stranger trotted in 2:15i4. She produced the trotters T. S. Bingen 2:18%, Toshia Cochato 2:19l^, and the pacer Ditt Will 2:141/4. Lilworthy was a sister of Guy Axworthy. She produced the champion yearling pacer Frank Perry 2:15, Worthy Cord 2:16l^, and the trotter Lil Cord 2 :26. Guy Axworthy was the last foal Lillian Wilkes dropped at Shultshurst. He made a four-year-old race record of 2:08%. John H. Shults considered Guy Axworthy and Olcott Axworthy the best horses bred at his farm. Olcott Axworthy went blind and was sold. Guy Axworthy remained at Shultshurst until the trotters were disposed of. For a time Guy Axworthy had an uncertain career. Senator Bailey took him to Lexington where he got Ante Guy 2:031/4. Thd next trip to the auctions put him in New Jersey where he got Lee Axworthy l:58l^. From there he went to Poughkeepsie where he sired Arion Guy 1 :59i/2. The next transfer was to Walnut Hall Farm, where he sired Mr. McElwyn l:59l^ and Guy McKinney 1:58%. In June, 1929, when I was in California, C. A. Harrison told me that he had talked with Asa V. Mendenhall in reference to the breeding of Flora, the grandam of Guy Axworthy. He put me in com- munication with Mr. Mendenhall, who wrote the RACEALONG 13 following in reference to Flora and his father who bred her. **My father William M. Mendenhall was bom at Xenia, Ohio, April 22, 1823. His father WilHam Mendenhall was born in Tennessee in 1794 and served in the War of 1812, being with Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. "When my father was seven years old his parents moved to Michigan. In 1845 he went to Chicago, which was then a village, and started with nine com- panions for the Pacific Coast. They arrived at Fort Sutter, which still stands in the center of Sacra- mento, on Christmas Eve. "The Spaniards were then in control of California and were so unfriendly to Americans that none of them were allowed to travel without a passport. Finally a proclamation was issued that all Americans must leave California. My father with others defied Castro's order. He was also one of the twenty-four young men who took Fort Sonoma without firing a gun. In 1846 the Bear flag was raised. Later on William M. Mendenhall was one of the one hundred and seventy men who marched to San Diego under John C. Fremont and wrested the state from Mexico. "After these troubles were over my father in 1847 married Miss Mary Allen who had the previous year crossed the plains with her parents. They were the first American couple to be married south of the Sac- ramento River. He located in Sant^ Clara County and began raising stock. In 1853 he sold out and moved to Contra Costa County, where he established 14 RACEALONG a stock ranch. In 1868 he moved to Almeda County and purchased 1200 acres and in 1869 laid out the town of Livermore. My father died at the age of eighty-eight years at Oakland, November 20, 1911, being the last survivor of the party that wrested Fort Sonoma from Mexico. "My father started breeding horses in California in 1849 and continued until the last few years of his life. For a number of years my uncle, Martin Mendenhall, was in partnership with him. On Au- gust 1, 1866, there was foaled on the ranch a filly by General Taylor out of Dora by Red Bill. She was named Pet. This filly was injured as a yearling and bred as a two-year-old to Langford. She produced Flora. The following year Pet produced a filly named Puss. She was a sister to Flora. 'In 1868 my father and uncle Martin Mendenhall leased Langford with an option to purchase him. They kept him for two seasons and after returning Langford to his owner purchased Bell Alta. He re- mained on the ranch until he died. It was through Governor Stanford and my father's friendship for him that the option was secured. I have forgotten how many outside mares were bred to Langford but I was told by my father that Langford was led be- hind a breaking cart to Milpitas and that mares from different points met him there. "In the latter part of 1875 Flora and her sister Puss were taken over by William Corbitt from my uncle's ranch in Livermore, presumably on a share proposition. After Corbitt had bred them three or RACEALONG 15 four years my uncle Martin Mendenhall and Corbitt had a misunderstanding over the deal. In the mix up Corbitt retained Flora and my uncle took Puss. "Corbitt never thought much of Flora until after Lillian Wilkes appeared and he and my uncle were never friendly after their misunderstanding. In fact Corbitt thought so little of Flora that he wanted to give her away. She was balky when driven single. "A couple of years before Lillian Wilkes was foaled Corbitt tried to put her in the 2 :30 list. She got sore from training as Corbitt was a severe man on horses. She went to pacing and was said to have 2:20 speed. Finally Flora took one of her balky streaks, reared, fell over backwards, and ran away. Before being caught she ran the end of a shaft into her breast from which she never recovered. Corbitt ordered her shot but after he got over his passion he decided on account of the speed she had shown to breed her again. He mated her with Guy Wilkes and got Lillian Wilkes, the dam of Guy Axworthy. Flora died a few weeks after Lillian Wilkes was foaled. "My uncle purchased a mate for Puss when she was brought back from Corbitt's. She was by Spread Eagle. They matched perfectly. When he was prac- tically going out of business he sold Puss and her mate to Count Valensin." As stated by Mr. Mendenhall Flora was by Lang- ford, a son of Williamson's Belmont, her dam being Pet. Pet was foaled in 1866. She was by General Tay- lor, the horse that in 1857 made the thirty mile trot- 16 RACEALONG ting record to harness at San Francisco, time 1 hour, 47 minutes, 59 seconds. Pet's dam was Dora by Red Bill, sire of the pacer Longfellow. He made a record of 2:191/4 at Sacra- mento, May 10, 1872. He also paced three miles to wagon at Sacramento, September 7, 1869, in 7:53, the world's record for that distance, and on Decem- ber 31, 1869, paced four miles in 10:421/2 at San Francisco. Dora's dam was a Morgan Messenger mare. General Taylor, the sire of Pet, was a gray horse foaled 1847. He was by the Morse Horse, sire of Alexander's Norman whose name appears in the pedigree of Bingen. His dam was the trotting mare Flora which was taken from Long Island to Lansing- burg, N. Y., by Morris Van Buskirk and afterwards sold to Mr. Eyclesheimer of Pittstown, N. Y. Her breeding was not traced. General Taylor was bred by Piatt, John and Peter Eyclesheimer. He was taken to Janesville, Wis., in 1850 by John and Peter Eyclesheimer and from there to California in 1854. This horse was raced at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1852 and won in 2:53. He made a record of 2:48 at De- troit that year. General Taylor was raced in Cali- fornia from 1855 to 1866 and was in the stud in that state. None of his get made records but mares by him produced a number of performers, the fastest being Wells Fargo 2:18iA, Lee 2:183/^, Nerea 2:231/2 and Lady Blanchard 2:261/4. He also got the stallions Captain Hanford and Eugene Casserly as well as the dams of Whippleton and Western, this RACEALONG 17 pair and Lady Blanchard being out of Lady Living- stone. When General Taylor made his thirty mile record he was started in a $4,000 match against the time made by Rattler, 1 hour, 52 minutes, 22 seconds. He beat it 4 minutes, 22 seconds. This record was made at San Francisco, February 21, 1857. Also on February 6, 1857, General Taylor defeated New York over the same course at ten miles to wagon in 29:411/2 for $2,500. The report of Asa V. Mendenhall makes Guy Ax- worthy's pedigree read as follows : Bay horse, foaled 1902 by Axworthy, dam Lillian Wilkes by Guy Wilkes, second dam Flora by Langford, son of Wil- liamson's Belmont, third dam Pet by General Tay- lor, son of Morse Horse, fourth dam Dora by Red Bill, sire of Longfellow 2:19l^ pacing. ROBERT BONNER'S HORSES From 1860 to 1899 Robert Bonner was a conspicu- ous figure in the horse world. Peerless by Seely's American Star was one of his first selections. At that time he also owned Lady Palmer and Flatbush Maid. In 1862 Mr. Bonner drove this pair two miles in 5:011/2- After purchasing Dexter he also made a remark- able exhibition by driving him in 2 :21 to wagon. At that time the world's record to harness was 2:171/4. W. H. Vanderbilt sold Maud S. to Robert Bonner because some one was always challenging him to 18 RACi^ALONG race her. This reached the Hmit when W. H. Craw- ford was managing Jay Eye See for J. I. Case. Something of another kind developed in 1884 when it became apparent that Jay Eye See had a chance to reduce the record. Robert Bonner put Maud S. in training. On August 1, Jay Eye See cut the record to 2:10 at Providence. The following day Maud S. trotted in 2:09% at Cleveland. Later in the season she trotted in 2:09l^ at Lexington and finally reached her hmit of 2:08% at Cleveland on July 30, 1885. Mr. Bonner was always very touchy on the subject of racing or starting his horses for records. In 1889 he showed his resentment by the following letter to the New York World: New York, November 11, 1889. As your reporter called at my residence last eve- ning to see if there is anything new in the horse world, it has occurred to me to give you something over my signature. I have just read in the California Breeder & Sportsman a not very courteous article in which the editor says ''who has ever heard of a horse training after Mr. Bonner purchased him" and then suggests that a beginning be made at my farm for information in that line. Perhaps it might interest the public if I begin at my farm to state that I have bred or raised a yearling — the only yearling I ever had in harness — that trotted a quarter in 44 sec- onds; a two-year-old that trotted at a 2:31 gait; a three-year-old that trotted at a 2:16 gait; a four- year-old that trotted at a 2:16 gait; a four-year-old RACEALONG 19 that trotted a full mile in 2:221/4 and an aged horse (Majolica) that has a public record of 2:15. Besides these I have raised a number of horses that have trotted in the neighborhood of 2:30. But as the Breeder and Sportsman wants to know about those that have "trained on" since they came into my pos- session I will try and gratify him. In the first place I will give him a shining exam- ple. When Maud S. came into my possession she was lame in her off hind leg. She had been lame in it so long that Bair, her old trainer, said *'No veterinary can stop that lameness." After she was shod under my direction I trained her that year to beat her record. She trotted in 2:091/4. She trained on the following year not merely to beat the world, but to beat herself, by trotting in 2:08%. Rarus came into my possession with a record of 2:131/4- Afterwards I timed him in 2:111/2. Edwin Forrest just before I bought him trotted in 2 : 141/4 in an exhibition at Hartford. Since I owned him he trotted in 2:11%. Music when I bought her had a record of 2:221/2. She trotted for me in 2:18%. May Bird had a record of 2:21. Since I owned her she has trotted in 2:181/4. Keen Jim had a record of 2:19, but after I bought him I timed him in 2:14l^. Molsey had a record of 2:21%. She reduced her time to 2:18l^. John Taylor had a record of 2:25, and he trotted for me in 2:19%. 20 RACEALONG Wellesley Boy with a record of 2:26 reduced it to 2:1914. Pocahontas for whom I gave more money than any other horse ever purchased except Maud S. and Sunol had a record of 2:36 when I bought her. I have timed her since in 2:16%. Startle for whom I paid $20,000 when he was a three-year-old had a record of 2 :36. He "trained on" with only my road driving to trot publicly in 2:19% without having been even one night out of my city stable. He was the first horse to turn Fleetwood track in 2:19. Maud Macey had a record of 2:27% when I bought her. She was the first horse to trot in 2:17 on the exercising track on my farrii. She has since trotted in 2:16%. Manetta when I bought her had trotted in 2:42 for Mr. Alexander of Kentucky. John Murphy after- wards drove her in 2:16^4 on my track. Lucy Cuyler had trotted for Col. West of Ken- tucky in 2:29 when I bought her. Subsequently she was timed in 2:151/2 to wagon on my track, half a mile to a top wagon in 1:05, the fastest time ever made in that way of going. I could give many instances of horses training while in my possession, but I will content myself with one more. In 1860 I bought from Mr. Johnson, the Baltimore banker, the well known mare Peerless. At that time she trotted a mile in 2:28 to wagon and was being trained by the great driver, Hiram Woodruff. I took RACEALONG 21 her home and drove her on the road for about two years. When I sent her back to Mr. Woodruff to train. One day he told the well known Wall Street broker William Parks and myself that he could drive her to beat the best time that had ever been made by any horse to wagon. He named the following Saturday. On that day Mr. Parks and two other gentlemen went into the judges' stand and timed Peerless a mile to wagon in 2:2314, which by the way was the fastest mile Hiram Woodruff was ever timed in his life, either in public or private behind a trotting horse. Robert Bonner. All of the above trials were over the Bonner farm three-quarter mile track at Tarrytown, N. Y., except the performances of Maud S., Peerless, Lucy Cuyler and Startle. Pocahontas was by Ethan Allen. David Bonner told me that she had more speed than Dexter. He also told his brother and Robert saw that David did not drive her any more. Rarus held the record when purchased. He was not a clever road horse. May Bird was the fastest trotter got by George Wilkes before he was shipped to Kentucky. She was raced from 1874 to 1877 and won twenty-four races, two of which were to wagon and two to saddle. In the latter she defeated Tanner Boy in 2:1934. Keene Jim placed the four-yearrold record at 2:24l^ in 1877. Mr. Bonner purchased him. He also bought Lady Stout when she trotted in 2:29 in 1874. 22 RACEALONG She was the first three-year-old to beat 2:30. Startle was the fastest stallion by Hambletonian. He had a limited opportunity in the stud. Startle sired Instant 2:14l^ and Majolica which raced to a record of 2:15 while owned by Nathan Straus. Maud Macey was purchased after winning four races in Kentucky in 1875. She could trot very fast. Manetta was by Woodford Mambrino. She was nev- er started in public. Lucy Cuyler was foaled in 1872. She was by Cuy- ler and was one of the fastest trotters of her day. Her half-mile in 1 :05 to wagon was trotted over Fleetwood Park. Robert Bonner started the era of high prices for road horses by paying $35,000 for Dexter, $36,000 for Pocahontas, $33,000 for Rarus, $40,000 for Maud S., and $41,000 for Sunol. He was also an expert on shoeing the trotter. He and Dr. Roberge published a standard work on this subject. CHARTER OAK PARK Charter Oak Park was opened in 1874. Burdette Loomis was one of the leaders who put the course on the map of the racing world. In 1871 Charles M. Pond told him that he had a charter to establish a fair and said that if he could find a plot of ground for a mile track he would complete the organization. Loomis selected the site and planned the course. He also supervised the planting of the trees which give Charter Oak Park such a beautiful setting. RACEALONG 23 The first race meeting at Charter Oak Park was held in 1874. In 1875 the association selected the same dates as Springfield. Both had light fields as fast trotters were not very numerous in those days while pacers had not, as yet, become a part of an association's race programme. In 1876 Hartford joined the Grand Circuit. At that time it was called the Central Trotting Circuit. This organization was started in 1873 with four members. They were Cleveland, Buffalo, Utica and Springfield. It was known as the Quadrilateral Trot- ting Combination. In 1875 Rochester and Pough- keepsie were added. Hartford, as has been stated, was admitted in 1876. The next new member was Pittsburgh. It joined in 1881. Providence was added in 1883 and Albany the following year. The first Grand Circuit meeting at Hartford was made memorable by the struggle between Smuggler and Goldsmith Maid in the free for all trot. Smuggler won the first two heats. In one of them he reduced the stalHon record to 2:151/4. The third heat was declared a dead heat between Smuggler and Gold- smith Maid. Goldsmith Maid then went on and won the race. In 1878 Rarus, who had been a winner at the three preceding Hartford meetings, appeared at Charter Oak Park and trotted in 2:1314. This was within a quarter of a second of the world's record which he made at Buffalo. Another engagement- was made for Rarus the following year. When the day arrived all of the followers of the trotters in New England were 24 RACEALONG at Charter Oak Park. They were disappointed when it was announced that Rarus would not start as he had been sold that morning for $33,000. The Charter Oak Park management met the breach of contract by expelling the horse and his former owner. The following day it was learned that Rarus was purchased for Robert Bonner, who after learning the printing trade in the office of the Hartford Cour- ant went to New York where he amassed a fortune publishing the New York Ledger. When Mr. Bon- ner's health was impaired by constant work his doc- tor advised him to purchase a pair of horses. As Mr. Bonner drove over the New York roads he saw Commodore Vanderbilt and others brush by with their fast trotters. This prompted him to change the steady going members of his stable for trotters and it was not long before he led the road drivers with the pair Lady Palmer and Flatbush Maid which in 1862 trotted two miles to wagon in 5:011/2- They were followed by single hitches, the fastest being Peerless and the Auburn Horse. In 1867 when Dex- ter reduced the world's record for trotters to 2:1714 he also became a member of the Bonner stable. As Robert Bonner could not purchase Goldsmith Maid from Henry N. Smith he waited until Rarus reduced her world's record from 2:14 to 2:131/4, only to have him expelled. Later on the horse was rein- stated as Mr. Bonner did not race his horses. Rarus proved a disappointment as a road horse although he showed faster than his record over the three-quar- ter mile track at Bonner Farm at Tarrytown, N. Y. RACEALONG 25 In the interval Charter Oak Park continued on its way, giving two meetings a year, one in June and the other in the Grand Circuit, the dates usually be- ing in August. Finally in 1883 Burdette Loomis de- cided that Hartford should have something different. He submitted a plan for a $10,000 purse for 2:20 trotters. The event was named the Charter Oak Purse. The first proved one of the greatest contests ever seen at the old course. John Goldsmith won with Director from a large field in which Fanny Witherspoon and Wilson were the leaders. Phallas was also a starter in the event. He was unplaced. The following year he reduced Smuggler's stalhon record of 2 : 151/4 made at Hartford in 1876 to 2:133/4. The series of contests for the Charter Oak Purse presents one of the most brilliant chapters in turf history. Harry Wilkes, the first leader of the Wilkes' family, won the event in 1884. Joe Davis secured the honors in 1885. The following year Oliver K., driven by his owner George Forbes, led the procession. He was owned in Cleveland which was also the home of Patron, the winner in 1887. This horse deserves special mention as he was the first Kentucky bred three-year-old trotter to beat 2 :20. Spofford won in 1888 with John Turner in the sulky. In 1889 Alcryon defeated Nelson. The next two renewals went to C. J. Hamlin wrth Prince Re- gent and Nightingale, both of which were by Mam- brino King and bred at the Village Farm. Another 26 RACEALONG Nightingale won in 1892, defeating the Village Farm trotter Globe. This was the year that the bike sulky appeared. In 1893 the Charter Oak Park meeting was trans- ferred to Fleetwood Park, New York. The $10,000 purse was on the programme as usual. It was won by Harietta. Ralph Wilkes was the winner in 1894, after which the park was closed until it was pur- chased by Jones and Welch. In the early nineties when T. 0. King was secre- tary of Charter Oak Park he planned a series of colt races in the form of futurities. When they matured they were very valuable, one of the first being won by Belleflower. When the park was closed these events were cancelled after the ones planned for 1895 were raced. Other associations saw the value of these fixtures, one of the first to exploit them being the Kentucky Trotting Horse Breeders' Association of Lexington, Ky. In other words, the innovation made at Hartford was the first step towards the futurities which are now recognized as the most important feature in connection with light harness racing. In 1898 when Jones and Welch revived the Grand Circuit meetings at Charter Oak Park they renewed the $10,000 purse. The first winners under the new management were John Nolan, Lord Vincent, Eleata, Anzella, Billy Buck, and Tiverton. The event won by the last named was a thriller. Sweet Marie was the favorite. As she could not get through the field in the first heat went to Doctor Strong. By that time RACEALONG 27 Andrews had Tiverton ready and won. In 1905 Oscar Ames won the Charter Oak Purse with Angiola. This was the race in which Sadie Mac dropped dead. Strange to relate this was the only public race she ever lost, one of her first victories being in a three-year-old trot at Hartford in 1903 when she defeated Ethel's Pride. When Sadie Mac died she was owned by Miss Kath- erine L. Wilks. The following year the honors in the Charter Oak Purse went to another lady, the winner Nutboy being owned by Miss Lotta Crabtree. The little bay gelding Wilkes Heart won the Charter Oak Purse in 1907. This meeting was almost stopped by rain, the only races that week being decided Satur- day. In 1908 the Hartford franchise for the Grand Circuit passed to the Connecticut Fair. At its inau- gural meeting Hamburg Belle won the Charter Oak Purse in the three fastest heats on record up to that date. Her time was 2:05, 2:06, 2.04%. Locust Jack finished second. The Harvester was the winner the following year. He lost a heat to Bob Douglass. The next winners were General H., the plough horse R. T. C. Baden, Tenara, Sienna, later a famous brood mare, Peter Scott, and St. Frisco. The contest between the last named and Mabel Trask recalled the race between Goldsmith Maid and Smuggler. In this race which was trotted in 1916 Mabel Trask won the first two heats. The third was declared dead after which St. Frisco won the next three heats and race. The other winners were Ima Jay, Chilcoot, Marion- 28 RACEALONG dale, Peter Manning, the world's champion trotter, Grayworthy, Peter the Brewer, Pearl Benboe, and Pluto Watts. The Connecticut Fair dropped out of the Grand Circuit in 1925. In 1929 the Grand Circuit Club swung into line with a meeting at Charter Oak Park. It was made memorable by the three-year-old colt Valomite winning this Charter Oak Purse from aged horses in 2:03l^. Hartford never made a bid for world's records. It was always the aim of the management to supply its patrons with closely contested races. If any of the winners had speed enough to lower the records the showing added to the quality of the entertainment. Smuggler did that in 1876 when he trotted in 2:15l^ and Little Brown Jug in 1883 when he reduced the world's record for pacers to 2:11%. Of the other old time champions Elaine in 1877 reduced the three- year-old record for trotters to 2:28 and the same year A. H. Dore cut the four-year-old record to 2:251/2 with Galatea. In 1878 Elaine started again at Charter Oak Park. She made a new four-year-old record of 2:24%. At that time she was owned by Senator Stanford. He took her to his Palo Alto Farm in California. In 1880 St. Julien made a new world's record over Charter Oak Park. He trotted in 2:111/4. It does not sound fast now but it was a wonderful performance at that time. When the flood of new records was started after the appearance of the bike sulky in 1892 Hartford had its quota of fast miles. In 1898 Star Pointer RACEALONG 29 paced Charter Oak Park in 2:001/2- That stood as the track record until 1916 when Directum I. cut it to 1:58%. In 1900 Cresceus reduced the stallion rec- ord for trotters to 2:04% at Hartford and in 1910 C. K. Billings drove Uhlan a mile to wagon in 2 :01%. Almost all of the other champions appeared from time to time at Charter Oak Park, one of the last being Peter Manning in 1922 when he placed the track record for trotters at 1:59%. THREE GOOD BUDS Walter Cox tells a clever story illustrating the unlooked for places that racing material is apt to come from. Years ago he received a letter from someone in the south telling him of a clever pacing gelding that was being trained by a young man in Kentucky. He was unable to find the town where the young man lived, on the map, but as the horse looked good to him on paper he gave Frank Monahan some money and told him to go and find it and at the same time to purchase the horse if he was as repre- sented. In due time Monahan returned with the horse, which was eventually sold to Frank Whit- comb of Springfield, Mass., and made a record of 2:07l^ under the name of B. M. over the half-mile track at Brockton, Mass. Also while Monahan was at the Kentucky town he learned that the same young man had two more pacers but, as they were not on his order slip, he passed them by. They were Verlie Patchen 2:021/2 and Lillian T. 2:023^. 30 RACEALONG A SPORTING WAGER Almost everybody has seen a sporting wager. The most unusual that crossed my line of vision was a game of billiards for two stallions, one of which cost $28,000 at public auction. This occurred in the lat- ter part of the eighties when I was connected with a newspaper in New York. At that time I had a regular assignment to go to Parkville Farm Saturday to pick up a few items of news in connection with the horses which John H. Shults had on his farm located in that suburb. In those days a trip from New York to Parkville was a very fair journey. After crossing Brooklyn Bridge in a cable car it was necessary to take a surface car to Greenwood Cemetery and from that point travel on the Coney Island railroad which stopped at Park- ville and a few other points. On the day the sporting wager was made I found W. H. Wilson of Cynthiana, Kentucky, at Parkville Farm. At that time he was one of the leading breed- ers, his establishment being Abdallah Park. Its pro- prietor was also usually referred to as Cynthiana Wilson to distinguish him from another branch of the Wilson family located at Rushville, Ind., where its members made horse history with the get of Blue Bull. Kentucky owed W. H. Wilson a debt of gratitude so far as the horse interests were concerned as he took George Wilkes to that state while he also led the way towards organizing the Kentucky Trotting RACEALONG 31 Horse Breeders' Association, which is still doing business at Lexington. When W. H. Wilson started Abdallah Park he put Indianapolis, Pacing Abdallah and Smuggler in the stud. When they failed he purchased Simmons, a brother to Rosa Wilkes, from some one in Pennsyl- vania and went to California where he secured Sul- tan. At that time Sultan was a leader among the sires of colt trotters but he met with but very little success in Kentucky. At the start Simmons was handicapped on account of being bhnd but he finally became a leader among the sires of race horses. Wilson's trip to Parkville Farm was to interest Mr. Shults in a few trotters which he had for sale. He did not make any progress but when the pair began talking about their stallions John H. Shults proposed that he and Wilson play a fifty point game of bil- liards to see who would own both Simmons and Pancoast. Wilson, who in his younger days flirted with chance in many a game on the Mississippi River steamboats, accepted the proposition and in a few minutes he and Mr. Shults had their coats off in the billiard room and were busy chalking their cues for a game that carried such a peculiar wager. I was selected to keep count and the game started. As both players were out of practice there was very little counting for some time. As they pro- gressed their game improved until finally they were tied at forty. From that point they moved up to forty-five when Wilson made a run of four and 32 RACEALONG missed an easy shot which if he had made it would have taken Pancoast to Abdallah Park. Drops of sweat popped out on his forehead as Mr. Shults ran out the game. Nothing was said as the three of us walked out of the billiard room to the farm office. Wilson moved over toward the window that looked out on the track. After a time he turned and said, ''Mr. Shults, will I ship Simmons to Parkville or will you allow him to remain for the balance of this season in Kentucky where there are a number of mares booked to him T* As he spoke Mr. Shults was lighting a cigar. Turn- ing toward him he said: "Wilson, let Simmons re- main in Kentucky. Keep your horse, I do not want him." His comment was as much a surprise to W. H. Wilson as the loss of the game. Finally he started for New York. Later on Pancoast was paralyzed by a stroke of lightning and sold. As the years rolled by a daughter of Simmons was brought to Parkville Farm and bred to Axworthy. She produced the mare Hamburg Belle which placed the race record of the world at 2:0114 where it remained until Tilly Brooke won at Toledo in 1:59. GRAND CIRCUIT OF 1919 The forty-sixth renewal of the Grand Circuit series closed at Atlanta after a run of fifteen weeks, during which there were thirteen meetings at which 270 races were contested. Of that number, 166 were for trotters and 104 for pacers. RACEALONG 33 For these events the premiums for trotters amounted to $330,064.49 and for pacers to $156,- 378.10, making a grand total for the year of $486,- 442.59. Rainy days kept this amount from running over half a million. During the first five meetings, the weather was favorable for racing but after the horses arrived at Philadelphia someone upset the rain barrel and it never got back into position dur- ing the balance of the season. Two days were checked off the list at Belmont Park as well as at Poughkeepsie and Hartford, Boston lost almost three and Syracuse almost two, nine races being declared off at that point. The Columbus September meeting was also hampered by the weather but managed to give its programme, while a colt race was all that was skipped at Lexington. At Atlanta the curtain fell on the series in the rain with the loss of a day's programme. The series of 1919 run the number of meetings given by members of the Grand Circuit in forty- six years up to 402 at which the premiums amounted to $12,805,303.92. While the average rate of speed was faster than in the past, there were few sensational perform- ances except among the aged, some might call them old, horses. Single G.'s heat in 1:59% at Toledo was the only one below two minutes, while Lu Princeton led the trotters with a time record of 2:01 and a mile in 2:02 in a dash race. These are a trifle shy of the returns in 1918 when Single G. and Miss Harris M. placed the three heat race record for 34 RACEALONG pacers below the two minute line, while both Mabel Trask and St. Frisco won heats in 2:01%. The injury sustained by Ante Guy in her second race, no doubt, kept the trotters from making a new mark but the pacers could not step up to the new stand- ard. Of the old trotters. Heir Reaper, Early Dreams, Royal Mac and Mignola were the leaders, llie first named, a twelve-year-old, won in 2:04% at Kala- mazoo. Royal Mac, eleven-year-old, made his third trip through the circuit and won in 2:041/4 at Toledo and Lexington where Early Dreams made a new record for horses of that age when he showed in front in 2:03i/i. This was equalled by Prince Loree in the Transylvania. Mignola, a ten-year-old, marched like a conquering hero from the opening meeting of the Grand Circuit until he pulled up lame at Hartford where he was defeated in the Charter Oak Purse by Mariondale. He was started in ten races of which he won nine and made a record of 2:041/4. No one ever saw a better trotter than the handsome son of Allerton. McGregor the Great was the leading money win- ner of 1919. He won twelve of his fourteen races. Mariondale defeated him at the first Cleveland meeting and in the Massachusetts Purse at Boston but he more than offset those slips by his brilliant race at Syracuse where he won in 2:031/4 and fol- lowed it by a sweep from that point to Atlanta. Direct C. Burnett led the pacers in the dollar column. He won eleven of his fifteen races. After RACEALONG 35 his first start at Cleveland where he was drawn, he looked to be unbeatable until Grace Direct caught him on his second appearance at Lexington. This was followed by two more losing performances at Atlanta where Frank Dewey after a run in the field for eleven weeks flashed in front in 2:011/2 while in his second race he lost to Sanardo, his stable companion. Mignola and Sanardo each won nine races in 1919. The former started in ten events while the San Francisco pacer took the word in fourteen. His fastest performance was at Lexington where he defeated Adioo Guy in 2:0014 after the latter had won a heat in 2:00%. Royal Mac made the most remarkable campaign ever placed to the credit of a horse of his age. Dur- ing the fifteen weeks, he was started in fourteen races of which he won eight, finished second in four, fourth in one, and was unplaced in one. The Laurel Hall filly Natalie the Great made one of the most prolonged and successful campaigns credited to a two-year-old trotter. She took the word in ten races of which she won seven and fin- ished second in three. None of her rivals could catch her until she reached Philadelphia where Mr. Dudley won. At Boston she won in 2:10 while Dudette defeated her at Hartford and Daystar at Lexington, where Mr. Dudley dropped dead after winning a heat in 2:09%. Grace Direct, Dr. Nick, Goldie Todd and Holly- rood Kate each won six races at Grand Circuit 36 RACEALONG meetings. Grace Direct defeated all of the best class pacers of the year including Direct C. Burnett, Sanardo and Frank Dewey, while she was only beaten a few inches by Directum J. at Lexington. Prior to the opening of the Grand Circuit, this mare picked up five races on the half-mile tracks, in one of which Symbol S. Forrest won a heat from her in 2:05%. Also after the close of the Phila- delphia meeting, she was shipped to Springfield, 111., where she defeated Single G. and a number of other high class performers in 2:001/2- Murphy did not start Dr. Nick until the circuit reached Poughkeepsie. He won six of seven starts, his only skip being at Syracuse, while he also showed a mile in 2:04% at Lexington after picking up three first moneys at Columbus. Goldie Todd and Molly Knight were the stars of Geers' stable. The General Watts filly won seven of her engagements while Goldie Todd had six out of nine starts standing to her credit when she pulled up lame at the Columbus September meeting. Her most sensational race was paced at the Columbus summer meeting when she defeated Frank Dewey at a time when he was booked for a trip in two minutes. She also won at Poughkeepsie in 2:021/4. The time honored Walnut Hall Cup was awarded Baron Cegantle as the time in the first three heats of his division of the event averaged faster than that in which Selka was awarded the honors. This race with two at Columbus and one each at Pough- keepsie and Syracuse ran his score for the year up RACEALONG 37 to five firsts out of ten starts. Hollyrood Kate and Periscope were stable com- panions. The former won six of her ten races and made a record of 2:05i4 at Poughkeepsie. Peri- scope closed the season with a winrace of 2:041/2- It equalled the best three-year-old performance in 1918 made by Hollyrood Bob when he defeated Chestnut Peter in the National Stallion Stake. Prince Loree, Frank Dewey, Louie Grattan, Roy Grattan, Esther R. and Directum J. each won four races at the Circuit meetings. Prince Loree won at the first Cleveland meeting. He did not show in front again until he reached Hartford where he won in the mud in 2:05V2- He also scored twice at Columbus before he placed his name in the list of Transylvania winners with a mark of 2:0314.. Unsoundness was all that kept Frank Dewey from being another Single G. In 1918 he made a profitable trip over the New England half mile tracks while in 1919 he set the ball rolling by winning at Cleve- land, Kalamazoo, and Toledo. His first bump came at Columbus in August after which he did not show in front again until Atlanta. Notwithstanding his doubtful underpinning Frank Dewey led the Circuit brigade with the number of starts made on the trip down the line. He took the word in sixteen races. Of the other starters which were returned as triple winners. Single G. showed in' front at the first three meetings but did not appear again after he was defeated at Columbus. Fenesta won three 38 RACEALONG races, two of them being trotted at Toledo before she showed lame at Philadelphia. Jack Keith won three races off the reel and dropped out while the two-year-old colt Daystar kept trying for six races before he showed in front. When he did he won at Columbus, Lexington and Atlanta and made a record of 2:10 in a third heat. The three-year-old pacing filly Goldie King won three of her four engagements and reduced her mark to 2:07%. Her last start was made at Colum- bus where Lou Todd picked up two races before going to Atlanta for a third. Her stable mate Louie Grattan won four, two of them being paced at Lex- ington where she made a record of 2:0214. Wilkes Brewer was not so fortunate as she had but three firsts to show for ten starts, in one of which she reduced her record to 2:041/2. Jess Y. also won three out of twelve starts and reduced her mark to 2:071/4- Baroness Edgewood won three out of six starts and cut her record to 2:031/4. Twenty other Grand Circuit starters were double event winners, the list including Joseph Guy, Nedda, Little Lee, the two-year-old gelding Mr. Dudley, Ante Guy, Belle Alcantara, and Don de Lopez with which Murphy won at Columbus and Lexington in 2:05iA. The returns for the season showed that Murphy * won 56 events. Cox 32 and Geers 22. Valentine won twelve which does not include his sweep through the Great Western Circuit with Prince Hal, Peter Coley and other members of his stable. Henry RACEALONG 39 Thomas won 12 with the Laurel Hall horses, J. L. Dodge 11 with Periscope and Hollyrood Kate and McDonald 10. Murphy was credited with $84,265, Cox with $78,098, and Geers $41,199. FRANK BOGASH The death of Frank Bogash at Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1918 recalled the trips which he made through the big circuit with Centlivre Bros.' horses in the nineties. He swung on to the mile rings with the handsome black stallion Atlantic King which he drove to a record of 2:09% at Nashville, Tenn., in 1892 in one of the few races that Major Dubois of Denver, Colo., won with W. W. P., the brown gelding Barney by Barney Wilkes being between him and the winner in that event. The same year Bogash also raced a little bay mare called Mary Centlivre and gave her a mark of 2:12 in a nine heat race which Alvin Swift won at the Pittsburgh Grand Circuit meeting. The pacing stallion Frank Bogash, was his best pupil. He was by Atlantic King out of Nellie Gray by Almont Pilot and made a record of 2:03% in the race in which he defeated Anaconda, Searchlight and Chehalis at Providence, R. I., in 1900. After Centlivre Bros, stopped racing, this horse drifted from one owner to another until he landed on a farm near Sherbrooke, Quebec, where he sired Frank Bogash, Jr., l:59l^. Before that clever pacer appeared, however, his sire was gelded and sold. He passed the last of his days like the sire of Ross B., 2:041/4 pulling a hack. 40 RACEALONG MADDEN EXIT A leader of the turf and a breeder of race horses with a world wide reputation passed from the scenes of his activities when John E. Madden died in New York on November 2, 1929. The last time that I met him was on October 19. At that time he was confined to his room at the Hotel Pennsylvania with a cold but expected to return to Kentucky the following week. A heart attack followed by a relapse closed his career. John E. Madden was born at Bethlehem, Pa., in 1856. He started to make his way in the world as a foot runner and boxer. After a misstep at St. Catherines, Ontario, where the men who Were behind him gave a Sheffield handicap winner a yard in a hundred dash. Madden went over to the horses. Within fifty years he ran a shoe string into millions and purchased a blue grass farm of over 2,000 acres. Madden appeared on the trotting turf in the early eighties with Class Leader. He failed to make an impression. Plodding along he soon made his presence felt and in a short time controlled a stable of trotters. When he located in Kentucky a few resented his intrusion, but they were forced to recognize his ability as a dealer. Early in life John E. Madden decided to never sell a good horse to a poor man. That axiom brought him thousands. The success of the horses sold by him also put the mintmark of merit on his establish- ment, while victory followed in his wake not only RACEALONG 41 among the trotters but also in the thoroughbred world. In Abbie V., Madden had a trotter that was only a few seconds shy of a champion and Wyandotte, by Artimus, died on the verge of a triumph. He owned an interest in Robert McGregor when he sired Cresceus. He also selected the Kentucky Futurity winner Siliko as a yearling and bred Periscope and Guesswork. The trotter always had a warm place in John E. Madden's heart. This was shown by the careful development given Hamburg Belle, Soprano, and Tenara. With the thoroughbreds Madden was very suc- cessful. In that field he added production to develop- ment, Star Shoot being one of his greatest stallions. Year after year a group of winners were sent from Hamburg Place to the metropolitan tracks. To name the list of race horses that John E. Madden bred or owned would look like reproducing a handful of pages from tlie racing guide. In his estimation Hamburg was the best. He was followed by Yankee, King James, Sir Martin, who came very near winning the English Derby, Salvidere, The Finn, Old Rosebud, Gray Lag, Sir Barton, and Zev. John E. Madden bred six Kentucky Futurity winners. They were Flying Ebony, 1925; Zev, 1923; Paul Jones, 1920; Sir Barton, 1919; Old Rosebud, 1914, and Plaudit, 1898. From 1917 to 192S Madden-bred horses won 3,811 races. Madden's method of breeding, feeding, care and 42 RACEALONG training were the keys to his success. No one ever heard if his failures, while there never was a year that the acid test of the race track failed to award him his share of winners. His success made him an authority on race horses. On account of this his remark that the sire is more than three-fourths of the stud had weight. He said : "Mares are necessary but at the best they can give you but one failure or winner each year. A stallion will get from fifty to seventy-five. If he is a blank, and many are, two or three years will put a large operator on the rocks." In our last conversation at the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York on October 19, John E. Madden referred to Axtell and said: "In 1889, the day that Axtell made his record of 2:12 at Terre Haute, Ind., A. J. Welch and I offered C. W. Williams $101,000 for the colt when we came in from the race track. He de- cHned the offer. .Later that night Williams sold Axtell to Fred Moran, W. P. I jams and John W. Conley for $105,000. It proved a splendid invest- ment." Another day while at Greens Farms, Conn., where E. T. Bedford trains his trotters, it being the after- noon on which that well known amateur gave Diplo- mat a record of 2:05l^ to a cart, John E. Madden, after showing the group in the judges' stand a watch that W. C. Whitney presented to him, told how Harry Payne Whitney and Herman B. Duryea took up racing. At that time W. C. Whitney was racing a large RACEALONG 43 stable. One morning the two young men were at the track watching the horses and in order to get them interested he offered them a half interest in Irish Pat for $15,000. They said that they would think of it and went off to Newport. Madden told W. C. Whitney what he had done. A few days later he asked him if the boys had ac- cepted his offer. When told that they were still thinking, W. C. Whitney said "Wire them that the half interest in Irish Pat has gone up to $18,000 as neither of them will buy except in a rising market." Madden did and Harry Payne Whitney and Herman Duryea accepted the offer. Later on Madden re- marked "I received $35,000 for my half of Irish Pat's winnings and they purchased the balance of the colt." In 1929 Harry Payne Whitney was the leading winner on the American turf and the master of Hamburg Place who started him on his trip to the top passed to his rest. PETER VOLO A great race horse that breeds true cannot fail in the stud. This is proved by Peter Volo. He was the one, two, three and four-year-old champion of his day. He also won all of his futurity engagements and retired sound with a race record of 2:02. To this can be added the fact that his perfectly balanced in- heritance warranted the turf honors that were placed to his credit. 44 RACEALONG In breeding nothing is done by chance. Great horses are not made to order. They come at intervals. Nature is largely responsible for these marvels but they are doled out with a sparing hand. This makes breeding an uncertainity even with those who believe that the family is greater than the individual. The careers and breeding of the stallions which became fixtures in the history of the trotting turf shows that no one could foretell which horses would become the leaders in getting speed. Hambletonian carried more lines to imported Messenger than any of his contemporaries. He was a success from the start. Alexander's Abdallah, one of his greatest sons, was got when he was a two-year-old. Nature in a perverse mood made Messenger Duroc, a son of Hambletonian that carried more lines to Messenger than any of his get, a failure. Others from mares whose breeding was unknown or with but one or two crosses of racing blood became the leading stallions of their day. The breeding of the dams of Alexander's Abdallah and George Wilkes was never established. Green Mountain Maid, the dam of Electioneer, was by Henry Clay out of Shanghai Mary whose breeding was unknown although there is a chance that she was by Iron's Cadmus. Happy Medium, the fourth member of the Hambletonian big four, was out of Princess. She had a record of 2:30 and carried a line to Messenger. The success of these horses when compared with others that had three or four crosses of recognized RACEALONG 45 trotting blood in the pedigrees of their dams prompted many breeders to jump at the conclusion that stallions with badly balanced pedigrees made the best sires. This was continued for two or three generations in some families. Pilot Medium was the best son of Happy Medium. He was out of Tackey, a developed daughter of Pilot Jr. Her dam Jenny Lind had nothing to recommend her other than that she was a speed producer. She was reported as being by a horse called Bellfounder but as no one knew who bred her or could locate the Bellfounder referred to the breeding is very doubtful. Pilot Medium sired Peter the Great. His dam Santos had but one cross of trotting blood through Grand Sentinel. Back of that was Madison's Octoroon. The breeding of his sire was unknown. The next remove introduced Creole. He was a son of a pacer named Aikenhead, breeding unknown, out of the thoroughbred mare Lady Bess by Lexington. Peter the Great proved the leading sire of racing speed of all time. Peter Volo proved his best son. In the Wilkes family the dominating line was con- tinued through William L. and Axtell. He in turn got Axworthy, the sire of Guy Axworthy, the lead- ing extreme speed sire, four of his sons having records below two minutes. Until recently it was beheved that Guy Axworthy, like Peter the Great, had but one cross of trotting blood on the side of his dam, Lillian Wilkes. She was got by Guy Wilkes out of a mare by Langford, a son of the thorough- 46 RACEALONG bred horse Williamson's Belmont. In 1929, however, it was established that Flora the dam of Lillian Wilkes was by Langford out of Pet by General Taylor son of the Morse Horse while her next dam Dora was by Red Bill. Short-bred dams prevailed in all of the other families.' Mambrino King was the leader in the Mambrino family. His dam had a scant trotting in- heritance. Elyria, his most successful son, comes under the same head. While the Clays were recog- nized as a breed its leaders had badly balanced pedigrees. The same story goes with the Blue Bull, Champion and Morgan families, the only exception among the last named being Daniel Lambert. The only way that this can be accounted for is by passing the palm of victory to the dominant males of the families to which they belonged. As breeding progressed and the trotting lines mul- tiplied it became apparent that in time leaders would appear with a maternal inheritance as stout as the male lines. One of the first of this flock was foaled in 1911 and became conspicuous when he reduced the yearling record to 2:19. The name of the young- ster was Peter Volo. From that time he was in the public eye. While for a time his rating waned he came back and became a leader. Peter Volo reduced the yearling record to 2:19, the two-year-old record to 2:04V2» the three-year-old record to 2:031/2, and the four-year-old record to 2:02. All of these records except the yearling were made in races. RACEALONG 47 When placed in the stud at Patchen Wilkes Farm in 1916 Peter Volo was for a time overshadowed by his sire. Later on when Peter the Great was sold the popularity of the establishment dwindled. A few of Peter Volo's get appeared in races, Voltage being one of the first, but none of them showed the calibre of their sire. When the stock at Patchen Wilkes Farm was sold, Peter Volo passed to Walnut Hall Farm. His oppor- tunities there were better but fame passed him by until 1925 when Peter Maltby won all of his two- year-old engagements and Hollyrood Susan landed the May Day Stake. In 1926 the flood started. Tippie Volo kept it going all season on the eastern half-mile tracks where she won thirteen races off the reel. Holly- rood Susan also showed that she was the fastest three-year-old in training until lameness called a halt. From that time winners by Peter Volo were seen everywhere. In 1927 sixty-two of his get won one hundred and seventy-six races. In 1928 sixty-six trotters and pacers by him won over two hundred races. The leader on the mile tracks was Hollyrood Colin. He won twelve out of thirteen starts and raced to a record of 2:03. On the half-mile tracks Plucky reduced the three-year-old record for colts to 2:07% when he won the Trotter & Pacer Stake at Reading, Pa. A few weeks later Azure Volo, an- other member of the family, cut this mark to 2:07 when he won at Brockton, Mass. 48 RACEALONG The records carried by the get of Peter Volo show the company they raced in. Hollyrood Volo paced in 2:001/4. Ace High made a three-year-old record of 2:0314 after winning all of his engagements that season. The other members of the family in the 2:05 list up to the close of 1927 included Walter SterHng 2:031/4, Hollyrood Susan 2:031/4, Voltage 2:041/4, Sigrid Volo 2:04, Brooke Volo 2:04, Dr. Volo 2:041/2, Sunflash 2:04i4, Hollyrood Hunter 2:043^, and Volo Rico 2:05. Another torrent of racing speed appeared in 1928. Peter Volo was the sire of five of the twenty trot- ters that entered the 2:05 list. They were Hollyrood CoHn 2:03, Hollyrood Sheila 2:03i4, the three- year-old filly Etta Volo 2:041/4 which defeated Spen- cer in the Horseman Stake at Indianapolis, Cheerful Volo 2:05 and Volo Peter 2:05, while his son Dillon Volo got Volstead 2:04l^. Four of the thirty-seven three-year-olds that dropped into the 2:10 list in 1928 were by Peter Volo, three of them making their records in races over half-mile tracks. They were Etta Volo 2:041/2, Azure Volo 2:07, Plucky 2:071/4, and Georgia Volo 2:081/2. Peter Volo also had a leader in the two-year-old field in Volomite. He won the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity in 2:06. In 1929 the Peter Volo wave of popularity con- tinued. Eighty-five of his get won races, the star of the lot being the two-year-old filly Harvester's Bertha. After trotting in 2:041/4 at Grand Rapids and RACEALONG 49 2031/2 ^t Lexington she cut the world's record to 2:02. Volomite made a three-year-old record of 2:03l^. He also won the Charter Oak Purse from aged horses and finished second in the Hambletonian Stake to Walter Dear in 2:0214. Peter Volo's other winners included Cold Cash, a two-year-old pacer, that won in 2:05i/i from aged horses over a half mile track, Hollyrood Highboy 2:041/4, Plucky, a winner in 2:06l^ over a double oval, and Capital Stock 2:061/2, the winner of the two-year-old divi- sion of the Fox Stake. Peter Volo has a balanced pedigree. His sire Peter the Great proved the greatest sire of racing speed in any breed. His dam Nervolo Belle also proved the leading producer of extreme racing speed. No other mare ever produced three such race horses as Peter Volo 2:02, The Great Volo 2:0214, and Volga 2:041/2. She was got by Nervolo 2:04l^, a grandson of Onward, out of Josephine Knight by Betterton. This gave him two lines to George Wilkes. Mam- brino Beauty appears at the next remove. She was got by Mambrino King, a sire of one of the best brands of race horses ever seen on the Grand Circuit tracks out of a mare by Allie West. He was a four- year-old champion by Almont out of a mare by Mambrino Chief. Mambrino Chief also appears in Peter Volo's fifth dam. She was by his son Alcalde out of a daughter of Shropshire's Tom Hal, the tap root of the family to which the Hals trace. With an inheritance on a par with his turf per- 50 RACEALONG formances, Peter Volo has founded a family of trot- ters and pacers which carry the stamp of their sire. His get have stood the acid test of the turf. They bear the mint mark of victory. AMATEUR RACING Amateur racing started in 1870 when the Driv- ing Club of New York leased Fleetwood Park and transferred the road racing which was seen for so many years on Third Avenue, Harlem Lane, and the Bloomingdale Road, to the mile track under the hill on the top of which a club house and grand stand were erected. On this course the members had many friendly races for a dinner, a basket of wine, or a piece of plate offered by the club. These races were not designated as amateur events as at that time the term had not been thought of when applied to trotters, but they complied with the conditions which were later drafted to govern same. From the start the Driving Club of New York was an exclusive organization. Only members or men who were vouched for by members were ad- mitted to the grounds or club house. The man on the gate stopped all others unless they had a card which was the plan adopted to admit the members of the press. Sunday morning was the great day at Fleetwood Park. It is true that Robert Bonner, John D. Rocke- feller and a few others were not present on that day but almost all of the other members were on RACEALONG 51 the porch or steps to see a few horses trained or talk over the news of the day. Very few of the members kept their horses at the track except when they were being prepared for racing. They were used to drive up from the city and were kept in the home stable or in the large boarding stables, a number of which were located near Central Park. Many members of the Driving Club of New York raced their horses either in the Grand Circuit after it was started in 1873 or at meetings held in the vicinity of New York. Others kept them exclusively for their own use, Robert Bonner, W. H. Vanderbilt, Frank Work and John and William Rockefeller being the leaders in this lot. All of them had a fondness for teams although Robert Bonner dropped out of the group after he retired Lady Palmer and Flatbush Maid which he drove two miles in 5:01V2 in 1862. After he purchased Dexter he had the king of the road and he remained with the single hitch until he retired, W. H. Vanderbilt had a number of teams but all of them faded from the picture after he drove Maud S. and Aldine in 2:15V2 in 1883. This was a fraction of a second faster than the world's record at that time. During that period members of the Driving Club of New York had a number of remarkable teams. Frank Work owned Edward and Dick Swiveller when they placed the world's record at 2-1614. I. Cohn- feld had a fast pair in Maxey Cobb and Neta Medium. They trotted to a record of 2:1714 and 52 RACEALONG defeated Adelaide and Charley Hogan in a race at Chicago in 1886 in 2:18l^. About this time Independence and Cleora made a record of 2:16V2 to a pole cart while Clingstone and Guy trotted the track at Cleveland in 2:17. On account of the restrictions Fleetwood Park was never a popular course. A tall iron fence separated the club house and broad flight of steps leading down to the track from the grand stand which was located on the first turn. This did not bother the management as the revenue from other sources took care of the overhead. Public racing at Fleetwood Park began with match races, one of the first being between the Hambletonian stallion Startle and Lothair in 1870. They were then three-year-olds. Startle distanced Lothair in the first heat in 2:36. After this race Robert Bonner purchased Startle. He paid $20,000. Startle was also the first horse to trot Fleetwood Park in 2:19. Later on Robert Bonner allowed Maud S. to make a few trips against the watch for a world's record. From time to time small meetings were given at Fleetwood Park, one of the greatest feature events being in 1883 when Jay Eye See defeated St. Julien in a special race. This brought out the largest at- tendance seen on the old course. Finally Grand Circuit meetings were given there in 1889 and 1890 and in 1893 when there was adverse legislation in Con- necticut a few of the fixtures at Hartford were transferred and a combination meeting given at Fleetwood. The purses amounted to $60,000. RACEALONG 53 The last amateur feature in which the Driving Club of New York took a leading part was the Inter- City Team Races between New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Fred Gerken won the series for New York. While Fleetwood Park was fading in 1895 a number of enthusiasts in Cleveland organized a Gentlemen's Driving Club that was destined to con- tinue for over a quarter of a century. There were also a number of surprises at its early meetings, one of the most remarkable being presented by 0. G. Kent who was then almost seventy years of age. One afternoon he drove to the park with the Young Jim mare Mayflower hitched to a high wheel Brewster wagon and stepped her a mile in 2:17. A lawyer dropped in with a pacer named Tom Shannon and sent him a trip in 2:15. Others followed until the climax was reached by the record breaking miles of Lou Dillon and John A. McKerron. The rivalry created resulted in clubs being organ- ized in Pittsburgh, Boston and New York where the Empire City track had been built. This was followed by the organization of the League of Amateur Driv- ing Clubs in which the rivalry became so keen that a number of gentlemen had stables of horses fvir amateur racing which contained more horses than the leading professionals. For several seasons C. K. G. Billings maintained a stable at Cleveland. Later he shipped to New York where E. E. Smathers, James Butler and a number of others had large stables to call on. 54 RACEALONG Inter-city matinees followed. At them the leading feature was the gold cup contest in which the honors finally went to John A. McKerron. Each of the clubs in this league sent out a number of fast trotters. Uhlan made his first starts at the Boston meetings. Mignola came from Pittsburgh and Lou Dillon from Cleveland. The Junior League of Amateur Driving Clubs followed in the wake of the mile track organization. It limited its racing to the half-mile tracks and had members at Goshen, Newark, Mineola, Pittsburgh, and Boston, the last named going over to the Metropolitan Course when it was apparent that Readville was to pass out as a race track. At present Newark, Boston and Mineola are the leaders in the east while Pittsburgh continues at Schenley Park. The courses at Boston and Newark are main- tained by the cities in which they are located. The former is a comparatively new plant. The one at Newark, however, dates back to the early days of racing. In 1868 when it was known as Waverly Park, Goldsmith Maid defeated General Butler over it in 2:32%. Later on many race meetings were held there, a few of the features being team races. In 1888 Harry Mills and Eddy Medium won from two other teams in 2:27V2> distancing them in the first heat. The following year Billy Button and Wilh\am G. defeated Harry Mills and Arbutus in 2:27%. These performances were recalled by the flight of speed seen over the same course, now known as Weequahic Park, on October 19, 1929, when Peter RACEALONG 55 Etawah and Brook Volo paced to a pole cart in 2:08, making a new world's record. Another world's record was also made the same day when the El Canto gelding Sheriff Stout trotted two miles under saddle in 4:461/4. This old time style of racing dated to a time when the courses were too rough for wheels. In 1863 George M. Patchen trotted two miles to saddle in 4:56. In 1927 a member of the Road Horse Association of New Jersey took a shot at it with the trotter Peter Bean and reduced it to 4:53%. Now the mark stands at 4:461/4 made in the presence of over thirty thousand enthusiastic spectators after Walter Dear, Volomite, Sir Guy Mac, Miss Woerner, Hazelton, Guy Ozark, Highland Scott, and Hollyrood Colin had been paraded for the edification of the patrons of Weequahic Park. CLASS IN THE TROTTER Class and not numbers fixes the reputation of a sire of racing material. That undefinable quality which prompts a horse to make another bid for vic- tory when his competitors are fading shows where the acid stamp of merit should be placed. It does not come by chance. It shows where the racing quality was bred in. Every one who goes to the races can recall a num- ber of horses which rushed off in front but tailed off as soon as one of the stout hearted trailers looked them in the eye. For years the Tennessee Hals were 56 RACEALONG the most formidable chasers among the pacers while the Dictator and George Wilkes strains were as con- spicuous among the trotters. Strange to relate the Hal and Dictator lines were in time blended through Direct and a mare by Tom Hal. The first sample of the combination was the unbeaten Direct Hal with which Geers made a sweep through the Grand Cir- cuit. Of the Wilkes line all of them have faded ex- cept the Axtell, Baron Wilkes and McKinney strains. The last named runs to Alcyone and the first to William L. Their leaders are Guy Axworthy, Dillon Axworthy, Belwin and San Francisco. Justice Brooke represents the Baron Wilkes line. In 1926 Guy Axworthy displayed Guy Trogan, Guy Richard, Guy Ozark and Guy McKinney, as high class a group of trotters as ever took the word in any company. In his first start Guy Richard won at Kalamazoo in 2:04l^. At Toledo Guy Ozark showed his quality by winning from Rose Scott and Great Bells in 2:02l^ while the victory of Guy McKinney in the Hambletonian and other stakes made him the outstanding three-year-old. In Thompson Dillon and Minia Dillon the Dillon Axworthy family had a pair of high class race horses that made their presence felt. Their best showing was on the half-mile tracks but class counts as much there as on the larger ovals. At Windsor when Thompson Dillon defeated the favorite Marmaduke a few thought that the Belwin gelding did not make as bold a bid for victory as at Sturbridge. This may have been true but when he RACEALONG 57 did try the following week at Springfield Thompson Dillon raced him into submission in the first heat. After that he jumped and the battle was off. The best of the Belwin trotters in 1926 were led by Sumatra and Charm. They won in the fastest company. Sumatra was on the complaining list from the day she was foaled. Notwithstanding that handi- cap whenever she went to the post in trim to finish a race there was never any doubt of the result. Another line in which class predominates was founded by Peter the Great. He was a mixed bred horse in which the trotter, pacer, saddle horse and thoroughbred were blended. His trotting lines were not noted for courage, Nancy Hanks and Jack being the only members of the family that ever made good in the fastest company. Still from him came a flood of racing material. Before this horse's pedigree was established John E. Madden maintained that there was in the inheri- tance of Peter the Great a stout cross of blood which prompted his get to race true under all kinds of con- ditions and in any company. It was found in Queen Bess, the Lexington mare which produced Creole, a horse that was for years buried under the name of the Sam Johnson Horse. This find also strengthened Madden's curt remark that the trotter at the founda- tion traced either to the thoroughbred or ran into the bushes. The class which Peter the Great passed on to his get carried Mabel Trask through her remarkable series of races and made Miss Harris M. the first 58 RACEALONG pacing mare to race into the two minute list. It also carried on through the sons and daughters of Peter the Great as was shown by the tremendous speed of Peter Manning the most remarkable fast trotter that ever lived, Rose Scott, Hollyrood Walter, Peter Maltby, Hollyrood Susan, Hanover's Bertha, and a host of others. Canada contributed its sample of class in the bunch of pacers bearing the Grattan Royal label. Grattan Royal was discarded as a knee knocking pacer until his get cleared the way to victory on the race tracks. On account of it almost half of his life was wasted. Still in time Lou Grattan and Roy Grattan were followed by Tarzan Grattan, Jean Grat- tan, Prue Grattan, Norman Grattan, Widow Grat- tan and Grattan Bars. Among the early trotters Dexter was the most conspicuous example of class in the light harness horse. From the day he was broken to harness Clara's colt had .the whiz and dash which stamp champions as their own. Woodruff recognized it as he developed the gelding while Doble reached the zenith when he drove him in 2:17V4- The test of the class in Dexter did not, however, stand out in this performance as it did when he raced Ethan Allen and running mate and forced the pair to go in 2:15 to win. Still if Dexter is to be exploited what can be said of Goldsmith Maid. She was also a world's cham- pion and made her greatest campaign when she was eighteen years old. To her race day was an old story. RACEALONG 59 When the bell tapped she trembled in her eagerness to get into the fray but jogged to the wire without a ripple as soon as Doble was in the sulky. Nancv Hanks was another trotter in which class was very conspicuous. She raced every horse that took the word with her into submission and never lost but one heat. Her legs bothered her near the end of her career. Some nights she would roll over in the stall and stick her feet into the air to reduce the circulation in them but all was forgotten when she appeared on the track. A few define class in a race horse as the ability to go on and race in any company at any distance. Sam- ples of this was seen in Cresceus, Star Pointer and Mary Putney, neither of which knew where the wire was and had to be pulled up at the finish of a heat. Harry Wilkes, while a very ordinary bred horse on his dam's side, had as much class as any trotter of his day. He started the reputation of his family w^hich still reigns supreme through the descendants of Axworthy. His defeat by Jack at Lexington in 1889 also marked the first flash of that quality in the line that subsequently contributed Peter the Great and his descendants. TRAINING METHODS Every trainer has his own method of training colts as well as keeping aged horses in condition for their next campaign. Some depend on brushes at the end of slow miles while others send them over the route 60 RACEALONG to leg them up so that they will not be bothered with a tired feeling on the trip from the distance to the wire. A number of trainers of late years have been going to training camps below the frost line during the winter months. In 1929 the most of this group was at Longwood, Florida. Others remained in the north. The latter are of the opinion that work in a cold climate agrees with a horse and will keep him in better form than the perpetual round of summer heat from one year's end to the other. It must, however, be admitted that if a trainer has a bunch of two-year-olds he can separate the wheat from the chaff quicker if he can keep them constantly on the move with a little sharp work once or twice a week and do it with more comfort in a warm climate than in sections where there is snow and ice as well as constant changes in the footing, the latter being due to thaws or stormy weather. Walter Cox and Ben White represent the two extremes. Cox began training colts while at Granite State Park, Dover, N. H. and continued at Indian- apolis and Goshen, the number of youngsters in- creasing from year to year. Lady Wanetka and Mary Putney graduated from the snow banks. Others fol- lowed until Cox reached the crest of his career among juveniles by bringing out Sam Williams, Hazelton, Fireglow, Walter Dear, Volomite, Miss Woerner, Sir Guy Mac and Guy Day. Few people ever saw a better bunch of colts in any stable. All of them raced high in flesh and looked as RACEALONG 61 plump and fresh when they were taken home at the end of the season as when they were started in their first engagements. This is what Cox contends the winter weather does for the northern trained horse. When others look faded and act dull the snow bird is ready for battle and eager to do his part in getting the big end of the purse. There are also a few other items that go with the horses trained by Walter Cox. All of them have perfect manners while they race with low heads, short toes and plain shoes. The only fancy thing about any of them is the price if a visitor should feel disposed to make a selection. Since Ben White took up winter training in the south he has located many choice racing samples, almost all of which were aired in the futurities and won their share of the money. His leaders were Periscope which he started and sold to John L. Dodge for John E. Madden, Princess Etawah, Brusiloff , Jane Eevere, Lee W^orthy, Mr. McElwyn, Anna Bradford's Girl, Aileen Guy, losola's Worthy, Ruth M. Chenault, Charm, Kashmir, Benelwyn, Station Belle, Main McElwyn, Gaylworthy, Alma Lee, Jessamine, Pola McElwyn, Etta Vola and Grey Brewer. Whether any or all of these would have gone as far as they did if they had been trained in the north during the winter months is a question that can never be answered. The facts are that they made the grade while in his four-year-old form Lee Worthy was one of the most perfect trotting stallions that •ever stepped on a race track. He won from such stars 62 RACEALONG as The Great Volo, Peter the Brewer, and Czar Worthy. Lee Worthy and Benelwyn are buried near the three-quarter pole on the Lexington race track. In 1924 when E. Roland Harriman decided to cut out the matinee end of the Arden Homestead stable he sent his horses to Orlando for the winter. Dicker- son did not hurry any of them in their work, a mile in 2:291/4 being the best shown by Peter Maltby. Later on he raced in 2 : 06 1/4 and proved the best two- year-old of his year. Of the other horses in the stable Guy Trogan, Guy Ozark and Anna Bradford's Girl more than held their own in all kinds of com- pany. In 1926 and 1927 the Arden Homestead horses were wintered at Fayetteville, N. C. At that point Dickerson and his assistants put in the most of their time with the colts, the aged horses being brushed two or three miles a day. Dickerson adopted that plan with them instead of the old time method of jogging. He found that it gave better results as was seen by the races of Guy Ozark and Highland Scott. The latter was timed separately below two minutes in a race at Toledo and was forced to pace in 2:031/4 to defeat Silver Weather over the half-mile track at Middletown in 1928. Guy Ozark also touched a couple of high spots when he won in 2:05% at the Goshen and Middletown meetings that year. Another sample can be supplied by the Hodsen stable. Early in 1928 it was shipped from Hartford to Harrington, Del. and returned in May. The horses in this outfit began racing in June and remained on RACEALONG 63 the battle line until the first week in November, the last starts being made at Clinton, N. C. All of these horses were aged except the three-year-old pacer Tramp Union. The general impression among horse owners is that aged horses are not improved by being wintered in a warm climate. It is also self evident that colts can be given more work during the winter months on the southern tracks. If a trainer, however, is so fortunate as to get one or two good ones it does not make much difference where he is located, he will win his share of the money. Grattan Bars and Winnipeg were Canadian products. Both of them wintered in the north and won in the fastest company in 1928. In a few years our northern neighbors may be sending colts to race in the futurities. They have been entering them for some time but so far Miss Wilks had the only starter. GRAND CIRCUIT OF 1921 The forty-eighth renewal of the Grand Circuit closed at Atlanta on October 22 after a run of six- teen weeks. Between July 4 and that date the eleven members gave fourteen meetings at which 319 races were contested. Of that number 190 were for trot- ters, 128 for pacers, and one a mixed race, the latter being the special between Peter Manning and Single G. at Hartford. The purses for the races in 1921 amounted to 64 RACEALONG $584,097.06. In 1920 the total was $562,749.95, in 1919 the figures were $486,442.59 for thirteen meet- ings and $459,837.35 in 1918. The Grand Circuit of 1921 was a dupHcate of the one which preceded it. Each of the Ohio members, Cleveland, Toledo, and Columbus, gave two meet- ings, one of the stops at Columbus being for two weeks. Lexington was also assigned two weeks while one week stands were made at Kalamazoo, Philadelphia, Poughkeepsie, Readville, Hartford, Syracuse and Atlanta. Three new names were added to the two minute list in 1921, a gain over 1920 when Louie Grattan and Prince Loree paced in even time. The leader was Peter Manning 1:57%. The others were Arion Guy 1:591/2 and Sanardo 1:59%. All of them were driven to their records by Thomas W. Murphy. In the matter of races the honors were about evenly divided between Grayworthy and Jeanette Rankin. The San Francisco filly was awarded the largest amount of money while Grayworthy defeated her in three races. He also took the measure of Periscope. The latter was considered the best trot- ter of the year until Grayworthy raced away from her at Hartford and Lexington. Grayworthy and Jeanette Rankin each won eleven races out of fifteen starts. Breaks caused Grayworthy's defeat at Toledo, Columbus and at the Cleveland August meeting, where he was un- placed to Periscope in the $15,000 free-for-all. He balanced his account later with the Siliko mare RACEALONG 65 while he also defeated Jeanette Rankin at Pough- keepsie, Syracuse and Columbus, where McMahon gave him a record of 2:02l^. Of the pacers that made the Grand Circuit trip. Roy Grattan and Jimmy McKerron were the busiest. The latter took the word in fifteen races. He won nine while he finished second in three and third in three. Roy Grattan also won nine out of twelve starts and finished second in three. Single G. won eight firsts and one second out of nine starts on the mile tracks before he switched off to the double ovals. Jane the Great was one of the strongest members of the Laurel Hall stable. She won eight races and was second in two after she showed in front at the second Cleveland meeting. E. Colorado took the word in thirteen races of which he won five, was second in three, and third in four. Lameness kept him on the doubtful list but he never failed to appear except in a postponed race at the Columbus summer meet- ing, while at Hartford, when Grayworthy won in 2:021/2, he was timed separately in 2:03. Periscope carried everything before her until she met Grayworthy at Hartford in the Charter Oak Purse. After the race, Mr. Dodge said: ''Periscope was beaten because she met a horse that could trot faster than she could." This also explained her de- feat in both of her races at Lexington. The gray gelding Peter Daw was the busiest trot- ter seen in the Circuit. He took the word in sixteen races of which he won seven, was second in one, 66 RACEALONG third in four and unplaced in four. He won his first heat at Kalamazoo and his first race at Hartford. He also won a race at Syracuse, three at Columbus, and two at Lexington. The three-year-old colt Silladar topped his first summary at the second Toledo meeting. From that point he won regularly each week until he was un- placed to The Great Volo at Hartford. The following week he won at Syracuse after which he dropped out. Hal Mahone won six races on the western end of the Grand Circuit and Pitman picked up five with Klio. After finishing second in three races the latter won at Syracuse, Columbus, Atlanta and Lexington. Of the horses which won four races on the trip down the line in 1921, the most conspicuous were the two-year-old filly Helen Dillon and Favonian. In addition to landing the Breeders' Futurity and the time honored Lexington Stake, Favonian de- feated a field of aged horses at Toledo before start- ing in the Champion Stallion Stake at Cleveland. Helen Dillon led the two-year-old trotters with four victories out of four starts. Her brother Nelson Dillon also won two stakes and forced Rose Scott out in 2:031/2 in the deciding heat of the Kentucky Fu- turity. The beautiful trotter Emma Harvester also won four races. A dozen names appear in the list of horses that won three races. Of these the best known are Guardian Trust, the winner of the Matron and Champion Stallion Stakes, and the sturdy battler RACEALONG 67 Peter Coley with which Valentine won eight out of fourteen starts on the mile tracks in 1920. Of the others Eunice Belle won three in a row at the early meetings. The Toddler was also credited with three, one of them being at Toledo, where he defeated True Britton. Uriko, Selka, Mary O'Connor, Edith Worthy, The Great Miss Morris, Johnny Quirk and Natalie the Great complete the list. Fourteen names appear in the list of double event winners. Rose Scott is the star of the group. She won two futurities. The other double event winners were Nelson Dillon, Hilda Fletcher, Wiki Wiki, Escotillo, Kilo Watts, Brage, and Sis Bing. Among the pacers the double winners, included Roger C., Sir Roche after a trip through the Great Western Circuit, Jim B., Abbe Hal, Jay Brook, and Prince Loree. During the racing season the last named was also shifted back to a trot and in his only start in 1921 at that gait finished second to Peter Coley at Columbus in 2:061/2. FADING FAMILIES Nature has secrets which breeders of race horses have been unable to solve. It is now possible to re- produce speed with a degree of uniformity as soon as the breeder finds individuals which are noted for that quality. The pinch comes, however, in selecting the individuals. A clever race horse tracing to the best families usually fails in the stud while mares that have been raced for a number of years fre- 68 RACEALONG quently produce foals which are not satisfactory when the turf test is appHed. FilHes from race mares or their sisters make the best matrons while in the matter of selecting stallions there is nothing to do but go ahead and await results. ' John E. Madden said that the only rule is to breed a good mare to a good horse and let nature do the balance. Then as Barney Fralick says, if you get them you get them or if you fail try again. In some families the daughters of speed producers have bred on uniformly, the Nell family being the most prominent. As for stallions it is a gamb'e. Many a man has walked into the paddocks on a stock farm or the sale ring and selected clever per- formers but few picked horses that made successful sires. Success switches so rapidly from one family to another or to different branches of the same family that it is impossible to forecast it. In addition to this a horse is well along in years before his rating is assured. The trotting families as they exist today were started in volume by blending the blood lines of the sons of Hambletonian. Another strata was added by doing the same thing with the sons of George Wilkes. A number of them were leaders and if in their day someone had said that Red Wilkes, Bourbon Wilkes, Gambetta Wilkes, Onward or Simmons would fade out he would have been laughed at. Still that is what happened. Of the entire Wilkes family the only ones that carried on were Alcyone, William L., Baron Wilkes and Wilkes Boy. RACEALONG 69 The lines to the last two are very faint. Wilkes Boy continued through the Grattans. Since the death of Grattan Royal it has been at a stand still and will disappear if Grattan Bars, Orcus Gratten, or some other son does not send out a flood of racing material. The Baron Wilkes line is represented by Justice Brooke. All of the others have dropped out. The Alcyone Hne was continued through McKinney. Its present leaders are San Francisco and Belwin. El Canto and Lu Princeton are the only sons of San Francisco that have sired a fair amount of racing material. Belwin's sons have been credited with a few performers. William L. owes his place on the map to Axworthy. Five of his sons made the grade. They are Guy Axworthy, Dillon Axworthy, General Watts, Morgan Axworthy and Judge Maxey. In 1930 each of them were still in the stud. Morgan Axworthy being in Europe. As yet Mr. McElwyn is the only grandson that has shown that he may overshadow the horse which got him. The only other sons of Guy Axworthy that have a fair representation on the turf are Dromore I., Axworth, and Arion Guy. The younger division contains Traux, Guy McKinney, and Guy Richard. Whether any of them will do as well as Lee Ax- worthy, who died after two seasons in the stud, remains to be seen. The Bingen line is practically all that is left of the Electioneer family. It was dominated by males. As yet, few of their descendants have come on to 70 RACEALONG take their places. Bingen's sons included Todd, Bingara, Binjolla, Bingen Silk, J. Malcolm Forbes, The Exponent, and Admiral Dewey. Etawah in 1930 was the leader in the family. He was got by Al Stanley, a son of Todd. Lord Dewey, a son of Admiral Dewey, did very well for a horse that was neglected during the greater part of his career. At present it looks as if the entire trotting fabric was going to be submerged by a flood of racing speed tracing to sons of Peter the Great. Out of this mass new families will come to the surface. Over one hundred and fifty sons of Peter the Great have been reported as sires of racing material, the scale running from a few to over a hundred for others. The present leaders are Peter Volo, Azoff, Chestnut Peter, Peter Scott, Czar Peter, Laurel Hall, The Senator, and Peter McKlyo. By this it must not be understood that there will not be other families sending out racing material but it is self evident that the mass production of the near future will come from the Peter the Great family. None of the other families are sending out winners that can compare in volume with this tribe. The flood will continue for the next ten years as many of its best representatives are still in the prime of life while others have at present but a few crops of foals to represent them. RACEALONG 71 POUGHKEEPSIE PASSED The mile track at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., was built in 1874 by Morgan L. Mott who owned Independent. The first meeting was held in 1875. After an inaugural on July 4 when Pondietta by Supurb won the only race ever placed to his credit in 2:39 and Hiram Howe landed William Nolan in front of Fanny Miller and Ed Murphy, the Grand Circuit stables moved in for four days the first week in August. All of the best racing material of that period was engaged. The star of the week was Goldsmith Maid with which Budd Doble defeated American Girl and Huntress in 2:17%. Hopeful also won from Lady Maud while W. Sargent landed two races with St. Julien. In one of them he defeated Great Eastern. Two meetings were held at Poughkeepsie in 1876. At the first one in June James Goldsmith won three races with the Volunteer geldings Alley and Driver. The Grand Circuit meeting in August was also made memorable by Higbie marking Governor Sprague in 2:201/4. The other winners during the week in- cluded Thorndale by Alexander's Abdallah, Rarus, May Bird by George Wilkes, and Goldsmith Maid. In the first heat of her race Goldsmith Maid distanced Lula, Smuggler and Judge Fullerton in 2:16'%. Bodine was the only one inside the flag. Three meetings were pulled off at the Hudson River Driving Park in 1877. At the May meeting James Goldsmith gathered the most of the honors with Powers and Alley. In July he won again with this 72 RACEALONG pair. The Grand Circuit meetings brought a new flock of racing material. The Hst of winners presented the names of Nil Desperandum, Lysander Boy, Prospero which Dan Mace marked in 2:20, Dick Swiveller and Hopeful, the last named defeating Nettile and Lucille Golddust in 2:19. After a skip of four years racing was resumed at Poughkeepsie in 1882, with a June meeting at which James Elliott of Philadelphia defeated Pickard and Tariff in 2:20% with Early Rose. The other winners included Clemmie G., J. P. Morris and Crown Point Maid with which Frank Wicker won two races with- out getting her out of the 2:30 class. All of the leading performers took the word at the renewal of the Grand Circuit series. Hickok won with Overman in 2:23% and Santa Claus in 2:20 from Edwin Thorne and Minnie R. Mosher won with Onawa from Cornelia and Phyllis in 2:23 while Fanny Witherspoon defeated Driver and Pickard in 2:181/4. The Volunteer mare Unolala was another winner. She defeated Cora Belmont and George M. The first pacer to start at Poughkeepsie also took the word when Little Brown Jug paced an exhibition mile in 2:18. After this meeting Poughkeepsie dropped out of the Grand Circuit until 1889, two years after Jacob Ruppert purchased the Hudson River Driving Park. The track was closed in 1883. In 1884 there was an August meeting at which Frank Howell won a race with Volmer. After another skip the Poughkeepsie organization pulled off June and September meet- RACEALONG 73 ings in 1886. At the former Lew Dunhan won with the Dauntless gelding Zhan in 2:281/4. The other winners that week included Skylight Pilot, Ernest Maltravers, Tucker, and David L., and Joe L. won the first pacing race given over the course in 2:24. In September Trimble came over from Newburg and won with the Young Jim gelding Garnet. The Gold- smith stable also had two winners in Domestic and Carver and Walnut trotted a mile in 2:20% in an effort to beat 2:20. In 1887 when Jacob Ruppert purchased the Hudson River Driving Park he put Dave Herrington in charge. He gave a meeting the last week in June. The winners that week included Skylight Pilot, T. T. S., David L., Edith by Happy Medium, and Kitefoot with which Feek defeated J. B. Thomas in 2:17%, David L. and Judge Davis. Another meeting was put on the first week in September when Hurd won with Jessie in 2:24i4 and Favonia defeated David L. and Misty Morning in 2:19%. Herrington also won with Ulster Belle while James Goldsmith landed in front with Atlantic in 2:211/4. After the June meeting in 1888 at which Fred Folger, Spofford, Mount Morris and Silver Threads won their engagements, the management of the Hudson River Driving Park announced a meeting for August 21 to 24. This was the date assigned Utica in the Grand Circuit. The clash put Utica out of busi- ness and the following year the grounds were sold. Poughkeepsie had large fields, James Goldsmith win- ning that week with Gean Smith, Company, Cleon 74 RACEALONG and Silver Threads. The Ohio trotter Kit Curry also defeated Thornless in 2:18% while in a special Rosa- lind Wilkes landed in front of her stable companion Gossip Jr. in 2:14. The Dutchess County Fair was held the last week in September at the Hudson River Driving Park in 1888. It was followed by another four day meeting in October at which the Village Farm won with Justina and Mocking Bird. In 1889 the Grand Circuit Stewards gave Pough- keepsie the third week in August. It opened the season with a July meeting at which the leading events were won by Yorktown Belle, Gean Smith, Mambrino Hannis, Aline, Gillig and Miss Alice. At the summer meeting the Village Farm won with Mocking Bird and Globe and Belle Hamlin trotted a mile in 2:14. Budd Doble drove Johnston a mile in 2:07 and Roy Wilkes defeated Gossip Jr. and Jewett in the fast pace in 2:14. James Goldsmith got his share of the honors by defeating Harry Wilkes and Mambrino Sparkle in 2:15% with Gean Smith and by landing Star Lily in front of W. H. Nichols. At the June meeting in 1890 James Goldsmith un- covered the two great trotters Pamlico and Mambrino Maid. They won. Marendes also defeated G. R. S. and Alta McDonald raced home in front of Edith R. and Plush with Golden Rod. The feature of the Grand Circuit meetings that year was the ten heat race which Stevie won from Miss Alice, Golden Rod, Globe and Camille in 2:19l^. It was one of the most stubbornly contested events ever seen on a mile RACEALONG 75 track. In the other races on the program Hal Pointer defeated Gossip Jr. and Jewett in 2:13%; Crawford won from Jocko in 2:151/2; while the HamHn stable won with Mocking Bird and Henrietta in 2:18i4 ^^^ Emma disposed of Balsora Wilkes. During the next two years the only racing at Poughkeepsie except at the fair was given under the management of the New York State Trotting Horse Breeders Association. Dr. Day and Theodore Coleman were in charge. In 1890 the leading winners were Belmont Prince, Benton Wilkes, Clay King and Femme Sole. In 1892 Alonzo McDonald made his debut as a winner of stakes by landing a two-year- old event for the Village Farm with Princess Royal in 2:20. After giving three meetings with small purses in 1893 Jacob Ruppert decided in 1894 to back another Grand Circuit meeting. It was held the third week in August. The feature of the week was Mascot's victory in 2:05% over Guy, Crawford, Saladin and Paul. From that date until 1903 there were one or two small meetings in addition to the fair held at Poughkeepsie each year. At one of these John R. Gentry paced in 2:02V2> Robert J. in 2:06, and Vitello defeated Raven in 2:09. At another in 1899 Wickliff e by George Wilkes was given a time record of 2:351/^. He was then seventeen years old and was the last of his sire's get to take the word. In 1900 Democracy won at Poughkeepsie in 2:071/4. The fol- lowing year Cresceus trotted an exhibition mile in 76 RACEALONG 2:06l^ and Prince Alert defeated Connor, Indiana, and Klatawah in 2:04%. Poughkeepsie swung into line again with the big meetings in 1903. The return of the leaders was marked by a race in which Major Delmar defeated The Abbott in 2:07. In the other events John Taylor won from Texas in 2:12 and Dariel defeated Don Derby in 2:04i/2> while Tiverton won two races, one of them being trotted in 2:lll^. Hetty G., with which Murphy started his career on the mile tracks, won at Poughkeepsie in 1904 from Albert in 2:06l^ and Dariel paced in 2:03V2- The following year Frank Yokum won over Dariel and Royal R. Sheldon in 2:061/4 and Deloree after- wards referred to as the dam of Prince Loree, won in 2:121/4. Angus Pointer and Sweet Marie were the stars at Poughkeepsie in 1906. The Pointer horse paced in 2:031/4 when he defeated Baron Grattan and Nervolo, and Sweet Marie was forced to trot in 2:041/2 to defeat Wentworth, Snyder McGregor and Turley. The other winners that week included Nut- boy, Graft, Angiola, and Rudy Kipp with which Murphy placed two first moneys to the credit of his stable. Lauretta by Prodigal also won in 2:091/2 at the fair that fall. She afterwards produced Baronatta and Prodigal Guy. Two more Grand Circuit meetings were given at Poughkeepsie before the repeal of the betting law closed the gates of the Hudson River Driving Park. RACEALONG 77 In 1907 Angus Pointer won from Argot Boy in 2:031/4 and Ardelle defeated Nervolo in 2:043/4. Major Delmar also trotted a mile in 2:0514- In October of that year Rhythmic Bell and The Native trotted a $2,500 match race over the Hudson River Driving Park. Rhythmic Bell was driven by M. E. McHenry and won in 2:15%. On the same day Major Delmar defeated Sweet Marie in 2:061/2- In 1908 The Eel and George Gano met. The grey horse won in 2:021/2. That same week Hedgewood Boy won from Blacklock in 2:03% and Hamburg Belle defeated Spanish Queen in 2:051/4. For the next six years there was but very little racing at Poughkeepsie. The track was kept open and a number of horses, including the Murphy out- fit, were trained there. In 1916 prompted by the showing in Orange County, Jacob Ruppert and H. N. Bain decided to revive racing at the Hudson River Driving Park. Seven more meetings were given. In the interval Jacob Ruppert and H. N. Bain died. Finally in 1922 it was announced that the track would be closed. All of the best horses in training started at this last series. In 1916 The Real Lady won the two-year- old event from Ante Guy in 2:08% and Napoleon Direct cut the track record to 2:00% when he de- feated Single G. and Russell Boy. Mabel Trask also won that week from Azora Axworthy in 2:071/4 and St. Frisco defeated Ima Jay in 2:0514. The fastest race ever trotted over the Hudson River Driving Park was on the card in 1917 when St. 78 RACEALONG Frisco defeated Mabel Trask in 2:041/4, 2:013/^, the time in the second heat equalled the second heat made by Hamburg Belle in her race with Uhlan. In 1918 Murphy equalled the track record of 2:00% when he won from Ben Earl with Miss Harris M. The other winners that week included Directum J., Ben Ali, Oro Fino, Periscope, June Red and Lu Princeton, the last named winning over St. Frisco in 2:033^ Goldie Todd paced the fastest heat at Pough- keepsie in 1919 when she defeated Frank Dewey and Sanardo in 2:021/2- Cox also won that week with Mignola and McGregor the Great and Dodge landed in front with Hollyrood Kate in 2:05i/4. In 1920 Bogalusa, then in his two-year-old form, won in 2:09% from Favonian, whose dam Allie Watts won in 2:07% over the same course in 1916. Red Lancelot, Peter Coley, John R. Braden, Northern Direct, Nedda and Directum J. were among the winners that week. A new flock was seen out in front in 1921 when the honors in the fast classes went to Grayworthy, Sister Bertha, Mary O'Connor, Jane the Great and Emma Harvester. In 1922 the rain cut the last meeting over the Hudson River Driving Park to two days. Bill Sharen won the first race that week. He was followed by Peter the Brewer, King Watts and Robert Direct. On the following day Murphy reduced the track record to 1:591/4 with Peter Manning. He also won with Hope Frisco and Margarst Dillon, the latter pacing a heat in 2:021/4. Edman won the two-year- RACEALONG 79 old trot with Brandywine and Crozier landed the last race over the Hudson River Driving Park with Wesley R. in 2:08i/i. In 1923 the Ruppert Estate ordered the Hudson River Driving Park closed. The Murphy stable was shipped to Syracuse and Frank Phillips moved to Goshen. Poughkeepsie so far as racing was con- cerned became like Oliver Goldsmith's Auburn. **Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn, Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn." In time the ''gray beards" and 'Village states- men" told of the doings in the racing world in that locality from 1909 to the close of 1922. They related how a young man in the early thirties came there with a few horses and in fourteen years won over a million dollars on the leading tracks of North America. This was 'Vain transitory splendor" but it is unique. Before going to Poughkeepsie Murphy had done well with a few horses. After he made it his head- quarters the winners came forth in droves. Prior to the campaign of 1909 Murphy wintered at Macon, Ga. That year he won $66,400. The stars of the stable were Native Belle and George Gano. The Moko filly gave everybody a jar when she won the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity in 2:07%. She was the first one to enter the 2:10 Rst. The same week at Lexington Murphy also won the three-year- old division of the same event with Baroness 80 RACEALONG Virginia, defeating Czarevna, Bertha C. and Soprano. In the trip down the Hne from Terre Haute to Lexington Murphy landed ten out of eleven races with George Gano. His only defeat was recorded at Terre Haute in June when he finished second to Star Patchen. In 1910 Murphy won $43,000 on the mile tracks with Native Belle, Alice Roosevelt, Captain George and Twinkling Day. In 1911 his gross winnings jumped to $86,111, the leader in the outfit being R. T. C. with $31,900. Charley Mitchell also won $15,000 and the pacer Sir R. $11,125. On the trip Murphy was seen behind Belvasia, Cascade, Eva Tanguay, Vanity Oro, June, Brace, Girdle, Long- worthy B., Independence Boy, Lady Isle and Dr. Jones. Murphy left home with a formidable stable in 1912. Many of its members failed to connect on race day and the winnings for the year dropped to $59,- 365. His best trotters were Queen Worthy, Dave Halle, Dictator Todd, Axworth, Marigold, Queen Lake, Jack London, Burt Axworthy and the Canadian bred filly Princess Todd for the futurities. He also had the pacers Longworthy B., Sir R., Susie Belle, Chimes Hal, and took mounts behind Anna Ax Me and Director Jay. In 1913 the Murphy stable was reinforced by Frank Bogash Jr. He won $23,325, an item which helped to swell the stable's winnings for the season to $76, 380. Peter Volo was another recruit. He was then a two-year-old and won $8,650. The balance RACEALONG 81 of the outfit was composed of Marigold, Tilly Tipton, Longworthy B., Strathstorm, Barbara Overton, George Rex, Sweet Spirit, Ruth McGregor, Mundy C., and View Elder. In 1914 MuiT)hy left Poughkeepsie with the best stable in his career up to that date. Its leader was Peter Volo. He won $33,781 of the $100,229 placed to the credit of the outfit that season. Lassie Mc- Gregor, the stake horse, broke down at Hartford. The other horses which helped to make 1914 a hun- dred thousand dollar season included Frank Bogash Jr., Anna Bradford, Brighton B., Mirthful, Walter Cochato, Irene Beau, Baron Marque, Bondella, Strathstorm, Maintime, Nelly Temple, T. C. S., Major Ong, Lulu Lumine, Barbara Overton, Farmer Spear, Strafford, The Temptress, and Sterling Hall. Peter Scott was the leader in the stable in 1915. He won $50,535, his last race being trotted at San Francisco during the exposition. His only defeat on the trip was at Detroit where he finished second to Lee Axworthy. The latter also defeated Peter Volo in the only race he lost during his turf career in a match at Cleveland. The returns for 1915 credited the Murphy stable with $128,400. The horses which helped Peter Scott to roll up that amount were Di- rectum I., Peter Volo, Humfast, Walnut Tree, Major Ong, Mirthful, Ben Locanda, Lulu Lumine, Hal S., and Trampright. The Real Lady w^as the star of the* Poughkeepsie stable in 1916. She was then a two-year-old and won in 2:04i4, a new world's record. The returns 82 RACEALONG for the season totaled $83,053.50. The horses which contributed to this amount included Azora Ax- worthy, The Real Lady, Pittsburg, Vanko, Alta- wood, Brisac, Virginia Barnett, Humfast, Kelly de Forest, Jay Ell Mack, Roan Hal, Peter Stevens, Ex- pressive Lou, Maple Tree, and Great Isle. In 1916 during the September meeting at Colum- bus the gelding Royal Mac was added to the Murphy stable. He cost $2,500 and was considered anything but a star. When tried he proved one of the best trotters that ever took the word on the mile tracks. In 1917 he won 14,895. In 1918 he had only a fair year while in 1919 he earned $12,873. He finished second in three Transylvanias. The Murphy stable won $63,170 in 1917 with The Real Lady, Royal Mac, Ruth Mainsheet, Butt Hale, Kelly de Forest, Poorman, Oregon Hal, Pittsburg and Peter Chenault. In 1918 its leaders in the trot- ting races were Chilcoot, Ante Guy, the three-year- olds Chestnut Peter, David Guy and Petrex, as well as Royal Mac, Selah Baird, Kelly de Forest, Dorothy Day, and Allan Watts. In the pacing events its win- ners included Directum J., Ora Fino, Billy Jackson, Budlight and The Problem. The winnings for the season amounted to $104,- 903, it being the third time that Murphy ran into six figures. His leaders in 1918 were Ante Guy with $13,695, Directum J. with $13,217, and Chilcoot with $11,275. With the exception of Directum J., Miss Harris M., and Royal Mac, Murphy had a new outfit when RACEALONG 83 he shipped from Poughkeepsie in 1919. During the season he won $83,847. Of that amount Direct C. Burnett contributed $13,787, Mariondale $13,264, and Royal Mac $12,873. His other money winners included Fenesta, Dr. Nick, Brusiloff, Sanardo, Di- rectum J., Goldie King and Miss^Harris M. Murphy had a strong stable in 1920 when an acci- dent at Cleveland kept him out of the sulky for the balance of the season except at Readville and Hart- ford. The stars of the group were Peter Manning, Rose Scott and Arion Guy. The other winners were Dar Hyal, Dr. Nick, Esther R., Sanardo, John Henry, Brusiloff, Symbol S. Forrest, Ethel Chimes, Charley Rex, and Red Russell. On account of this accident Murphy's winnings for the year dropped to $59,261. During the meeting at Lexington in 1921 Thomas W. Murphy drove two trotters to records below two minutes in one afternoon. The members of the stable that season included in addition to the champions Peter Manning and Arion Guy such performers as Peter Daw, Silladar, Eunice Bell, Sanardo, Ross Scott, the futurity winner, Carmelita Hall, Peter Henley, Lord Frisco and Neva Brook. The winnings for the year amounted to $70,947.25. In 1922 the Murphy stable won $61,490 making the total from 1909 to the close of 1922 $1,085,762.75. The money winners in 1922 were Margaret Dillon, Czarworthy, Hope Frisco, Peter Etawah, Bill Sharen, Roy Grat- tan. Princess Etawah and Plain Mac. Peter Manning also trotted a remarkable series of fast miles. In one of them he cut the world's record to 1:56%. 84 RACEALONG THOMASVILLE SHACK Since 1910 the winter quarters of the Pastime Stable have been located in a shack at the upper end of the half-mile track at Thomasville, Georgia. On one side of it there is a forest of long leafed pines and on the other the rows of box stalls in which the horses are kept from November to ApriL The walls of the shack are decorated with photos of the horses which were raced in the colors of the stable and prints of a few which were driven by the men who trained there. An enlarged snapshot of the first heat of the match race between Hamburg Belle and Uhlan occupies the space between the mantle over the fireplace and the roof of the shack. In it the peerless daughter of Axworthy with Andrews up appears in full flight a length in front of her rival. This was the heat in which Hamburg Belle made a race record of 2:01 14. As she came back in the second heat in 2:01% Hamburg Belle trotted the two fastest contested heats placed to the credit of a trotter. Andrews appears in two prints behind horses with which he made turf history. One of them Tenara won the Charter Oak Purse at Hartford in 1913. The other Mascot reduced the world's record for pacers to -2:04 at Terre Haute, Ind., in 1892. They were giants in their day. Now they are dust. A snapshot of John A. McKerron standing in a paddock at Nutwood Farm is tacked on the wall of the shack. There was a day when this son of Nut- RACEALONG 85 wood Wilkes was the world's amateur champion trotter. His battles for the gold cup with Sadie Mac and others attracted national attention. He retired with a record of 2:04V2- His leading descendant is the brood mare Honeymoon which produced Guard"an Trust, Bunter, First National, Ned Hale, Gloria, Coburn and Jean Clare. Both Bunter and Guardian Trust are represented in the gallery of the Thomas- ville shack, one of the prints showing Rosemire holding the distinguished brothers. There are several prints of the two minute stallions Lee Axworthy 1:581/4 and Arion Guy 1:59V2- One of them shows Lee Axworthy in his first race at Cleve- land and another Arion Guy in one of the heats of the Kentucky Futurity which he won in 1920. Lee Axworthy also appears in another print with Lou Dillon l:58i/2- This is unique as it shows the first mare and the first stallion to beat two minutes. A print of Volga jogging recalls the chestnut mare that won all of her engagements for the Pastime Stable. Scattered over the walls there are many other pictures of horses which failed to climb so high on the ladder of fame. These include Farra 2:0814 with Andrews up, Rusticoat, Jim Todd, Albert 2:07%, Majolla 2:151/4 and Uncle Biff 2:06%. Rose- mire added a unique one to the collection by bring- ing south a picture of Prince Loree with Tris Speaker in the sulky. There is also an old print of the black gelding Edwin Forrest with George Cadwallader up. This horse made a record of 2:311/2 to saddle over the Centerville Course on Long Island in 1834. 86 RACEALONG LEADING REINSMEN IN 1921 Of the reinsmen who won over twenty races in 1921, Thomas W. Murphy led with a score of forty- five. That total was made with fourteen horses, four of which were credited with twenty victories. The Canadian bred gelding Roy Grattan was his most consistent winner. He landed nine races. Peter Daw stood second on the list with seven. This horse failed to show in front until the circuit stables reached Hartford. From that date he was busy. At Syracuse he won again while at Columbus he was credited with three races and at Lexington with two. The three-year-old colt Silladar won all of his en- gagements from the second Toledo meeting to Syra- cuse, except at Hartford, six being the number of his victories. Peter Henley and Sanardo each won four. The latter was the only new two-minute per- former in 1921. He was unable to defeat Single G., and Hal Mahone defeated him at Cleveland and Columbus. The three-year-old fillies Rose Scott and Eunice Belle added considerable to the winnings of the stable. Early in the season the Peter Volo filly scored three victories in consecutive weeks and then failed, while Rose Scott, after being defeated at Readville, by Favonian, won at Columbus and Lex- ington. Carmelita Hall, Neva Brooke and Princess Nadena were the other double winners in the Mur- phy stable. The New England reinsman Harry Brusie stood RACEALONG 87 second on the list with forty races won. They were scored with sixteen horses, of which the three-year- old filly Guaveta landed five, Charles Direct, Mauna Loa, and Don Gill four each, while three first moneys were won with Etabella, Miss Rico, and Peter Star. Brusie started his 1921 campaign at the Toronto winter meeting where he w^on with Prince Abbe and Belle Coronado. His next win was at Avon, Conn., with Etabella. The following week he sprang a surprise when he defeated Sylvie Brooke and Hale Garner at Windsor with Guaveta. He also won with the Etawah filly at Greenfield, Springfield, and Brockton. Early in the season Brusie thought he had a stake horse in Charles Direct. He pulled up lame at Avon after showing a mile in 2:08 and was not in trim to race again until the middle of September. Mauna Loa failed to win until the fairs started. At Springfield and Brockton, she showed her ability to beat 2:10 over a half-mile track. A weeks' illness at Columbus during the Septem- ber meeting resulted in Cox being placed third in the list of 1921 w^inning drivers. While he was in the hospital, McMahon won for him with Gray- worthy and Jane the Great. Cox won thirty-nine races with thirteen horses. Of this group Grayworthy was the leader. He won ten races with him and also showed that he was the best racing trotter of the year. Of his 'other leaders Cox won eight races with Jane the Great, five with E. Colorado, and three each with The Great Miss 88 RACEALONG Morris, Natalie the Great, and The Great Volo. An early start at the Ohio meetings rushed Fred Edman off in front, his lead being maintained until the stables reached Columbus in September. Ed- man pulled up at Lexington with thirty-five winning mounts, his last victory being in the Lexington Stake with Favonian. During the season Edman won four races with this colt, one of them being the Breeders' Futurity at Readville where he defeated Rose Scott. Edman also won six races with Jay Brook, five each with Dorothy Day, and Ruth Patch, four with Ruth Stout, and three each with Julia M. Direct and Legal J. Edman also drove Whip Cord to his record of 2:121/4 over the Cranwood Driving Park at Cleve- land. This horse was sold out of the army at Char- lotte, N. C. in 1918. He was taken to Pinehurst and started in the matinees to harness and under the saddle. As he showed speed he was raced for two seasons at the southern fairs before M. Sebree ap- peared with him at Cleveland. After winning a heat and losing one, the judges decided a new reins- man would improve matters. Edman was selected. He won with the ex-war horse, whose history prior to his appearance at Charlotte is unknown. Few reinsmen ever made a better campaign with a small stable than Joe Johnson in 1921. A couple of years ago this young man, like Dustin and Bither, moved from Maine, looking for an active field for training operations. He located at Combination Park, Medford, Mass., where he made his first starts RACEALONG 89 this year with Colonel Bidwell and Bernie Hayt. The former was an ex-member of the Cox stable where he failed on account of his owner barring hopples. A change brought out the regulators and Johnson won fifteen races with the gelding. Colonel BidwelFs only defeat was recorded at the Readville Grand Circuit meeting. On the trip through the Bay State Circuit and at the fairs Johnson also won five races with Bernie Hayt and four with the there-year-old gelding Mr. Hoover. The roan filly Josephine Sharpe was his most formidable rival. Joe Johnson won thirty-one races in 1921. This was one more than appears after the name of Sep Palin. The latter opened his campaign at Findlay in May and kept going until the grooms were compelled to break the ice on the water buckets at the Cleve- land overcoat meeting. During the season he won with thirteen horses. His leader was Walter K. He won seven races. Of the others Galli Curci won four. The Hoosier Lady, Kokomo George and Wanda May three each, and Abbe Hal two. Vic Fleming won twenty-five races with twelve horses in 1921. He made his first starts on the Ontario tracks where he won with Belle Coronado and Royal Dundee. A trip to Michigan and Ohio followed prior to the opening of the Grand Circuit at Cleveland the first week in July.| Fleming's card for the season shows that he won four races with Belle Coronado, four with Logan Hedgewood, and four with Uriko, the latter taking a record of 2:02i4 when he landed a coup at Columbus in September. 90 RACEALONG Of his other starters Allie Clay won three races, while two each were credited to Dan Aubrey and Senator Wilkes. The death of Louie Grattan at Columbus in August weakened Fleming's stable. Stokes, Crozier and Whitehead are each tied with twenty-one winners. The Ohio reinsman won five with Charley Sweet before he met with a mishap that put him on the shelf, and four each with Peter Coley and Peter Beiler. Frank Little and Walter Sterling were also double winners for him, the Peter Volo gelding being one of the fastest three- year-old trotters in 1921. Notwithstanding a broken collar bone which put him down for a month, Crozier won seven races with Almaden Onward, four with Labe Riddell and three with Harkness E. Whitehead won five races with Dr. Douglas, four with Miss Zola Zombro, and three each with Van H. and Baby Ginter. He also won two with Princess M. and one each with Belle Alcantara, Lena Moko and King Hedgewood. The ex-soldier Marvin Childs staged a splendid come back with Hal Mahone and Kilo Watts. He won nine races with the pacer and five with the Watts mare. Of the reinsmen who made a good showing with one horse, McDonald leads with Jeanette Rankin. He won eleven races with her in the fastest com- pany. Grayworthy and Main Lick were the only horses that defeated her on the trip from Cleveland to Lexington. Allen won twelve races with Single G. and Nat Ray nine with Jimmie McKerron. Snow RACEALONG 91 also won eight with Peter Pater, his most brilliant performance being at Goshen when he trotted the half-mile track in 2:081/4- TURF TRIAL BALANCE Drivers of trotters have spats like other folk. They come together, bump off, and make up. One day at Fleetwood Park, New York, Budd Doble slashed John Kelly across the face with his whip for pinching Manager with Blue Sign. Others use more tact, like Fred Hyde did at Toledo in 1919 when Oscar Watts flirted with Peter Chenault. The latter had worked in 2:05 and started favorite. Chenault was a jumper. He required clear sailing to win. At Kalamazoo the preceding week Fenesta with Murphy up almost took the legs from under Miriam Guy in the third heat of the race that Cox won with McGregor the Great. It cost Hyde's mare the difference between fourth and second money, $400 net. Lyman Brusie also got a jolt with Dr. Elmore. He felt like fighting. Hyde knew how to stop that kind of work. His chance came at Toledo where Oscar Watts raced so close to Peter Chenault that Murphy had to take the overland route. Brusie won a heat with Emma McGowan and Peter Billiken landed the event in 2:05^/4. After the race, peace was declared. The dove perched on the banks of the Maumee. The backers of Peter Chenault paid for their tick^s. Only one or two of them knew why they never had a chance to win. 92 RACEALONG FROM GAY TO GRAVE It is rather unusual for a fair ground or race track to be purchased for a cemetery. As a rule the growth of towns or cities result in streets being opened through the property and homes or factories cover the land which was at one time devoted to racing. That is, however, what happened at Clinton, Mass. in 1929 when John E. Thayer sold the fair ground and race track to St. Johns Church which will dis- mantle the buildings and add the land to its cemetery. A proceeding of this kind was recorded at New Orleans many years ago. In the ante-bellum days the crescent city had one of the finest race courses in America. Its name was linked with the Fashion and Union courses on Long Island, New York, while its equipment was superior to the old time race grounds in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, or Mississippi. The name of the Metairie Course at New Orleans still at times appears in print. It was there that Lecomte defeated Lexington in 1854 in the only race the latter lost while Lexington also made the three mile record over it. This course was controlled by the Louisiana Jockey Club, an organization which included in its membership many southern planters, a few of which bred and raced horses, as well as a number of gentle- men in New Orleans. Some of these were what would now be called high rollers. They bet heavily on the races as well as in the games which were run in the RACEALONG 93 local gambling houses or on the Mississippi River boats. Frequently the planters when marketing the products of their plantations lost or won a season's crop and occasionally a bunch of slaves over the green tables in the gambling houses. One place in New Orleans was recognized as headquarters for those who were interested in racing and who at times sat in at an unlimited game like a few modern folk did at Canfields in Saratoga or New York. As usual the house took its toll and the proprietor Charles Howard eventually had more capital than the most of his customers. He also founded the Louisiana Lottery which became the greatest gambling enter- prise in America. From time to time Howard met the patrons of his house and enjoyed their company. The most of these reunions occurred on the race course at Natchez or at the Metaire course in New Orleans. Also when the management of the local track struck a rough spot on the road and required funds either before or after a meeting Howard was called on for a loan. After a few of these visits some one suggested that he become a member of the Jockey Club and take a chance on making or losing a little on the race meetings. When his name was presented for mem- bership much to the surprise of those who sub- mitted it Howard was black balled. Assuming that it might have come about through a misunderstanding the name was again presented at the next opportunity and again it was rejected. 94 RACEALONG This created considerable comment and an explana- tion was demanded. In due time the friends of the rejected party were told that while the members of the Club were pleased from time to time to frequent his gambling house they did not consider its former proprietor as the equal of the southern gentlemen who were members of the Louisiana Jockey Club. Although Howard had the reputation of being a peculiarily good natured and amiable man the re- jection of his application put him in a rage. He openly declared that he would turn the race track into a cemetery. First he acquired a controlling interest in the stock. Then he purchased the property and later gave it to New Orleans for a cemetery. The Metairie Cemetery on the shell road at New Orleans with its thousands of vaults covers the course where the thoroughbreds raced before the war between the states. The names of those who took part in this controversy are forgotten but the cemetery stands as a reminder of what a little vanity did to a race course. EPSOM IN WINTER In winter the English course on Epsom Downs is deserted. The caretaker in the stand, a few oc- cupants of the Downs Hotel, and a couple of trainers are all of the people located near the Derby course. To an American it does not look like a race track. There is no outside fence. The public can come and go where or when it pleases on race day or any other day except in the stand and betting enclosure. RACEALONG 95 The broad strip of turf which is enclosed as a course follows the natural lay of the land. It is of an up and down hill variety. From Tattenham corner where the American bred horse Sir Martin fell when he looked like a winner the grade is up hill to the finish. It is located a short distance above the stand. The ascent continues from that point until near the turn opposite the Downs Hotel. As it sweeps off to the left there is a dip to a clump of trees. They are near the starting point of the Derby. From that point there is a steep ascent on which the spectators in the stand can get a splendid view of the horses as they race to the turn and down the grade w^hich carries them to Tattenham corner. In January, 1925, the course was as green as an American pasture field in May. The grass was short. The blossoms of a few dandelions could be seen at intervals between the gate leading out of the betting enclosure and the point where the judges' box is located. Opposite the latter on the inside of the course there is a broad white board with a black line in the center. It is the finishing point and is far enough away from the stand to prevent anyone disputing the returns. The stand at Epsom Downs in 1925 was a large building equipped with a number of steps and verandahs which were divided into bo^es. With the seats on the roof it would accommodate between seven and eight thousand people. The balance of the spectators on Derby Day, until the new stand was 96 RACEALONG built, occupied temporary stands or were scattered over the high ground outside or inside the course. The interior of the old stand was divided into rooms which were used for offices or the sale of re- freshments although the latter is well taken care of by a four story restaurant which was built in 1914. It is as long and almost as high as the grandstand. In the interior of the stand printed Hsts of the box holders in 1924 were still posted on the large pillars on the different floors. The royal apartments were the show place in the old stand at Epsom. They were on the third floor and consisted of a kitchen, dining room, reception room and other rooms which had all of the modern conveniences of a hotel. In the walls of the reception room there were a number of stained glass windows. On the bottom of each the name of a Derby winner and the year of his victory appeared. The first to catch the eye was Diomed. He won the first Derby in 1780. Ormond and others which have carried the name of the English thoroughbred around the world are honored with a place in this apartment. When the King goes to the races he takes along his servants, food, coal, water and every other article which might be wanted during the visit. He does not take a chance of anyone handing him a sandwich or a hot dog that might put him out of business. The royal box was large enough to accommodate a dozen or fifteen people. It adjoined the stewards' box in which there was a conspicuous sign stating RACEALONG 97 that the front of it was not to be occupied while races are being run. In other words, the stewards of the Jockey Club were required to step back to the rear so that the members of the royal family could have a clear view of the course while the horses are racing through the stretch. At Epsom Downs there was also another small stand about two hundred yards from the larger building. It was erected by King Edward when he was Prince of Wales. So long as Queen Victoria reigned he did not occupy the royal box except when she came to the races. He built this one for the use of himself and friends. Like all other courses Epsom has its troubles. Being crown land it is open to the public at all times and two or three roads cross the course. These are closed during the races. This did not cause any trouble as long as there was horse drawn vehicles. The auto, however, made a change as in wet weather the trucks and heavy cars make ruts in the course which since 1780 has been reserved for the galloping horse. SYRACUSE TEN THOUSAND The New York State Agricultural Society was organized in 1832. It did not attract very much at- tention until 1841 when a very creditable exhibition was made in Syracuse. After that 'date, the fair migrated from New York City to Buffalo. Forty- nine years were checked off the calendar before it 98 RACEALONG was permanently located at Syracuse. In the interval, nine fairs were held in Albany, Rochester and Elmira, eight in Utica, three each in Syracuse, Buffalo and Saratoga, two in Watertown, one at Auburn and one in New York City. The New York State Fair was located at Syracuse in 1890. It did not make much progress until it was taken over by the state in 1900. Under state manage- ment, the grounds were enlarged and equipped with a mile track. The Association also asked for dates in the Grand Circuit. The voice from Syracuse was not listened to until 1905 when the Hartford manage- ment refused to continue the conflict. At its first Grand Circuit meeting, the fair management programmed the $10,000 Empire State Purse. It brought out a field of thirteen horses. W. J. Andrews won the event with EtheFs Pride in 2:081/4- Ben Kenney secured the honors the fol- lowing year with Allie Jay, while Geers was triumphant in 1907 when he defeated Wilkes Heart and Sonoma Girl with Highball in 2:06%. Spanish Queen won the Empire State Purse for George Estabrooke in 1908 after Aquin had two heats to his credit. She was followed in 1909 by the midget trotter Penisa Maid, whose first heat in 2:06^4 niade a new record for the fixture. Billy Burke and Charley Mitchell were the next pair to add their names to the list of winners, while Rodney followed in 1912 with Baden. Five heats were trotted in 1913 before Lord Dewey was awarded first place over Reusens, Star RACEALONG 99 Winter and Judson Girl, the last named finishing second in three of them. After that date the race was put on the three heat plan, Margaret Druien winning off the reel in 1914 and Peter Scott the next year. In 1916 Mabel Trask and St. Frisco were the leaders. At Hartford the preceding week this splendid pair of trotters battled for six heats before the San Francisco horse was declared the winner. At Syra- cuse, St. Frisco trotted three heats in 2:05%, 2:03%, 2:051/4, Al Mack finishing second in the fastest mile. Neither Royal Mack or Prince Loree, the next two winners, reached the mark set by St. Frisco, but in 1919 in a battle with thirteen of the fastest trotters in training, McGregor the Great won from Marion- dale in 2:03iA. Peter Manning placed his name at the top of the summary in 1920. His fastest heat was trotted in 2:0414. The following year Greyworthy moved the mark down to 2:021/?. This remained as the record of the event until 1928 when Benelwyn defeated Fullworthy and a large field in 2:01i/o. In this race Fullworthy won a heat in 2:02 and in 1929 he came back again and won the $10,000 event from Holly- rood Pat and Gay 1 worthy in 2:021/2. In the interval between the victory of Gaylworthy and the fast trip made by Benelwyn this splendid fixture was won by Czarworthy in 2:03%, Taurida in 2:041/2 and Tilly Brook in 2:04%, EU)b Armstrong in 2:07, Sumatra in 2:021/^ and Sam Williams in 2:031A. Tilly Brook and Bob WiUiams won their races over the cinder track. 100 RACEALONG MYSTERIOUS DEPOSITOR During a convention at Atlantic City, a group of bankers were talking shop on one of the hotel porches. Most of their remarks were rather common- place, until a lanky individual, whose general ap- pearance showed that he came from near the Mexican border, snapped the ashes off his cigar with the remark that if no one objected he would tell them of an old incident in connection with a director in the bank of which he was president. As no one demurred, he prefaced his story with an explanation that he came from Texas, where cattle was the staple. With his people a man's rating depended on what he had on the hoof. **One day, however," he continued, "a young man with whom I had a nodding acquaintance came into the bank and made application for a small loan. He frankly admitted that he had no security to offer, ex- cept an assignment of a portion of his salary. He was working for a friend of mine, and I knew that he had a permanent position. Still that does not satisfy directors, so I turned him down. Later in the day another man came in and took up a note which I had long since charged to profit and loss. It was a personal matter and as I counted the money, I decided to let the young man have a portion of it. So the next morning when I met him on the street, I told him that if he would call I would help him out. I suppose some of you old flint hearts have done the same thing a few times in your lives, just as a flyer. RACEALONG 101 instead of counting up the interest that a loan will bring in before the principal is paid. ''Three weeks later my young friend came into the bank and after making a deposit, handed me a check for the loan with the interest to date. During the next three months he also came into the bank nearly every week to make a deposit, after which there was a skip to the following August when he again began to make deposits and continued them to October. His account also showed that the only check drawn against it was the one with which he paid my loan. Tinally a third year rolled around and about the middle of July he appeared again. Starting off with a few hundred a week, his deposits soon ran up to four figures. Each of them was also a draft on New York or Chicago, and no two ever came from the same city. As there was considerable bad paper floating around the country at that time, I told one of the secret service men about this peculiar account, as I could not imagine where this money was coming from. All that he could learn was that a man called at each of the banks, purchased the drafts with currency, and mailed them to the mysterious depositor. He also learned that he never received or sent any telegrams, or sent off any express matter and so far as they could find out wrote but very few letters. His mail was limited to an occasional letter and three or four weekly papers. The drafts were purchased in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky and Texas, while the others came from Oklahoma, 102 RACEALONG Missouri, and Illinois. The account also became such a matter of comment in the bank that the clerks were betting pennies as to where the next draft would come from. "The following year my young friend began de- l)ositing about the middle of July and continued until October. The drafts came from the same states as the preceding year, while the amounts, except in a few cases, were about the same, until the last one which was well up in four figures. A few days after that deposit was made I had occasion to go to New York. Upon my arrival, I registered at a hotel near the Grand Central depot and while I was wait- ing for the clerk to assign me a room, a middle aged man, who had occupied a section opposite me in the sleeper on the ride from Cincinnati and registered after me, stepped up and asked if I knew a man, naming the bank's mysterious depositor. I said that I did and not knowing what kind of a game was going to be handed me in the big city, like an old ranger I felt if my gun was in place and turned to walk away. The stranger followed me, however, and in a very friendly way asked a few questions regard- ing this young man and of course there was nothing for me to tell him except that I knew him. Finally my chance acquaintance told me that the name of this young man was well known in light harness racing circles; in the north and that for four years a horse owned by him had been winning regularly, first at meetings in the middle west and during the past two years at many of the big meetings, also R A C E A L 0 N G 103 that he had purchased the horse for a large amount and was going to take it to Europe. He said that he remembered the name of the town where the owner lived, although he had never met him, and spoke to me when he saw by the register that I came from the same place. *'By that time I began to get wise to the opera- tions of my young friend and on my return home he told me that he had purchased a colt for a small amount and placed it in the hands of a trainer. By careful management he succeeded in saving enough money to pay the bills until the horse was ready to go to the races and the loan was to take care of the shipping bills and entrance fees. His horse also won its first race and kept winning. In fact there were only five or six races in the four years when it failed to get in the money and as he quietly remarked his trainer knew that it was not good while the public made it a top heavy favorite. No one with a grain of sense in the racing world ever ask for anything better than that, where there is pool selling with the field selling against the favorite. To one on the inside it was like finding money and he did. ''However, that young man is now one of the directors of the bank and he will inherit the few pennies I have saved, as he has also married my daughter. In time he will no doubt come to one of these conventions when he may tell a few of you how he owed his start in life to a horse." 104 RACEALONG FASHIONABLE FAMILIES Blood lines in race horses slip in and out of fashion like styles in clothes. After a run of a few seasons another strain glides in and gathers the laurels. Breeding in fashionable lines is a case of following the winners in the colt races and aged events. Those who supply them and start the boom get the reward while those who hop from one family of horses to another in the hope of getting a champion pay the bills. The changes are first seen in the futurities while the flourish in the aged events precedes the exit. In the early days of light harness racing when there were eight or nine families, the rivalry was keen. At that time the number of the performers was the most important item. For a time the Morgans flourished from Maine to California. They faded when the speed dropped to 2 :20. By that time the Hambletonian, Mambrino Chief, Champion and Clay families made their bow. The northern breeders pinned their faith to the Hambletonians while a few remained loyal to the Clays and Champions. Kentucky was the battle ground of the Mambrino Chief family. It was not very numerous on account of the early death of its founder but it had several formidable representatives on the turf. For a number of years George M. Patchen, Lucy, American Girl and Hopeful kept the Clay pennant flying. Lady Thorn, Hannis and Woodford Mambrino and the descendants of the last named through Pan- RACEALONG 105 coast and Princeps did yeoman service for the Mambrino's. When they passed there were few to take their places and the Hambletonians dominated the field with Dexter, Nettie, George Wilkes, Orange Girl, Jay Gould, and Goldsmith Maid. Goldsmith Maid was the first noted performer by a son of Hambletonian. When others followed, the breeders saw that this family would absorb the others. In time all the popular lines became sub- divisions of the Hambletonian strain. The lines run to the tap root through George Wilkes, Happy Medium, Electioneer, and a faint streak through Dictator, Alexander's Abdallah and Strathmore. There were others which for a time had a fol- lowing but when the acid test of reproduction in subsequent generations was tried they faded. This group included Egbert, Aberdeen, Edward Everett, Knickerbocker, Masterlode, Victor Bismarck, and Volunteer. Volunteer was for several years a rival of his sire in Orange County. His get did not race young but when they did appear they made reputations as sterling performers. His leaders were St. Julien, Alley, Bodine, Gloster, Powers, Driver, Unolala, and Sweetness, which after being taken to California produced Sidney, the grandsire of Lou Dillon. Of Volunteer's sons Louis Napoleon was the only one that made a reputation in the stud. He got Charles Hilton, Grace Napoleon, and Jerome Eddy. The line stopped with the latter after he sired Fanny Wilcox and Ella Eddy. 106 RACEALONG George Wilkes was taken to Kentucky in 1873. He died in 1882. In nine years he laid the foundation of a family of light harness horses that is still tap- ping at the door of popular favor. At the first remove the get of this horse included Harry Wilkes, Wilson, Baron Wilkes, Guy Wilkes, J. B. Richardson, Rosa Wilkes, So So and Wilton. His sons were scattered all over the continent: Alcantara and Alcyone being in Massachusetts, Guy Wilkes in California, Am- bassador and Hambletonian Wilkes in Michigan, while of those which were retained in Kentucky, Red Wilkes, Wilkes Boy, Onward, Jay Bird, Simmons, Baron Wilkes, Gambetta Wilkes, William L., and Young Jim sent out a flood of speed, like their sire. Red Wilkes carried on in the fast list through Ash- land Wilkes, the sire of John R. Gentry, and Patchen Wilkes through the stout battler Joe Patchen to Dan Patch. Alcyone got McKinney whose son Zombro got San Francisco, the sire of Lu Princeton, St. Frisco, Jeanette Rankin, Fireglow, Chilcoot, Mary Putney and Sanardo. William L., almost an outcast but a brother to Guy Wilkes, lives in turf history as the sire of Axtell, whose son Axworthy got Guy Axworthy, Dillon Axworthy, General Watts, and Judge Maxey, Mr. McElwyn the sire of Main Mc- Elwyn appears at the next remove. While George Wilkes was making a reputation in Kentucky, Happy Medium came to the surface. It resulted in his transfer to Kentucky where he got the unbeaten champion Nancy Hanks. Before leav- ing Pennsylvania this son of Hambletonian was RACEALONG 107 mated with the Pilot Jr. mare Tackey and got the gray colt Pilot Medium. He was shipped to Michigan where in 1894 he got the wonder sire Peter the Great. A raid in Kentucky during the Civil War resulted in the death of Alexander's Abdallah. His name became a fixture through the races of Goldsmith Maid and the get of Almont, Belmont and Thorndale. Almont was a leader for a number of years but his descendants failed after one or two removes. The Belmont strain continued to Nutwood. Electioneer was shipped to California in 1876, three years after George Wilkes was taken to Kentucky. There was a keen rivalry between their get. In the matter of extreme speed Electioneer led in the first remove but when it came to getting the money in races the odds were with the Wilkes tribe. A wave of time record performances followed the advent of the Electioneer family. Everybody was in the market for brood mares that had produced fast performers, regardless of how the records were made. Those who managed the time record mills at Stockton, Independence, and other points saw that the demand was met. As record makers the Electioneers were in a class by themselves. Each year the Marvin School sent out a new set of champions, the list including Fred Crocker, Wildflower, Bell Bird, Hinda Rose, Bonita, Manzanita, Sunol, Palo Alto, Norlaine and Arion. Prices jumped at each transfer until $125,000 was paid for Arion. But with it all from a racing stand- point the only ones which left a mark in the minds 108 R A C E A L 0 N G of race goers were Expressive, Palo Alto, Little Albert, Azote, The Abbott, The Monk, The Abbe and The Harvester. The only Electioneer strains of note today runs to the source through May King and Conductor. May King could trot in 2 :20 and was not even a good individual. In his case like that of Wil- ham L. in the Wilkes tribe the family proved greater than the individual. May King was mated with a mare by Young Jim and got Bingen. He sired Uhlan, the first trotter to beat two minutes in the open. He also got a splendid group of stock horses. His sons included Bingara, J. Malcolm Forbes, The Exponent, Achille, Aquihn, Albingen, Binjolla, Border Knight, Sir Roche, Senator Hale, and Todd, whose line was perpetuated by his grandson Etawah. The Dictator family had a boom after Jay Eye See, Phallas and Director appeared. It was never strong enough to make much of a splurge on account of the size of the family. The Dictators, however, left their imprint on the fast list through Director, sire of the remarkable pair Directum and Direct. The latter got Directum Kelly, the sire of Directum I., Directly and the unbeaten Direct Hal. He got Walter Direct, sire of Napelon Direct. Directum contributed Ethel's Pride and Consuella S. and one of his sons got the good race mare Joan. The line is now rather faint. RACEALONG 109 NEW SPEEDPORT By assembling the largest group of brood mares ever seen on a farm devoted to the production of light harness horses, W. M. Wright in 1929, placed Calumet Farm in the front rank. In 1924 when he purchased Fairland Farm and paid $50,000 for Belwin few thought that this successful Chicago business man would increase the product of his estab- lishment to a point that had not been reached in Kentucky since J. B. Haggen was breeding thorough- breds. Still that is just what the breeder of Peter Manning did at this new speedport. With Dick McMahon as manager, Calumet Farm with its white fences, red gates and red roofed build- ings became one of the show places in Kentucky while for brood mares the country was combed until there were one hundred and seventy-nine on the farm where Belwin 2:06%, Justice Brooke 2:08V2> Peter the Brewer 2:021/9, Truax 2:031/2, and Guy Abbey 2:06% were in the stud. In recognition of the fact that the daughters of Peter the Great led all other families in the matter of speed production just as the founder of the tribe topped all other sires in getting speed, thirty-five mares by him were purchased. Of these twenty- four had records. The leaders in this group were Sienna 2:06% and her daughters Sumatra 2:02i4, Hindustan 2:031/2, Station Belle 2:04%, and Corsica 2:09, all of which are by Belwin; Sweet Thoughts 2:1114 and Great Thoughts 2:19%, both of which 110 RACEALONG trace to the dam of Nedda l:58l^; Petress Volo 2:27l^, sister of Peter Volo 2:02; Betty the Great 2:151/2) dam of The Deemster 2:09 and a lister to the Kentucky Futurity winner Ethelinda 2:0214; Miss Adioo, dam of Betterwin with a three-year-old record of 2:01l^; Petrella 2:151/4 and her fillies Sonya 2:081/2 and Julep 2:10, both of which are sisters of Bronx 2:041/2; together with Jane the Great 2:03i4, Guesswork 2:0214, May W. 2:06, and Radio Dillon 2:081/2. From the mares by sons of Peter the Great, Calu- met Farm selected Margaret Chenault 2:031^; Joan Mac 2:08, a sister of Burrowlite 2:06% and Joe Mac 2:08%, all of them being out of Joan 2:041/4; Edna McKlyo, 2:06; Hollyrood Abigail 2:051/4; Marion Scott 2:1014; Helen Scott 2:141/4; Elsie Scott 2:10; and Highland Mary 2:26, the last two being sisters of Rose Scott l:593^ and Highland Scott 1:591A. Belwin was represented among the brood mares by twenty-two daughters, nineteen of which have records. His lot includes Charm 2:041/2 and her sis- ter Calico, members of the Lady Bunker family; Sumatra 2:02l^, Hindustan 2:031/2, Station Belle 2:04%, and Corsica 2:09 to which reference has been made; Sonia 2:081/4 and Julep 2:10, sisters of Bronx 2:04l^, Mary Kremlin 2:141/4, sister of Mer- riman 2:00; Tennis 2:07%, and her dam Thrill- worthy 2:141/4; Tootsie Trask 2:081/4; and Margo 2:093/4, sister of Labrador 2:021/4. Axworthy and his three best sons Guy Axworthy, Dillon Axworthy, and General Watts were well rep- RACEALONG 111 resented. There were six mares by Axworthy, of which the best known are Dilworthy and her filly Dilcisco 2:061/2; Edna Saunders 2:231/4! Foulata, dam of Margaret Chenault 2: 03 14; Margaret S. 2:261/4, the dam of Prince W. 2:05iA; Mary Worthy, the dam of Colonel Bosworth 2 :023/4 ; Mendosa Wor- thy 2:17iA, the dam of Leonard S. 2:071/2; Thrill- worthy 2:141/4 and her filly Tennis 2:07%; and Vesta Worthy 2:14, the dam of John Gallagher 2:041/9. From the Guy Axworthy family Ilo Guy 2:08%, and Berengaria 2:15 were selected. General Watts contributed My Rosebud 2:051/4, Lotto Watts 2:061/4 and four others. Dillon Ax- worthy is represented by four among which were Lillian Dillon 2:13, a sister of Margaret Dillon 1:581/4, and Keta Dillon 2:27%, and her sister Minia Dillon 2:0214. There were six mares by Justice Brooke, one of them being Justissima 2:061/4, dam of Calumet Adam 2:041/4; Jessie Belwin 2:061/4 and Just the Guy 2:081/4; another Queen Brooke, sister of Alta Donovan 2:061/4; and still another Rose Brooke 2:091/4, sister of Tilly Brooke 1:59. Etawah con- tributed Etiquette 2:291/2, a descendant of Miss Russell, dam of Maud S. 2:08%. Locanda was the sire of Eva Locanda 2:26, dam of Peter Locanda 2:05%. San Francisco was the sire of Our Ruth 2:10, Dilcisco 2:06V2, Ruth Coleman 2:171/2, and Dora Francis 2:201/?, sister of Sanardo 1:591/2. From the brood mares at Hamburg Place, Mr. Wright selected a number of the descendants of 112 RACE A LONG Nancy Hanks 2:04 and the Leyburn and Fanny Robinson families. From the last named he got Betsey Bolivar 2:10i/2» sister of Periscope 2:03i/2» and her fillies Faith and Ella, both of which were by Kernel. The Leyburn tribe is represented by Berengaria 2:15, Foster Child 2:12, The Firebird 2:111/4, and Guesswork. Tracing to the champion Nancy Hanks 2:04, he has Bahai 2:10%, dam of Saki 2:091/2 ; Nancy's Todd 2:22%, dam of Diplomat 2:05l^ and Hot Toddy 2:06i4; Scintillate 2:25, dam of Catherine 2:051/4 ; and Light 0' Day, dam of Lap- wing 2:10. Almost all of the great brood mare families are represented at Calumet Farm. Ethelwyn has eight descendants, Jessie Pepper five, Maggie H., to which Lee Axworthy 1:581/4 and Mr. McElwyn 1:59 14 trace, eight, Nancy Hanks seven, Waterwitch two, Peggy Slender three, Nell four, including the two- year-old champion. Silver Belle 2:04%; Minnehaha three, Lark three, Lou Dillon 1:58V2 two. Lady Bunker three, and the County House Mare two. Nervolo Belle, the greatest producer of race horses, was owned at Calumet Farm. Her leaders are Peter Volo 2:02, The Great Volo 2:02%, and Volga 2:041/4. The gray mare Zombrewer 2:04l^ was also there. She has been represented on the turf by Peter the Brewer 2:021/2, Senator Brewer 2:05, Grey Brewer 2:051/?, John Pershing 2:09%, and Marjorie the Great 2:091/2. The first foals of Calumet Farm breeding were dropped in 1926. There were only a small number RACEALONG 113 on account of a number of the broc4 mares being destroyed by fire. In 1928 they were represented on the turf by Trusty Brewer 2:051A, the two-year-old champion trotting gelding, and Betterwin 2:07. In 1929 this new speedport sent out Calumet Adam 2:04V2» the world's record for two-year-old pacers, Betterwin with a three-year-old record of 2:01i4> Peter Locanda 2:05%, Calumet Albert 2:10, Calu- met Anette 2 :10V4» and a number of others that were started in colt stakes. CHANGES EXPENSIVE A Httle change in the rigging of a horse prior to or during a race usually results in a defeat or a bad performance. In 1912 W. H. Knight declined an offer of $10,000 for Fair Virginia the night before the Kentucky Futurity was trotted. She was fast and had perfect manners. The next morning Chandler took Fair Virginia to the shop. He had her shoes reset and put small calks on the hind ones. In the first heat of the race Fair Virginia went away stilty. She made a break, something that she never did before, at the three quarter pole and was distanced. In 1919 Murphy started Direct C. Burnett at North Randall with one blind on his bridle. He acted like a horse with a brain storm and delayed the start for over an hour. After one heat he was drawn. The money that was bet on him was lost. The next morn- ing the blind was removed, Direct C. Burnett worked perfectl}^ and won eleven races. 114 RACEALONG GRAND CIRCUIT OF 1925 The fifty-second renewal of the Grand Circuit opened at Cleveland June 29 and closed at Atlanta October 10 after a run of fifteen weeks. During that period there were eleven meetings at which three hundred and twenty-one races were decided. The purses amounted to $626,592.25, the most ever paid out in one season since the circut was organized. In 1924 the total was $572,620.95, in 1923 $570,- 896.75, and in 1922 $517,012.25. The aged events in the 1925 circuit were domi- nated by Murphy's stable. In the colt races the honors were divided between the two and three-year- olds trained by Will Dickerson, Ben White and Walter Cox. On the trip from Cleveland to Atlanta, Murphy won fifty-nine races. His winnings amounted to $98,305. These figures placed him at the top of the column and also raised the amount of Murphy's winnings on the trotting turf from 1909 to the close of 1925 to $1,412,135. The Belwin gelding Crawford was the leader in the Murphy group. He started by winning two races at Cleveland in July. This was followed by a defeat at Toledo where Peter Fellows finished in front of him after he won a heat. During the next seven weeks Crawford won at Kalamazoo, landed four dashes at Aurora, annexed two more races at the Cleveland August meeting, one race at Milwaukee and one at Indianapolis. RACE ALONG 115 At Syracuse Crawford started favorite in the $10,000 Empire State Purse. It was raced over the cinder track and won by Bob Armstrong. The son of Chestunt Peter also defeated Crawford in one of his races at Columbus. He won the other two. He was also awarded first place at Lexington in the Walnut Hall Cup and Castleton Purse and closed the season with a victory at Atlanta. During the season Crawford was started in nine- teen races. Of that number he won sixteen and was second in the balance. He was the busiest horse that ever made a trip down the line. The following horses won three or more races in the Grand Circuit in 1925: Crawford 16 Ribbon Cane 14 Norman Grattan 10 Bonnie Watts 7 Hollyrood Leonard 7 Queen Volo 7 Anna Bradford's Girl ... 6 Clara Dillon 6 Dr. Strong-worthy 6 Skeeter W 6 Callie Direct 5 Ethelinda 5 Phil O'Neill 5 Favoriian 5 Peter Maltby 5 Single G 5 Sir Roche 5 Todd Hart 5 Gordon Dillon 4 Lulla Forbes 4 Thompson Dillon 4 Frank Worthy 4 Theodore Guy 4 Miss Czar Moko 4 Kentucky Todd, Jr 4 Aileen Guy 4 Braden Ruler 3 Guy Trogan 3 Grayworthy 3 Pete Green 3 Worthy Harvester 3 Winnie O'Wynn 3 Lilly the Great 3 Etta Druien 3 Tarzan Grattan 3 Margaret Dillon 3 Bob Seymour 3 Bob Armstrong 3 Cupid's Albingen 3 Temple Harvester 3 Jeanette Royal 3 Jean Grattan 3 Trumpet 4 Of the forty-three horses in the above list, Etta Druien, Theodore Guy, Aileen Guy and ete Green 116 RACEALONG are the only ones which appeared in it last year. Grayworthy also had the unusual honor of return- ing after a skip from 1921. Murphy topped the list of Grand Circuit drivers with fifty-nine races to his credit. Cox was second with twenty-eight, and Childs third with twenty- seven. Palin was fourth with nineteen and Dicker- son fifth with sixteen. The latter also won twelve races in the Orange County Circuit and two at the Illinois State Fair with the Arden Homestead Stable horses, making his score thirty for the season. In the money winning column Murphy was again in first place with $98,305 and Cox second with $73,- 437. The horses raced by Marvin Childs won $48,- 931.25, Ribbon Cane being the most successful. Will Dickerson won $32,214.50 in the Grand Circuit, $21,990 in the Orange County Circuit, and $2,000 at the Illinois State Fair. This made a total of $56,- 204.50 and placed him third in the table of money winning drivers in 1925. Fred Egan's mount behind Thompson Dillon at Toledo where he won the $25,000 trot jumped his winnings in the Grand Circut in 1925 to $29,475. Nat Ray gathered in $22,625.50, his largest item being the $15,325 Tarzan Grattan won at Kalama- zoo. The Murphy winners in addition to Crawford were Hollyrood Leonard, Trumpet, winner of the $25,000 trot at Aurora, Queen Volo, Clara Dillon, Dr. Strongworthy, Etta Druien, winner of the Transylvania, Mac Silk, Pearl Benboe, Becky Beal, R A C E A L 0 N G 117 Mag Abbe, Double Cross and Hot Toddy. Cox won the Matron and Horseman Stakes with Sam WilHams. He also won the $10,000 pace at Milwaukee with Skeeter W. and rode his first mile below two minutes behind Margaret Dillon when he won with her in 1 :59% at Kalamazoo. The other leaders in his stable were Ethelinda, Cupid's Albing- en, Thompson Dillon, Tom Bradley, Grayworthy and Star Ruth. Marvin Childs made a remarkable showing with Ribbon Cane. She won fourteen races. She also w^on a heat from Tarzan Grattan in the $25,000 pace at Kalamazoo and a heat from Skeeter W. in the $10,000 event at Milwaukee. Childs also won with Worthy Harvester, Temple Harvester and Pat Harvester, the first foal of the pacing queen Miss Harris M., Bonnie Watts and Ramona Watts. Palin had the mounts in nine of the ten races won by Norman Grattan and Theodore Guy also won four races for him after he was returned from the Murphy stable. Palin's other winners were Silas J. Patchen, Peter Mann, Southward, Braden Ruler and the two-year-old colt Hazleton which he drove for Cox at Atlanta. Dickerson started the Arden Homestead Stable at seven Grand Circuit meetings. At them he won six races with Anna Bradford's Girl, five with the two-year-old colt Peter Maltby, three with Guy Tro- gan and two with Guy Ozark. On a' side trip to Springfield, 111., he won with Anna Bradford's Girl and Guy Trogan, while in the Orange County Circuit 118 RACEALONG he won four races with Guy Ozark, three with Anna Bradford's Girl, three with Peter Maltby, and two with Guy Trogan. Of the thirteen races won in the Grand Circuit by Vic Fleming, four stand to the credit of Kentucky Todd, Jr. Jean Grattan and Jeanette Royal each won three for him. He also scored with Myrtle Baxter, Doctor B. and the two-year-old filly Charm which he drove for Ben White at Kalamazoo. Callie Direct and Frank Worthy were the busiest members of Fred Egan's stable and Phil O'Neill won five of the ten races awarded Crozier. Of the others three were won by Miss Czar Moko and one each by Frank Manager and Peter Coley. Four of the nine races landed by Ben White on the mile tracks were won by Aileen Guy. They were worth while as they carried the amounts set aside for the National Stallion Stake as well as the Re- view, Breeders' and Kentucky Futurities. White also won the Rainy Day stake with Stallion Belle and the Consolation with Wire Worthy. Tarzan Grattan and Red Top were Nat Ray's most conspicuous winners. The first named won the $25,000 pace at Kalamazoo and Red Top reduced the mile and a half record to 3:141/2 when he won at Toledo. The three-year-old gelding Gordon Dillon and Peter Fellows were the fastest trotters in Walter Garrison's stable. Both of them won in 2:04%. Favonian won five races for Edman. Todd Hart also landed the same number for Putnam at the Grand Ciriuit meetings before he mowed down the RACEALONG 119 field in the Walnut Hall Cup at Lexington. John Thomas won with Lulla Forbes and Polly Peachtree before starting for a trip over the southern tracks. Henry Thomas won with Delphia Watts, Hal Acme and Hollyrood Volo at Aurora. He followed this showing by a whirl over the western tracks where he won sixteen races before he appeared at Lexing- ton. At that point he landed the first race at the meeting with Senator Frisco. Sir Roche won five races in the circuit for Loomis. His best showing was at Milwaukee where he de- feated Margaret Dillon in 2:001/2- John L. Dodge scored four firsts with Hollyrood Abigail and Holly- rood Susan. The last start made by Susan was in the May Day Stake which she won over a heavy track in 2:lll^. TWO BRIGHT ONES Barton Pardee, the owner of Lu Princeton, 2:01, and Mabel Trask, 2:01%, always enjoyed seeing everybody's horses in good form as well as his own. At the same time, he added many a bright spot to a wet day by his subtle wit. One day when a few of the ultra wise were weaving turf honors for 1920, he said "I would give a few dollars for a peek into next season's Year Book about the first of June." This was a shade better than "Tombstone" Kelly's come back at Abe Dysher when the latter said that the Irish were no good and Kelly replied ''I admit it if they are not developed." 120 RACEALONG HIDDEN HORSES The history of the turf presents the names of a few horses that disappeared without the public ever knowing what became of them while others faded for a time and returned after their racing days were over. The pacing mare Choral by C. F. Clay is included among the lost ones. She made a record of 2:061/2 ^^ 1900. At that time she was owned by the Penn Val- ley Farm at Morrisville, Pa. Early in the following winter a number of the Penn Valley Farm horses in- cluding Choral were shipped to Wellsville, N. Y. During the legal complications that followed the transfer of the horses Jack Kinney, who had charge of the farm, was locked up in Buffalo for a brief period. Finally the proceedings were dropped. In 1901 a mare named Ononda Maid started at the summer meetings at Syracuse, N. Y., and Nashua, N. H., and made a record of 2:161/4- She was rep- resented as being by Stillman and was said to have been bred by a man named Jones in Wellsville, N. Y. No questions were raised in regard to her identity until the week of the meeting at Worcester, Mass. At that time B. T. Birney dropped into town with the horses of W. B. Dickerman from Mamaroneck, N. Y. One morning when Ononda Maid was being jogged Birney spotted her as Choral. In a few hours the mare disappeared and was never seen again ex- cept in a slow race at Bath, N. Y., later in the season. When the matter was investigated Birney stood RACEALONG 121 by his statement until the trial day. He then modi- fied it so as to carry a doubt as to the identification of Ononda Maid as Choral. The papers in the case were filed away for future developments. These were few and very vague. It was alleged the mare was bred to Direct Hal which was then owned at Wells- ville but the foals, if she ever had any, never ap- peared on the turf or were offered for registration. Senator Bailey also offered $5,000 for Choral to use as a brood mare. No one produced her. In 1894 John W. Tilden of Vancouver, Washing- ton, came over the mountains with the three-year- old gray filly Ella T. by Altamont. She was raced on the mid western tracks, at times starting twice a week against foals of her age or in class races. Ella T. made a record of 2:12 at Galesburg, 111., the day Alix reduced the world's record for trotters to 2:0334. As a four-year-old Ella T. cut this mark to 2:09 the day she defeated a field of thirteen at Lexing- ton. In 1896 Tilden located at Red Oak, Iowa, where Morris Jones had Alix and Pactolus. He gave Ella T. a mark of 2:08^4 at that place. Finally in 1900 he bred Ella T. to Pactolus. Later in the season he consigned her to the Chicago sale without making any reference to it in the catalogue. At that time a man named Glynn in Clinton, Mass., became imbued with the idea of having a white rac- ing stable. He purchased half a dozen gray horses, painted his sulkies white, selected white harness and blankets and white colors for his driver. 122 RACEALONG All of the horses went wrong except one called Maggie B. She made her first start at Holyoke, Mass., and finished third to Dewey H. Her next appearance was at Concord, N. H., where she was unplaced. After this race she dropped a dead foal. Maggie B. made three other starts that season. She won at Athol in 2:22^4 and Westfield in 2:19iA. She also won two heats in a race at Brockton. After that race Maggie B. and the white stable disap- peared. The inevitable leak followed. Before it did Maggie B. was bred to Alcander and hid away on a farm near Middlebury, Vt. At that point she was located and identified as Ella T. When the man in charge of the mare learned he had Ella T., he said that her owner would never see the Alcander colt if she remained on his place. The Clinton man did not trust him. He sent for the mare a few weeks before- the colt was due. Two days after Ella T. arrived at Clinton the barn in which she was kept was destroyed by fire. Ella T. went with it. In 1867, the year Dexter reduced the world's rec- ord for trotters to 2:171/4-, Oliver Crooks, who lived on Long Island near Newtown Creek, had a yearling colt by Hambletonian out of a mare by One Eyed Kentucky Hunter. He was a promising youngster but before he could be developed, litigation tied up the Crooks estate. The Hambletonian colt disap- peared. Subsequently it was learned that he was hid in a dark stable and went blind. That was all that was heard of him until the early eighties when a RACEALONG 123 few Canadian bred trotters began to appear on the American tracks. One of them was Fides. Their sire was given as General Stanton. On looking him up it was found that he was Crooks colt by Hambletonian. How General Stanton got from Long Island to Thorald, Ont., which is only a few miles over the Canadian border, no one ever knew, or if they did they said nothing about it. In his new home the blind horse was in charge of John Batten and re- mained there until he died in 1889. Prior in his History of the English Racing Calen- dar and Stud Book tells of a hidden horse that passed into the register as the CofRn Mare. She was owned by Oliver Cromwell, the Protector who ruled Eng- land after Charles I. was beheaded. Place, his stud- master, stole the mare and hid her in a cellar in Fenchurch Street until he could smuggle her out of London. It was on account of this that she was given the singular name. BILLY BAREFOOT In 1857 John Curtin disposed of his business in Angelica, N. Y. and turned his face towards the setting sun. With a drove of horses, and their equip- ment, he aimed at Chicago and hit Decorah. He went there to sell but remained to buy and grow up with the country. The star of Iowa had been shining for eleven years in the group on Old Glory when he crossed the Mississippi River and while the red skinned chiefs no longer smoked their pipes on the clay hills near Council Bluffs, the ink on the Indian 124 RACEALONG bill of sale to President Pierce for the site of Omaha across the Missouri was scarcely dry. In the early days Curtin dabbled in Indian ponies, light drivers, and Morgans, there being a strain of Vermont blood somewhere although at times it was rather hard to find. Those were also the days when trainers had to sit up by candlelight trying to devise contrivances that would make a speedy horse go on a trot, and when owners were forced to lay awake nights, planning ways and means to pay the bills, until a stranger came looking for a prospect. In the early seventies if a horse took a hop, skip and a jump occasionally, nothing was said, so long as he kept on a trot part of the way, even if it was of the dot and carry one variety but it required more than hand picked judges to convince a buyer that he could win with a wild eyed one that persisted in running at least a quarter of a mile in each heat. John Curtin was well aware of this fact when a. farmer named Barefoot drove into Decorah early in 1872 with a horse that he considered a prospect. He looked him over and found the prize package was a close made, six-year-old, black gelding of the Morgan type, and also a true bred one, as he was by King Herod out of a mare by Young Green Mountain Morgan. His owner called him Billy and for a green one fresh from the fields he certainly could trot fast. Curtin bought the gelding and as he led him away he told his former owner that he would call him Billy Barefoot if he was ever fast enough to go to the races. RACEALONG 125 That fall when the fairs started the new trotter was turned loose and before the close of 1873 every- one in the western world, or at least that portion of it between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, knew that John Curtin had a trotter which could win in almost any company in that locality. As the news spread it landed among the white tops of the Bailey, Cooper and Hutchinson circus which was making a trip across the state. Both Bailey, who afterwards owned and raced J. B. Thomas, Tony Newell, and the beautiful mare Florence, and Cooper decided to pur- chase the Iowa trotter. Cooper secured the prize the deal being closed after banking hours and as in those days it was customary for a circus to pay for every- thing in cash. Cooper went to the ticket wagon, drew $5,000 and exchanged it for the black trotter. John Curtin went home to supper with the bundle of bills under his arm and throwing it on the table said: 'That is a pretty fair price for one horse to bring." Cooper took Billy Barefoot to Philadelphia, where he was raced for the next ten years and closed his career with a record of 2:281/2 made over Belmont Park in 1878 in a race that Mike Goodin won with Lady Crossin. In his day Billy Barefoot was started in forty-seven reported races of which he won eighteen, was second in fourteen, third in seven and fourth in two. He defeated such old timers as Modoc, George A. Ayers, Sorrel Tom, Snow Flake, Gray Chief, Lew Ives and Clothesline, a trotter that broke Frank Hedric and Lem Ulman three or four times. 126 RACEALONG STRIPLIN, THE FAIRMAKER Corinth, Mississippi, was R. M. Striplings starting- point in fair work. His first billet was with the Al- corn County Fair, in northern Mississippi. After being responsible for a couple of them he saw, while racing his pacer Jerry H. at other towns, that if he remained in the fair business and put on an exhibi- tion worth while, it would be necessary to locate in a larger town, where the grounds had modern equip- ment. After looking over the field he selected Meridian, and soon convinced the public-spirited citizens that an agricultural and industrial fair would do the farming interests of Mississippi and Alabama a world of good, not only by introducing new ideas, but also by showing the people all of the labor sav- ing devices connected with work on the farm. The Meridian fair, or as it was named the Missis- sippi and Alabama Exposition, was a success from the start. Hundreds of its patrons who had been plod- ding along year after year with ''before the war" methods, went home convinced that the time had come for them to adopt modern equipment on the plantation or farm patch. They also saw that their bank balances would be benefited, by improving the quality of their cattle and hogs, and at the same time display the tassels of corn in the cotton coun- try. At this period the Hon. James Wilson, for twen- ty years Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, was pushing the corn club idea in the south. Striplin, taking advantage of this propoganda, made it a point to emphasize the fact that the time had come RACEALONG 127 for the southern farmer to grow something that he could eat as well as wear, and at the same time have something that he could sell for cash at any time even if there was a bad crop of cotton or a glut in the market. Striplin continued his work at Meridian until 1914, when the live wires back of the spirit of Atlanta decided that the gate city of the south should have a fair that was up to the standard of the new south described by Henry Grady. Everyone dropped into line with the movement from the school boys to gray haired men, who saw the city grow from the village of Marthaville which Ivy founded in 1838, and also raise from the ashes left by Sherman. Selecting grounds which afterwards became part of the park system of Atlanta, except when being used for fair purposes, they planned an exposition which rivals any on the continent, while the mam- moth stucco exhibition buildings, each with a touch of Spanish architecture, blend harmoniously with their woodland surroundings. A mile race track was built around the edge of an abandoned reservoir, in which there is sufficient water for boating and other aquatic features. R. M. Striplin was selected to supervise this work, and plan a fair in keeping with the surroundings. Opening in 1915 with a cotton and stock show he followed it in 1916 with a fair that was complete in every department. When the gates were thrown open in the middle of October the stockmen of Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama had an oppor- 128 RACEALONG tunity to see practically all of the Hereford and Shorthorn show herds in the middle west as well as every variety of sheep, hogs and poultry. They also had ample time to compare the exhibits with what they had been purchasing and producing. This is the true mission of the fair. It teaches by example. The average man who stands by the show ring and sees the ribbons awarded or examines the stock in the buildings does not as a rule compare them with those they have defeated but with what he or his neighbors have at home. The comparison creates a disposition to improve. This feeling of un- rest spread over Georgia and adjoining states for several years. The stockman favored by nature took up swine breeding to such an extent that Georgia rivaled Iowa in the production of pork and its by- products, while the cattlemen came into their own in the production of beef. This change can be traced to the fairs. Striplin continued at the wheel of the Atlanta fair until he died in 1926. CHESTNUT PETER In 1907 when Trampfast won the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity and reduced the race record for foals of that age to 2:1214, the chestnut filly Dorothy Axworthy was only beaten a head. It was the last appearance of the pair. Tramp- fast was retired to the stud in Illinois while Dorothy Axworthy passed into the brood mare ranks with a record of 2:2114. RACEALONG 129 Dorothy Axworthy was bred by General B. F. Tracy, who was Secretary of the Navy under Presi- dent Harrison. As her name implies, she was by Axworthy, out of Dorothy T. by Advertiser, a grand- son of the old race mare Lula, 2:15, and out of Hannah Price, the dam of Lesa Wilkes, 2:09. In due time Dorothy Axworthy became the property of A. B. Coxe. He bred her to Peter the Great in 1913 and 1914. In 1914 she produced Worthy Peter and in 1915 Chestnut Peter. As a three-year-old Worthy Peter made a record of 2:091/4, and in his four-year-old form Berry won eight out of nine starts with him. Chestnut Peter was given a time record of 2:12 as a two-year-old while in 1918 he made eight starts in the Grand Circuit and was retired after pulling up lame at Readville with five firsts, two seconds and a third to his credit. Chestnut Peter made his first start in July at North Randall, where he finished second to Hollyrood Bob in 2:04%, the fastest heat trotted by a three- year-old in 1918. After that meeting Chestnut Peter won in 2:1114 from Peter Vonia at Kalamazoo, where he was purchased by C. W. Leonard of Boston for $25,000, at Toledo in 2:0714 from Hollyrood Naomi, and at Columbus in 2:0514,, his record, from The Divorcee, Selka, and Peter Vonia. This colt also won the Champion Stallion Stake at the North Randall August meeting in 2:05%, and followed it by another victory at Philadelphia where he defeated The Divorcee and The Cossack. The Divorcee 130 RACEALONG balanced her account with Chestnut Peter, the fol- lowing week at Poughkeepsie, where she defeated him after he won a heaf in 2:05%. Her stable com- panion Nella Dillon defeated him in a futurity at Readville, where he pulled up second after equalling his record of 2:0514. In 1919 Charles W. Leonard placed Chestnut Peter in the stud in Kentucky. He remained there until 1925 when the Beaumont Farm trotters were sold. Dr. Ogden M. Edwards purchased him for Walnut Hall Farm. At that time his reputation as a sire had been started by Hollyrood Leonard 2:02% the winner of the Matron Stake in 1923. Since that time Peter Cowl 2:02 the winner of the $25,000 trot at Toledo in 1929 and Bob Armstrong 2:03% were added to his list of fast performers. LARRY JEROME Everybody in the light harness racing world either met or heard of Frank Ellis of Philadelphia. For fifty years he was a conspicuous figure among the leaders of shooting, fishing and racing, his tilt in the third group being towards the trotters. In 1873 Frank Ellis made his first appearance as a winning owner with Nettie 2:18 the fastest daugh- ter of Hambletonian. Turner raced her for five years. From that date until he died in 1925 Frank Ellis kept up with the procession, his last representatives being Lee Worthy and Aileen Guy. He was a member of the Pastime Stable when it raced Abbie Putney R A C E A L 0 N G 131 2:061/2, Mary Coburn 2:071/4, Volga 2:0414 and the champion stalhon Lee Axworthy 1:581/4. Few sportsmen had a greater fund of reminis- censes than Frank Elhs. One day he referred to Larry Jerome a well known figure in New York when the four in hands were seen at all of the race tracks. "Larry Jerome was one of three brothers that went to New York City from Rochester. Their father had a stage line in the northern part of the state where Larry, Leonard and Tom learned to drive a four in hand before they were old enough to leave school. Leonard became a man of affairs in the busi- ness and racing world. His name was given to Jerome Park. He had three daughters, one of them mar- ried Lord Randolph Churchill. Larry married and was the father of three sons. Fortune chased him up hill and down but he never worried." ''For years Larry was the companion of James Gor- don Bennett owner of the New York Herald and was on his boat in the race across the Atlantic. Before sailing Larry purchased a Wild West outfit. It was not so well know in those days as since Buffalo Bill's cowboys carried them all over the world. He selected a pair of long boots with spurs that would make a Mexican vaquero look green with envy, buckskin trousers, flannel shirt, and a hat with a rim large enough to make a race track for a colony of ants." ''The news of the ocean race soon carried with it the names of all who were on the boats so that it was not long before , JL-arry Jerome, the uncle of Lady Churchill, was the talk of London." 132 RACEALONG "Shortly after Larry was located in London, he dolled up one morning in his western outfit and set out to call on his niece. By the time that he arrived at the Churchill residence, half of the boys in the neighborhood were tagging along behind, while the bobbys blinked. Such a make up had not been seen in London since the days of Julius Caesar." ''When Larry arrived at the Churchill residence, he bounded up the steps and gave the door bell such a yank that the house servants thought it was a fire alarm. A flunky, in silk stockings and brass buttons, opened the door. When he got a glimpse of a six foot and a half man in a make up that he had never seen outside of a picture book, his eyes almost popped out of his head. Larry did not give him time to recover before he tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Son, I want to see Mrs. Churchill.' By that time the doorman caught his breath. His face froze into the old lines and he succeeded in telling Larry that the tradesmen's door was in the rear of the house. " 'Tradesman, my eye,' said Larry. 'I want to see Mrs. Churchill and be quick about it.' "At the time Lady Churchill was coming down the stairs. When she heard the voice, she rushed through the vestibule on to the front step and with a laugh said, 'It is Uncle Larry'. But when she fol- lowed it up by clasping her arms around his neck and kissing him, the flunky collapsed muttering as he fell, 'My stars, the Indians will come next'. "The incident ran the gauntlet of the clubs and RACEALONG 133 fashionable assemblies for weeks. A few clever folk, when they heard of it, decided that they would give Larry a try out, so one evening at a dinner, one of them asked him what he did for a living. Turning towards the impudent fop who was busy twisting a monocle into place, Larry with a smile replied: 'I keep a livery stable in Venice.' " 'Why, my dear sir, there are no paved streets in Venice. Where do your patrons drive the horses V " 'On the ice in winter,' said Larry, while the table roared and the cad beat a hasty retreat. ''Nothing in the world bothered Larry Jerome. He was in Paris on Black Friday. What he had went with the holdings of hundreds of others. When advised that his name was included in the list that failed, he picked a cigar out of a friend's pocket, lit it and said: 'It is just as pleasant to go broke in Paris as New York.' "Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania delighted in having Larry Jerome in his company. In the spring of 1886 he invited him and a few others including myself, to go with him in his car to see the Kentucky Derby. Lewis Clark, the President of the Louisville Jockey Club, met us at the depot with a four in hand and Larry, without a moment's hesitation, mounted the box and drove the party to the Pendennis Club. No one ever saw a better exhibition of horsemanship than what he put up that morning or when after Idnch he tooled the coach to Churchill Downs. "Before leaving us to attend to his other duties. President Clark placed our party in a box. It was 134 RACEALONG located near the one occupied by J. B. Haggin, the owner of Ben AH who with Blue Wing was considered the two most formidable competitors in the race. He also gave us a little information about the horses and said that he thought that the Virgil colt would win. "Calling a messenger I requested him to go to the betting ring and get me the odds on Ben Ali. He re- turned with the information that they were three and a half to one. Larry heard him and offered to place my money. I gave him $300, and that was the last I saw of him until after the race. "When the flag dropped for the Derby, the field ran in a bunch until within a couple of furlongs of the finish. At that point Blue Wing and Ben Ali slipped out in front and ran on even terms for several strides. As they approached the stand, Ben All's head showed in front and it remained there to the finish. In a few minutes I learned that Haggin won $72,000 on the race. My ticket also won but Larry kept it. I never asked him for it and it was the nicest present I ever had an opportunity to make to anyone. "For some reason Larry Jerome did not take to southern people. He always said that they had big feet and that was ^hat kept them erect. One winter we were fishing at New Smyrna, Florida. All of the guests at the hotel were from the south except Larry and myself. He would not mix with them, while his big feet idea was always on tap. "One rainy afternoon when all of us were sitting on the porch, Larry turned to me and said: Trank, RACEALONG 13 o did you ever know that I was a soldier in the war?" "Of course I said *No' in order to let him run along a little and brighten up matters. " 'Well, I was/ he replied. *I enlisted shortly after the Baltimore mobs began attacking the troops when they were marching across the city to take the trains to Washington. Before leaving New York, I decided that I would crush a little of the rebel spirit in that city if any of them bothered my company. In order to be prepared, I ordered a sword six feet long and four inches wide. Some of the officers tittered when they saw the weapon and offered to detail a couple of men to carry it. " 'When the company detrained at Baltimore the crowd was there as usual and before long a few stones and bricks dropped into the ranks. I did not do anything until I got well out in front. Pulling the sword out of the scabbard I gave it a couple of whirls over my head,' rising to his full height as he said it, 'and with a sweep cut off the heads of eight of them.' *'A11 of the company except myself was horrified at the statement while Larry sat down and in a loud whisper said to me 'And would you believe it, Frank, their feet were so big that none of them fell over for half an hour.' "The southern people walked into the hotel in disgust but their turn was coming. For several days Larry had been bothering me by picking a special brand of cigars that I had* out of my vest pocket. I knew he did not want the cigars and was only doing 136 RACEALONG it to annoy me and see if I would not pull up and go to a more congenial resort. Instead of doing that, however, I decided to give him a jar. "Before leaving Philadelphia, Frank Herdic gave me a package of small Chinese firecrackers. I threw them into a trunk when packing my kit and after thinking it over I decided to let Larry have one of them. Getting a few cigars at the hotel office, I loaded two and put them in my vest pocket with a good one. Larry with a smile helped himself as usual and sat down in a chair in front of a big window. I offered him a match and waited for the blow. 'The cigar either burned slowly or the insert was deeper than I supposed as it seemed a quarter of an hour before it came. When it did, Larry plunged backward through the window and landed inside the room. All of the other guests followed his two hundred and odd pounds with a wave of laughter while during the balance of the trip he did not take any more of my cigars, not even when I offered them.'' **Larry Jerome was a clever fisherman and one summer when a few of us were at Saratoga, Car- mack and I decided to go with him and catch a few bass at a lake in the mountains. In order to make the trip, we had to lay over for a few hours at a junc- tion where there was a small hotel. There was no way to put in the time except by sitting on the porch. While we were occupying the chairs, about a dozen small boys lined up looking at us. They made Car- mack nervous. He wanted to chase them away but RACEALONG 137 Larry said, 'Wait a minute, I will shoo them.' 'Turning towards the largest boy whose outfit consisted of a badly frayed straw hat, ragged shirt, patched pantaloons kept in place by one suspender, and a rag tied around one of his big toes, he said: 'Son what is your name?' "The lad replied, 'WilHe.' '"Willie what?' said Larry. " 'Small,' said the boy as he fidgeted from one foot to the other and jammed his hands into his pocket with so much force that I was positive the suspender would break or the big white button to which it was fastened would fly into the air. "Stooping towards him, Larry stuck out his thick lips and said: 'Come and kiss me, Willie?' "Willie and the group looked at him for an instant and fled to the other side of the street. When another boy came along we heard him say, 'That big ox on the stoop wanted me to kiss him.' " GRAND CIRCUIT OF 1927 The fifty-fourth renewal of the Grand Circuit closed at Atlanta October 8 after eleven weeks rac- ing during which there were nine meetings. The series started at Toledo and moved from that point to Detroit, Kalamazoo, Cleveland, Goshen, Syra- cuse, Indianapolis, Lexington, and Atlanta. For the first time there were two open weeks in the circuit. These gaps were caused by Columbus dropping out and Cleveland giving but one meeting. 138 RACEALONG Syracuse drew a wet week. All of the racing ex- cept one day was over the cinder track. The time made over the loose footing was remarkable. Sir Roche paced in 2:00l^ and Etta Druien trotted in 2:03. There were one hundred and eighty-six races de- cided during the trip. Of that number fifty-five were won by horses that traced to Walnut Hall Farm. Guy Axworthy led in the number of winners, races won, and amount of winnings. losola's Worthy was the most fortunate. She won the second re- newal of the Hambletonian Stake in which $34,- 836.10 was handed to her owner. She also landed the Review, Horseman and Kentucky Futurities as well as the three-year-old race at Atlanta. Her winnings amounted to $56,697.95. The other leaders in the Guy Axworthy group included Fullworthy, with which Murphy won six races; Guy Watts, Fine Girl and High Noon, each with three to their credit : Guy Ozark, the winner of the fast classes at Lexington and Atlanta where he trotted the last half of two heats in 59 seconds; Bugle Call, a double event winner at Syracuse; San Guy, Nescopec, Otzinach- son, Aileen Guy, True Guy and Red Aubrey, each of which earned brackets. Thirteen trotters by Guy Axworthy won thirty races at Grand Circuit meetings in 1927. In the matter of records losola's Worthy won in 2:03%, Aileen Guy in 2:03l^, Guy Ozark in 2:03, Full Wor- thy in 2:04. When Red Aubrey won at Atlanta in 2:081/2 he was the twentieth performer added to RACEALONG 139 Guy Axworthy's 2:10 list in 1927. Peter Volo, also located at Walnut Hall Farm, stood in second place. Ten of his get won seventeen races in the 1927 Grand Circuit. Hollyrood Volo won three and paced in 2:01V2 at Lexington. The three- year-old gelding Volo Rico also won three and paced in 2:05. Of the others Hollyrood Colin, Sigrid Volo and Brook Volo each won two races while Mr. Hanna, Bennett Volo, Hollyrood Highboy and Ace High each scored once. Peter Scott stood third with sixteen races won by three trotters. Sam Williams was his leader. He won nine out of ten starts and made a record of 2:021/4. Clara Bascom won four races and the two- year-old colt Scotland three with the Breeders' Fu- turity which was raced at Cleveland during the open week included. Five members of the Belwin family won ten races. Of the lot Kashmir was the best. She trotted in 2:031/2 in the Champion StalHon Stake and won four of the big three-year-old events before lameness put her out of the money at Indianapolis and Lex- ington. Belwin also scored on the larger ovals with Bennett, Riley, Hollyrood Jessie and the two-year- old pacing filly Belvolo. Lu Princeton had a brilliant representative^ in Hazleton. He won nine out of eleven races and trot- ted his last heat at Atlanta in 2:01%. Lu Trask, an- other member of the family won at Indianapolis. San Francisco and Grattan Royal each had four representatives which won eight races. Fire Glow 140 RACEALONG was San Francisco's best. He won at Goshen in 2:08%, at Syracuse over the cinders in 2:10, and at Lexington in 2:051/2 ^^^ 2:04. In the heat in which Fire Glow made his record, Spencer raced on the outside of Scotland to the quarter in 291/2 seconds, the fastest time ever made by a trotter in a race on that strip of dirt. The pair passed the half in 1:011/4 with Scotland in front and Fire Glow trailing. Spencer faltered before the three-quarter pole was passed in 1:331/4. Scotland continued to make the pace until near the distance when Cox took Fire Glow out and won by two lengths in 2:04. San Francisco's other battlers on the mile tracks in 1927 were Victor Frisco, a winner in 2:03% at Toledo, Frisco's Star and Tippie Frisco. Prue Grattan and Tarzan Grattan, both winners of the $25,000 pace at Kalamazoo, were double event winners on the mile tracks in 1927. Tarzan Grat- tan paced the last heat at the Atlanta meeting in 2:02%. Prue Grattan won in 2:031/4 at Detroit and Kalamazoo. Norman Grattan won in 2:04% over the cinders at Syracuse and Widow Grattan had three first monies to her credit before starting on a trip to the Pennsylvania fairs. Fred Egan, who developed and raced Braden Direct, came back with Louis Direct, the fastest of his sire's get. This horse won eight races on the mile tracks. At Lexington he paced in 2:021/2. The name of Peter the Great still appeared in the summaries on both the mile and half-mile tracks. Twenty-eight of his get won races in 1927. Of the RACEALONG 141 lot three scored on the mile tracks, one of them being Guesswork. She won the $10,000 event at Syracuse in 2:0214.. Peter the Great's other win- ners on the larger ovals were Lullawat and Peter Elliott. Etta Druien and Peter Etawah kept the name of Etawah before the public. Peter Etewah landed the $20,000 pace at Toledo after Berry the Great and Hollyrood Volo were killed off in the preliminary heats. Etta Druien also trotted in 2:021/2 at Toledo, a mark that was cut to 2:02i4 by Sam Williams and beaten by Hazleton at Atlanta in 2:01%, mak- ing the Grand Circuit race record for 1927. Last year Ruth M. Chenault won for Coldstream Farm. This year Signal Peter was kept in the lime- light by Nellie Signal. She won the two-year-old event at Toledo in 2:071/4. Signal Flash, a three- year-old by him, also scored at Syracuse in 2:06%. Lee Tide and Great Britton, two young sires, each had a splendid representative. The son of Lee Ax- worthy started off with Spencer in the two-year-old events. He won at Detroit in 2:081/4, Kalamazoo in 2:0714, Cleveland in 2:05i4, Goshen in 2:0734, Indianapolis in 2:07 and was in the thick of the fight in the two-year-old fixtures at Lexington. The three-year-old pacer Hollyrood Jacquelin carried Great Britton into the racing calendar. She won at Kalamazoo in 2:0614, at Syracuse in 2:061/4, at Indianapolis in 2:03%, and at Lexington in 2:04%. During the trip Murphy won thirty-one races and 142 RACEALONG Cox twenty-five, while his assistant Harry Stokes added eleven more to the stable over the mile tracks. Fred Egan won thirteen at the Grand Circuit meet- ings. Ben White with a stable full of colts won but three races. He picked up two with Kashmir and one with Aileen Guy. As White was booked to drive Ruth M. Chenault he passed losola's Worthy to Childs. She made him the leading money winning driver in 1927. Tom Berry won with this filly at Indianapolis when Childs was on the sick hst. Murphy also won with Kashmir and Red Aubrey from the White outfit. Ben White had so many fast three-year-olds it looked for a time as if the futurities were being given for the benefit of colts developed and trained by him. In the Hambletonian Stake losola's Worthy, Benel- wyn and Gray Brewer, the winners of first, third, and fourth money, were from the White stable. He drove Kashmir. She finished seventh. In the Re- view Purse at Goshen four of the first five were trained by White while three monies in the Champion Stallion Stake at Cleveland went to the same stable. It started Kashmir, losola's Worthy and Gray Brewer. RACEALONG 143 TROTTING TEAMS A wagon race for trotting teams proved one of the most attractive features on the programme for the Grand Circuit Meeting at Syracuse, N. Y., in 1917. In the first heat Woodlawn Girl and Helen Audubon reduced the world's race record for trotting teams to 2:12% while on the next trip Roy Miller and Lucy Van won by a head in 2:101/4. The old record was 2:151/4. It was made at Columbus, Ohio, in 1894, by Roseleaf and Sally Simmons when they defeated Azote and Answer. In the "good old days" team racing was very popular in the vicinity of New York and Boston when Jessie Wales with Darkness or Honest Allen as mate trotted many splendid races with celebrated teams. The fast pairs drifted from the tracks to the road. In a short time the rivalry between them became very keen especially in New York where W. H. Vanderbilt maintained the lead for a number of years. In 1877 his pair Small Hopes and Lady Mac placed the world's record at 2:23. When John Shepard of Boston cut it to 2:22 with Mill Boy and Blondine, another Vanderbilt pair, William H. and Lysander Boy, brought the honors back to New York with a mile in 2:20. At this point Frank Work started out with Edward and Dick Swiviller. They trotted in 2:161/2. These figures were afterward beaten twice by pairs owned by W. H. Vanderbilt. Early Rose and Aldine led off with a mile over Charter Oak Park in 2:161/4 and were followed by 144 RACEALONG one of the greatest amateur performances ever placed on record when W. H. Vanderbilt drove Maud S. and Aldine to a top wagon over Fleetwood Park in 2:151/2. C. J. Hamlin of Buffalo, N. Y., was the next aspirant for leadership in team trotting. He had a number of splendid pairs and made world's records with Belle Hamlin and Justina when they trotted in 2:13 and with Belle Hamlin and Honest George when they trotted in 2:1214. The last mile was made in 1892. In 1904 C. K. G. BiUings reduced it to 2:07% with The Monk and Equity, an amateur performance that was equalled at Lexington, Ky., the next October by J. D. Gallery with Lettie Lee and Brighton B. Both of them, however, are a long way from the record of 2:031/4 that Uhlan and Lewis Forest made at Lexington, Ky., in 1912. VAN NESS Frank Van Ness, the last of the leading reinsmen who retired from light harness racing before the bike sulky put the high wheelers out of business in 1892, died in France in 1929. He was born in Lock- port, N. Y., in 1850 and had been connected with the gallopers for thirty years in America and Europe. The future reinsman was brought up among horses. His father was a dealer who shipped to the New York market. Frank's flare was for racing. When about seventeen years old he built a track on R A C E A L 0 N G 145 his grandfather's farm and began training local horses. At twenty he opened a public stable at Rochester. The following year he won his first race at Canandaigua with Drummer Boy. At this time he was also training the Hunger Horse. When Van Ness drove him in 2:23 at Buffalo he became the talk of the country. The showing of this horse prompted Frank Van Ness in 1872 to pay $750 for St. James by Gooding's Champion. This gelding had speed but was mixed gaited. Van Ness balanced St. James as a trotter. He won five races with him that season. In 1873, the year that the Grand Circuit was started, St. James won a $10,000 purse at Buffalo in 2:231/2- He also won a $6,000 event at Utica in 2:26 and two races worth $9,000 at Springfield. This showing was followed by a trip to California where St. James won three races at San Francisco, one of them being against Sam Purdy. In the spring of 1874 St. James won a race to wagon at Sacra- mento. He added five more to the score on the eastern tracks before Lucky Baldwin purchased St. James for $13,000 and turned him over to his son- in-law Budd Doble. While owned by Frank Van Ness, St. James won twenty-two races. With the sale price included this gelding netted his young owner over $30,000 aside from what he won in the betting ring. After looking around for a year Frank purchased the gray gelding Albemarle. He won three races with him, gave him a record of 2:20, and sold him to 146 RACEALONG Kerner and Robinson of Rochester, N. Y. Van Ness then went along with Damon. He won a number of races in 1877, one of them being at Buffalo where he defeated Nil Desperandum, Scotland, Dan Bryant, and Dame Trot. In 1878 Burt Sheldon purchased Mr. Kerner's interest in Albemarle and turned the horse over to Van Ness. He won three races that year, one being at Hartford where Albemarle defeated John H., Adelaide, Lew Scott, Banquo, Powers, and Tramp- oline in 2:19. The Tennessee bred trotter Bonesetter was also a member of the Van Ness stable that season. He won a few races. In 1879 Bonesetter landed twelve more and trotted in 2:19 when he defeated Dick Swiveller, Hannis and Colonel Lewis at Rochester. These horses were followed by Fred Douglass, Robert McGregor, Palma, and Little Brown Jug which Frank Van Ness purchased for $2,500 after he won with him at Jackson, Mich., in 2:231/2- In 1892 Frank Van Ness moved to Kentucky and took charge of W. C. France's horses. During that year and the following one he marked Bob Acres, Butterfly, Isaac, The King, and Alcyone. In 1884 W. C. France purchased Harry Wilkes. This was the horse that made the name of Frank Van Ness a fixture. From that time until 1890 Harry Wilkes started in sixty-seven races or performances against time. Of that number he won fifty-five and never finished back of second place. The turf career of Harry Wilkes started in 1882 RACEALONG 147 when Woodard and Brasfield won two races with him at Louisville and one at Lexington. They gave him a record of 2:23%. W. C. France purchased Harry Wilkes, June 20, 1884, and on July 4 won with him at Maysville, Ky., in 2:231/2- Between that date and the first week in December, Harry Wilkes started in nineteen races of which he won sixteen. He won at Pittsburgh in 2:18i/i, at Buffalo in 2:161/2, at Hartford where he landed the $10,000 Charter Oak Purse, and at Springfield where he equalled the track record of 2:15. In 1885 Harry Wilkes won ten out of twelve races. The season opened at New York, where he won from Billy Button, Kenilworth, and Felix. He also de- feated Trinket in three specials before being shipped to Pittsburgh where he won in 2:151/2 from Clemmie G., Trinket, Phyllis, and Jerome Turner. Clingstone won a special from him at Detroit in 2:151/2 and he lost to Phyllis at St. Louis. Harry Wilkes won fifteen of his sixteen races in 1886. His first start was against time at Toledo where he trotted a half-mile track in 2:17. His racing began at Pittsburgh on July 6 and closed November 27 at San Francisco where he won over Guy Wilkes, Antevolo, Charles Hilton, and Arab in 2:15. During this campaign Harry Wilkes defeated Clemmie G., Joe Davis, PhyUis, MajoHca, Libby S., Belle F., and OHver K. He cut his record to 2: 14% 'at Cleveland and lost again at St. Louis. Before starting on this trip Frank Van Ness 148 RACEALONG purchased Harry Wilkes and sold him to James Temple. The latter sold the gelding to Sire Bros. When Harry Wilkes turned for the word in 1887 he was their property. His first engagement was at San Francisco where on April 2 he was booked to beat 2:14%. It was planned to make the trial in the second heat. Before the horse started a local inventor bolted a timing device to the shaft of the sulky. It was adjusted so that the driver could start and stop it with his foot. Van Ness tried it and in order to make a good showing let Harry Wilkes step along. The result was a mile in 2:13i/2> much to the sur- prise of those who bet on time. All of Harry Wilke's starts in 1887 were specials. He defeated Gossip Jr. at Philadelphia, Johnston at Detroit, and Rosalind Wilkes at Dallas. Patron de- feated him at Cleveland in 2:14i/2> Prince Wilkes at St. Louis, and Johnston in feature events at Spring- field, Mass. and at the Minnesota State Fair. Harry Wilkes was not started in 1888, at the close of which Frank Van Ness retired from the sulky and went over to the runners. The following year John Turner trained Harry Wilkes and the other horses owned by Sire Bros. Harry Wilkes won from Gene Smith at Rochester, Oliver K. and Gene Smith at Boston, and again from Gene Smith at New York. Belle Hamhn defeated him at Buffalo. Gene Smith also defeated him at Poughkeepsie and Hartford where he won two heats in 2:1514 and 2:16%. His last bid as a race horse was made at Lexington where he took the word in the free for fall with Jack RACEALONG 149 and Junemont. Harry Wilkes won the first two heats in 2:15%, 2:15. In the third heat he shifted to a pace at the head of the stretch and Jack won in 2:19. The next two heats were easy for the Pilot Medium gelding. While campaigning Harry Wilkes, Frank Van Ness also raced Albert France, Rosalind Wilkes, and Gossip Jr. The last time I saw him in the sulky was at Hartford in 1888 when he defeated Arrow, Jewett, Joe L., and L. C. Lee with Gossip Jr. Arrow was a California bred gelding. John H. Shults pur- chased him in 1887 and turned him over to Budd Doble. He won with him at Cleveland in 2:1414, at Buffalo in 2:131/4, and Rochester in 2:1434. In the Hartford race Jewett rushed off in front and won the first heat in 2:15%. The second went to Arrow in 2:15. At that point it looked as if Arrow would win but Van Ness after desperate drives in the stretch won the next three in 2:17%, 2:15%, 2:16%. Arrow was ordered home to Park- ville Farm. Gossip Jr. won again the following week at Springfield from the balance of the field in 2:161/2. Four years after he went over to the gallopers Frank Van Ness found a star in the Eolus colt Morello which was purchased for a trifle. He won twenty-four out of thirty-two races, one of them being the Futurity. 150 RACEALONG $25,000 PURSE WINNERS The $25,000 events at Toledo and Kalamazoo in 1929 were won by Peter Cowl, Labrador and Counter- part. The victory of Peter Cowl was an outstanding performance as after finishing third to Nellie Signal and High Noon in the first heat in 2:04% he came back and won in 2:02 and 2:04. In his record making mile this horse was timed separately in 2:01, the last half being trotted in 59 seconds. In this heat High Noon was only a few inches behind the winner while there was a very narrow margin between him and Lullawat at the finish of the third heat. Peter Cowl was bred by Albert C. Hall of Stam- ford, Connecticut, who was represented on the turf in 1925 by Bob Armstrong 2:03% which defeated Crawford in the $10,000 trot at Syracuse. Both of these horses were got by Chestnut Peter. The dam of Bob Armstrong was by Peter the Great while Peter Cowl was out of Jane Cowl, by Jack Straw. She made a two-year-old record of 2:24% before being retired to the brood mare ranks. Jane Cowl was out of Esther Bells 2:08l^, a daughter of the California bred horse Monbells and the Electioneer mare Expressive 2 :12i/2 that was a star in the three- year-old events in the high wheel sulky days. In 1929 Labrador started off at Lexington with a victory in 2:06. Nat Ray chased him out with Ruth Grattan. At the first Toledo meeting Labrador scored again with Twinkling Joe in the place. At Cleveland Lacey grabbed a heat from him with Mr. Napoleon RACEALONG 151 after Labrador won a heat in 2:041/2 and he had whizz enough to come back on the third trip in 2:051/^. In the big event at Toledo Labrador led the field to the wire in two trips in 2:03 and 2:031/2- Dean Wilson chased him out in the first heat and Tramps- mug in the second. The third heat went to Volo Rico in 2:04, Labrador finishing fifth. Labrador was foaled in 1924. He was got by Belwin out of Memory by Beirne Holt. His second dam Pleasant Moments was bred by Marcus Daley in Montana. She was by Prodigal out of the Baron Wilkes mare Extasy which has been represented on the turf by the trotters Spencer 1 :59% and Ethelinda 2:021/4, both Kentucky Futurity winners. Counterpart is a Tennessee product. He was bred at Columbia. Geers gave his sire John A. a record of 2:031/4 while his dam Hallie Argoless was got by Argot Hal out of Lady Erectress, a mare which also produced Napoleon Direct 1:59%. As a young horse while in Tennessee Counterpart acquired the reputation of an outlaw by running away a few times. Finally he was purchased by R. C. McClenathan of Erie, Pa. He shipped him to Ed McGrath at Reading, Pa. Counterpart made a few starts in 1924. The fol- lowing year he was seen in the Bay State and Orange County Circuits and at the Pennsylvania fairs. In his first start at Norwich, Conn., he ran away and made two trips around the track before he could be stopped. At Avon he landed a $5,000 event while at 152 RACEALONG Endicott he defeated Robert Commodore in 2:061/4- In one of the heats in this race Counterpart made a break and was forced to pace a half mile in 1 :01 to win. This showing' placed the acid stamp of merit on the roan horse and those who saw the performance were satisfied that lameness was the only thing that could keep him from dropping into the fastest classes on the mile tracks. And that was just what happened as during the next three years he was bothered with splints. Finally Mr. McClenathan consigned Counterpart to the New York sale in 1928. He was purchased by Dr. Parshall of Urbana, Ohio. Counterpart was fired for the splints and the trouble yielded to treatment. Parshall then broke him to hopples and after a few battles with the high keyed pacer found that he had a useful racing tool. Counterpart's first start in 1929 was made at Lexington. He won in 2:02%. At Cleve- land he grabbed a heat from Colonel Strong and Dean Wilson in the Edwards Stake in 2:03i4. The next week at Toledo he was third in the deciding heat of the $25,000 event won by Labrador. Counterpart found his day in the spot light at Kalamazoo where in the $25,000 pace he won from a field of twenty-one. In the first heat Kinney Direct chased him out in 2:02l^. On the next trip his Cleveland rival Colonel Strong was in the place in 2:02% and on the third he finished in front of Black Scott in 2:03%. RACEALONG 153 BURDETT LOOMIS Burdett Loomis, one of the many sided men which Connecticut has given to the world, went west in 1922. He was born in SufReld in 1838, and remained on his father's farm until 1871 when he located in Hartford. Burdett Loomis was descended in the seventh generation from Joseph Loomis, who settled in Windsor in 1639, and while the world at large knew him as an inventor and organizer, the follow- ers of light harness racing will always remember him as the man who was responsible for the build- ing and equipping of Charter Oak Park at Hartford. One day when in a reminiscent mood, Mr. Loomis said that the first trotting race he ever saw was contested over the half-mile track on Albany Ave- nue in Hartford on October 30, 1861. It was to saddle, the starters being the gray gelding Rock- ingham with Budd Doble up and Lancet. Doble won the event in 2:24l^. Burdett Loomis' interest in racing started that day and when he located in Hartford, he decided that the city should have one of the best courses in the country. With that object in view, he selected a site, organized the associa- tion, superintended the building of the track, as well as the planting of the trees which made its park like appearance. All of the early meetings were successful but in 1883 Loomis decided that Hartford should have an event that would attract national attention. After considerable deliberation he drafted the conditions 154 RACEALONG of the first Charter Oak $10,000 Purse, which was won by Director. In 1903 when I was preparing the conditions of the first three heat race for A. J. Welch, it being the Charter Oak Purse that Billy Buck won, Burdett Loomis dropped into the office. During the conver- sation he stated that when he proposed the original event in 1883, the directors of the association had some doubts in regard to it but Morgan G. Bulkeley, who was treasurer, told him to go ahead and he would guarantee the race. Fourteen entries were received so that instead of losing money the associa- tion made a profit and also had a splendid contest. During his long life, Burdett Loomis saw many changes. The last time that I met him he referred to a trip which he made with his father, Allen Loomis, to the powder works at Hazzardville during the Crimean War. Upon their arrival, they found representatives of England, France and Russia anxious to purchase powder. His father had to enter- tain two of them while Colonel Hazzard made a sale to the third. The powder works at Hazardville were estab- lished by his father, who in addition to owning a large farm, had a mill and cigar box factory in suffield, and purchased furs in New Hampshire and Vermont for John Jacob Astor. Powder was scarce and at times hard to get for the fur trade, so he started the powder mill. After running it a few years he took Colonel Hazzard, who had come to New York from South Carolina, into partnership and RACEALONG 155 ultimately sold the business at Hazardville to him. In his day Burdett Loomis had many tilts with good and bad fortune. Like all Yankees he had a life long fondness for the trotter. In his day he was the companion of William Edwards of Cleveland, C. J. HamHn of Buffalo, George W. Archer of Rochester, C. W. Hutchinson of Utica, and L. J. Powers of Springfield, with all of which he labored zealously to establish and maintain the Grand Circuit. BAY STATE CIRCUIT OF 1927 The fourteenth renewal of the Bay State Circuit closed at Northampton after a run of seven weeks. During the trip from Greenfield to that point there were twenty-three days racing. Sixty-five races were scheduled for the series. All of them were dis- posed of, thirty-six of them being for trotters and twenty-nine for pacers. The only check caused by the weather occurred on the last day at Springfield after four heats were contested. This resulted in five heats being can- celled. As they were all in fast classes it made a marked difference in the average rate of speed for the meeting. In 1927 the liberal purses brought out the fast- est fields of horses ever seen on the New England half-mile tracks and that the clip was maintained at all of the meetings was shown by the fact that the average for the one hundred and thirty-one 156 RACEALONG heats trotted was 2:12l^ while the one hundred and four heats paced averaged 2:09l^. The average for the circut at both gaits was 2:10l^. The trotters at the Greenfield meeting averaged 2:1214 and the pacers 2:10, the average rate for the meeting being 2:lll^. At Sturbridge the clip was faster. The average for that meeting was 2:10%, the rate for the trotters being 2:12 and the pacers 2:09. The care given the Norwich track im- proved the footing on that sandy course. This was shown by the average rate of speed for the trotters being 2:11% and the pacers 2:101/4, making the average for the meeting 2:11. Avon and Windsor each gave four days racing. This resulted in a few slower classes appearing on the card. The clip, however, was as fast as was seen on the mile tracks a few years ago. At Avon the average rate of speed for the trotters was 2:121/4 while the pacers averaged 2:10, making the average for the meeting 2:11. The average for the Windsor meeting was 2:lli/2, the trotters rate be- ing 2:12 and the pacers 2:10i/2. Springfield, as usual, led in the matter of speed. At that point the trotters averaged 2:11 and the pacers 2:08i4. The meeting averaged a fraction under 2:10. Several new circuit records were also made at that meeting. Carolyn Logan paced in 2:051/2, Millie W. and Billy D. in 2:05%, while the two-year-old filly Miss Eclipse trotted in 2:12i4. The returns for Northampton show that the high speed was continued up to the last heat. At this RACEALONG 157 point the sixteen heats trotted averaged 2:lll^ while the twelve heats paced averaged 2:10, mak- ing the rate for the meeting 2:10V4. Millie W. was the only starter in the Bay State Circuit in 1927 that made the trip without being defeated. Her names goes into the record with Earlwood L., Colonel Bidwell, Anoakia, Iskander, and Tippie Volo. Her fastest heat was paced at Springfield where she won in 2:05%. Wayne Hal proved her most formidable rival. He grabbed a heat from her at Norwich where the pair paced the last half of a mile in 1 :01%. Hodson drove Millie W. in all of her races except at Windsor. While he was in the hospital Fleming was given the mount. Hodson also won with Bert Abbe at Norwich, Avon, Springfield, and North- ampton. Crozier drove him at Windsor the week that his regular pilot was on the shelf and defeated Carolyn Logan in the $10,000 event. During his trip through the Bay State Circuit Hodson won eleven races, six with Millie W., four with Bert Abbe, and one with Preston Watts. Wal- ter Breitenfield made a splendid showing. At Greenfield he won with Bob Maxey and Carolyn Logan. He also repeated with the Logan mare at Sturbridge where she paced in 2:06%. Skipping Norwich Breitenfield dropped into line again at Avon where he failed to score. The tide turned his way at Windsor where he won a $10,000 event with Billy D. This airy going pacer scored again at Springfield where Carolyn Logan defeated 158 RACEALONG Bert Abbe in 2:05V2- As Carolyn Logan hit her knee at Springfield she did not start at Northampton where Billy D. won again for Mr. Niles. The two-year-old colt Plucky was one of the bright lights in the circuit. He made his first flash at Greenfield where he won in 2:14%. He won again at Sturbridge in 2:15%, repeated in 2:161/4 ^t Nor- wich, and came back again at Windsor in 2:15 after losing the $5,000 event to Azure Volo at Avon. Dean Etawah was Fred Hyde's first circuit win- ner. He came through at Greenfield and Sturbridge where his trainer also defeated John Gallagher with Bee Worthy. An accident at Norwich kept Hyde out of the sulky until the horses reached Windsor. He failed to score at that point but won at Spring- field with the two-year-old filly Miss Eclipse in 2:12l^. This filly also won at Northampton where Bee Worthy again appeared at the top of a sum- mary. Three of the members of Ed McGrath's stable scored. Prince Charming made his first start at Greenfield where he defeated Oscawana and Bee Worthy. He also won the $10,000 trot at Avon. At that point Wayne Hal evaded Millie W. and won in 2:09l^ and Holly rood Mark landed his race at Windsor. Will Flemming had Guesswork on edge when the circuit opened. At Greenfield she won from Billy D. She came through again in 2:06 at Sturbridge and 2:06% at Norwich. At Avon she was defeated by Silver Weather while Billy D. defeated the pair at RACEALONG 159 Windsor. Of his other starters Flemming before shipping west won with Sister Worthy in 2:101/2 and in 2:0814 with Milhe W. Ackerman failed to make his usual showing. He scored at two points with the Peter Volo colt, The Buccaneer while Oscawana was sent home after he pulled up lame at Avon. Neil Frisco proved a disappointment to Mosher. The San Francisco gelding showed fast in his first three races but after that seemed to lose form. Guy Reaper, his stable companion, was on the firing line from the first heat at Greenfield which he won in 2:09. The race went to Preston Watts. Guy Reaper won at Sturbridge and Windsor where he defeated a formidable field in a $10,000 event. Crozier shipped west after the Windsor meeting where he won the $10,000 pace with Bert Abbe and was seen in the other two behind Silver Weather and Jeritza. He also won at Norwich with John Gallagher and scored in the $10,000 purse at Cherry Park with Silver Weather. Pitman dropped into the circuit at Norwich. After that meeting he won all of the three-year-old pacing races with Ace High. Pitman put a record of 2:0814 on Senator Stout at Springfield and scored with him in the same time at Northampton where he defeated Viola Sunshine, Blackstone Dillon and Prince Charming. Harry Brusie was seen behind three' winners in the Bay State Circuit in 1927. The three-year-old filly Gypsy Star won for him at Norwich in 2:131/2. 160 RACEALONG He also scored with Azure Volo in a $5,000 event for two-year-old trotters at Cherry Park where he took a catch mount behind Blackstone Dillon and won in 2:10. Cy Becker dropped in from North Carolina with Doane and Nettie B. The filly was unsteady but her stable companion after putting up a four heat battle at Avon won the $5,000 three-year-old event from Dock Dillon and The Buccaneer had everything his own way from that point to Northampton. After Leese met with an accident at Avon, Crozier got in and won the deciding heat with Jeritza. He was also up when she. was defeated by Guy Reaper at Windsor. At that meeting Rodney won with Worthy Todd from the Leese stable. He scored with Jeritza at Springfield and Northampton. Roseta, a member of his own stable, also won for him at these two, at one of which she made a record of 2:10. Red Dillon won for Kingsley at Sturbridge, Avon and Windsor before being shipped to Maine. Mar- tin also picked up two races with Temple Harvester and two with Bugle Call. TOWN NAMED FOR A HORSE Prior to 1840 a man named White established a trading post in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, sixteen miles south of Alexandria. Others located there and in a few years it became an important center. In those days all of the freight for that section RACEALONG 161 was carried on the Mississippi and Red River boats. It was hauled to or from the river banks by mules. The people in the White settlement and on the plantations near it were more progressive than their neighbors as in a few years they built a railroad to Alexandria. The road bed which they made was in time used by the Texas & Pacific. The White trading depot was near the Wellswood Plantation, where General Wells and his brother Montfort had a stable of race horses. Among others they had a chestnut colt by Boston out of the cele- brated mare Reel. This colt was foaled in 1850. He owed his existence to the fancy which Ambrose Lecomte, a neighbor of General Wells, took to Boston while he was in Kentucky in 1848. On his suggestion Reel was mated with the sire of Lexington. When the colt showed that he possessed the qualities which go with a great race horse, General Wells named him Lecomte after his friend. Everybody in Rapides Parish was proud of this colt. This pride almost became hero worship when Lecomte defeated Lexington at four mile heats in 7:26, a new world's record. In order to give expres- sion to their feelings, the men in the settlement met at White's store and by a unanimous vote decided to name their town after the horse. This was in 1854. From that date the place was known as Lecomte. Later on the post-office depart- ment and the railroad when it came through from New Orleans changed the spelHng to Lecompte. 162 RACEALONG Bruce made the same mistake when he entered this colt among the produce of Reel in the American Stud Book. The error is a peculiar one. Lecompte does not mean anything but in good old Anglo Saxon the name of Ambrose Lecomte would read Ambrose the Count. JOHN FARRIS For many years John Farris was the proprietor of a music store in Hartford, Conn. It is located on Asylum Street, a few doors from the building in which J. Pierpont Morgan was born. The old gentle- man passed away in 1911 at the mature age of eighty-five. From youth up he had a fondness for horses and after locating in Hartford began driving them on the road. When he started there was nothing in the way of blood lines to guide a buyer and all anyone could do was as he termed it ''pick them out." John Farris was one of those who was favored by nature with an eye for form and gait and it was a very rare thing for anyone to find a prospect that could defeat his trotter on the half-mile track on Albany Avenue or on the trip into town. A short time before his death he said that his best trotter was a mare called Hartford Belle which he pur- chased for a few dollars from a farmer near the mouth of the Connecticut River and sold for $3,500 to one of the Lorillards of New York City after he had given her a mark of 2 :35. o > m t=5 > o o o o > o w f f o S3 :^ w > Hi > o C w CD O 00 RACEALONG 163 WILKES BREWER It is unusual for half-mile track trotters to attract national attention. There has been a few of them, however, as was shown by the series of races be- tween Kenyon W., Baron Reaper, and Joe Bowers on the Illinois tracks in 1911 and which culminated in a desperate five-heat contest at Ottawa, where Joe Bowers after winning two heats in 2:091/4 and 2:1114 was beaten by Kenyon W. in 2:09%, 2:10%, 2:14. Baron Reaper forced him out in each of the deciding heats. After this race the combination was broken up by John L. Dodge purchasing Joe Bowers and taking him east. Kenyon W., however, went on to meet other rivals. Fair Maiden and Baron Reaper being the only ones to show in front of him during the balance of the season. In 1916 Fred Jamison appeared on the double ovals with a splendid sample of racing material called Wilkes Brewer. She was a dark chestnut with flashy white markings, that had been raced during her three and four-year-old form with fair success. Four firsts out of twelve starts was all she had to show. Wilkes Brewer passed into Jamison's stable at the close of 1915. She responded to his method of train- ing and under it won eleven races in a row, although at Lima, Ohio, it looked as though Harvey Ernest had taken her measure with Ima Jay. On that July afternoon, Ima Jay won two heats 'in 2:1214 and 2:091/2, Strafford being second in one and The Acme 164 RACEALONG in the other. On the third trip, Wilkes Brewer came through in front in 2:081/4 with Ima Jay in the place. Also after W. J. Leyburn finished second to her in 2:131/4 on the next trip, Ima Jay again took up the battle and forced Wilkes Brewer out in 2:08%, mak- ing a world's record for a fifth heat on a half-mile track. Later on when the daughter of Nutwood Wilkes appeared on the Orange County Circuit, she had everything her own way. She won at Monroe, Goshen, and Middletown in nine heats, the fastest being finished in 2:09%. During 1917 and 1918, the activities of Wilkes Brewer were limited to the mile tracks, except in two events. Sickness put a crimp in her career in 1917 but in 1918 she won five out of eleven starts and reduced her record to 2:05%, when she defeated Mack Forbes, Blanche Carter, Lotto Watts, and eight others at North Randall. While Wilkes Brewer was a peculiarly bred trot- ter, like the old champions Maud S. and Jay Eye See, she has but one cross of trotting blood on the side of her dam Mary Bales, a mare that became conspicuous by producing the pacer Zombrewer, 2:04%. Mont joy, the sire of Mary Bales, was bred in Maine. He was got by General Withers, a son of Almont and Bloom by Ashland, the latter being by Mambrino Chief and out of the thoroughbred mare Ulvilla by imported Margrave. Molly J., the dam of Mary Bales, was also got by a galloper, her sire R A C E A L 0 N G 165 being Waller, a son of imported Hurrah and Queen of Clubs by imported Bonnie Scotland. Notwith- standing this unusual inheritance, Wilkes Brewer was a pure gaited trotter with perfect racing man- ners and in many respects resembled Hazel Wilkes, which John A. Goldsmith raced in the early nineties. In five years Wilkes Brewer started in forty-two races of which she won twenty-one, was second in one, third in nine, fourth in one and unplaced in ten. She also reduced her record each season. Start- ing off with a three-year-old record of 2:17% made in a fourth heat at Sidney, Ohio, she reduced it to 2:171/4 when she won at Bowling Green, in her four- year-old form. Her five-year-old record of 2:081/4 was made at Lima. As a six-year-old she won in 2:071/4 at Columbus, and in 1918 as a seven-year-old in 2:051/4 at North Randall. GEERS OVER THE BORDER Edward Franklin Geers and his speed marvel Sanardo invaded Canada in 1923 to fill an engage- ment on the King's Birthday at Toronto. Rain made the track at the Exhibition Park so that it could not be used. It did not, however, prevent the Canadian horsemen from visiting the stable to see the little pacer and Chilcoot, which C. W. Burns sent over to the park to keep his Walnut Hall Farm relative company while he was on the north shore of Lake Ontario. While speaking of his first trip to New York City 166 RACEALONG in 1877, Geers said that he was eight days in a car with Ahce West. He was under orders to win with her at Fleetwood Park, and Hartford if he could, and then return to Tennessee. On the way north Alice West filled up in the car and when it came to rac- ing she did not show very well for three heats. Sir Walter won the first two and Hogarth the third. By that time Alice West got under way and won. "And do you know," remarked the old gentleman, 'There was not even a cheer. Finally a darky about seven foot high threw his hat in the air and yelled, 'Hooray for old Kentucky.' "Two weeks later Hogarth defeated Alice West at Hartford after she had won two heats and Galatea one. This was my first visit to Charter Oak Park. In 1917 on my fortieth annual stop, the association presented me with a beautful silk flag." As the conversation drifted to judges and race meetings Geers said: "In 1883 I was racing Joe Braden in Texas. It was a rough country in those days. The betting was very heavy among the cattle men and a few of them would not stop at anything. "In the first heat I was closing on the favorite in the stretch and would have beaten him if my horse had not made a jump near the wire. Some one did not like the looks of it and I was taken out. The man who was put up saw that Joe Braden was dis- tanced in the next heat." Some one said, "Did you protest, Mr. Geers?" "Not down there, my friend," replied the old mas- ter. "I was glad to get the horse back." RACEALONG 167 GIFT HORSES When Double Chance won the Liverpool Grand National the racing world was advised that the premier jumper of 1925 was a gift horse. Captain Rothschild gave Double Chance to the English trainer Fred Archer. He made good. For some unknown reason gift horses carry a luck charm. No one has ever defined it but years ago a phrase maker said ''Never look a gift horse in the mouth." Many trotters were gift horses or traced to them. In time they are forgotten except by a few. Still the goo dfeeling which went with them was a bond that knit groups together and reminded everybody that the world is not such a cold blooded proposition after all. When John H. Shults, after he purchased Axworthy, hit the up grade as a breeder, he invited friends to send mares to his court. One of them was David Bonner. Mr. Bonner owned Wanda 2:17%. She was a gift from Frank Work when her days on the road were over. Wanda produced several fillies by Axworthy. All of them were got by gift services and all of them showed speed. They produced such trotters as Fin- varra 2:051/2 and Escotillo 2:033^. While the descendants of Wanda had speed none of them showed the championship form of the two greatest gift horses in turf history — Stamboul, and Peter Manning. 168 RACEALONG Stamboul was bred by L. J. Rose of Los Angeles, Cal. John W. Mackey owned his dam. He bred her to Sultan and got Ruby. When this filly appeared Mackey told Mr. Rose to breed Fleetwing back to Sultan and get a colt for himself. The produce was Stamboul. As a colt Stamboul showed the high type which distinguished him from the time he first took the word in public until the grave closed over him in the infield of the ''historic" track at Goshen, N. Y. Stamboul climbed the ladder of fame until he and Kremlin clashed for the stallion record. The figures kept changing at Stockton and Nashville. One week Kremlin was on top and William Russell Allen and his associates rejoiced. The next week Stamboul came through. Finally there was a rumor that all was not well at the Stockton kite track. Reports began to filter east that whenever Stamboul started all of the timing watches on the grounds were borrowed and carried to the judges' stand. It was also alleged that the watches stopped so as to reduce the last Kremlin performance. No one questioned the performances of Kremlin. His record was accepted. Still the wedge was never driven home firm enough to convince the world that those who were connected with Stamboul had not given out the correct time. While the argument was at a white heat Stamboul was shipped to New York and sold at auction. The old rink on Third Avenue was packed with the lovers of the American trotter when Peter C. Kellogg RACEALONG 169 hung up Stamboul's number and asked for bids. The sale started with a bid of $30,000. It was made by Andrew J. Welch. Peter Duryea, who afterwards purchased Peter the Great and took him to Kentucky, raised the figure to $35,000. A member of the firm of Forbes & Wallace of Springfield, Mass., was the next bidder. He said $36,000. Andy Welch after conferring with his partner Orlando Jones raised the figure to $38,000. It looked for a few minutes as if he would get him. When Kellogg was on the point of knocking him down, John A. Goldsmith, who had driven Stamboul, said $40,000. At this point another bidder appeared. He was a slim built man with a black mustache and dark eyes. He nodded his head for another thousand. Stamboul was his for $41,000. The buyer was Edward H. Harriman. Mr. Harriman drove Stamboul on the speedway. He finally sent him to Goshen where he died. Peter Manning had a different career. W. M. Wright owned the Gratten mare Glenora. She had speed but was unsound. At that time Mr. Wright lived near Libertyville, Illinois. Further up the road John R. Thompson had a farm on which he kept his show horses and the trotting stallion Azoff. Dick McMahon trained Azoff as a two-year-old. After one start an accident cancelled his turf career. McMahon's home was opposite the Thompson farm. He had charge of Azoff. One day in the spring of 1915 Mr. Wright was at the Libertyville track with Glenora. She had 170 RACEALONG dropped a filly by Azoff the year before and was again in training. When she pulled up lame McMahon said to Wright ''Send her over to Thompson's place and breed her to Azoff." Mr. Wright declined the oft'er and went home. Later on after thinking it over he sent her up. In the spring of 1916 Glenora dropped a bay colt. In time he was weaned, gelded and broken to harness by Harry Putnam. The spring the gelding was a three-year-old McMahon's foreman told him that Putnam had a fast trotter. The prospect was too near home to expect anything out of the ordinary in the way of racing material. The gelding was named Peter Manning after the man who stood by Mr. Wright when he threw up a $10,000 a year job to paddle his own canoe. The balance of Peter Manning's career is an open book. After winning a race at Libertyville in 2:17V2 he was shipped to Milwaukee where he trotted in 2:10. At Lexington Peter Manning worked a mile in 2:061/2. Thomas W. Murphy purchased the gelding for Irving Gleas'on. Mr. Wright's price was $21,000. As a four-year-old Peter Manning won all of his engagements except at Philadelphia where Geers drove him on account of Murphy being in the hospital. A stumble at a soft spot in the track and a broken check put him behind the flag. At Hartford Peter Manning won the Charter Oak Purse, at Syra- cuse the Empire State Purse and at Lexington the Transylvania. In 1921 Peter Manning started as a record maker. RACEALONG 171 He was soon up to a mile in two minutes. From that point he moved on from one figure to another until at Lexington in 1922 he placed the world's record for trotters at 1:56%. In 1923 Peter Manning tied Uhlan's half-mile track record of 2:02% at Allen- town, a figure which Geers cut to 2:021/? at South Bend, Ind. the week before he was killed at Wheel- ing. Later on Tom Berry reduced the mark with Peter Manning to 2:02^/4 at Reading, Pa. Peter Manning's performances as a race horse and as a time record performer are the most brilliant in turf history. The luck charm that goes with him is that Peter Manning was a gift colt. His sister Azie Glen trotted in 2:141/4 in 1920. She also made her record at South Bend, Ind. Glenora's other foals never heard the bell ring. HOLDOVERS There is nothing connected with harness racing that causes the manager of a meeting as much un- easiness during the winter months as placing the holdovers. While there has always been a few horses of this kind, they never became conspicuous until 1901 when C. J. Hamlin paid Ed Geers $10,000 for Direct Hal and worked him in public all season. By October he was fast enough to win a free-for-all. When Direct Hal was turned loose in 1902 he made a sweep and won $25,550. His success prompted others to adopt the same method but few were successful as there was always a chance of a comet 172 RACEALONG drifting in as Dean found when he met The Eel with Minor Heir while such horses as Billy Buck, R. T. C, Sweet Marie and Nutboy upset the plans of many experts on racing form. George Gano's splendid battles in 1908 with Minor Heir and The Eel, both of which he forced out in 2:0214, resulted in his transfer to the Murphy stable the following year when he won nine of his eleven races and $13,600. In 1911 when R. T. C. made his sweep and won $31,600, Belvasia, who grabbed a heat from him was purchased. The transfer kept her in the stable. The same thing happened in 1914 after the struggle between Lassie McGregor and Peter Scott in the M. & M. Cox was again in the market and sold Peter Scott for $30,000. He remained in the stable. The following year he won seventeen out of eighteen races and $50,535. In 1915 a unique pair of trotters appeared in Peter Mac and Mabel Trask. The stallion was driven in 2:03V2 by his owner while Cox worked Mabel Trask in 2:041/4. During the next winter this pair trotted many a race around the stove. It was the only place they ever met as Peter Mac went amiss the following spring, while Geers took up the battle with St. Frisco. This gallant trotter and Mabel Trask trotted the greatest series of races that were seen on the mile tracks since 1881 when Clingstone and Edwin Thorne had everybody on their toes. Finally the futurities solved the problem of tha hold- overs as it was not long before the two and three- year-olds could defeat the aged horses. RACEALONG 173 ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT IN 1927 The Orange County Circuit of 1927 closed at Mid- dletown on August 19 after a run of four weeks during which forty races were contested. Of that number twenty-eight were for trotters and twelve for pacers. In order to distribute the $130,000 in premiums, seventy-nine heats were trotted and thirty-four paced. The heats trotted averaged a shade over 2:11% and the heats paced averaged a trifle under 2:08. The Orange County Circuit started at Endicott where rain cut five heats from the last day's card. The high spots at the meeting were touched by Doane and Bert Abbe. The first named reduced the three-year-old record for trotters over a half-mile track to 2:07% when he defeated Radium. In the last pace Bert Abbe won in 2:031/4, reducing the track record from 2 :05 where Hodson placed it with Adioo Guy when he raced the white-faced horse for the Johnson family. At Endicott the average rate for the trotters was 2:101/4. The pacers placed their figure at 2:07%, making the average for the meeting 2:091/2- A heavy track on the opening day of the Monroe meeting cut the rate of speed at that point, the average for the meeting being 2:101/9. For nineteen heats the trotters averaged 2:10%. The rate for the pacers was 2:091/2 for nine heats.. Trumpet and Victor Frisco dropped in from the mile tracks and won. 174 RACEALONG In the three-year-old trot White received a jolt when he tried to catch Doane with Ruth M. Che- nault. In her two-year-old form this filly won in 2:09% over the Monroe track when she defeated Signal Flash. Doane raced away from her in 2:10. Rozeta showed a flash when she disposed of Sister Worthy and Pongee Volo. She cut her record to 2:081/4- The same afternoon Billy D. disposed of Guesswork and Pete Green in 2:061/2. At Goshen the half-milers went over the top when they made the average for the ''historic track" meeting 2:08%. The nine heats paced averaged 2:061/2 and the twenty-six trotted 2:09%. Victor Frisco trotted the fastest heat when he won in 2:06%. Guesswork was awarded the Chamber of Commerce Cup for pacing a heat in 2:04%. The two-year-old contest between Plucky and Miss Eclipse was sparkling. The filly won the first heat in 2:12% and the colt the next two, both of them being trotted in 2:12%. Doane continued on his winning way. His fastest trip, 2:081/2, was made in the second heat. In the third heat he also gave the spectators a speed sample by trotting the third quarter in 301/2 seconds. There were several other high spots at Goshen. Kahla Dillon trotted three heats under 2:08, Black- stone Dillon, another Dillon Axworthy, forcing her out. Millie W. paced in 2 :06 while Bert Abbe buzzed off in front of Prue Grattan in 2:05%. A heavy track on the last day of the meeting at Middletown cut the average to 2:10 for thirty RACEALONG 175 heats. The pacers paced nine heats at an average rate of 2:08 while for twenty-one heats trotted averaged 2:10%. In the three-year-old trot Helter Skelter forced Doane out in 2:09. Jeritza trotted in 2:06V2> it being her third win in the circuit. The Ohio gelding Al Bingen secured a head line in the morning papers by defeating Millie W. and Wayne Hal in the 2:15 pace. This pair had a num- ber of stubborn contests since the horses started at Greenfield, Mass. in June. While Wayne Hal oc- casionally won a heat Millie W. always landed the event. It was also appropriate that Al Bingen should win at Middletown as his sire Joe Dodge was bred by J. L. Dodge, when he maintained a stock farm near that town before he transferred his breeding operations to Hollyrood Farm at Lexington, Ky. On the trip through the Orange County Circuit, Hodson won eight races. Four of them with Bert Abbe, three with Millie W. and one with Trumpet. Six races were won by Rodney. He scored three times with Jeritza, twice with Rozeta, and once with Myra Harvester. Becker made a sweep with Doane. He won with this three-year-old gelding at Endicott in 2:07%, at Monroe in 2:10, at Goshen in 2:08i/2> and at Mid- dletown in 2:09. Fred Hyde won at Endicott with Bee Worthy, at Monroe with Miss Eclipse, and at Goshen with Denesia, a sister to Rochelle Maid and Sakura. She was by Atlantic Express, the sire of Jerifza, Rozeta and Miss EcHpse, all winners in this circuit in 1927. 176 RACEALONG SPOTLIGHT DRIVERS While a few clever trotters and pacers will make the reputation of a driver, it requires skill and patience to take a bunch of colts in the rough and mould them into racing material. Walter Cox has done it a number of times, two samples being Sam Williams and Hazelton. His colt breaker turned Sam Williams down as a dangerous youngster while the owner of Hazelton rated the Lu Princeton colt as a fair road horse. Patience and work changed this pair into Grand Circuit material. Sam Williams in 1927 won in 2:021/4 while Hazelton reduced the four- year-old race record for trotters to 2:01%. While this pair won a number of races in 1927 neither of them touched the spotlight like Mable Trask or Lu Princeton. Lu Princeton had to be drilled a year before he moved into the front rank. On the other hand Mable Trask was sampled for a season before being sent for the money but from that time until she retired she was in the spotlight. Both of the above samples are however rather mild when compared with his showing in 1929 when Walter Dear, Volomite, Sir Guy Mac and Miss Woerner all graduates of this training camp won the first four monies in the Hambletonian stake after landing all of the other worth while three- year-old events that year. Almost every trainer of note has had a few spot- light horses. Lon McDonald's first was the pacing mare Miss McEwen. Her flash was made at Cleve- RACEALONG 177 land. On that day she dropped in from the bushes and won. At that time McDonald was a stranger on the larger ovals, so much so that a man was sent to get the name of the driver. He came back with the report that the driver of Miss McEwen was Alonzo McDonald and her groom Dusty Rhodes. After that date both of them were seen on many tracks. In 1915 a sunstroke started Ben White on the way to the spotlight. Andrews was prostrated so Lee Axworthy and Volga were turned over to him. Volga never lost a race. Lee Axworthy cut the stallion record to l:58l^. In 1927 White made it possible for a fellow reins- man to seek the spotlight by handing losola's Worthy to Marvin Childs. This western product had held his own in fast company with Hal Mahone and Hal Bee but their doings look tame w^hen compared with winning the Kentucky Futurity and Hamble- tonian Stake on consecutive weeks. The first Hambletonian Stake gave Nat Ray an opportunity to slip in with Guy McKinney. In 1926 he won all of this colt's engagements and in the deciding heat of the big race sat as still as a statue behind his mount when Guy Dean was cutting down his lead at each stride on the trip from the distance to the wire. First money was over $45,000 but Ray never lost his nerve. So far as he was concerned he looked as if he were racing for a bushel of oats. Guy McKinney won by a head. After the race Ray said that so far as he was 178 RACEALONG concerned the result was never in doubt. He also added that he was satisfied that Guy McKinney could trot in two minutes. This remark and the confidence of the owners of the horse gave Tom Berry a chance to be a spotlight driver in 1927. After a season in the stud Berry took Guy Mc- Kinney in hand and conditioned him for a trip against the watch at a rate of speed that was new to him. The bid was to be made at Syracuse but bad weather called a halt. Other troubles developed at Lexington but finally at Phoenix, Arizona, on Thanksgiving Day, Tom Berry moved into the bright light with Guy McKinney by reducing the four year old record of the world to 1 :58%. In 1929 he scored again with the two-year-old champion, Hanover's Bertha, 2:02. In 1926 Vic Fleming had his day at Phoenix Arizona, when he drove Mr. McElwyn in 1 : 5914. This was his second addition to the fast list. The first was made in 1920 when he won with Louie Grattan at Lexington, both of her heats being paced in two minutes. Then in 1928 he added a third when he won with Grattan Bars in 1:591/2- Billy Dickerson has seen a number of days when the spotlight was turned on. The flash started with the showing of Anna Bradford's Girl, her first trip below two minutes being made at Syracuse in 1926. Her performances were blended with the showing of Guy Trogan, Guy Ozark, Peter Maltby and High- land Scott. George Loomis is another member of the group of RACEALONG 179 drivers that has seen the light on both the mile and half-mile tracks. The manner in which he won the $25,000 pace at Kalamazoo with HoUyrood Walter reminded everyone that a race is not over until the leader has passed the wire. The patience with which he nursed Sir Roche along from one triumph to another showed that a skillful driver can overcome almost anything so long as he has speed. Palin gradually worked his way into the spotlight with hoppled pacers. When he started out from Russiaville, Ind., with Possibility, few dreamed that he would go over the top, but he did. As the years roll by the leaders on both the mile and half-mile tracks find a horse or two which put them in the spotlight. In 1927 Hodson rode in front with Bert Abbe and Millie W., while Will Flemming flared with the rejuvenated Guesswork. Art Martin lined up in the winning column with Bugle Call and Fred Hyde flashed by again and again behind trot- ters by Atlantic Express. Ed Kirby had Plucky for a meal ticket while Walter Garrison rode in 2:00i/? behind Berry the Great at Toledo. Cy Becker started from North Carolina with the three-year-old gelding Doane. He won with him in the Bay State and Orange County Circuits and made him a champion. Will Snow landed the Trot- ter & Pacer Stake, the largest on the half-mile tracks, with his three-year-old Helter Skelter. This was only a come-back for him. Before, he located at Endicott he had many a star, the brightest pair being Hal B and his sister Fanny Dillard. 180 RACEALONG BUILDING A CHAMPION Of those who saw Hollyrood Bob win the three- year-old trot in 2:04% at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1918, how many stopped to consider that the production of this horse represents in the first four generations the combined efforts of twenty-six breeders extend- ing over a period of eighty years and whose establishments were located in eleven states. One link in the chain of inheritance was found in Que- bec by a Yankee peddler. An examination of Hollyrood Bob's tabulated pedigree for four removes shows that of the thirty individuals appearing in same fifteen were bred in Kentucky where he was foaled, three in New York state, two each in Michigan and Iowa, one each in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, California, Ten- nessee and Vermont, while one is unknown as no one ever produced any evidence to show where Jenny Lind, the dam of Tackey, came from, although she is credited to a horse called Bellefounder. In order to illustrate this the name and address when known, of the breeder of each horse in this pedigree and the horse or horses bred by him, is appended : Breeder : J. L. Dodge, Lexington, Ky., (Hollyrood Bob, 2:043/^). First Remove: D. D. Streeter, Kalamazoo, Mich. (Peter the Great, 2:063/4). RACEALONG 181 J. L. Dodge, Lexington, Ky. (Fanny Stanton, p., 2:101/4). Second Remove: Alexander Davidson, Williamsport, Pa. (Pilot Medium, 1597). S. A. Brown & Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. (Santos). A. Smith McCann, Lexington, Ky. (Bingen, 2:061/4). Standard Trotting Horse Co., Kenosha, Wis. (Re- dinda, p., 2:071/4). Third Remove : R. F. Galloway, Suffern, N. Y. (Happy Medium, 2:321/2). C. G. McHatton, St. Louis, Mo. (Tackey, 2:26). J. B. Richardson, Lexington, Ky. (Grand Sentinel, 2:271/4). Mrs. Dr. Greenfield, Guthrie, Ky. (Shadow alias Lady Duncan). Leland Stanford, Menlo Park, Cal. (May King, 2:211/4). A. Smith McCann, Lexington, Ky. (Young Miss). A. J. Alexander, Spring Station, Ky. (Redwald 6178). C. S. Miller, Muscatine, low^a. (Adinda). Fourth Remove: Jonas Seely, Sugar Loaf, N. Y. (Hambletonian 10). L. B. Adams, Middletown, Vt. (Princess 2:30). L. Gray, Graybolt, Ky. (Pilot Jr. 12) . Name of breeder unknown (Jenny Lind). Edwin Thorne, Millbrook, N. Y. (Sentinel, 2:293/4). J. B. Richardson, Lexington, Ky. (Maid of Lex- ington) . 182 RACEALONG R. P. Madison, Clarksville, Tenn. (Octoroon Jr.). N. Barber, Clarksville, Tenn. (Dixie). Charles Backman, Stony Ford, N. Y. (Electioneer 125). F. G. Hill, Paris, Ky. (May Queen 2:20). Simmons Bros., Lexington, Ky. (Young Jim, 2009). A. Smith McCann, Lexington, Ky. (Miss Mam- brino) . A. J. Alexander, Spring Station, Ky. (Lord Russell 4677, Primrose, Attorney 1065). Chas. S. Miller, Muscatine, Iowa (Sally). The list of names recalls many who did yeoman service in founding the light harness breed. Jonas Seely is the most remote. As the breeder of Ham- bletonian he will always find a place in horse history, still his estimate of the colt and his crippled dam can be easily fixed as he sold both of them to W. M. Rysdyk for $125. Of the other New Yorkers Chas. Backman and Edwin Thorne maintained important farms and sent out a splendid array of stock to rep- resent them. They stood on a par with A. J. Alex- ander who inherited Woodburn Farm in Kentucky from his brother and whose stud contributed the Harold and Alexander's Abdallah strains which appear in the pedigree of Hollyrood Bob. Leland Stanford, Governor of California and United States Senator from that state, built on broad lines at Palo Alto where Electioneer contributed the speed which his owner exploited so successfully. Of the others S. A. Brown is the most prominent. He made it possible for D. D. Streeter to breed Peter RACEALONG 183 the Great. In the early seventies while in Tennessee, S. A. Brown purchased Lady Duncan. She had been brought from Guthrie, Ky., to Nashville and trotted a trial in 2:33. Brown shipped Lady Duncan to Michigan and after three or four starts found that she was too high keyed for the track so he bred her to Grand Sentinel. The produce of this mare, whose name was changed to Shadow, was a filly. She was named Santos and consigned to one of Fasig's sales at Cleveland, Ohio. She was purchased by J. L Case of Racine, Wis. He sold her through an- other sale to H. D. McKinney, Jamesville, Wis., and he in turn traded her back to S. A. Brown. After mating Santos with Ambassador, Brown sold her to D. D. Streeter and in 1925 she produced Peter the Great. The Iowa inheritance of Hollyrood Bob goes back to the genesis of the trotting turf as Topsy, the first link, was got by Green's Bashaw, a horse whose dam was a half sister of Hambletonian. She in turn produced Misty by the thoroughbred horse Jones- boro, a son of Lexington. From Misty the line of inheritance runs through Sally by Tramp, a son of Gage's Logan. Sally was mated with Attorney and produced Adinda as well as the trotter Mabel A. that made a record of 2:23l^ at the Cleveland Grand Circuit meeting in 1886. As Atlanta, an- other daughter of Attorney, produced Alix, 2:03%, a Wisconsin breeder purchased Adinda and mated her with Redwald, a son of Lord Russell, brother to Maud S., 2:08%. He expected to get a trotter 184 RACEALONG but found when the test of racing was applied that the ambhng gait of Attorney was in the ascendant and the foal passed into turf history as Redinda with a pacing record of 2:07l^. In time this mare became the property of John L. Dodge. When he retired her she was sent to the court of Bingen and in due time produced Joe Dodge as well as the pacers King Cole, 2:051/4, and Fanny Stanton, 2:101/4. The last named is the dam of Hollyrood Bob. In time Hollyrood Bob after being rejected by his breeder on account of a few of his foals having ring bones became a leading sire, his list of perform- ers including Hollyrood Diet, Hollyrood Walter and Hollyrood Pat. SULKY STYLES Each of the hundreds of drivers who are seen in the sulky during the racing season has a style of his own. A few are extreme. Some lean back so far if the reins snapped they would fall out. Others tip forward and still others sit so erect that they look like soldiers with a ramrod up their backs. Style in the sulky, however, is seen when four or five horses are making a head and head finish. The battle ground is between the distance and the wire. That is the whiz section. While it is being covered a few of the drivers throw the reins away and go to the bat. The regulars who have been at that point many a time steady their mounts and RACEALONG 185 give them a tap of the whip or rouse them with the reins. Many an important race is lost or won in the last few strides. A sample of this was seen at Goshen in 1928 in the Review Stake. In the third heat of the race Stokes let up for an instant with Gaylworthy and Vic Fleming nipped him at the wire with Guy Abbe. This was one of Fleming's charac- teristic finishes. He came with a flash in the last few^ strides just as Garrison did on the gallopers in the old days when Stokes, who was making the pace took it for granted that he was beaten. Another sample of Fleming's work was seen in the deciding heat of the $25,000 pace at Windsor in 1928. Prior to that heat Grattan Bars was almost down and out with the thumps. Fleming wanted to draw him but the owner shook his head. When the word was given Widow Grattan went off and made the pace. Fleming trailed and did not force the leader to race up to her clip. He left the decision to a brush and Grattan Bars when called on paced the last eighth better than a two minute gait. Head and head finishes are what the spectators en- joy. It is in them the reinsmen have an opportunity to show their skill and style of driving. In 1927 Millie W. and Wayne Hal had more of them than are usually seen between the same horses. For nine or ten weeks this pair carried the battle to each other and while Millie W. won most of the heats some of them were so close that only the judges 186 RACEALONG could name the winner. There was no whipping or slashing in any of these miles. Hodson and McGrath had their mounts on their toes all the way and flying at the finish. As the pair of blacks flashed by the stand Hodson sat erect while McGrath tipped for- ward a trifle as he drives with a crouch. McGrath also exhibited a number of samples of clever driving in 1928 behind Shirley Harvester. In heat after heat he laid away letting Plucky and the others make the pace to the head of the stretch. Then he turned the black filly loose at a two minute gait and won by a narrow margin. This is something that can be done only with a free going horse that has perfect manners. It is only play for them to trim those which go up against the bit for three-quarters of a mile and ask for a ride home. The most dangerous drivers in a race are rated among those who let their horses go guideless with the reins flopping. State Post was an extreme sam- ple of this kind when he had Trumpet. Usually a horse under such conditions will take care of him- self unless someone makes a misstep or swerves. Then there is usually a wreck. In his day Scott Hudson set the style of being a pacemaker. With him each post in the fence was a winning post. As he had stout horses, Scott usually won. Monroe Salisbury also handed front runner orders to George Star, John Kelley, Andy McDowell, and Charley De Ryder when they were driving for him. If they were beaten there were no complaints RACEALONG 187 unless they pulled out and let a trailer through as McDowell did with Altao when Andrews slipped up behind him with Bouncer in the Transylvania. Leese also adopted the front runner plan with Spencer in the Hambletonian Stake and the Ken- tucky Futurity. In the first heat of the Hamble- tonian he sent Spencer away from the wire under the whip and grabbed the pole on the turn. The quarter was passed in 29 1^ seconds. No one got to Spencer after that point although Guy Abbe was at his wheel at the finish of the second heat. Spencer also made the pace in the Kentucky Fu- turity. He led all the way in both heats except for a few strides in the stretch in the second mile when Etta Volo showed in front. Cox drives the other way. In 1927 at Lexington when Fireglow was at his best he allowed Scotland and Spencer to take the track and remain in front until they ran down. Then he pulled out and won. In the heat in which he made his record of 2:04 Fireglow trailed Scotland to the distance. In this heat Spencer carried Scotland to the quarter in 2914 seconds and hung on until the pair turned into the home stretch. As a rule White makes the pace in colt races. This was how he raced Mr. McElwyn when he won the Kentucky Futurity from Guy Richard in 2:02, 2:021/2- He also tried the same plan with Aileen Guy when she met Etta Druien and, Kahla Dillon in the Transylvania in 1927. In that event Aileen Guy and Etta Druien made the pace with Kahla 188 RACEALONG Dillon in the hole. When the leaders ran out of gas Kahla Dillon won, making one of the biggest upsets ever seen at Lexington. Geers was one of the first drivers that took up trailing. Now every one is doing it. Sometimes it is almost impossible to get anyone to go out and make the pace. At such times the clip is so slow that the race is left to a brush at the finish. This takes the zip out of the feature but it is one of the things that cannot be avoided if there are not one or two front runners in the field. BAY STATE CIRCUIT OF 1928 The fifteenth renewal of the Bay State Circuit went on record as the wet series. Five of the seven meetings were interfered with by rain while at Greenfield and Springfield the meetings were cut to one day. The colt races for the trotters and pacers were the most attractive events in the circuit but they were overshadowed at both Avon and Windsor by the ?10,000 and the $25,000 pace. The latter, which was won by Grattan Bars after a stout battle with Widow Grattan was one of the best races ever seen on a New England track. Every feature in con- nection with it passed off without a ripple. The two $10,000 events at Cherry Park were won by Gordon Dillon and Widow Grattan. The latter paced in 2:04%. In the two-year-old trots Miss Modesty and Bin- RACEALONG 189 gen McKlyo were the winners. In the three-year-old trots Plucky met Shirley Harvester. McGrath won with her at Greenfield, Avon and Windsor. Plucky scored at Sturbridge, Stafford Springs, and North- ampton where he trotted in 2:09% after losing a heat to Georgia Volo in 2:08V2- Both of the two-year-old pacing races were won by the Belwin colt Better Win after losing heats to Moko McKlyo, Tartan Maid and Plumb Center. At Windsor, Better Win paced in 2:13%. Blushing Beauty dominated the three-year-old pace. At Sturbridge she won in 2:10, at Stafford Springs in 2:093/4, at Avon in 2:08%, and at Wind- sor in 2:09%. At Springfield, Marjorie Brooke and Lela Frisco carried the battle to the Ortolan Ax- worthy filly and won. The first heat went to Mar- jorie Brooke in 2:09% and the second to Lela Frisco in 2:09. At that point Blushing Beauty was drawn and Lela Frisco defeated her stable companion. An- other battle was seen at Northampton where Blush- ing Beauty won the first heat from Lela Frisco in 2:071/2- A break and an ill timed drive put Beauty out of the running on the second trip. In the third she came back and after pacing the first half of the mile in 1:02% won comfortably in 2:091/2- Gordon Dillon won four of his six starts in the circuit, his fastest trip being in 2:06% at Avon. At Stafford Springs and Windsor he drew a position in the second tier. He did not take kindly to a bunch of horses in front of him. Bronx won five out of six starts. His only skip 190 RACEALONG was at Springfield. He was raced by Bruise who also won with Gleaming Silk and Lela Frisco. Bee Worthy won the five free-for-all trots for Fred Hyde. He also picked up a race at Sturbridge with Orto Manor. Hodson scored with Bonnie M. at Sturbridge and Northampton, with Hollyrood Dick at the last three meetings, with Bert Abbe at Windsor and Northamp- ton, and with Summers Worthy at Sage Park. Crozier won two races with Volo Rico and one each with Guy Worthy and Silver Weather. Mabrey won three events with Widow Grattan and one with Scott Grattan after he was purchased from the Scott stable for which he won at Stafford Springs. Mosher won with Chattanooga in 2:06%, Bin Mc- Klyo and Flambo. Garrison landed the $10,000 trot at Windsor with Cub Ortolan after Man Direct and Oscawanna had each grabbed a heat. A stubborn contest was seen at Northampton in the 2:10 pace. The first heat went to Wayne Hal in 2:06. On the next trip he forced Hollyrood Jacque- lin out in 2:061/2- Jeanette Royal won the next two heats in 2:06, 2:061/2. RACEALONG 191 PETER THE GREAT AND BINGEN Boston has been a center of light harness racing since 1818, the year Boston Blue was shipped on a sailing vessel to New York, where he trotted the first recorded mile in three minutes. When the Morgan trotters began to appear on the turf, the best of them were seen at Riverside, Beacon and Mystic Parks. Vermont contributed Ethan Allen and a few of Daniel Lambert's get, while New Hampshire sent the champion stallion Fearnaught. Maine kept the market supplied with the get of General Knox, which included Camors and Lady Maud, as well as the best of the Drew, Eaton, Brandywine, and Morrill stock. They were in turn followed by Young Rolfe, which dropped dead in a race at Mystic Park, and Nelson. While these performers were passing, H. S. Russell took an active interest in racing and ap- peared as the owner of Fearnaught, and Smuggler, the first stallion to trot in 2 : 151/4 and one of the few trotters that defeated Goldsmith Maid after she reached championship form. When Colonel Russell retired, his brother-in-law J. Malcolm Forbes, who was for years very active in yachting and identified with several winners of the America's Cup, estab- lished a farm at Ponkapog and decided to race and breed trotters. One of his first selections was Arion, for which he paid $125,000 after h^ startled the world by trotting in 2:10% as a two-year-old to a high wheel sulky. He was followed by Bingen, for 192 RACEALONG which $8,000 was paid in his two-year-old form, and Peter the Great, $20,000 being paid for him after he won the Kentucky Futurity in 1898. Fate had marked two of these stallions to be leaders. At the start all eyes were turned towards Arion, whose service fee was fixed at $2,500, and in 1898 when Nico won in 2:08l^ as a four-year-old it looked as though he would be a successful sire. Nico's death the following year stopped what looked like the first two minute trotter. In the interval Bingen raced to a record of 2:061/4 and sired a remarkable group of stallions. His list included Admiral Dewey, Todd, Bingara, Binjolla, J. Malcolm Forbes, The Exponent, Earl of Chatham, Senator Hale, and Malcolm Forbes. While Bingen was acquiring his reputation, Peter the Great reduced his record to 2:07l^ and sired the Kentucky Futurity winner Sadie Mac, 2:061^. Notwithstanding this showing he in time, like Godolphin Arabian in English turf history, was cast aside and finally in 1903 Mr. Forbes sent him to the New York auctions, where Peter Duryea purchased him for $5,000. He shipped him to Kentucky, the transfer proving the most fortunate move in the history of the trotting turf since George Wilkes was sent to that state in 1873. There was no demonstration when Peter the Great arrived at Lexington but when he left for Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1917, after being sold for $50,000 when twenty-three years old, the Kentucky breeders knew that the world's leading sire of racing R A C E A L 0 N G 193 speed was leaving the blue grass country. No sire that ever lived got as much early and extreme speed as Peter the Great. The horse that Boston rejected became the leading sire of the world. After the death of J. Malcolm Forbes, Bingen was purchased by Arthur Parker. He got Uhlan 1:58 while located at his farm. Later on when Todd died at the Bradley farm in New Jersey Bingen was pur- chased to take his place. In a few years he was taken to Kentucky where he died at Castleton Farm. BISHOPED TROTTERS To make an old horse seem younger by operating on his teeth has been designated ''bishoping." The term according to Youatt was taken ''from the name of the scoundrel who first practiced it." Traders in cheap horses have been bishoping them for years but C. E. Metcalfe and those who were connected with him in shipping horses to Denmark after the close of the World War were the first who commer- cialized it for the purpose of keeping trotters rac- ing under the Danish rules. Metcalfe was born in Wisconsin. After being lo- cated at Warren, III, he drifted to France. In 1896 he was in Paris. At that time he was associated with H. 0. Heffner who was mixed up with Bob Kneebs when he rung Bethel in Germany and C. W. Dobler. In September, 1896, Dobler, who was then at War- ren, 111., purchased Bertie R. 2:12l^. He shipped her to France where she was known as Adria. W. E. 194 RACEALONG Weeks was located there at that time. He was train- ing trotters for Alphonse Terry. As Adria raced too well for the story that went with her, Weeks wrote the National Trotting Association in regard to her. The investigation which followed established the identity of the mare. While it was in progress Adria was shipped to England where Metcalfe got possession of the mare and raced her as Polly G. He subsequently brought her to the United States. When an application to reinstate Bertie R. was denied she was sent to Ken- tucky. Bertie R. died in Kentucky at the Patchen Wilkes farm. After this splurge Metcalf dropped out of sight. At the beginning of the World War he was living in Berlin. While making his way out of Germany in an effort to get to America Metcalfe crossed Den- mark. He saw that the country was prosperous and that the followers of racing were paying large sums for trotters. At the same time Metcalfe learned that under the Danish rules horses could not race after they were ten years old. They were then retired to the breeding ranks. When Metcalfe arrived in New York he got in touch with C. C. Cramer and made arrangements to have horses exported in his name. Metcalfe knew that on account of his connection with Bertie R. it was necessary for him to remain in the background while on American soil. Their first venture was a chestnut mare called Lettie Jaguar. She was exported in 1918, represent- RACEALONG 195 ed as being bred by Dr. H. Z. Frisbie of Elkland, Pa., and owned by Cramer. This mare was never identified but Frisbie admitted that he never saw her and knew nothing about her. In 1920 Cramer and Metcalfe shipped a few more to Denmark. This lot included King Ivan, subse- quently identified as Manuelito 2:14% by Manrico, and two mares named Loretta Charlton and Alice Jeremiah, alleged to be sisters and bred by Bert Loop of Nelson, Pa., which is five miles from Elk- land. Dr. Frisbie was given as the breeder of King Ivan while some one wrote a letter for Loop to Copenhagen, in which it was set forth that he owned a three-year-old brother to Loretta Charlton and Alice Jeremiah which he drove in 2:121/4 over a half- mile track. Bert Loop was the son of a man who kept a livery stable in Nelson. Later he had a barber shop in Elk- land and Elmira, N. Y. He owned a few horses, the fastest being Donisham 2:09% which he purchased from L. W. Fenton. Fenton died in 1917 but was for a time associated with Metcalfe. The mares Loretta Charlton and Alice Jeremiah were found to be Amy Frisco 2:07l^ by San Fran- cisco and Golden Axworthy 2:lll^ by Morgan Ax- worthy. Amy Frisco was foaled in 1911 but when she arrived in Denmark in 1920 she had a six-year- old mouth. Her teeth had been bishoped and had the appearance of a horse that was foaled in 1914. Gold- en Axworthy was foaled in 1912 but her mouth showed her to be a five-year-old in 1920. A change 196 RACEALONG of three years was also made in the teeth of Man- uehto. This horse was not raced in Denmark, He was sent to England. In the spring of 1921 Dr. H. Z. Frisbie of Elkland, Pa., again appeared as the owner of a horse called Advance Guard which he affirmed was bred by Ben- jamin Rathbun, a farmer living near Nelson, Pa. This horse was represented as being foaled in 1915 and Frisbie signed all of the papers. Later on Advance Guard was identified as Belgic 2:08i/4 by Bingara. He was foaled in 1912, but by bishoping his teeth the horse passed the veterinaries as a six-year-old or as being foaled in 1915. In 1921 when Belgic was shipped as Advance Guard C. C. Cramer rounded out the consignment by sending over Pretty Baby 2:lSy.i by Junior Stokes as Queen Ivan, May Shawbay by Shawbay as Blue Bird, and Last Sheet 2:13i/4 by Mainsheet as Ida Tearolaine. The teeth of the last named were bishoped to show that she was six years old instead of nine. In other words, he made this mare appear as being foaled in 1915 instead of 1912. At the same time Cramer sent along the chestnut mare Mabel Worthy 2:15i/i,'by Ortolan Axworthy under her true name and wrote L. C. Borup of Copenhagen to buy her. In the spring of 1922 a horse called Jack Demp- sey was shipped. He was alleged to be bred by G. M. Madsen of Hudson, N. Y. This horse was represent- ed as being foaled in 1916 and being by Hollyrood Dan, dam Lilly Sligo 2:161/4 by Shgo. Hollyrood Dan R A C E A L 0 N G 197 was represented as being owned by N. C. Snell and Lilly Sligo by G. M. Madsen. All of the mail ad- dressed to them at Hudson, N. Y., was delivered in C. E. Metcalfe's box at the Spring Valley Fruit Farm, No one could find either man. Later it was learned that Metcalfe used the name N. C. Snell when purchasing the mare Toddy Garner. It was also set forth over the signature of G. M. Madsen that he purchased Lilly Sligo from John McGuire of New York. McGuire bought her at the Fasig Tip- ton Co. Sale in 1905 and sold her in the summer of that year. He died in 1910. On these and other representations the horse called Jack Dempsey was registered as non-standard in the American Trotting Register. A survey of the application and papers that went with it showed that the mythical person called N. C. Snell pur- chased Hollyrood Dan from J. W. Clark of Grand Rapids, Mich., April 21, 1915, the name of the original buyer being erased on the receipt and the name '*N. C. Snell" substituted. Further on under date of August 25, 1924, N. C. Snell certified that George M. Madsen bred Lilly Sligo 2:161/4 by SHgo to his horse Hollyrood Dan on March 25, 1916, and George M. Madsen certified under date of August 30, 1924, that the colt from the mating called Jack Dempsey was foaled February 20, 1916. Further comment is unnecessary as it was not possible to purchase a horse at Grand Rapids, Mich., on April 21, 1915, and have him the sire of a' colt that was dropped at Hudson, N. Y., February 20, 1916. 198 RACEALONG To offset these bogus representations and follow- ing a clue that the horse called Jack Dempsey was in reahty Red Bon 2:07l^ by Bonnivard in 1925 I went with Dick McMahon to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he examined the horse raced as Jack Demp- sey and pronounced him Red Bon. McMahon pur- chased Red Bon for Chauncey H. Sears, Fall River, Mass., during the Illinois State Fair at Springfield, 111., in 1918, and had him in his stable until Novem- ber, 1921, when the horse was sold at the Fasig Tipton Co. Sale in New York. Red Bon was foaled in 1914. Before being shipped from New York his teeth were bishoped to show that he was foaled in 1916, or in other words that he was six years old instead of eight in 1922. TIPTON, THE BUILDER Ed A. Tipton put the ''trot" into the association at Lexington. Prior to his arrival in 1887 the meet- ings held in the blue grass city were on a par with a county fair. A few wanted the status continued even when the Wilkes boom was bringing thousands of dollars to Kentucky every week. They were willing to produce the goods without going to the trouble of displaying them to the best advantage and under the most favorable conditions. A few of them also hesi- tated before extending a welcome hand to the young man from Bourbon County when he showed a desire to change from the revenue service to racing, while at the same time they tossed him another chill by RACEALONG 199 fixing his salary at about what an office boy com- mands. That did not stop Tipton. He had made up his mind to be secretary of the Lexington race track. Also when he made good and asked for more money, instead of giving it to him he was told to get it from the privileges. He did. The Kentucky Trotting Horse Breeders' Associa- tion was organized in 1873. During its first fifteen years its premiums for racing did not amount to as much as is now given for ten days each year, while the northern visitors instead of seeing contests of the quality which might be expected dropped in to see the Kentucky and Lexington stakes trotted and put in the balance of their time visiting the stock farms. When Tipton located in Lexington he saw that the day was coming when the breeder would require more than a pedigree and a colt on the end of a halter strap to command the high dollar. In a word, he believed that the buyer would soon ask what a colt could do in the way of racing. At the same time he was convinced that in order to make the colts' speed worth something it was necessary to increase the earning capacity of the trotter in Kentucky. In order to get Lexington into the sunlight he succeeded in having the $7,735 premiums of 1887 increased to $11,380 in 1888 and to $25,965 in 1889 when the Transylvania was established as a $5,000 event. It became the all aged championship event of the year. In 1890 the race program at Lexington amounted 200 RACEALONG to $28,095, a stallion race which was won by Sim- mocolon and a free-for-all trot being added features. In 1891 the purses jumped to $44,010 while in 1892 they dropped to $38,675. The 1893 program called for $41,350, the Stallion Representative Stake which was afterwards known as the Kentucky Futurity appearing in the list of events. It was won by Oro Wilkes. In 1894 there was an advance to $61,080 when Buzetta won the Futurity. It was worth $27,- 480. The premiums continued to increase annually until in 1928 they amounted to $90,000. By opening these events Lexington and other cities tided the light harness racing industry over the lean years in the early nineties when hundreds of breeders learned that a trotter required more than a standard pedigree to maintain his value. During the pinch the stock farms that had been building pedigrees on time records fell by the wayside and the blood lines which they exploited went with them. Performance took the place of pedigree. If the trotters that raced were well bred so much the better but without speed and race horse qualities a standard bred horse had no value except as an in- dividual. Under Tipton's management the meeting at Lex- ington passed from a re-union of local breeders to one of national importance. The residents who were not directly interested in racing also knew that some- thing was being done at the ''trots" on the hill, still the rank and file never showed a disposition to wake up and boost one of the best assets of RACEALONG 201 Fayette county, the gem of the blue grass country. Tipton put Lexington on the map as a light harness racing center. The standard was maintained during his absence in Montana and New York. In 1917 he again took up the task and continued until the close of 1926. EASTON [ In 1918 the roan gelding Easton was the busiest three-year-old trotter seen on the Grand Circuit tracks since Monroe Salisbury came down the line with Expressive in 1894, when he started her in eighteen races of which she won ten, while she was also second in four, third in three, and unplaced in one, the latter being the event from which she was drawn in New York in order to be shipped to Terre Haute to fill her engagement the following week. While Easton did not reach Expressive's formidable score, he made eleven starts, and at the close of the season his card showed that he had won five races. He was also awarded second money in one, third in three, and fourth in two. Easton's first start in 1918 was made in the fastest three-year-old race of the year. Hollyrood Bob won it in 2:04%. On the day of the race, Easton was up to a mile in 2:11, and while he was timed separately in one of the heats in 2:06 and was awarded second money, the effort put him back for several weeks. He was kept going, however, and filled his engage- ments at Kalamazoo, Toledo, Philadelphia, Pough- 202 RACEALONG keepsie, Columbus, where he finished in front of David Guy in one of the heats of the futurity which was won by Peter June, and at Lexington, where he won the Kentucky Stake from OHve Fant, Miss Dewey Watts, The Divorcee and Hollyrood Bob in 2:061/2. The above engagements were followed by four races at Atlanta and Macon, all of which Easton won in straight heats. Easton was an inbred Wilkes, He was by The Tramp, a brother to Jay Hawker, out of Ruth Bond by The Bondsman, both his sire and the sire of his dam being out of the Grand Sentinel mare Sorrento. Beyond this pair, Easton traced to the Michigan strains, which L. C. Webb took to Kentucky, his grandam Quickstep in addition to having a record of 2:17% being by Pilot Medium, out of Trixey by Louis Napoleon, while his third dam Maggie Stone was by Owosso Prince out of Dolly by General Thomas. Easton was purchased as a yearling by W. S. Harlan of Lockart, Ala. He gave him a two-year- old record of 2:1314 at Nashville. This was reduced to 2 :06i/2 in a race in 1918. It was also at that time the world's record for a three-year-old gelding. RACEALONG 203 WINNING DRIVERS IN 1928 The returns for 1928 showed Sep Palin at the top of the list with forty-nine victories to his credit, while during the campaign he also made world's rec- ords with Winnipeg and Contender. The first named reduced the record for pacing geldings to 1:57%. The McGregor the Great youngster cut the two-year- old record for trotting geldings to 2:05l^, a mark that was equalled by the Calumet Farm representa- tive Trusty Brewer. Fifteen members of Palin's stable were returned as winners. Of this lot Winnipeg and Riley were the most successful, each of them being credited with eight victories. Of the others Single D. won seven races, Labrador four, Ellie Trabue four, and The Virginia Senator three. Palin's other winners were Peter Poem, Princess Iroquois, Petroguy, St. Guy, Christie Mac, Layton Direct, and Contender. Second place in the group of winning drivers went to William R. Flemming. His campaign was Hmited to the New England tracks and New Brunswick which he visited while following the Maritime Cir- cuit. Friscotanna was the star of his stable. She won eleven out of thirteen races and dropped into the 2:10 list at Brockton where she won in 2:081/4. Margaret Grattan was her most conspicuous stable companion. She won nine first monies in twelve starts. Flemming also won five races with Blue Jay, four each with Millie W. and Alta Direct, two each with Chestnut Dillon and Joe McKinney, and one 204 RACEALONG each with Argot Napoleon, Early Todd and Lela Frisco, the last named being transferred to his out- fit from the Brusie stable prior to the Brockton meeting. Twelve of the horses trained by Dr. Parshall at Urbana, Ohio, scored in 1928. Al B. was the most successful. He won seven races. Of the others Volo Peter won six, Easter Lilly four, Lauderdale, Frog- gie, The Flying Parson, and Queen Abbe two each, while Lecco Jr., Josephine Volo, Robin Hood, Rose M. and the three-year-old filly Belle Evans each made one score. They placed the Parshall score at thirty. Harry Brusie finished one point behind him. He made his score of twenty-nine with eight horses. Of his lot the three-year-old filly Lela Frisco by San Francisco was the leader. He won eight races with her before she was transferred to Flemming. Harry Brusie also drove Bronx in six of the eleven races placed to his credit. He started him on the way to victory. Brusie also won five races with Azure Volo, giving him the half mile track race record of 2:07 for three-year-old trotters at Brockton, four races with the two-year-old colt Volomo, two with Neil Volo, and one each with Gleaming Silk, Guy Leyburn and Heatherbell. Will Hodson had twenty-nine winners. Hollyrood Dick proved his best mount. He won thirteen races. His other winners were Bonnie M., Summersworthy, Bert Abbe, Tramp Union, Jimmy Strathmore and Bennett Volo. While at Lexington he dropped Bert R A C E A L 0 N G 205 Abbe into the two minute list with a mark of 1 :59i/i. Will Dickerson comes next in the list with twenty- eight races. His starts were limited to the Grand and Orange County Circuits in which he won twelve out of thirteen races with Hollyrood Colin, five each with Cinema and Guy Ozark, four with Highland Scott, one with the two-year-old colt Caretaker, and one with Etta Volo which he drove for Ben White when she defeated Spencer in the Horseman Stake. When Vic Fleming hung up his sulky after the Toledo overcoat meeting he had won twenty-seven races. Grattan Bars was his most profitable pupil. This horse landed eight races, three of them being the $25,000 fixtures at Kalamazoo, Toledo and Wind- sor. Fleming's other winners were Callie Direct, Frisco Star, Myrtle Baxter, Allan, Fine Girl, The Royal Lady, Raven Azoff, Mazie Brooke, Trumpet, Minnie Wallace, and Guy Abbe with which he won the Review Stake at Goshen and finished second to Spencer in the Hambletonian Stake at Syracuse. During the latter part of August, Lyman Brusie took over the Woody Hill Farm stable and started on a trip to the fairs. From that time until he scored his last win at Brockton with Bronx, Lyman won twenty-seven races. The returns show that he won six races with Flambo, five with Lema Volo, three with Bin McKlyo, two each with Neil Volo, Heatherbell, Bronx, and Miss Ante, and one each with Azure Volo, Pax Volo, Chattanooga, Joe Lewis and Nancy Gentry. Four of this lot were members of his father's stable while his showing jumped the 206 RACEALONG number of winners in 1928 for Brusie and Son to fifty-six. Ed McGrath opened the season at Greenfield in June. He had twenty-six winners, the leader being the three-year-old filly Shirley Harvester. She won eight races. Of his other winners McGrath scored in six races with Hollyrood Mark, five with Tennessee Maid, twice with Gordon Dillon, and once each with Wayne Hal, Scott Grattan, Madam Pompadour, and Annie P. The three-year-old filly Blushing Beauty proved the leader in the Blue Ridge stable trained by Walter Breitenfield. She won eight races. The other win- ners in this outfit were Hollyrood Jacqueline, Bob Maxey, Fantom, Beautiful Peter, Subito McKlyo, and Doc Newman. They made Breitenfield's score for the season nineteen, a figure which dropped him in ahead of Charley Valentine who won eighteen races with Colonel Strong, High Noon, Captain Volo, Lee Ongreat, Elsie S., and San Guy. During 1928 W. T. Crozier raced over the eastern half-mile tracks. He won sixteen races. Of that number Volo Rico won seven. Silver Weather four, and Guy Worthy three. He also scored with Hayes at Endicott and Virginia J. Dillon at Rutland. At Stafford Springs, Volo Rico reduced the track record for pacers to 2:05 while at Middletown, Silver Weather was beaten a head in 2:03l^ by Highland Scott. After winning five races with Louis Direct Fred Egan gave him a record of 1:581/2 at Lexington. RACEALONG 207 His other winners in 1928 were Lullawat, Egan, Stone Mountain, Bogalusa the Great, and Hazleton which he drove in two races for Walter Cox. Egan had fifteen winners in 1928, Marvin Childs fourteen, Nat Ray and Harry Stokes each thirteen, and Wal- ter Cox twelve, his leader being Walter Dear, the leading money winning two-year-old trotter. In the matter of winning money, W. Leese of Monroe, N. Y., topped the list. His first winning mount in 1928 was at the Goshen mile track meet- ing where he finished in front with Dewey McKin- ney. The following week at Syracuse he won the Hambletonian Stake with Spencer and the Wet Weather track stake with Walter Dear. At Indian- apolis Leese won again with Dewey McKinney while he substituted behind Winnipeg and Contender after Palin was injured in the Fox stake. Leese made his last appearance at Lexington. At that point he won the Kentucky Futurity with Spencer, the two-year-old division of the same event with Volomite, and a class race with Gilda Gray. Also after the close of the meeting he gave Spencer a time record of 1:59%, equalHng the world's record for three-year-old trotters made by Mr. McElwyn in 1924. 208 RACEALONG FLORIDA PRODUCTS In 1921 when Frank Ellis severed his connection with the Pastime Stable and moved to Orlando with Ben White as trainer, he started a movement which resulted in establishing a winter colony at Seminole Park, located about halfway between Orlando and Sanford. In 1928 the Orlando half-mile track which was used for training up to that time was cut into city lots. It was planned by the Michigan blacksmith, Peter V. Johnston, who banked the fires on his forge and went to the races with such material as Piedmont, Johnston, the champion pacer, and Peter the Great. When time began to leave white marks in his hair, Johnston went south for the winter, stopping at Orlando. He and a few others laid out the track where White's champions were given their preliminary work. Their showing prompted others to carry on their winter training south of the frost line. White made his first trip to the races with Florida .trained colts in 1922. His leaders that year were Jane Revere in the two-year-old events and Lee Worthy in the three-year-old fixtures. They were the best. In 1923 White invaded the northern tracks with Mr. McElwyn in the two-year-old events, Lee Wor- thy in the free for alls, and Anna Bradford's Girl in the three-year-old pacing races. The last named made a two-year-old trotting record of 2:08% the RACEALONG 209 preceding year. When shifted to a pace Anna Brad- ford's Girl won all the way down the line and pulled up at Lexington with a record of 2:01. Mr. McElwyn after winning a number of engagements made a rec- ord of 2:04 and Lee Worthy raced in 2:02V2- White had a remarkable group of youngsters in 1924. He dominated the three-year-old events with Mr. McElwyn and after the Grand Circuit closed gave him a record of 1:59%. For the two-year-old events he had Sumatra, Aileen Guy, and Poppy. Aileen Guy was White's leader in the three-year- old races in 1925. Charm and StaUion Belle were his best two-year-olds but neither of them could catch Peter Maltby, another graduate of the Orlando winter training colony. In 1926 Ben White had a clever lot of two-year-old trotters. Ruth M. Chenault was the best. She won all of her engagements. The other two-year-olds in the stable included Great Atlantic, a stake winner at Goshen, losola's Worthy, and Gray Brewer. Charm took the word in the three-year-old events which were won by Guy McKinney. losola's Worthy and Kashmir, two of White's pupils, won the three-year-old fixtures in 1927. The Belwin filly scored in the Matron and Champion Stal- lion Stakes. After they were disposed of losola's Worthy went to the front. Her last two starts were in the Kentucky Futurity and Hambletonian Stake. She won both of them and made a record of 2:03%. In 1928 the members of White's stable were scat- tered all over the lot. On race day Guy Heasley 210 RACEALONG put in all of his spare time looking for reinsmen to drive Alma Lee, Bob Galloway, Hayes, Trusty Brewer, Fullworthy, Gaylworthy, Red Aubrey, and Etta Volo. Dickerson defeated Spencer with the sis- ter to Peter Maltby at Indianapolis and almost caught him in the deciding heat of the Kentucky Futurity. White drove Scotland, Blonde Lady, Mar- garet Belwina, and Benelwyn. The last named won the $10,000 trot at Syracuse and reduced the four- year-old race record to 2:01V2- White's leaders in 1929 were the Mr. McElwyn trio of two-year-old trotters, Main McElwyn, with which he placed the world's record for foals of that age at 2:02% in a race. Jessamine and Pola Mc- Elwyn. He also scored with Ruth M. Chenault, giv- ing her a record of 2:0314 when she won at Grand Rapids and Yuma. Of the other members of his stable the four-year-old colt Gaylworthy, won in 2:023^ and Full Worthy equalled his record of 2:02 in a race. Tom Berry also introduced a high class two-year-old trotter that was trained in Florida when he won at Grand Rapids over Main McElwyn in 2:041/4 with the filly Hanover's Bertha. Later on at Lexington in the first heat of the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity, the filly made a new world's record of 2 : 03 14 and the event after the meeting shoved the record for foals of her age down to 2:02 in a trip against time. RACEALONG 211 WHY GRANT WON SHILOH ''Buell saved Grant and his army at Shiloh," re- marked Charles P. Warfield of Clarksville, Tenn., while he was assisting me in tracing the breeding of the dam of Peter the Great. "After the close of the war Major Overton of Nashville told me that Buell would not have reached Pittsburgh Landing in time to prevent Grant's defeat if three of Forrest's troopers had burned a bridge as ordered. ''Grant was at Pittsburgh Landing on the Ten- nessee River with 33,000 troops the first week of April 1862. General Sidney Johnston was at Corinth eighteen miles away with 40,000. Grant had sent to Nashville for reinforcements. Johnston heard of it and decided to attack. ''Before setting his army in motion Johnston gave Forrest orders to burn all of the bridges between the Tennessee River and Nashville. One of them was over a rapid stream which could not be forded and which would require at least a day to replace. "Three troopers were detailed to burn this bridge. Before they set it on fire a farmer named McEwen joined them. He said that he was hauling supplies across the bridge and that if they would leave it, he would see that it was burned that night when the work was completed. The troopers took McEwen at his word and galloped away to join his command. "McEwen did not burn the bridge-. Buell crossed it and was able to join Grant in time to turn the defeat of the day before into a victory." 212 RACEALONG SIRES OF WINNERS IN 1928 The uniformity with which the leading sires are credited with winners each year shows that the breed of light harness horses has been established and that breeders are using the families which are improving at each remove. In 1927 Peter Volo led with seventy winners. He was followed by Belwin with sixty-six, Guy Axworthy with forty-three, and San Francisco with forty. Their representatives also included the leading racing material on both the mile and half-mile tracks. In 1928 Peter Volo again stood at the top of the list. Guy Axworthy, his associate in the stud at Wal- nut Hall Farm was in second place and Belwin third. Peter Volo was foaled in 1911. He was retired to the stud at the close of his fourth year when he trotted in 2:02. For a time there was an active de- mand for his services even when he was over- shadowed by his sire at Patchen Wilkes Farm. Then there was a lull followed by a transfer to Walnut Hall Farm. This change did not improve matters until Peter Maltby appeared in 1925. From that time he led the parade. In 1928 the following stallions were credited with the number of winners which appear after their names : Peter Volo 66 Napoleon Direct 27 Guy Axworthy 59 Ortolan Axworthy 27 Belwin 54 The Harvester 21 Grattan Royal 45 Etawah 23 San Francisco 42 Dillon Axworthy 21 Chestnut Peter 35 Peter McKlyo 20 Peter the Great 32 Peter Scott 20 RACEALONG 213 No better example could be given of the value of racing material by Peter Volo than a reference to the Lexington 1928 meeting. On the opening day Sybil Volo finished third to Dewey McKinney in 2:02V2» Volomite won the two-year-old division of the Ken- tucky Futurity in 2:07i/2> ^nd Volo Peter landed the 2:20 trot in 2:08. On the following day ElHe Trabue and Bennett Volo were placed in the race which Hollyrood Dick won in 2:07 and Etta Volo raced Spencer to a neck in the deciding heat of the Ken- tucky Futurity in 2:05% after getting her head in front of him at the distance. Brooke Volo was the next one to show. His best trip was a second to Trampsmug in 2:04 in the 2:10 pace. The following day Hollyrood Colin won the Ashland, Bennett Volo forcing him out in 2:03 in the second heat. During the second week of the meeting Hollyrood Colin came back and won the Calumet from Lullawat in 2:031/2 while at Brockton the same week Azure Volo cut the three-year-old race record for a half- mile track to 2 :07, his performance taking the honors from Plucky, another son of Peter Volo. The get of Guy Axworthy dominated the futuri- ties for a number of years. In 1928 they also made a favorable showing in the aged events, the leaders being Guy Ozark, Benelwyn, Full Worthy, High Noon and Axmoko. The list of winners of the colt stakes presents the names of Guy Abbe, Red Aubrey, Care- taker, and Fine Girl. The last named cut the three- year-old half-mile track race record for fillies to 214 RACEALONG 2:08 at Belief ontaine, Ohio, during the fair. The Belwins were raced in almost every state in the Union. Crawford won in 2:03 in California and Prince Charming in Washington. Bronx and Flambo showed well in New England and New York state, while Betterwin dominated the two-year-old pacing events. Of Belwin's other winners the best were Cinema, Riley, John Belwin, Labrador, and Rick- shaw. Grattan Bars proved the leader among the Grattan Royal pacers. At Toledo he raced into the two minute Hst when he won in 1 : 59 1/2- This mark stood at the top of the racing speed until Winnipeg scored in l:59l^ at Syracuse. San Francisco lost a place in the sun when Fire Glow died at Cleveland. He looked like a super horse. Notwithstanding this blow the San Francisco line continued its favorable showing and won in the colt stakes as well as in the aged events. In the former Lela Frisco and Tartan Maid were the best. Chestnut Peter contributed a remarkable pair of racing models in Peter Cowl and Bray Stout. Peter the Great also had a splendid representative in Lul- lawat. She was the only trotter that defeated Holly- rood Colin. The returns show that Chattanooga, Tennessee Maid and Napoleon were the fastest in the list of Napoleon Direct's winners. All of them were raced on the half-mile tracks. Of the Ortolan Axworthy group Bee Worthy, Guy Worth"y, Cub Ortolan, Miss Neva, and the three-year-old pacer Blushing Beauty RACEALONG 215 made the best showing for that horse. Shirley Harvester proved the best in The Har- vester's lot of winners and the two-year-old gelding Mr. McComas the leader among the Etawah trotters. Of the Dillon Axworthy's, Gordon Dillon and Hamsa Dillon were the most successful. Hazel McKlyo was the busiest of her sire's get and Highland Scott the fastest representative of Peter Scott, whose other winners included Scotland, Lord Scott, Black Scott and Becky Beal. CHILCOOT After Chilcoot won the $10,000 Charter Oak Purse, in 1918, Thos. W. Murphy stated that he would not be started again. He had a bowed tendon that bothered him. That year Chilcoot took the word in eight races of which he won five and was second in three. At the first North Randall meeting he won in 2:061/2 while at Kalamazoo he finished second to Wilkes Brewer in 2:051/2- June Red defeated him at Toledo in a three in five race after he won a heat in 2:05%. His fastest race was trotted at Columbus where he won in 2:06%, 2:041/4, 2:04l^ from Heir Reaper. Chilcoot was not started at the second North Randall meeting* He was one of Murphy's nine winners at Philadelphia and he again finished second to June Red at Poughkeepsie. At that time he was very lame. Still he came through in front at Read- ville in the $5,000 Massachusetts and closed his 216 RACEALONG racing career at Hartford when he won the $10,000 Charter Oak Purse. Chilcoot was bred at Walnut Hall Farm and came honestly by his speed and gameness. He was by San Francisco out of Chimes Girl, a daughter of Chimes and the Wood's Hambletonian mare Minnequa Maid which also produced the great race mare Night- ingale, 2:08, that won the Charter Oak Purse in 1891 to high wheel sulky, after a nine heat battle with Little Albert, Abbie V., Realman, Prodigal, Miss Alice and Frank N. Ed Geers in his ''Experience with the Trotters and Pacers" stated that as a test of speed, gameness and endurance, the Charter Oak of 1891 will go down in turf history as the most remarkable event ever trotted. This, however, was not the only great race that was placed to the credit of Nightingale as at Chillicothe, Ohio, she won after a six heat contest with Little Albert, Ryland T., Charleston and Lake- wood Prince in 2:12. In 1893 Nightingale also won a seven heat race at Buffalo defeating Alix and Green- leaf and placed the three mile record of the world at 6:551/2- In 1894 Nightingale won at Buffalo at two miles from Greenlander in 4:361/^, the world's race record for the distance, while in 1895 she continued her career by defeating Azote and Klamath at Fresno, Cal. in February. After coming east she won at Fort Wayne, Ind. in 2:10 and at Terre Haute in 2:08, her record, defeating Onoqua, Dandy Jim, David B. and Anderson's Nightingale. Nightingale's color was a RACEALONG 217 trifle darker than Chilcoot's but as a typical light harness •performer endowed with speed, gameness and endurance Chilcoot presented the same char- acteristics as the stout hearted daughter of Mam- brino King and Minnequa Maid that was one of the turf world stars when the Village Farm stable kept the Hamlins before the public. CLIMBING THE LADDER William T. Crozier started at the foot of the lad- der with a rub rag and brush. He learned the rudi- ments of training trotters under such masters of the art as Charles Marvin and Orrin Hickok. Later on he dropped into Hartford, Conn, with Dave Mc- Clary, who opened a public stable after Star Pointer was retired. When McClary moved to New York, Crozier opened a stable, the most of his racing being done over the half-mile tracks in New England. From 1914 when the Bay State Circuit was organized, Crozier kept among the leaders. John R. Hal was his first top-liner. He was followed with Binworth, Patrick Duluth, Almaden Onward, and Harry D. O. In 1924 Cozier started to the mile tracks with Sparkle, Hollyrood Frisco, Peter Coley, and Phil 0'- Neil. Later on Guy Richard, Silver Weather, Volo Rico and others were added. Of the reinsmen who graduated from the ranks and made a place for themselves as leaders, Geers is entitled to first place. He tried his hand at train- 218 RACEALONG ing before learning the rudiments but finally decided to put in a year under the eye of George Fuller. From that day he began to climb, his first performers of note being Alice West and Mattie Hunter. Later on he came north from Tennessee with Brown Hal, Hal Pointer, and Frank Buford, while he also raced Star Pointer and Hal Dillard for their respective owners. While Geers was located at the Village Farm he found an assistant in Ben White. When the Hamlin establishment was disposed of, White remained at East Aurora with the people who purchased a por- tion of the property. He started racing over the half- mile tracks with Lettie Lee and a few others. Later he moved over to the larger ovals where he marked Lee Axworthy, Volga, Princess Etawah, Lee Wor- thy, Mr. McElwyn, Aileen Guy, Main McElwyn and a number of other stars. When Horace Brown was at the Village Farm he also had two assistants who soon made a place for themselves in turf history. They were W. J. Andrews and Alonzo McDonald. Andrews was prostrated by a sunstroke when at the top of his profession. Mc- Donald is still active. He started in at the bottom in northern New York. After driving a few races he went to the Village Farm. In 1892 he gave Princess Royal a two-year-old record of 2:20 at Poughkeepsie for that establishment. He then started out to pad- dle his own canoe. The pacer Miss Jennings brought him back to the mile tracks in 1896 and he remained. As the years rolled by McDonald gathered to- RACEALONG 219 gether his share of racing material and at the same time laid away a roll for a rainy day. His list of win- ners include Allen Winter with which he won the $50,000 Handicap at Boston, Bob Douglas, Emily Ellen, Star Winter, Billy Burke, Early Dreams, the Kentucky Futurity winners Sadie Mac and Miss Ad- bell, Zomrect, Jeannette Rankin, and The Senator. Harry Fleming started on his career as a driver at Columbus in 1894 by taking a mount behind Bour- bon Wilkes, Jr., when his owner and driver failed to put in an appearance. Harry won and kept in the king row for thirty years. His later day triumphs were scored for Hillanddale Farm with Nedda, Fin- varra, Escotillo, Sakura and the other trotters bred by the late W. B. Dickerman. Ill health finally put liim on the side line. Aubrey Rodney is the only graduate of the Walter R. Cox training academy. Rodney joined the Cox stable while it was located at Nashua, N. H. One -day he and Walter were jogging a horse to a sleigh. Rodney remarked "Walter, I think I will start out training for myself. Walter stopped the horse and -after looking him over said, ''What do you know about training horses?" Rodney replied ''About as much as you do." "Possibly you are right," said Cox, and they parted. After a few rough bumps with all kinds of material Rodney secured Baden and took him over the mile tracks. He made him the largest money winning trotter that appeared up to 1912. In 1923 Rodney Ihad a clever pair in Watts-in-Bond and Commodore 220 RACEALONG Wilson. The latter proved the fastest two-year-old trotter that appeared on the half-mile tracks and in 1924 he gave him three-year-old world record of 2:03l^. In 1929 he made the grade with Bronx 2:041/2. For years Dick McMahon had the reputation of being able to beat the barrier or worry a starter more than any other man that ever sat in a sulky. As a lad he drifted out of Fredonia, Kansas, and made for the Iowa race tracks. He learned a thing or two at Independence, when C. W. Williams was training Axtell and Allerton. Later on he landed at the head of a racing stable and started to do things with Citation, Ross K. and Belle Alcantara. His most startling performance, however, was recorded at Columbus when he landed the three-year-old stakes with Mary Putney in 1915 and followed her showing there by winning the Kentucky Futurity. This was the year after he purchased King Couchman from Cox. He made good with him even if Cox said that the Atlantic King gelding was the worst acting pacer in captivity. UNDER FOUR FLAGS Whenever the southern antebellum turfman General T. J. Wells is referred to, it has been taken for granted that his ancestors located in Louisiana with Bienville or one of the old time governors who ruled the territory for the Bourbon Kings of France. A brief inquiry, however, developed the fact that his RACEALONG 221 father Levi Wells was a Yankee who lived under four flags without going outside of the present boundaries of the United States. Levi Wells was born in Hartford in 1765. At that time Connecticut was a British Colony. He was descended from its fourth governor Thomas Wells, who was born in England in 1598 and died in Hart- ford in 1660. The American Revolution became a matter of history while Levi Wells was a school boy. With it came a transfer of the allegiance of the Wells family to the United States of America. Levi Wells took up surveying for a livelihood. In 1786 he was selected by some one connected with the United States government to locate the bound- aries of a tract of land owned by Alexander Fulton and J. Miller in Louisiana. Fulton and Miller established a trading place at a military post on the Red River, two hundred miles north of New Orleans. In their transactions with the Indians, the French prior to 1763 and the Spaniards after that date, they acquired considerable land. They wanted it surveyed in order to perfect their title. With that object in view they requested the American government to send some one to do the work. The order was turned over to Levi Wells. After he had completed it he decided to locate there. For a future home Levi Wells selected a plot of land in Rapides Parish near the present city of Alexandria. He married Miss Calvit and settled down to grow up with the country. 222 RACEALONG In due time Levi Wells became a Spanish subject. Three of his children were born under that flag prior to 1800 when the Louisiana territory was taken over for France by Napoleon. Montfort, the fourth addition to the family, was born a French subject. His brother Thomas Jeffer- son, as his name implies, was born in 1803 under the American flag after the Louisiana purchase was completed. In 1803 for the second time Levi Wells became an American citizen. Later on another son was added to the family. He was named J. Madison Wells. After the Civil War he was Governor of Louisiana and Chairman of the returning board which had con- siderable to do with making Hayes instead of Tilden President of the United States. Another trail to the White House traces to a home in Rapides Parish with which the Wells brothers, Montfort and Thomas, were connected by marriage. The brothers owned Wellswood Plantation. They pro- duced large quantities of sugar, while as a side line they had a stable of race horses. It was started by the purchase of ten thoroughbred fillies from James Jackson of Alabama. The brothers married sisters. They were daugh- ters of a neighbor named Dent. Their brother was also the father of Julia Dent, wife of General Grant, who was President for two terms. Montfort and Thomas Wells bred the first Ameri- can thoroughbred horses shipped to England to race. They were Lecomte, Prioress and Stark. All of them RACEALONG 223 were out of Reel by imported Glencoe. Lecomte died a few weeks after he landed in Liverpool. The other two proved winners, Prioress being one of the best race mares of her day on either continent. They also bred the Lexington mare Queen Bess which was the dam of Creole the sire of the third dam of Peter the Great. WINNING DRIVERS IN 1929 The returns for the campaign in 1929 show that H. M. Parshall of Urbana, Ohio, stands at the top of the list of winning drivers with fifty-four races to his credit. Harry Brusie is in second place with fifty-one and Sep Palin third with forty-eight races, all but two of which were won at Grand Circuit meetings. Parshairs fifty-four races were won by fourteen horses. Bin Direct by Binville out of the pacing mare Flower Direct 2:00% stands at the top of the list with eleven. Counterpart is the leading money winner. His big bid was made at Kalamazoo where he landed the $25,000 pace in 2:02i4 from a field of nineteen. Of the other horses in the Parshall stable General Walker won six races. Miss Marion Toddler five, Lee Hagyard, Legality, Velocity, Joe Lewis, My Loraine, and Sybil Volo three each. Tease two, and The Flying Parson, Lillian McKinney and Fairview one each with Parshall in the sulky. Sweet Echo proved the leader in the Brusie stable. She won eleven races. Brusie won five races with 224 RACEALONG Hollywood Pat while he was filling his engagements in the Bay State and Orange County Circuits. He also won five with the two-year-old pacer Dermat and five with the gelding Heatherbell. Of the other horses driven by Harry Brusie, Willis Grattan, Mar- jorie Brooke and Ortolan Brooke each won four races with him in the sulky. Volomo won three before he pulled up lame. Guy Leyburn and Mathew H. Dillon each won two and Princess Forbes, Alex- ander Kohl, Day Tide and Flambo one each, the last named defeating Bronx at Essex Junction. Winnipeg was the leader in Sep Palin's stable. He won eleven races and lost but two heats. Labrador and Petroguy each won eight races and Contender five. Saint Guy and Chester Stout, which was added to the stable at the Grand Rapids meeting, each won four races. Riley and Alexander Direct each won two, the Napoleon Direct pacer being purchased at Cincinnati. Of the other starters Princess Iroquois, San Guy and Betty Ann each won a race with Palin • up. Earl Pitman and Will Caton are tied for fourth place, each with thirty races. Twelve of the Pit- man lot were won by May E. Grattan. Of his other leaders, Scott Grattan won six races and Watson B. Jr. and Guy Signal four each. Of the other horses in the stable. Patch Direct won three races. Miss Worthy Peters, two, and Radium, Anna P., Miss Neva, Saxon Queen and Peter Buskirk one each. Will Caton started with the K. Stable in July. Of his starters Cheerful Volo was the most successful. RACEALONG 225 She won sfx races. Adjuster won four and Montgom- ery Volo, Wayne Direct, Abbe Worthy and Hedge- tramp three each. Of Caton's other winners Helen Direct and Harry D. each scored twice. He also won with Star Unko, Star Gale and Alexander Grattan. Vic Fleming started his 1929 campaign over the ice at Toronto in January. He won there with Twinkling Joe, Mazie Brooke and Judge Bennett. After that outing he laid off until the Grand Cir- cuit opened in June. From that time to the close of the season he added twenty-five more victories, his total being twenty-eight. Of this number Darkey Grattan won five. The Royal Lady and Ber- nice Logan four each. The Young Senator, Busy Signal, Peter Walnut and McKillop's Orenda two each, while Peggy Perkins, Raven Azoff, Ingomar Grattan and Lee Tree had each one tally. The New England trainer Pierce Chappelle also won twenty-eight races with the horses in the Kelley stable of Bangor, Maine. Peter Patch was his leader. He won eleven out of fourteen starts. Kinney Silk also had nine races placed to his credit. Chappelle's other winners were Sassy Marie and Peter Magnus. Walter Cox and Harry Stokes tied at twenty- seven. The Goshen reinsman won most of his races with colts ; Walter Dear and Volomite being each credited with six victories. Of his other mounts Miss Woerner won five races, Hazelton three, Sir Guy Mac and Senator Brewer two each, and Dewey McKinney, Arbutus and Guy Day one feach. Cox was also the leading money winning driver, Walter 226 RACEALONG Dear's victory in the Hambletonian putting him over the peak. Full Worthy and Gaylworthy, two sons of Guy Axworthy, proved the leading winners for Harry Stokes. Each of them landed three races with him up. He also won two races with Prince Don, Calumet Adam, and Sir Walter, and one each with Bonnie M., which he drove for Hodson at Syracuse, Royal Guy, Tease, Lee Hagyard which he drove for Par- shall at Cleveland, Hollyrood Lexington, Black Leaf, Alma Lee, Axworthy Pride, Peter Locanda, Jessa- mine, Etta Volo, Gavolo, Zev McKlyo, Aquitania and Demas Harvester. Aubrey Rodney won twelve of his twenty-five races with Bronx, four with Dr. Vorhees, three with Myra Harvester, two each with Star Echo and Net Worth, and one each with Mordkin and Star Unko. Bronx made a remarkable campaign. The western trainer Henry Thomas had a splen- did group of young horses. He won seven races with Hollyrood Chief and sold him before he defeated Hollyrood Harrod at Lexington. He also won four races with Shirley and Hollyrood Hunter, two each with Senna Tea and Hollyrood Volo, and one each with Lady Russell Boy, Bellevue, Rippling Water and Kinney Direct, the last named being put over the plate at Grand Rapids in 2:01%. Henry Thomas won twenty-three races with these horses. W. Flemming did not begin winning until the Bay State Circuit meeting at Springfield. From that time he won twenty- two races. Of that number Major RACEALONG 227 Mozart and Argot Napoleon each won five, Frisco- tanna and Powell four each, Joe McKinney three, and Margaret Grattan one. Ben White and Will Hodson are tied at nineteen. Widow Grattan was Hodson's leader. She won seven races. He also won three with Leona the Great, two each with Hollyrood Pat and Bonnie M., and one each with Summers Worthy, Allie Patch and Capital Stock, this two-year-old placing the Fox Stake to his credit at Indianapolis. On one of the days at the Windsor summer meeting Hodson won the entire card and all of the heats with Widow Grattan, Sum- mers Worthy and Peter Patch. The two-year-old colt Main McEtwyn was the leader in Ben White's stable. He won nine races and placed the world's race record for foals of his age at 2:02%. Of the other members of the stable driven by White, Hoyle won three races. Grey Brewer and Jessamine each two races, and one each with Etta Volo, Yuma and Ruth M. Chenault. Lyman Brusie, A. Morrison, Will Utton, W. Keyes and T. Berry were each credited with eighteen first monies in 1529. Lyman won seven races with Chat- tanooga, four with Lu Trask, two with Dexter E., and one each with Maidstone, Great Canto, Marjorie Brooke, Peter McXinney and Spirit Volo. Morrison won five races with You'll Do, three with King Grat- tan, two each with Donald A. and Aquatania which he drove for Frank Cares, and one each with Migno Volo, Allie Hart, Peter H., Patchen' Boy, Robert O'Guy and Billy Scott. 228 RACEALONG Utton won nine races with Hunter Hedgewood, three with Barney Sunshine, and two each with Joe Bing, Helen Guy and Mabel Mack. Eula H. was the leader in the Keyes lot. She won six races. He also won five with Edna McKlyo and three each with Hedgewood K. and Cap Leggett, and one with Ruby P. All but one of Tom Berry's winners were owned by the Hanover Shoe Farms. His leader was the two- year-old filly Hanover's Bertha with which he placed the two-year-old record at 2:02. She also won two races for him in one of which she trotted in 2:0414, while in her first race at Lexington with Main McEl- wyn she reduced the two-year-old record to 2:03%. With the other horses Berry won four races with Brother Hanover, two each with General Hanover, Foster Dillon, Miss Bertha Hanover, Miss Hanover and Nancy Hanover, and one each with Micro Dillon and Miss Guy. Walter Breitenfield and Carl Dill are tied each with seventeen winners. Blushing Beauty and Cold Cash were the leaders in the Missouri stable. Each of them won five races. Of the others Fantom won four races and Betsey Prigg one. Dill won four races with Dewey McKinney in the Orange County Circuit. He also won three races with Sir Guy Mac in the same series. Of his other starters Voltaire won three races, Morning Express, Volarro and Nescopec two each, and Peter McKinney one. Highland Scott and Due Return were the leaders in Will Dickerson's stable. Each of them won four RACEALONG 229 races. Of the others Anna Bradford's Boy won three events, Caretaker two, and Guy Ozark two, one of them being the Transylvania. This ran Dickerson's score up to fifteen. Of the other drivers T. Ackerman won twelve races, eight of them being scored by Betterwin and in one of which he placed the world's race record for three-year-old pacers at 2:011/2. He also won with Wedgemere, Trudy Guy, Julia Napoleon and Peter McKinney. Herman Tyson won twelve races and Charley Valentine eleven, five of which were landed by High Noon. Will Crozier scored in nine events, five of them going to Tronia Britton. Nat Ray won eight races, one of them being the renewal of the M. & M. at Detroit with Rose Morgan. The three- year-old pacer Sampson Hal was the best one in Ed McGrath's stable. He won three events, including the Fox Stake, and made a record of 2:05 at Syra- cuse. McGrath's other winners were Equitable Peter, Tennessee Maid and Dayletter. FADING MILE TRACKS It is beginning to look as if the days of the mile tracks for light harness racing were numbered ex- cept in a few centers. The increase in the value of land near large cities stands as a barrier to say nothing of the overhead after the gro.unds are com- pleted. On the half-mile tracks the spectators get more 230 RACEALONG action for their money. The horses pass the grand stand twice in each heat while almost every move of the drivers can be seen from start to finish. So far as the public is concerned the only item in favor of the mile track is the fast time while with the horses there is less chance of interference. The difference in the time has been fixed at four seconds for the average horse. There was a day when almost every city had a mile track in its immediate vicinity. Today city blocks and suburban homes stand on the stretches over which the old time champions struggled for supremacy. A review of the states shows that many mile courses are now memories. At one time Maine had Rigby Park at Portland and a kite track at Old Orchard. Both have disappeared. In Vermont there was a kite track at White River Junction. It was succeeded by a double oval which is now a flying field. Granite State Park still survives in New Hampshire. It is a training track. Rockingham Park at Salem has been dismantled. In Massachusetts, Beacon, Mystic, Readville and Hampden Park have been written off the books. Readville had a unique record. Star Pointer started the two-minute list there when he paced in 1:5914 ^^ 1897. Lou Dillon also trotted the first mile in two minutes over it in 1903. Rhode Island passed to half-mile track racing when Narragansett Park was closed. The first mile in 2:10 was trotted over it in 1884 by Jay Eye See. RACEALONG 231 At one time Connecticut had mile tracks at Plain- ville and Hartford. Of the pair Charter Oak Park remains. New York was at one time noted for its mile tracks. There were several on Long Island as well as Fleetwood Park in New York City. The latter was opened in 1870. All of them have passed, to- gether with the splendid courses at Buffalo, Roches- ter, Utica, Glen Falls and Poughkeepsie. Syracuse, the home of the New York State Fair and Goshen are still active. In New Jersey the mile tracks at Guttenberg, Linden, Hoboken, and the Fashion Course at Tren- ton have passed. Of the Pennsylvania courses, Pottstown, Phoenixville, Point Breeze and Belmont Parks at Philadelphia were checked off together with Homewood and Brunot Island Parks at Pitts- burgh and the kite track at Meadville. The only mile track in Pennsylvania is located on the Han- over Shoe Farm at Hanover. Delaware had a kite track at Kirkwood. It is no longer active. In Maryland the trotters have not been seen at Laurel or Pimlico for several years. Ohio still has mile tracks at Toledo, Cleveland and Cincinnati. The absentees are Columbus and the kite track at Chillicothe where Flying Jib with run- ning mate reeled off a mile in l:58l^ in 1894. There is a mile track at Huntington. It is the only large oval in West Virginia. There was a mile track in Virginia at Richmond. It has been cut to a half. In Georgia there are mile tracks at Atlanta and 232 RACEALONG Macon. Tennessee has a mile track at Nashville, the home of the State Fair. Memphis was dismantled in 1929. Lexington is the headquarters for mile track rac- ing in Kentucky. At one time there were mile tracks in Indiana at Cambridge City and Richmond. They have passed. Indianapolis is the only one left in the state. Illinois has a splendid mile track at Spring- field. All of the others have disappeared, the group including Washington Park where Alix won the $15,000 free-for-all during the World's Fair, the West Side Course over which Johnston paced in 2:06l^ to a high wheel sulky in 1884, Galesburg and Libertyville. In Michigan there are mile tracks at Grand Rapids, Lansing, Detroit and Kalamazoo. Of the western states Wisconsin has mile tracks at Milwaukee, Augusta, Madison and Janesville. The only one in Minnesota is located at Hamlin between St. Paul and Minnesota. The Rochester and Savage courses have been ploughed. Iowa at one time had mile ovals at Davenport and Dubuque as well as the kite at Independence over which Nancy Hanks de- feated Allerton in 1891. They have faded. Nebraska dropped into line in 1919 with a regulation mile track at Omaha. In the eighties the St. Louis Fair and mile track meeting was one of the leading events in October. All of the champions appeared there in the races or in the show ring. It stopped and was followed by St. Joseph and Sedalia where the Missouri State Fair RACEALONG 233 is now held. There is a mile track in Texas at Dal- las. It has not been used for racing of late years. Overland Park at Denver was also at one time an important racing center in Colorado while in Marcus Daly's day racing flourished in Montana at Ana- conda and Butte. North Yakima had the only mile track in Wash- ington. There is one at Salem, Oregon and one at Phoenix in Arizona. California at one time had more mile tracks than any other state in the Union. It is still using the courses at Sacramento, Pleasanton, Fresno and Stockton. Of those which have been dis- mantled or are not active turf followers who knew Marvin, Goldsmith and Hickok will recall Oakland, where St. Julien made a new world's record for trotters in 1879. Petaluma, San Jose, Santa Rosa, Napa, Bakersfield, Salinas, Santa Anna, Woodland, Vallejo and Los Angeles faded with the stock farms which for a number of years sent a formid- able list of champions over the mountains to do battle with the eastern stars. The descendants of these horses are still seen in almost every state and by their speed and racing qualities perpetuate the glory of Palo Alto, San Mateo, Sunny Slope and the Santa Rosa Farms. Florida has a perfectly appointed mile track at Longwood. It is used as a winter training camp. 234 RACEALONG WORTH WHILE WINNERS With the Hght harness racing season extending from June to November, a matter of twenty weeks, it is a busy trotter or pacer that can make more than that number of starts. As a rule, horses take the word in about ten races during the season. Few of the horses raced of late years equalled the showing made by the Belwin gelding Crawford in 1925. That year in the Grand Circuit he started in nineteen races, four of them being dashes at Aurora, and won sixteen. His only defeats were at Toledo where he finished second to Peter Fellows and at Syracuse and Columbus where he was placed to Bob Armstrong. He also had a chance to add two or three more races to this score but Murphy refused to ship him from Atlanta to start in some half-mile track engagements in North Carolina. If Crawford had appeared in these events he would have met Peter Buskirk. That year Peter Buskirk started racing at Freehold, N. J. on Decoration Day and stopped at Wilson, N. C, in October. He took the word in seventeen races of which he won fifteen, the most brilliant being at Avon, Conn., where he defeated Ensign Tige and Great Bells. Peter Buskirk won all of his engagements in the Orange County and Bay State Circuits that year except at Spring- field. At that point Escotillo grabbed the odd heat from him. His other blank was at Trenton where he was defeated by Peter Fellows. The returns show that in 1923 Peter Buskirk won RACEALONG 235 fifteen out of twenty races. That year he also made his first start at Freehold, N. J., and closed at Green- ville, N. C., where he was defeated by Alisal. Peter Buskirk also made the usual trip through the Orange County and Bay State Circuits, winning all of his engagements except at Windsor where he was un- placed to Penrod and at Northampton where he fin- ished second to Watts-in-Bond. Of the other worth-while winners during the past few years, Ribbon Cane won fourteen races in 1925 and Tilly Brooke twelve in 1924. In 1923 Junior Hal and Merriman each won thirteen, Anoakia twelve, Kate Hal and Watts-in-Bond each eleven, and Anna Bradford's Girl ten. Margaret Dillon won ten races in 1922. In 1926 Golden Direct won thirteen out of fifteen starts and Ruth M. Chenault all of her ten engagements. During the 1927 campaign the trotter Patsy Leaf tied at fifteen victories with the pacers Hamsa Dil- lon, King Direct and Bert Abbe. After winning at all of the early sweepstake meetings except Tren- ton, Patsy Leaf was shipped to northern New York where he had almost everything his own way in the Buffalo Road Drivers' stakes. Bert Abbe won all of his races in the Bay State and Orange County Circuits except at Greenfield, Sturbridge and Springfield where he was defeated by Carolyn Logan. At Endicott he paced a third heat in 2:03l^. Later on he clipped the fraction off in a race at Malone. Hamsa Dillon began racing in 1927 at the sweep- 236 RACEALONG stake meetings. She kept winning until dropped off at Trumansburg, N. Y. At that point in one heat she pulled three shoes and was drawn but came back later in the week and won. Hamsa Dillon won fifteen races out of sixteen starts. Of the four horses that won thirteen races in 1927 Shirley Harvester is the only trotter. As a yearling she was sold at the Chicago auction for $110 to Warren Daniels. As he was unable to get an advance on that figure he took The Harvester filly home and trained her. In return for his work Shirley Har- vester won all of her thirteen engagements worth over $3,500, made a race record of 2:09%, and again passed under the hammer at Chicago where W. B. Eckert of Reading, Pa., paid $2,500 for her. The other winners of thirteen races in 1927 were the pacers Walnut Grattan Jr., Peter Direct and Beau Dillon. The last named was by Dillon Axworthy out of Zulu Belle by Petigrue. He was raced over the eastern tracks and made a record of 2:06% at Springfield, when he defeated Chattanooga. Fred Medium and Millie W. were the only light harness performers that were each credited with twelve races. Fred Medium's races were over the Canadian tracks. Millie W. swept all before her in the Bay State and Orange County Circuits until she met All Bingen in her eleventh race at Middletown, N. Y. The series of races between Millie W. and Wayne Hal were one of the features of the year. Five horses were credited with winning eleven races in 1927. They were the trotters Axdale and R A C E A L O N G 237 Jean Peters and the pacers Dan R., Jimmy Strath- more and Peter Belmont. The last named was raced in Maine. He is by Peter Vonia which was destroyed by fire at Hatfield, Mass. when Barney Fralick also lost the Earl of Chatham. Maine also contributed a horse to the four trotters that won ten races in 1927 in Luke Bell by Atlantic Express. He made a record of 2:061/2 at Rochester, N. H. The other trotters in this group were Bugle Call by Guy Axworthy, Peter Frisco and the three- year-old Leon Worthy by Edgar Worthy which Leon Beck marked in 2:08 at Springfield, 111. The eight pacers which each won ten races were led by the two-year-old colt Air Silk. He was a mem- ber of By Shively's stable. His associates in this group were Charing Cross, a brother to Crawford, Dawn 0' Day by Daystar, Main Direct by Direct Gentry, the Canadian horse Battle Ax which made a mark of 2:01i4 at the Minnesota State Fair, Betty Direct by Empire Direct, and Reppert B. The last named after making two Grand Circuit trips was tried on the double ovals and won. Ten trotters and fourteen pacers won ten races in 1927. Hazleton and Sam Williams were the leaders. The other trotters were Peter Poem, Lord Carville, Whiskbroom, a half brother to Beau Dillon, Day- light, a three-year-old by Daystar, Pat Harmon, the two-year-old filly Georgia Volo, Tang Frisco and Signal Spring. Of the pacers Captain Grattan and Ramona Grat- tan were by Grattan Royal, and Caruso by William, 238 RACEALONG the champion whose races with Directum I. were among the most brilHant in turf history. The others which came through with nine first monies were Al Volo, Billy R., Baron Forbes, Lecco Grattan Jr., Lil- lian C. F. L., My Man, Beautiful Isle, Dude Hughes, Miss Argot Hal, and Cap Leggett. The twelve trotters which won eight races in 1927 include the two-year-olds Plucky and Miss Eclipse and the three-year-olds Miss Marion Toddler and the half-mile track champion Doane. Danesia, another member of the Atlantic Express family, appeared in this group as well as Hal Watts, Edgar Volo, Rosa Doune, The Incense, Delia Harvester and Todd Stout. The pacers which stopped at pier eight in the winning column carried into the race summaries the names of Silver Grattan, Margaret Lacy, Macaroon, Patchen Boy, Minnie Dewey, The Creed, Rhythmic Todd, Star Cochato, and Lucy Woods. From this point there is a flood of performers at each stop. Twenty-eight trotters and nineteen pacers each won seven races. Among the trotters there are such well known performers as Victor Frisco with a mark of 2:03% made when he won at Toledo, Full Worthy 2 :03 by Guy Axworthy, and the Ortolan Ax- worthy geldings Orto Manor and Bee Worthy. The group of pacers included Trampsmug 2:02%, Widow Hal which won on both the mile and half-mile tracks. Northern Baron, Mary Volo, one of the sixty- three winners credited to Peter Volo, Joe Lewis, Widow Grattan, The Flying Parson, and Chatta- nooga. RACEALONG 239 BALDY AND MIG Baldy and Mig occupied adjoining stalls in the big barn at the entrance to Granite State Park in Dover, N. H., in the spring of 1919. They were a splendid pair of equine athletes, still there was nothing in common between them other than that they were horses and trotters. Mig was a golden chestnut with white trimmings and a sprinkling of white hairs on his body, while Baldy had a bay coat that glistened like a piece of mahogany, and on his face a broad white strip to which his name can be charged. On the score cards, this pair appeared as Lu Princeton and Mignola. The latter was an Iowa product which reached Dover by way of Pittsburgh. When he looked over his stall door he could at times catch a ghmpse of Mabel Trask. They graduated from the same school in Indianola. Since they met in the hawk eye state, Mabel became the best race mare of her day, while Mignola was a fun horse in Pittsburgh. With a step as light as a debutante at her first ball and a devil may care swing to his tail, Mignola when he appeared on a track attracted everyone's attention. At speed he was the ideal trotter, his style, gait and bearing being what breeders had in their mind's eye for years and which few obtained. With a stroke just round enough to be flashy but with no lost motion and as rapid as the roll of a snare drum, the magnificent son of Allerton flashed 240 R A C E A L 0 N G by like a broad streak of gold in the sunlight. As he turned to score, Mignola made three or four little hops, like a boy fidgeting at the score in a foot race, before he moved off at an even stroke, his rate of speed increasing in a few strides from a jog to a free-for-all clip. His prompt response to the bit or the request to get under way was as rapid as the automatic working of a high powered car. Mignola was ten years old when he made his rec- ord of 2:0414. At that age a race horse is usually retired. His fun days came when he was seven and eight, after he was tried and considered a fluke. This was also boosted along by an accident in which he broke one of his pasterns. At that time he was owned by an Iowa blacksmith. Mignola was patched up and sold to an unsuspecting easterner. In time he passed to the matinee stable of J. R. McCune of Pittsburgh, Pa. One day his daughter drove him a mile in 2:051/^ to wagon. Mignola was then shipped to Lexington, where he started in the Walnut Hall Cup that was won by Early Dreams. At that time he looked like a picture horse and everybody was talking about him when his owner drove him in 2:031/4. Walter Cox raced him in 1919. He started him in ten races of which he won nine. At Hartford Mig- nola pulled up lame in the Charter Oak Purse and was beaten by Mariondale. The last time I saw him was at Lexington the following October. As he stood under the trees with the sunlight playing on his golden coat he looked like the highest type of a RACEALONG 241 trotter that had ever appeared on the turf. While being raced Lu Princeton was interested only in two things. Number one was to never miss a meal and number two was to never race a step further than absolutely necessary. When the bell rang he stopped. At times it looked as if this cunning old fox was wandering along a path made by himself. He never did anything that would lead a person to believe that he enjoyed racing, and also as evidence that his disposition to move off under protest was a bluff, one morning when a rein parted he ran off like a wild horse and kept it up for over a mile. When he was caught and the harness adjusted, he was the same old soldier, determined to go his own gait until something came along that was worth beating. That was different as when under a full head of steam this stout trotter had the whiz of a torpedo. Lu Princeton, as he stood on his clean black legs, was a monument of skillful training on a foundation of patience. In 1916 he was raced the entire season without doing anything to recommend him as a use- ful racing tool except at Lexington where he was second in one fast heat and at Atlanta where he won a heat after the colored boys scared him by yelling as he passed the three-quarter pole. Walter Cox purchased Lu Princeton from J. H. Ackerman in the winter of 1916. He found him in either the second or third story of a livery stable in Patterson, N. J. and paid $2,500 for-him after see- ing him led out on the floor. He also had to work a 242 RACEALONG year before he found the key to Baldy's trotting qualities and convinced him that it would be easier for both of them if he trotted instead of making wild breaks in each heat. From that time, the other fellow was in trouble. Lu Princeton proved one of the stoutest race horses that ever took the word. He finally pulled up with a record of 2:01. In 1918 at Atlanta he defeated St. Frisco in 2:02, 2:043^, 2:02i4. This showing when added to his victories at Cleveland in 2:023^, 2:0214 and at Hartford in 2:0214, 2:021/2 stamped him as a leader among stallions. MONEY MAKERS IN 1927 Each year the Hambletonian Stakes makes its winner the leader in the cash column. In 1926 when Guy McKinney landed the first one the amount awarded him when added to what he picked up at other points made his earnings for the season $68,742.87. In 1927 losola's Worthy was fortune's favorite. She closed the season with $55,458.45 to her credit. When the mile track racing started in 1927 at Toledo it looked as if Kashmir would carry every- thing before her. She won at Toledo, Detroit, and Cleveland where two races were placed to her credit, losola's Worthy was started in these races. She was unplaced at Toledo and Detroit. At Cleveland in one race she finished third while in the other she moved up to second place in 2:031/2. The following week at RACEALONG 243 Goshen Kashmir was not started. losola's Worthy won in 2:06 after losing heats to Highboy and Ben- elwyn. As the Hambletonian Stake was not raced at the New York State Fair losola's Worthy made her next start at Indianapolis. At that point she won in 2:05%. Her last two wins were at Lexington. The first week losola's Worthy won the Futurity and the second week landed the Hambletonian Stake in 2:03% from Nescopec. In the first Hambletonian Stake, Guy McKinney and Guy Dean, two sons of Guy Axworthy, finished first and second. In the second renewal losola's Worthy and Nescopec, two daughters of Guy Ax- worthy, were the leaders. Benelwyn, a son of Guy Axworthy, was in third place. losola's Worthy was bred by Fred F. Field of Brockton, Mass. She was developed by Ben White. In 1927 before the beginning of the racing season she was sold to E. J. Merkle of Columbus, Ohio, for $10,000. He raced her and at the close of the season consigned her to the New York sale where Dr. Ogden M. Edwards, Jr. purchased losola's Worthy for Wal- nut Hall Farm for $10,600. The pacer Bert Abbe stood second in the list of money makers in 1927. He raced in 2:03 on a half mile track and won $29,812. His card shows fifteen firsts out of eighteen starts. This horse is by The Abbe, a double-gaited brother of The Abbott, which in 1900 reduced the world's trott'ing record to 2:031/4. 244 RACEALONG The Lee Tide colt Spencer stands at the top of two-year-old winners. His balance for the year was $26,213.75. The bulk of this was won in the Good Time Stake at Goshen and the Rainy Day Stake at Cleveland where he and Scotland had a three heat contest. The first heat went to Spencer in 2:051/2 and the second to Scotland in 2:05%. In the third heat Scotland made a break and Spencer won from The Virginia Senator in 2:10%. Sam Williams and Hazleton fill the next two points in the list of money makers. Each of them won nine races. For his efforts Sam Williams was awarded $21,827 and Hazleton $19,345. First money in the $25,000 pace at Kalamazoo and winnings at other points placed Prue Grattan in sixth place in the money makers group. She won $18,620. The race which Scotland trotted over the cinder track at Syracuse where he won the Wet Weather Stake together with what he gathered in at Kala- mazoo, Cleveland and Lexington placed him seventh in the money maker column. His winnings amounted to $14,862. While the Guy Axworthy filly Nescopec won but one race in 1927 the place money in the futurities and Hambletonian Stake moved her winnings up to $14,377. Millie W. is the second half-miler to appear among the money makers. She won $14,157. With this added to what Bert Abbe won, it makes a total of $43,967. That is the best showing ever made by a pair on a half-mile track in one season. RACEALONG 245 The events which Peter Etawah won at Akron and Toledo were worth $13,465. This gives him a place in the list over Fire Glow. This remarkable two- year-old won $13,115 in five races and made a world's race record of 2:04. Kahla Dillon was placed twelfth among the money makers. Her first notice was passed out at Goshen when she won over the half-mile track in 2:07V2» 2:071/4, 2:07%. Her next show trip was at Lex- ington where she won the Transylvania in 2:021/2 from Aileen Guy, Victor Frisco and Etta Druien. As the last half of Kahla Dillon's mile was trotted in 1:00% and the last quarter in 2914 seconds. Kahla Dillon's winnings amounted to $11,650. Doane the third representative of the two lap courses won $11,300. He was started in eleven races of which he won eight. During his campaign he re- duced the race record for three-year-olds over a half-mile track to 2:07% and the time record to 2:06i/i. Louis Direct won six races on the mile tracks for Lullwater Farm and was awarded $11,282. Kashmir won four races and $11,116 before she began to make the mistakes which put her out of the three-year-old events, after the stables left Cleveland. By winning two heats in one of the $20,000 events at Toledo and picking up some money in other races the Axworth gelding Clayworth landed $11,110. He defeated Hazleton at Toledo and almost caught Sam Williams at Kalamazoo. Hollyrood Volo was one of the seventeen horses 246 RACEALONG which broke into the five figure column. He won six races and $10,462. At the beginning of the sea- son he was tried in the Bay State Circuit at Avon and Windsor but did not take to two lap racing. When returned to the mile tracks he made good. At Lexington he won in 2:011/2- A few weeks later in a trip against time Holly rood Volo paced in 2:00l^ at Omaha. PERISCOPE Periscope was bred by John E. Madden at Ham- burg Place, where the family building idea of speed production gave the turf so many successful gal- lopers and clever light harness performers after that department was added to the Kentucky estab- lishment. This well known trotter was got by Siliko out of Leola, a C. F. Clay mare that trotted in 2:10l^ while her dam produced Choral 2:061/2 and her grandam Fanny Robinson made a trotting rec- ord of 2:201/2 at St. Louis, Mo., in 1879. Both H. K. Devereux and H. M. Hanna of Cleve- land, Ohio, owned Leola before John E. Madden pur- chased her. At Hamburg Place she also produced Dagastan, Siliho and Laughter, all of which raced. Periscope was foaled in 1916. She made her first start as a two-year-old in 1918 at the Cleveland July meeting. She won in 2:10% from First National, Brusiloff and Brother Peter. As she was in a stable that was overloaded with two-year-old trotters, RACEALONG 247 Periscope did not appear again until Poughkeepsie, where she was purchased by John L. Dodge for $10,000. He drove her in the balance of her en- gagements and won with her not only at the Pough- keepsie meeting in 2:10i4 but also at Readville and Syracuse, defeating Princess Etawah, Brusiloff, Dorothy Day, King Stout, Harvest Star, and Eliza Dillon. A break put her out of the money in the two-year-old event at Columbus where she trotted a half in 1 :01, while at Lexington she finished second to Princess Etawah in the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity. In her three-year-old form Periscope cut her rec- ord to 2:041/2 when she defeated Molly Knight and Princess Etawah in the Matron Stake at Syracuse. She also won the National Stallion Stake, the Re- view and Horseman Futurities, as well as the Ken- tucky Futurity, in which she made a new five-heat race record for three-year-olds and defeated Brusi- loff after he had won two heats. After a lay-off of a year Periscope appeared again in 1921. She reduced her record to 2:03V2 and car- ried everything before her until she met Graywor- thy at Hartford. She won at Toledo, Columbus and both of the Cleveland meetings one of her starts at North Randall being in the $15,000 free-for-all in which she dropped a heat to Millie Irwin. She also won at Philadelphia and Readville before Graywor- thy finished in front of her in the Charter Oak Purse. After the close of the Lexington meeting Periscope was placed among the brood mares at Hollyrood. 248 RACEALONG MAKING A FUTURITY FAMILY Colt racing is the core of the turf. The winners are marked while the youngsters like Ima Jay, Bin- land, Lee Axworthy, E. Colorado and St. Frisco, which forced them out, in due time lead in the aged events. A few still chng to the slogan ''early ma- turity, early decay" but their influence is fading. The futurities which mature each year force the breeders and those who purchase colts to train and if they are fast enough race them at every oppor- tunity. The breeding of the winners show which families are successful and make a market for the subsequent foals. In the early days the Wilkes and Electioneers were the first leaders. It was continued through the dif- ferent subdivisions of these families until Peter the Great started and was again renewed until the get of his sons and the produce of his daughters ap- peared. At that time the honors were divided be- tween his descendants, the Axworthy branch of the Wilkes family through Guy Axworthy, Dillon Ax- worthy and General Watts, and the McKinney Hne through Belwin and San Francisco. Of the horses named, Dillon Axworthy was foaled in 1910 and made his debut in 1912. That year Joseph Serrill won four races with him, defeating Lord Allen, Sweet Alice, Peter Johnston, and Ima Jay, giving him a record of 2:lll^ at Columbus. Serrill made his third trip to the races for A. B. Coxe with this colt. His first appearance in the fu- R A C E A L 0 N G 249 turities was recorded in 1909, when he finished sec- ond to Soprano in the Kentucky Stake with Muda Guy and was distanced in the Kentucky Futurity won by Baroness Virginia. In 1910 Serrill appeared at the top of the summaries with Peter Thompson. Among other events he won the Kentucky Futurity in 2:071/2 after a six heat contest with Mainleaf and Atlantic Express. Dillon Axworthy was retired in 1913 to Nawbeek Farm, Paoli, Pa., A. B. Coxe surrounded him with a bunch of young mares, the majority of which were either futurity winners or traced to them. Two of the fastest were Bertha C. and Czarevna, both of which were heat winners in the futurities, while Denella was out of Nella Jay, the winner of the Ken- tucky Futurity in 1902. From them he built a fu- turity family with Dillon Axworthy at its head. Serrill's reputation as a reinsman was linked with this family just as Fred Keyes moved up the ladder with the Elyria youngsters in Ohio and John Gold- smith with the Guy Wilkes colts in California. His first flash was in 1917 when Miss Bertha Dillon won from Harvest Gale at Kalamazoo in 2 : 08 1/2. The pair met again in the Champion Stallion Stake at Cleve- land, where The Harvester filly won after Miss Ber- tha Dillon landed a heat in 2:051/2- Both of these races were trotted in August. Two more were added in September, when Miss Bertha Dillon met The Real Lady at Columbus. The Moko filly won the first engagement in 2:041^. In the second race Miss Bertha Dillon won in 2:031/2, making a new world's 250 RACEALONG race record for three-year-old trotters. More record breaking was looked for in the Ken- tucky Futurity. The first heat went to The Real Lady in 2:051/2 with Bertha in second place. On the next trip Serrill slipped into a pocket on the trip around the upper turn. When he started to pull out, his filly made a break and was distanced. There was another engagement at Atlanta. Murphy declined it as The Real Lady was rather frail on account of sick- ness earlier in the season. Miss Bertha Dillon won it from Harvest Gale in 2:031/4, a reduction of a quarter of a second in the world's race record for three-year-olds. Serrill was seen in 1917 in the two-year-old events behind Nella Dillon. She won at Syracuse in 2:081/2 from Echo Direct. She also defeated Peter June in the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity in2:06iA. The following year Nella Dillon atoned for her stable companion's defeat in the three-year-old divi- sion of the Kentucky Futurity by winning it in 2:05l^ from Petrex, a mare that in 1925 produced Spencer 1:59%. During the trip in 1918, Miss Ber- tha Dillon added another jewel to her crown by de- feating St. Frisco and Mabel Trask at Readville in 2:021/2 ,after making Lu Princeton trot in 2:01% at Philadelphia. Three members of the Dillon Axworthy family accompanied this splendid pair in 1918 on the trip from Philadelphia to Lexington, where the Czarevna gelding The Cosasck won in 2:09%. During the RACEALONG 251 meeting at Poughkeepsie, The Divorcee, a sister of Miss Bertha Dillon, won from Chestnut Peter and Hollyrood Bob in 2:05% and Norman Dillon kept Brusiloff and Princess Etawah busy in the two-year- old events. In 1919 the Nawbeek Farm youngsters started their engagements at Philadelphia, where Charlotte Dillon won the Directors' Purse in 2:09% and Nor- man Dillon finished second to Bogalusa after getting a heat in the two-year-old event in 2:10%. The latter won from Jane Volo at Poughkeepsie in 2:111/4. He also won another heat from Bogalusa at Readville in 2:111/4 and one in 2:07% from Rose Scott at Columbus. Sister Bertha was the star of the stable. Her first brackets were earned at Syracuse where she defeated Emma Harvester, Taureda and Daystar in 2:06%. This was followed by another victory in a futurity at Columbus where she disposed of Arion Guy and Voltage in 2:07% after both of them won heats. In her next two starts, Sister Bertha finished second to Arion Guy, their last race being at Lex- ington where she forced him out in 2:04%. This race was followed by a trip against time in which Sister Bertha cut the world's record for three-year- old trotters to 2:02% and at the same time made Bertha C. the dam of two trotters with records l)elow 2:03. While Serrill was v/inning two and three-year-old events with the Nawbeek Farm trotters, Margaret Dillon, another representative of the family which 252 RACEALONG was sold for $100 because she showed a disposition to pace, was carrying everything before her on the mile and half-mile tracks. In 1919 she won thirteen out of fourteen starts and pulled up with a record of 2:01l^. Later on this mare raced into the two minute list and was retired with a record of 1:581/4. Also after the death of A. B. Coxe, all of the horses at Naw- beek Farm were purchased by the Hanover Shoe Farm, Hanover, Pa., where the successes of the Dil- lon Axworthy family were continued. GRAND CIRCUIT OF 1929 After a run of seventeen weeks the Grand Circuit series of meetings which started at Lexington, June 17, closed at the same point in Kentucky on October 9. Between those dates there were fifteen race meet- ings on the mile tracks, the only gap being the week between Cincinnati and Lexington. There were sixty-eight days' racing during which two hundred and ninety-seven races were contested, one hundred and fifty-six of them being for trotters and one hun- dred and forty-one for pacers. This circuit was also very fortunate in the matter of weather, Cleveland, Toledo and Aurora being the only members that lost a day on account of rain. '^'^ As usual the colt races were the leading attract tions at the majority of the meetings, the climax being reached at Lexington where three changes were made in the world's record for two-year-old R A C E A L 0 N G 253 trotters and one for the two-year-old pacers. At the most of the meetings the colts won in faster time than the aged horses. It became such an every- day affair that there were frequent comments that the latter were fortunate in not being required to meet them in races. Finally the hint became a reality at Hartford when the three-year-old colt Volomite won the $10,000 Charter Oak Purse in 2:031/4. While no additions were made to the two-minute list on the trip through the Grand Circuit, a new world's record that is apt to stand for some time was made at Goshen when Mrs. E. Roland Harriman gave Highland Scott a record of l:59l^. Winnipeg was the only other horse to race in even time. At the beginning of 1929 the two-year-old record for trotters was 2:04. It was held jointly by Mr. McElwyn and Fireglow. Mr. McElwyn acquired the honor in a trip against time. Fireglow made his record when he defeated Scotland and Spencer in 1927. This year while at Grand Rapids the Peter Volo filly Hanover's Bertha showed that she was on her way to the championship by winning a second heat from Main McElwyn in 2:041/4. At Aurora the Mr. McElwyn colt equalled this when he defeated Jessamine. In the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Fu- turity these youngsters met again. The first heat went to Hanover's Bertha in 2:031/2, a new world's record. Before the ink that recorded, the perform- ance was dry Main McElwyn came back and won in 2:031/4. During the second week at Lexington the 254 RACEALONG two champions met again and Main McElwyn won in 2:023^. Main McElwyn and Hanover's Bertha are the fast- est pair of two-year-old trotters that have appeared to date. Their remarkable racing qualities show that the two minute two-year-old trotter is in sight. Another move towards that point was also made at Lexington, the week after the Grand Circuit meeting when Hanover's Bertha in a trip against time reduced the world's record for foals of her age to 2:02. Main McElwyn made a remarkable campaign. His first flash was at the second Toledo meeting where he defeated Hanover's Bertha and Pola McElwyn after each of them had won heats, and also trotted a fourth mile in 2:09. Hanover's Bertha defeated him in 2:04i4 at Grand Rapids. From that time he carried everything before him. At Detroit he won from Pola McElwyn in 2:0814, and at Cleveland in 2:071/4- Main McElwyn won again at Goshen in 2:08%, at Syracuse in 2:05% where Leroy was sec- ond, at Indianapolis in 2:06i4 and at Lexington in 2:031/4 and 2:02%. He won nine firsts and one second, Winnipeg being the only horse that won more races in the Grand Circuit in 1929. There were four leaders in the three-year-old trots, Walter Dear standing at the top with six vic- tories. He also proved the largest money winner of the year. His most formidable rivals were Volomite, Miss Woerner, and Contender. If there ever was a horse well named the McGregor the Great gelding RACEALONG 255 fills this bill as in addition to winning five races he finished second in eight and third in one. Walter Dear made his first start in 1929 at Grand Rapids where he won from Contender in 2:03i4. His next bid was in the Champion Stallion Stake at Cleveland where he won after Volomite and Con- tender each had a heat. After winning the Review Purse at Goshen in 2:05V2 and the Breeders' Stake at Syracuse in 2:03, Walter Dear remained in the stable, a part of the time on the sick list, until Lex- ington where he won the Kentucky Futurity from Miss Woerner in 2:02% and the Hambletonian Stake from his three stable companions Volomite, Sir Guy Mac and Miss Woerner. Volomite won six out of nine starts, his defeats being in the events that were landed by Walter Dear at Cleveland and Lexington. His first start as a three-year-old was in the Matron Stake at Toledo. He won from Contender in 2:05. He also won at Detroit in 2:07. Volomite's next score was made at Hartford in the Charter Oak $10,000 Purse in 2:031/4. This was followed by victories at Goshen, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. Miss Woerner was undefeated until she met Wal- ter Dear in the Kentucky Futurity. She won at To- ledo, Detroit, Hartford and Syracuse while during an off week Cox hopped over to Reading and won the Trotter & Pacer Stake with her from her stable mate Sir Guy Mac. The pacing colts also made a good showing. Bet- terwin won at Hartford, Goshen and Syracuse where 256 RACEALONG he cut the three-year-old race record for pacers to 2:011/2- In the two-year-old field Calumet Adam won his four engagements and the last time out placed the world's record for foals of his age at 2:041/2- None of the Grand Circuit winners in 1929 came near the record set by Crawford in 1925 when he won sixteen races. The following won four or more races : Winnipeg . 11 Calumet Adam 4 Main McElwyn 9 Tronia Britton 4 Labrador 8 Miss Woerner 4 Petroguy 6 High Noon 4 Walter Dear 6 Kinney Direct 4 Enoch Guy 6 Clara Bascom 4 Volomite 6 Darkey Grattan 4 Contender 5 Hoyle 4 Hollyrood Harrod 4 Peter Cowl 4 The Royal Lady 4 Four of the eighteen horses in the above table were in Palin's stable. Winnipeg won all of his engagements. Labrador won all the way from Lexington to Hartford where he was defeated by The Royal Lady. He also scored at Goshen. Petro- guy took the word in thirteen races. He won six, was second in three, third in two, fourth in one and unplaced in one. Enoch Guy won six out of nine starts and pulled up with a record of 2:011/2. Kinney Direct was placed in five races and won four. His best showing was made at Lexington where he won from Gilda Gray in 2:00%. The Royal Lady and Darkey Grat- tan maintained the reputation of the Grattan Royal family by each winning four races. Peter Cowl won all of his engagements on the RACEALONG 257 mile tracks. He dropped in at the first Toledo meet- ing and won in 2 :07. This was followed by a victory at Cleveland in 2:041/4 and his remarkable showing at the second Toledo meeting where he won the $25,00"0 trot in 2:02. His last appearance was at Kalamazoo where he landed the $10,000 trot in 2:0414. Hollyrood Harrod took the word in nine races. He won four and was second in three. At Syracuse he made a record of 2:031/2. ' The following were the leading drivers in the Grand Circuit in 1929 with the number of races won by them at the mile track meetings: Palin 45 Daniels 7 Stokes 26 Ray 6 Cox 26 Dickerson 6 Felming 21 Harsch 6 White 19 Childs 6 Berry 14 Thomas 6 Hodson 11 Egan 6 Valentine 10 Van Buren 5 McMillan 9 Morrison 5 Parshall 8 Crozier 5 Twelve of the horses in Palin's stable won races. Winnipeg won eleven, Labrador eight, Contender five, Chester Stout four. Saint Guy four, Alexander Direct two, and Betty Ann, San Guy, Princess Iro- quois, Riley, and Calumet Albert one each. Cox did the most of his winning with colts. Of his lot Walter Dear won six, Volomite six, Miss Woerner four, Hazelton three. Sir Guy Mac two. Senator Brewer two, and Arbutus, Dewey MxiKinney and Guy Day one each. The most of the winners landed by Harry Stokes 258 RACEALONG were catch mounts. He won three races with Full Worthy, in one of which he trotted in 2:02, three with Gaylworthy, the Walnut Hall Cup and Castle- ton being in the lot and gave him a record of 2:02%, two with Sir Walter, and two with Prince Don. The others included Lee Hagyard which he marked in 2:04%, Bonnie M. with which he won the $10,000 pace at Syracuse, Alma Lee, Etta Volo, Jessamine, Black Leaf, and Calumet Adam with which he de- feated Cold Cash in 2:051/2. Bernice Logan, Darkey Grattan, The Royal Lady, and Young Senator were the leaders in Vic Flem- ing's stable. Ben White's score was made with the two-year-old trotters Main McElwyn, Hoyle, and Jessamine, and the aged trotters Grey Brewer, Ruth M. Chenault which he marked in 2:0314 ^t Grand Rapids, Etta Volo, and Yuma. All but one of Tom Berry's winners were from the Hanover Shoe Farm. He won four races with Brother Hanover, two each with Miss Hanover, Han- over's Bertha, General Hanover and Forbes Dillon, and one with Miss Bertha Hanover and Miss Guy. After winning eight races at four meetings in the Bay State Circuit with Widow Grattan, Hollyrood Pat, Leona the Great, Summers Worthy and Peter Patch, Hodson dropped into the Grand Circuit at Toledo. He won eleven races on the mile rings, not- withstanding the spill at Goshen which put him on the ground during the New York State Fair. Hod- son's card shows that Bonnie M., Widow Grattan, and Hollyrood Patch each won two races for him RACEALONG 259 while he scored with Peter Patch and the two-year- old pacer Capital Stock in the Fox Stake. McMillan won four races with Peter Cowl. He also topped summaries with Bill Rogers, Just the Guy, Robert 0. Guy, Steve Watts, and Jenny Perio- lat. Valentine won four events with High Noon and three with Colonel Strong. Counterpart was Parshall's leader. He won three races, one of them being the $25,000 pace at Kalamazoo. Daniels won two races with the two-year-old pacer Calumet Adam which he drove to a record of 2:04i/2» Calumet Annette, and Jerry Sullivan, and one with June Abbe. Rose Morgan was Nat Ray's best one. She won the M. & M. at Detroit. Dickerson won three races at Lexington with Highland Scott, Hollyrood Colin, and Guy Ozark, the last named defeating Hazelton in the Transyl- vania. After the Kalamazoo meeting he dropped out of the Grand Circuit to race in Orange County where he won nine races. During that series. Due Return and Anna Bradford's Boy each won three races. Highland Scott two, one of them in 2:02%, and Caretaker one. Harsch landed six races with Enoch Guy and Egan, three with his half-brother Louis Direct. Henry Thomas scored in three events with Holly- rood Chief and sold him to Frank Piper for $11,000. Crozier won four races with Tronia Britton and Morrison, three with Aquitania. Van Buren won three races with Happy the Great .and two with Black Leaf. Clara Bascom was Child's best mount. 260 RACEALONG RACING VALUES Racing values are fixed by earning capacity. There was a time when the price of a trotting bred horse was based on the standard of breeding, frequently when speed was a minus quantity, so long as the individual carried certain blood lines. As soon as this market was overloaded with a lot of horses that could now show a forty gait the demand shifted to speed producing lines, the number of 2:30 perform- ers credited to a sire or dam having considerable to do with fixing values at the auction or by private sale. This set the time record mills running and made the 2:30 list the storm center in each family of horses. A few still cling to this frazzled system. It puts but very little money in the till and pays few training bills. The demeand at present calls for trotters and pac- ers which have either shown their ability to race or which come from families that are producing win- ners. It was this feature which made the reputa- tion of Peter the Great and Axworthy and while a few of their descendants carry time records, the most of them acquired their honors in races. The grade was never too steep for the leaders when they met the battlers of the McKinney family tracing to San Francisco and Belwin. Sale ring values are based on what the lots offered can show and what their families have done in races. From year to year buyers are paying less attention to the 2:30 list or even the 2:20. Buyers seek pro- RACEALONG 261 spective winners among the get of horses whose colts and aged horses win. For a number of years Peter the Great led all others. He died in 1923. In 1924 his leading rep- resentatives were seen in the aged events. The group included Ethelinda, Peter Fellows and Peter Bus- kirk. The last named was raced over the half-mile tracks. He won sixteen out of eighteen races. His winnings amounted to over $18,000. The Grand Circuit returns for 1924 show that the leading sires of money winners were Guy Ax- worthy, Belwin, San Francisco, Etawah and Justice Brooke. The last named had but one representatiye. It was Tilly Brooke. She won all of her engage- ments, made a new race record for trotters of 1:59, and was awarded $20,425. At the end of the season she was sold at auction for $18,000 for a brood mare. Seven trotters and two pacers by Guy Axworthy won $87,840.25 on their trip through the Grand Cir- cuit in 1924. The following amounts were awarded each of them: Mr. McElwyn $24,875.50 Margaret Spangler 17,695.00 Aileen Guy 14,210.00 Guy Richard 11,110.00 Theodore Guy 6,096.75 Erla Guy 5,278.00 Hot Toddy 4,480.00 Guy Lightning 2,115.00 Ilo Guy 1,980.00 $87,840.25 262 RACEALONG Mr. McElwyn was the largest money winning trot- ter in 1924. He reduced the race record for three- year-olds to 2:02 and the world's record in a trip against time to 1:59%. Theodore Guy won all of his engagements and Margaret Spangler won the first $25,000 pace at Kalamazoo. The amount awarded Aileen Guy was also the top figure for a two-year-old that year. Belwin stood second in the list of money winning sires in the Grand Circuit in 1924. He had thirteen representatives. They won $49,783.75. The amounts awarded each were as follows : Sumatra $9,260.00 Colonel Bosworth 8,931.75 Marmaduke 5,911.00 Miss Belwin 5,750.00 Belmar 5,024.00 Merriman 3,430.00 Poppy 3,113.00 Jean Claire 2,450.00 Crawford 1,874.00 Hurry Up 1,822.00 Coleman 1,243.00 Progressive 535.00 Heather 440.00 $49,783.75 Sumatra, the leader in the Belwin group, was un- able to start in all of her engagements on account of lameness. Merriman was the only pacer to enter the two minute list in 1924. RACEALONG 263 Four trotters and two pacers by San Francisco won $37,360 in 1924 on the trip from Clevebnd to Lexington. It was divided as follows : Fayette National $13,565.00 Hollyrood Frisco 10,740.00 Sparkle 8,390.00 Hope Frisco .• 2,400.00 Iskander 1,162.00 Tulip 1,102.00 $37,360.00 If the $11,357.50 which Fayette National won over other tracks was included it would jump the win- nings of the San Francisco group to $48,717.50. Is- kander made but three starts. He was stopped by lameness. Etawah was represented by three trotters. The following amounts were awarded them : Etta Druien $21,525.00 Trumpet 3,234.00 Dr. White 1,459.00 $26,218.00 Etta Druien won ten races and closed the season with a double victory at Lexington. Trumpet v/as re- tired after six starts. The in 1925 returns for the Grand, Bay State and Orange County Circuits show Guy Axworthy in the lead as a sire of money winners. Eight- trotters and two pacers by him were awarded $69,840.48. It was divided as follows: 264 RACE ALONG Aileen Guy $21,557.31 Guy Ozark 10,972.50 Frank Worthy 9,535.00 Theodore Guy 7,990.00 Guy Trogan 7,197.00 Guy Dean 4,265.50 Guy Brown 2,775.00 Hot Toddy 2,437.67 Wire Worthy 1,575.00 Truax 1,535.00 $69,840.49 Aileen Guy and Guy Ozark proved the leading money winning three-year-olds. Their nearest rival was Sam Williams. He was awarded $10,818.38 In 1924 and 1925 twelve trotters and three pacers by Guy Axworthy won $157,680.73. Belwin did not have as many winners in the three circuits in 1925. Five of them won over the mile track. They were awarded $57,362.75 as follows : Crawford $28,505.00 Station Belle 12,256.00 Hollyrood Jessie 9,755.00 Sumatra 3,750.00 Charm 3,096.75 $57,362.75 Crawford was the leading money winner of the year. He won sixteen races. Sumatra and Charm were retired on account of lameness, the first named after winning a heat at Toledo in 2:02l^. RACEALONG 265 During 1924 and 1925 thirteen trotters and three pacers by Belwin won $105,396.50. When the race going public was getting ready to put the skids under Peter Volo as a sire of racing material he appeared on the scene in 1925 with the best pair two-year-old trotters on the mile tracks and a pair of clever performers of the same age on the double ovals. This quartette with the aid of Volt- age, Hollyrood Abigail and Jack de Saulles ran his winnings in the Grand, Bay State and Orange County Circuits up to $45,821.75. The following are the amounts awarded the Peter Volo performers: Peter Maltby $20,045.00 Hollyrood Susan 12,230.75 Voltage 4,725.00 Hollyrood Abigail 3,256.00 Tippy Volo 3,125.00 Jack de Saulles 1,290.00 Puiple Volo 1,150.00 $45,821.75 Peter Maltby was started in nine events. He won all of them without losing a heat. Hollyrood Susan found him her most formidable competitor. She closed the season by winning the May Day Stake. Dillon Axworthy was fourth in the list of money winning sires in 1925. Five of his get won $43,659 in the circuits named while Margaret Dillon also picked up a first money in the free-for-,all at Malone, N. Y. The following are the amounts awarded each of the Dillon Axworthy group : 266 RACEALONG Thompson Dillon $26,470.00 Harrison Dillon 6,540.00 / Margaret Dillon 4,360.00 Gordon Dillon 3,154.00 Clara Dillon 3,135.00 $43,659.00 By winning the $25,000 trot at Toledo Thompson Dillon placed his name third in the list of money winning trotters. Harrison Dillon proved the leader among the three-year-olds on the half-mile tracks. Gordon Dillon was also in the first flight on the mile tracks until lameness stopped him. He made a rec- ord of 2:0414. Two trotters by Etawah won $33,670. The same pair were his leaders in 1925 but this season the posi- tions were reversed. The amounts awarded each were as follows : Trumpet $28,275.00 Etta Druien 5,395.00 $33,670.00 Trumpet won the $25,000 trot at Aurora and fin- ished second to Todd Hart in the $10,000 event at Kalamazoo. Etta Druien had few engagements. Her last appearance was when she won the Transylvania. Peterhoff was represented by Ribbon Cane. She won $27,320 and was the largest money winning pacer in 1925. Tarzan Grattan stood second with $15,675 and Skeeter W. third. She was awarded $14,327.50. RACEALONG 267 SIRES OF WINNERS IN 1929 The returns for 1929 placed Peter Volo at the top of the list of the sires of winners during the year. To this he also added a new world's champion as well as a three-year-old that went out of his class and won an aged event from the best horses of the year. Of this pair Hanover's Bertha in July gave notice that she was on her way to the highest honors by winning at Grand Rapids in 2:04l^. In that event she was forced out by Main McElwyn. A few weeks later the colt equalled the mark in a race which he won at Aurora. The next step towards the limit of speed for trotters was made in the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity. In the first heat of that race Hanover's Bertha reduced the record to 2: 03 1/2- On the next trip Main McElwyn showed in front at the wire in 2:0314. At the finish of each heat the Ken- tucky yell whirled through the stands but the out- burst was mild to what was heard the following week when Main McElwyn won the first heat of the Lex- ington Stake by a neck from Hanover's Bertha in 2:023/^. This looked like the limit for a two-year-old trotter but Berry felt that he had a little more speed than his filly had shown. The following week he brought her out again and in a trip against the watch placed the world's record at 2 :02, each half of the mile being trotted in 1 :01. This flight together with that shown 268 RACEALONG by Hollyrood Colin and Miss Bertha Hanover placed the acid stamp of merit on the new mixture Peter Volo and Dillon Axworthy. Volomite was the three-year-old which showed that he could defeat the aged horses just as his sire could have done in 1914 when he was a champion at that age. His record of 2:03l^ was made in the Charter Oak Purse at Hartford. Few stallions have ever had as many first flight winners in one season as were credited to Peter Volo. In addition to Hanover's Bertha and Volomite his honor roll in 1929 presented the names of Cold Cash with a two-year-old record of 2:05i4 rnade over a half-mile track against aged horses, Hollyrood High Boy, Hollyrood Volo, Hollyrood Chief, Etta Volo, Hollyrood Colin, Dermat, IVTiss Bertha Hanover and Plucky. The following table contains the names of the leading sires of winners in 1929: Peter Volo 83 Etawah 26 Guy Axworthy 72 Peter the Great 22 Belwin 61 General Watts 21 San Francisco 51 Peter Scott 21 Chestnut Peter 46 Dillon Axworthy 19 Grattan Royal 42 McGregor the Great 12 Hedgewood Boy 39 The Senator 10 Ortolan Axwxorthy .... 33 Guy Axworthy was represented on the turf in 1929 by a remarkable group of aged horses of which the leaders were Full Worthy, the winner of the $10,000 event at Syracuse, Guy Ozark, the winner of the Transylvania, Gaylworthy, the winner of the Walnut Hall Cup, High Noon, San Guy, Saint Guy, Sweet Echo, winner of eleven races over the half-mile RACEALONG 269 tracks, and Guy Aubrey, winner of twenty-five races on the western tracks. His outstanding colts were the two-year-old Guy Day that was timed saparately in 2:031/4 in the Lexington Stake and the three-year- old pacer Petroguy with which Palin won eight races in the Grand Circuit. Labrador and Bronx were the leaders in the Bel- win group. Palin won eight races with Labrador, one of them being the $25,000 pace at Toledo. Bronx won twelve races over the half-mile tracks where the competition was keen. The other prominent ones by Belwin were Crawford, Cherokee Hal, Flambo with which Harry Brusie defeated Bronx and Everglade. Of the fifty-one winners credited to San Francisco, the most of them were seen on the half-mile tracks. The best showing was made by Neil Frisco, Andy Frisco, a brother to Sanardo, Quick Assets, and Betsey Prigg. Chestnut Peter the fourth Walnut Hall Farm stal- lion to appear in this group, flashed into the flood light when Peter Cowl won the $25,000 trot at Toledo in 2:02. That event made him the outstanding trot- ter of the year. His showing was followed by the series of races in which Chester Stout, Bray Stout, Peter Leonard, and the two-year-old colt Wedgemere took the word and won. The outstanding winners in the Grattan Royal group were Darkey Grattan, Willis Grattan and King Grattan. Cap Leggett, Hunter Hedgewood, and Hedgewood K. were the best in the Hedgewood Boy lot. Of the thirty-three winners by Ortolan Axwor- 270 RACEALONG thy, Guy Worthy and Miss Neva were the best. Red Etawah led the Etawah winners after Trumpet dropped out while Lullawat and Lucy Lullwater were the best among the representatives of Peter the Great. Steve Watts was the fastest of the twenty-one winners by General Watts. Highland Scott, Clara Bascom and Nora Scott were the most successful representatives of Peter Scott. Of the nineteen winners by Dillon Axworthy, Ax- worthy Pride, Miss Hanover, Hanover Dillon and Nancy Hanover were the best. Contender and Sir Guy Mac were the leaders among the McGregor the Greats. Both of them took the word in the fastest company. He was also well represented on the half- mile rings by Heatherbell, Net Worth and Terry McGregor. The young sires The Senator and Mr. McElwyn showed that they were on their way to world honors. Of The Senator lot Sally Romes, Young Senator, Senator Brewer, Rippling Water, Senator Perkins and You'll Do won in the fast company. All of the Mr. McElwyn representatives were two-year-olds and from his first crop of foals. Of this group Main Mc- Elwyn won nine races and placed the race record for foals of his age at 2:02%. Jessamine was timed separately in a race in 2:05. Pola McElwyn trotted almost as fast. She was a contender and usually a heat winner in the most of her races. Leona the Great won three of her four starts and made a rec- ord of 2:10 in a trip against time. RACEALONG 271 PREPARING A CHAMPION One day at Macon, Ga., Thomas W. Murphy made a few remarks in reference to the handling of champion light harness performers which won their laurels with him in the sulky. He had all kinds from two-year-olds to aged performers and only one ever reduced his mark "after leaving the stable. He said, ''Every effort must be made to not make a horse dull or in other words knock the edge off his speed. A horse should be worked within four or five seconds of where he was expected to go but a part of the mile should be at top speed." *'I found," he continued, ''when getting game cocks ready for a main if they were worked until tired they put up a good contest but did not have the whizz to win. By stopping them short of the limit they had enough reserve left to carry them into a fight with a dash that usually resulted in a victory. "I tried this with horses and got satisfactory re- sults. By training them well within themselves they always had a flash of reserve speed which reached the point desired. Peter Manning was a splendid example of this kind of work. He never was permitted to rush up to the top of his speed until it was wanted and he always had more than was expected." The reference to this horse recalls years that have elapsed since he trotted in 1:56% at Lexington. There is not a horse in sight that looks as if he had 272 RACEALONG a chance of trotting within three or four seconds of that mark. In 1926 at Reading, Pa., he trotted the half-mile track in 2:02l^. In 1925 he cut the two- mile records on both the mile and half-mile tracks. On the larger ovals he trotted in 4:10l^ and on the two-lap course at Birmingham, Ala., in 4:23. The rate for the two miles on the mile track was a shade over 2:05 and on the half-mile track 2:111/^. With the exception of Goldsmith Maid, Peter Manning has remained on the turf longer than any other champion since Flora Temple placed the world's record at 2:19% at Kalamazoo in 1859. That mark remained unbeaten for eight years. Dexter changed it to 2:17^/4 in 1867 and was retired to the road by Robert Bonner. A few months after Dexter was taken from his stable Budd Doble secured Goldsmith Maid. She reached her limit of 2:14 in 1874. Rarus cut the mark to 2:131/4 in 1878. Robert Bonner also pur- chased him. St. Julien was the next champion. In 1879 he trot- ted the track at Oakland, Cal., in 2:12%, the per- formance being made memorable by the presence of General Grant who was then returning to the United States after his trip around the world. In 1880 Maud S. and St. Julien both trotted in 2:1134 on the same day at Rochester, N. Y. Two weeks later the Volunteer gelding broke the tie by reducing his record to 2:111/4 over Charter Oak Park at Hart- ford. That proved his limit. Maud S. moved on to a faster mark at Chicago SHOE WORN BY ST. JULIEN WHEN HE TROTTED IN 2:11% AT HARTFORD, CONN., AUGUST 27, 1880 RACEALONG 273 where she trotted in 2:10%. No other rival ap- peared to challenge the laurels of the Harold mare until 1884 when Jay Eye See trotted in 2:10 at Providence. The following day his challenge was answered by a trip in 2:09% by Maud S. at Cleve- land. She cut another second from this mark over the same course in 1885. Maud S. was then retired to the road. Her title was not disputed until 1891 when Marvin.' drove Sunol in 2:08^4 over the kite track at Stockton, Cal. In 1892 the bike sulky appeared and records be- gan to tumble. To high wheels Nancy Hanks trot- ted in 2:09. To the bike she trotted in 2:04. This performance showed that the new style of vehicle although at the time very crude made a difference of five seconds in a horse's speed. From this point the champions started on their way to two minutes. In 1894 Alix cut the world's record to 2:03% and in 1900 The Abbott placed the figure at 2:03l^. The following year Cresceus placed the world's record at 2:02i/4. He was the only stal- lion that ever held it and strange to relate he was driven in the performance by George Ketcham who bred and developed him. The two-minute point was reached in 1903 by Lou Dillon. After trotting a mile at Readville, Mass. in even time she moved the figure down to 1 : 58 1/2 at Memphis in October. This mark remained at the top of the list until 1910 when Uhlan trotted in l:58l^. In 1912 the Bingen gelding 'changed the figure to 1:58. This was the mark that Peter Man- 274 RACEALONG ning attacked in 1921 when he trotted in 1:57%. The following year he changed it to 1:56% and in so doing equalled the best mile ever made by a pacer in the open, that mark being made by Directum I. at Syracuse in 1915. TROTTERS IN ENGLAND An interesting manuscript, attesting the antiquity of the trotting and pacing horses in England, re- cently turned up in the hands of B. Halliday, a bookseller of Leicester. It is the original toll book of the ancient fair held annually at the village of Market Bosworth, on the borders of Warwickshire and Leicestershire, within a few miles of Shake- speare's birthplace, at Stratford-on-Avon. In these toll books, of which this one is believed to be the only surviving example, were recorded all the transactions made at the fairs in the important matters of horse dealing, this having been the main object in holding them three hundred years ago. The record of all transactions includes the names and addresses of buyers and sellers, together with those of a third party, called the 'Voucher," who was ap- parently a surety that the purchase money should be forthcoming and that the horse should be as described in the toll book. A specimen entry quoted in the bookseller's cata- logue, refers to a transaction in which the seller was apparently a kinsman of the immortal bard, RACEALONG 275 while the horse was a double-gaited one, that could both trot and pace with speed enough to distinguish him from the common run of horses. Here is the entry as written in one of the years when William Shakespeare was at "the top of his form" : "John Shakespeare, of Newbold, in Com. Leic, sould a graye Nagg fflea bitten, trottinge and Rack- inge, with a Brande v. p. and s., to Thomas Jesson, of Mountsorrel, in Com. Leic, pryce xlijs. Voucher John Chapman, of Whittwicke." The poet's father was John Shakespeare, but he died in 1601, two years before the earliest entry in the toll book was made. These entries cover the period between 1603 and 1632, with a few years missing, but with brief descriptions of something like 5,000 horses and names and addresses of 12^00 men. The rarity and importance of the toll book is indicated by the fact that it is priced at $600. MAKING MR. McELWYN One evening at Longwood, Florida, Ben White when in a reminiscent mood said "Mr. McElwyn was the toughest horse I ever had anything to do with. I had him in my stable for over three years. During that time he went through all kinds of ex- periences that a trotter could have and never took a lame step or even had a cough. At meal time he was always rearing for his food and -on race day ready to go. 276 RACEALONG "I never heard of this colt until the last day of the Lexington meeting in 1922. That evening Mr. Ellis and I were sitting in front of my stable at the track when W. H. L. McCourtie drove up in a taxi. He called me aside and asked if I would train a colt for him. I told him that I would be pleased to. He then told me that he had a yearling by Guy Axworthy out at Walnut Hall Farm and that when I got around to it I could telephone them to bring him over to the track, and send him the bill to Dallas. With that he was off but later on he told some of his friends that he was satisfied that if I had asked to see the colt before deciding to train him he thought I would have turned him down. "Later on when I was getting the yearlings to- gether to be ground broken and sorted for the trip to Orlando I requested Harry Burgoyne to send me Mr. McCourtie's colt. He arrived in a few days and on looking him over I found that he was a big husky youngster. He was rather thin at that time and about as tough looking a customer as ever entered my stable. ''However, I started the men ground breaking him and getting him used to harness. Finally after he had been hitched I drove him a few times and found that he had a lot of natural speed although he was sprawly gaited behind. ''When the horses were shipped to Orlando the Widow Maggie colt went along for sampling. When he hit the half-mile track my troubles began. When- ever he was asked to step he either hit the cart or RACEALONG 277 made breaks on the turns of the half-mile track. Once or twice he tried to run off with me when he hit the cart but I always managed to stop him and get him to the stable without an accident. 'Trom the start I w^as satisfied that this colt would make a fast trotter so I decided to go easy with him until I returned to the mile track at Lexington in April. Everything went along as I planned until about the first of June. By that time a big curb popped out on one of the Widow Maggie colt's hocks. He did not go lame on it but I went rather slow on account of it. 'Tinally Mr. McCourtie dropped into town one day and came over to the track. I told him that he had what looked like a fast colt trotter, that he was very growthy and had a curb but was not lame on it. After seeing him work he asked what I would suggest in regard to his two-year-old engagements. I told him that the best thing to do so far as I could determine was to geld him, get the curb bet- ter and if he came out all right to prepare him for the stakes late in the fall or hold him over until the following year. ''Before leaving Mr. McCourtie told me to do what- ever I thought best but that he would be pleased to race him if I thought he could make a favorable showing. As he did not go lame on the curb I kept on with him and before shipping to Cleveland it disappeared leaving the colt's hock as smooth as the day he was foaled. 'When I shipped to Cleveland Mr. McElwyn was (i^ 278 RACEALONG taken along. After he arrived at Cleveland and be- fore very much had been done with him a curb pop- ped out on the other hock. By that time I thought I was up against it but the colt never took a lame step and finally that curb disappeared just as the first one did. Mr. McElwyn went on just as if nothing had happened and after he made a record of 2:04 the idea of gelding him was abandoned. "As a three-year-old he raced in 2:02 in the Ken- tucky Futurity defeating Guy Richard and later on made a time record of 1:59%. Mr. McElwyn was kept in training as a four-year-old in 1925 in order to reduce his record. At Syracuse and several other places he failed to get a start on account of un- favorable weather and finally we were rained out at Lexington. "After the close of that meeting I shipped to At- lanta leaving Mr. McElwyn with Dick McMahon and requested him to give him as much work as he could so that he would be ready to start when I returned. A wet track kept him in the stall the most of the time. "After my return the weather continued unfavor- able and finally one morning Mr. McCourtie asked me what we had better do. I told him that we did not have a chance at Lexington and that there was no place to go unless we shipped to Phoenix, Ari- zona. The next morning when Mr. McCourtie came out to the track he told me that he had engaged a car to ship to Arizona and that he had also called up the Secretary of the track at Phoenix and had RACEALONG 279 been assured that the track would be put in shape if he shipped there. "As I was situated at that time I could not get away and suggested Vance Nuckols to take charge of the horse. As he had some horses going to the New York sale he could not leave. We then got in touch with Vic Fleming. He hopped on the train and made the trip. *'Mr. McElwyn shipped in top form as usual. While I was in New York at the sale I received a telegram to come on and drive him. I went and on December 17 Mr. McElwyn trotted in 1:59V2> equal- ling the four-year-old record. As Mr. McCourtie was of the opinion that his horse could do a little better Vic Fleming remained at Phoenix and on January 9, 1926 gave Mr. McElwyn a five-year-old record of 1:591^. ''A few days after this performance Mr. Mc- Elwyn was shipped to Lexington. When he arrived the streets of the city were covered with ice and the thermometer was almost down to zero. It did not bother him a particle and in a few weeks Henry Jones had him making his first season in the stud. The showing that his first crop of foals made as two-year-olds in 1929 proved that a valuable stock horse was saved for the breed when I decided not to geld him in 1923." 280 RACEALONG OCCIDENT STAKE Charles W. Paine, manager of the California State Fair, when referring to the Occident Stake said that it was named after Occident, a trotter, owned by Governor Stanford. This gelding was foaled in 1863. He was by Doc out of a little bay mare probably from Lower Califor- nia. Until he was six years old Occident was a common delivery horse, pulling a bakery wagon around the streets of Sacramento. One day he ran away, trotting. A trainer named Elred, seeing him, exclaimed ''Holy Mike, that plug is some trotter." Following him he purchased the gelding and began training him. About this time Governor Stanford was planning a stock farm afterwards known as Palo Alto. As the bakery horse had shown considerable speed. Governor Stanford purchased him for $5,000 and named him Occident. He was then placed in the hands of James Eoff. In 1872 the Pacific Coast trotting associations made an offer of $7,500 for a series of trotting races between Goldsmith Maid driven by Bud Doble, and Lucy handled by Orrin Hickok. Their first exhibi- tion race was over the Sacramento track, Septem- ber 28, 1872. Goldsmith Maid won in 2:1714. Eoff refused to start, but after the race he drove Occi- dent an exhibition mile in 2:211/2. In the third race, October 16, again at Sacra- mento, it was announced far and wide that Occident RACEALONG 281 would start with the mares. Excursion trains were run from all points, and over 7,000 people were pres- ent. The Maid took all three heats, but Occident compelled her to trot in 2:201/2, 2:20l^, 2:22. The Sacramento people went wild over the result, as their favorite was the fastest in the State, either trotter or pacer, and he was owned by a resident of the capitol city, Governor Stanford. In appreciation of that fact the State Fair di- rectors of 1873 offered a piece of plate valued at $2,000 for any horse beating the best time on rec- ord in California. It was a cinch that Occident would win that plate, as the fastest record of that day was made by Sam Purdy, 2:23V2- On Septem- ber 17 Occident trotted in 2:16% equalling the world's record which was at that time held by Gold- smith Maid. The following year Occident defeated Judge Ful- lerton in races at San Francisco and in 1878 when he was fifteen years old he again defeated Judge Fullerton and Pat Hunt at Sacramento. By 1880 Governor Stanford had estabhshed Palo Alto and had a number of good colts by Electioneer. He suggested to the California State fair directors that they offer a $400 gold cup and a purse of $2,000 for three-year-old trotters. The directors accepted the suggestion and the first Occident Stake was raced September 20, 1881. There were five entries, among them Palo Alto colt, Fred Low. There was but one starter, Albert W. by Electioneer. He had a walk-over in 2:54. The previous week at San 282 RACEALONG Francisco, he won from Flight in 2:43. This was the start of colt racing in California which in the next few years produced such champions as Hinda Rose, Sunol and Arion. YE GOOD OLD TIMES March 19, 1802, the New York Assembly passed a law prohibiting training or racing trotting, pacing or running horses, and also demanded the prose- cution of anyone announcing any public contest be- tween horses. This law was amended March 30, 1821, and the new statute permitted *'the training of pacing, trot- ting and running horses in Queens county for a period of five years." The sheriff was required to be present at all trials. In 1825 the New York Trotting Club was organ- ized for the purpose of improving the speed of road horses. Its track was the first trotting course which was ever built. Following the organization of this club the legislature again, upon April 3, 1826, amend- ed the law by taking off the time limit. The Hunting Park Association was formed in Philadelphia in February 1827, and the Baltimore Trotting Association in 1829. In 1821 the law-makers of Pennsylvania passed a law forbidding racing, and attached the following clause: "No person shall print or cause to be printed, set up or cause to be set up, any advertis- ing mentioning the time and place for the running, trotting or pacing of any horses, mares or geldings." RACEALONG 283 RINGERS Every sport has parasites that are constantly preying upon it. The methods adopted to reach a few of the ball players in the 1919 world series is a sample of their work when they have large amounts to operate with. On the running turf they shadow owners who are willing to take a chance or drop attractive baits in front of successful jockies who are fond of the bright lights or living beyond their means. At inter- vals a few of them get together and by disguising a good horse manage to win a race at attractive odds. Such coupes, however, are rare as they have to get by the handicapper as well as the public. For years the trotting turf was the stamping ground of the ringers. Its system of record classi- fication offered unusual inducements for unscrupu- lous owners and drivers "to work one over." In other words, they took the chance of starting a fast trotter or pacer under a false name in a slow class to make a killing. The opportunity to win large amounts with such a horse was not as great as among the gallopers. There were no pool rooms scattered all over the country to which bets could be wired without creat- ing suspicion on the course where the race was con- tested. At times there were a few who siipped by for three or four meetings or even a season without being detected. A plausible story helped as well as 284 RACEALONG the rating of the people who had them in tow. Such work required careful preparation but at the end of the season the manipulators were fortunate if they broke even. Finally the money winning classification put the ringer out of business. While on the other hand if some one tried it the suspect was very apt to be beaten by a colt or a local horse that was racing on the level. With miles below 2:10 even on half- mile tracks there was no place left for a ringer to get the money unless he moved back in the bushes as the purses are not large enough to pay expenses. Tempest Years before the autos drove fast trotters off the soft roads in all the big cities, a wealthy New Yorker named Potter had a road mare with a fast record. He went to Vermont for the summer and took his trotter with him. Early in July both Mr. Potter and his wife were taken down with typhoid fever. A brother-in-law named Hammond was sent for. When the horse was discussed he suggested sending her across the lake to Plattsburg, N. Y., where she could be exercised on the race track. When the mare arrived at the track, she was turned over to a man named Wright. He gave her a little slow work to a cart and finally hitched her to a sulky to see what she could do. Hammond dropped in oc- casionally. One morning Wright suggested that they race the mare and make a dollar. Hammond hesi- RACEALONG 285 tated as Mr. Potter might see a reference to it in the papers. Wright soon convinced him that the easiest way was to change her name and race in slow classes. With this pair, to think was to act. Sure money looked good to Hammond. The last week in August Hammond and Wright arrived at Syracuse, N. Y. with a trotter She was entered in a slow class as Lady Leicester. When the race was started. Lady Leicester lost the first two heats. Wright then went on and won. Before the deciding heat, William Johnston of New York, who was acting as a judge, became suspicious on account of the clever manner in which the un- known trotter was finishing her miles. He called her driver to the stand. When he appeared, Johnston looked him over and asked if he was not the expelled man Bill Wright. He replied without a moment's hesitation, *'No sir, I am his brother." Two weeks later a mare named Mollie A. appeared on the entry list for a fall meeting at Cleveland, Ohio. She was shipped from Buffalo. Mollie A. was entered in the 2:40 class. The other starters were Exarch, a brother to Wyandot owned by George Hopper, who made a fortune manufacturing barrels for the Standard Oil Company before tank cars and pipe lines were thought of; Myrtle R., a clever trotter by Monaco, that was bred by a farmer named Conkey, who lived near North Rand^tll; Beatrice Patchen owned by Dr. Day of Waterloo, N. Y., and two others, both of which were distanced. 286 RACEALONG All of the farm boys in North Randall and at the Forest City Farm bet their summer savings on Myrtle R. Joe Rhea was selected to drive her. In her work she had shown fast enough to trim any horses that were in the habit of starting at the autumn meetings. The race proved a procession. Mollie A. won as she pleased. There was mourning in North Randall that evening. The next morning, L. H. Eckhart, who had a few horses in a sale that was in progress that week in Cleveland, remembered that Mollie A., owned by H. Allen of Buffalo, was lame and turned out. This was reported to W. B. Fasig. Upon looking up his correspondence, Fasig found that while Mollie A. was entered from Buffalo, the party making it wired from Palmyria, N. Y., to learn if the entry had been received. The driver of Mollie A. gave his name to the clerk of the course as Hall. The next morning Dr. Day met him near the track gate. After taking a close look at him, he said, *'Why, Bill Wright, how are you? I did not recognize you yesterday." Wright did not have much to say and when he started to move off, the Doctor said : ''Hold on. How do you come to be driving at this meeting when you are expelled?" ''I was," said Wright, "but I have been rein- stated." "Strange that I did not hear of it," said the Doctor and putting his horse in a stall, he walked RACEALONG 287 over to the Secretary's office. While they were talk- ing, Wright dropped in and asked for the winnings of Mollie A. Fasig told him he would have to wait for Colonel Edwards to sign the check and that he would not be at the track before noon. In the inter- val the Glenville police were called in and Wright was locked up in the village jail, charged with getting money under false pretenses. That afternoon there was a guessing match at the race track as to what was the true name of Mollie A. No one could find a clue. Telegrams to different points did not get any information. Hammond in the interval rushed off to Cleveland and employed J. P. Dawley to defend his driver. Like every one in Cleveland, he could not be persuaded to do anything that would injure the race meeting, or annoy Colonel Edwards, who is now remembered as the father of Major-General Clarence R. Edwards, leader of the twenty-sixth Division in the World's War. Dawley had a session with the Colonel after the day's racing. In the interval C. F. Emery went on Wright's bond, taking the mare as security. Wright was released. On advice of council he stated that the proper name of Mollie A. was Tempest by Hawthorne. That interested the racing officials more than a case in court. Tempest was bred at Stockton, California and sold to some one in Valparaiso, Chili. Another transfer took her across the Andes Mountains to Beunos Ayers. As there was no light harness races in the Argentine Republic, an American buyer picked her 288 RACEALONG up and took her to New York, where Mr. Potter purchased her. Forfeiting all claims to the purse, Hammond, Wright and Mollie A. faded from Cleveland. In a few days they appeared at Port Huron, Mich. The news of their exploit in northern Ohio preceded them. As soon as they learned of it, they removed the boards from the back of Tempest's stall and disappeared in the night. They afterwards started at two meetings in Arkansas and Texas, where they called their trotter Lady Lightfoot. A pool seller recognized the outfit. When he told the racing offi- cials what they did in Ohio, the sheriff gave them an hour to get on their way. Wright died expelled. No penalty was imposed against Tempest, as when Mr. Potter recovered he appeared before the governing board and proved that he was at death's door when Hammond and Wright were ringing his road mare. Dry Monopole Wright's trip with a sick man's horse recalls the trick which Bert Schaeffer turned with one that was reported dead. In 1903 George B. Fleming pur- chased the pacer Dick Wilson, 2:08, and changed his name to Dry Monopole. Fleming died the follow- ing year. His wife lived in Pittsburgh. She con- signed the horse to a New York sale. Bert Schaeffer was employed to take charge of Dry Monopole and see that he appeared in the sale ring in good condi- tion. R A C E A L 0 N G 289 The horse contracted a cold while in transit. On sale day his temperature was one hundred and four. A veterinary said he was threatened with pneu- monia. As no one would purchase a horse in that condition, he was withdrawn and arrangements made to consign him in the next sale if he recovered. Schaeffer shipped Dry Monopole to Somerville, N. J. He was placed in Opdyke's stable. No one saw him while there with his hood, blanket or bandages removed. In about a week, Schaeffer wrote Mrs. Fleming that Dry Monopole was dead and that he was offered $100 for his equipment. She instructed him to sell and send her whatever was left after the bills were paid. Schaeffer also sent a notice of the horse's death to the press. As he was well known it was printed everywhere. On May 30, 1905, Bert Schaeffer won a pacing race at Prospect Park, Baltimore, with the brown gelding Tasberg in 2:18%. The horse showed so much speed in each of the heats that the other drivers looked him over very closely. One of them wired me for a description of Dry Monopole. I sent it to him and added that the horse was reported dead. The following day a letter was received, giving a description of Tasberg. It fitted Dry Monopole in every particular except that he was a gelding and Dry Monopole a stallion. At that time Jack Rom- baugh was training at Charter Oak Park. He said he would know Dry Monopole's hide -in a tan yard. I requested him to go with me to Baltimore the fol- 290 RACEALONG lowing week, where Tasberg was named to start at Electric Park. Schaeff er was warming up the gelding for his race when we arrived at the track. It only required a glance to identify him as Dry Monopole. As soon as his name was mentioned, Ben Walker and half a dozen others recognized him instantly. Later it was learned that Schaeff er after reporting Dry Monopole dead, shipped him to Coatesville, Pa. He secured employment as night clerk in a hotel and jogged the horse every afternoon. As soon as Schaeff er was located, he called in a local veterinary to castrate the horse. He refused and said if he caught cold it would kill him. One was called from Philadelphia. He performed the operation and the horse recovered. As soon as Dry Monopole was in shape for road work, Schaeffer sold him for $700 as a green horse to E. P. Dickinson, a local contractor. Dickinson em- ployed Schaeffer to drive him. They named him Tas- berg and after training him for a few weeks on a local track shipped him to the Gentlemen's Driving Park at Baltimore, where he made his first start. After the exposure, Mrs. Fleming's attorney re- plevined the horse. Dickinson re-replevined him. Later on when he found that his driver's statements could not be depended on, he surrendered the horse. Schaeffer was expelled at Electric Park, when the horse was identified. He enjoys the doubtful honor of being the only driver penalized for racing a horse six months after he wrote its obituary. RACEALONG 291 Jack London In the fall of 1911 when Lester Dore was racing at Hills Grove, R. L, he was called over the long distance from Worcester, Mass., and requested to drive a chestnut gelding named Baker, that was entered to start the following day. As he did not have a horse in the event, Lester said he would take the mount. The following morning when Dore went to Baker's stall to prepare him for the race, he found a very sick horse. Something that looked like distemper had developed during the night. Instead of racing Baker, Dore called on the Secretary and cancelled the engagement. Baker was shipped to Worcester. Nothing more was heard of him until the following spring when the members of the matinee club were busy preparing their horses for a home series and an inter-city meeting with Springfield. In the interval, A. E. Richardson of Flint, Mich., located at Worcester. He began training Baker. When Richardson arrived. Baker was wearing an equipment that goes with a dangerous horse. As a starter, the Michigan reinsman shortened his toes, reduced the weight of his shoes, threw aside his boots, and standing martingale, and substituted an old fashioned side check for the overdraw. In a few days Baker was a perfectly mannered trotter. When the matinees started, it was just play for him to defeat the Worcester horses. Joseph Roberts, his owner, like all French-Canadians, was very proud of his trotter. 292 RACEALONG When the inter-city matinee was held, Baker won his engagement. Joshua Brooks, the President of the Eastern States Exposition, remarked ''Roberts was awarded a cup over me that I would have given almost anything to have had the pleasure of placing on the mantle of my home." A soon as the matinees were disposed of, Richard- son started to get Baker in condition for a trip to the races. Those who had seen him in the amateur events and were inclined to risk a few dollars on the result of a horse race decided to keep an eye on him. In other words, they planned to be present with a few tickets in their pocket marked Baker against the field no matter what was in it or when the event was raced. Baker's first engagement was at Montreal. A number of New England horses were entered to start at the same meeting, John Reay of Boston having Gold Bingen in the race with him. The strike breaker James Farley also had his stable at Montreal, one of his candidates being Billy Miller. This horse was also named to start against Baker. When the starters were posted in the betting ring, one named Professor Sphinx appeared at the bottom and Baker at the top. Before Frank Muzzey began selling, his clerk rubbed off Baker. As he did the New Englanders took it for granted that the horse was being held over for another race later in the week. Farley was of the opinion that Billy Miller could win. He backed him freely, while each of his friends RACEALONG 293 from Plattsburg, N. Y., had a few tickets to make expense money. John Reay purchased several cheap tickets on Gold Bingen. He also kept his eye on Roberts and Richardson. The pair conferred for a few minutes near the Judges' stand. Richardson then walked over to the stable. After entering a stall, he came out and signalled to Roberts by lifting his hat. As he did, the Worcester contractor walked over to the pool stand and began buying Professor Sphinx. He appeared on the entry list as the prop- erty of a firm in Nashua, N. H. After several tickets had been knocked down to him, Reay approached Roberts and said: ''How about Baker, Joe?" ''You will not hear about him any more," said Roberts. "Why, what is coming off?" said Reay. "Buy a few tickets on Professor Sphinx without running up the price and you will find out," said the Worcester man. Reay took a few, Roberts not bidding against him. When the Judges called the race, Richardson ap- peared, as bold as a lion, in the sulky with the horse which all the New Englanders knew as Baker, but with the number assigned Professor Sphinx on his arm. It was then apparent what had been done to throw them off. The race was only a light work out for Professor Sphinx. Billy Miller was good, faster than Farley expected, but the Worcester horse could move away from him at any part of the mile. 294 RACEALONG Farley demanded the identification of this new trotter. His friends as well as a number of local people also created such an uproar that all bets were declared off and the winnings of the horse held up. When Roberts and his driver returned to Wor- cester, they were minus their expenses. They also had considerable trouble getting out of Canada on account of the two names for the one horse, when the time came to release the bond at the custom house. A few weeks later Richardson appeared at Can- ton, Ohio, with Professor Sphinx. Another plunge was made on him. No one questioned his identity as Ollie Iseman trimmed the pair to a frazzle with Dolly S. From that meeting to the end of the season, Pro- fessor Sphinx was raced at fairs. At Allentown and Mineola he showed his ability to beat 2:10 over a half-mile track. A few were satisfied with the evi- dence which Richardson produced to identify the horse. Others were not, as no one had in years seen a horse race at such a high rate of speed on a half- mile track. In October when the mile track trainers were busy making a survey of the available racing material for 1913, both Cox and Murphy took the trail for Wor- cester, where Professor Sphinx was located. Thomas W. Murphy landed him for $5,000. The purchase was made for C. W. Barnum of Lime Rock, Conn. During all of this time a still hunt was being made to locate the history of this horse. While it was RACEALONG 295 known that he was not bred on a farm near Lapeer, Mich., as reported by Richardson, it was not so easy to show where he did come from. Finally it was learned that the gelding Jack Lon- don with a record of 2:12l^ was missing. His de- scription tallied with that of Professor Sphinx. After Murphy shipped the horse to Poughkeepsie, N. Y. I made arrangements with Dell McLean of Galesburg, 111., who drove Jack London in his races, and Clif- ford Stanley of Jerseyville, 111., who bred him, to meet me there. They pronounced him Jack London. At the same time it was learned from McLean that in 1911 after the close of the Columbus, Ohio, meeting, Jack London was shipped to his owners stable at Louisiana, Missouri. A few days later a man, at that time unknown to him, appeared and asked if the horse was for sale. He was advised that he was and was told the price. After it was fixed, McLean hitched Jack London and drove him a slow mile. The stranger, who was A. E. Richardson, then mounted the sulky and brushed the horse through the stretch a few times. As he dismounted, he said he would take him. The horse was paid for in currency and without even waiting to cool him out, he led Jack London to town. The horse was loaded that afternoon. The next morning he was in St. Louis. He was expressed from that point to Worcester, Mass. Richardson returned to Michigan and the horse went on in charge of the express messenger. The Baker entry at Hills Grove, R. I., was made 296 RACEALONG before the horse was purchased. When he arrived at Worcester, he was re-shipped to Hills Grove. An attack of distemper was all that prevented a clean- up at the Rhode Island track. When the identity of Jack London was estab- lished, Roberts refunded his winnings and offered to return the $5,000 if Barnum would give him the horse. He claimed that Richardson purchased the horse and sent him on as one without a record. Richardson admitted this but afterwards denied it. Murphy decided to keep Jack London and try him on the mile tracks. He did not do very well. He could not make him eat during the hot weather. In October when the nights were cool Jack London won a postponed race at Lexington in 2 :07i/4- He was then passed on to the auctions. By ringing this horse, Richardson lost a chance of bringing out a Grand Circuit performer. The form which the horse showed on the half-mile tracks in 1912 would have carried him to the front on the larger ovals in 2:05 or better. The turn to the left made him a turf outlaw. A turn to the right would have made him a leading reinsman as well as a man whose skill in balancing a horse would have placed him on easy street for the balance of his career. Edna L. Turf buccaneers rarely make anything by their dis- reputable transactions. When they do get a few dollars, they are unable to keep them. The hold-up man meets them at every turn. The tide turns against RACEALONG 297 them when they least expect it. This is shown by the career of Edna L., a nervy httle mare that made a record of 2:091/4 over the half-mile track at Urbana, 111., in 1914. Edna L. was developed by Deed Tinkler. As he was on the sick Hst at the close of 1914, he decided to sell her. An advertisement brought a buyer at $1,000. A young man named Paul took the mare to Indianapolis. He delivered her to two men whose names were unknown to him. Edna L. disappeared. On a stormy afternoon in March, 1915, three men called on me. They said they lived in Waterbury, Conn., and that their names were Delay, Russell and Short. One of them produced a tabulated pedigree of Sidney St. Clair, which was at one time owned by Short. They were looking for information to register a mare named Lady St. Clair by Sidney St. Clair out of the dam of May Day, which had been raced over the New England tracks and was then owned in Portland, Maine. Short said that he bred Lady St. Clair. After telling them what was required, I advised them that she could be raced even if she was not registered. Both Delay and Russell, however, wanted a certificate to show that Lady St. Clair was as represented. Finally they passed out into the storm and were forgotten. When Charter Oak Park was opened for spring training. Lady St. Clair was shipped over from Waterbury. Delay motored over twice a week to give her fast work. Her groom did what was required on other days. One morning she paced a quarter close 298 RACEALONG to a two-minute gait. It was followed by a half-mile at almost the same rate of speed. This attracted so much attention that several people were anxious to purchase her. Delay stood them off and said he would think it over. Roy Martin made an offer of $1,000 and a horse that cost him more than that amount. When pressed for an answer Delay asked him to wait until the following week as he had to consult his partner. In the interval Lady St. Clair disappeared. Nothing was heard of the whereabouts of Delay and his mare until the daily press carried a story of a race won by Lady St. Clair at Youngstown, Ohio. Before starting there, the pair stopped at Conneaut Lake, Pa., and won in 2:18l^. At Youngstown, Lady St. Clair was in a field of ten horses. No attention was paid to her. In the first heat she finished ninth. On the next trip she was fourth. In the third mile Delay rushed his mount through the field, fouling everyone who came near him, and finished first. The judges placed him last, giving the heat to Hal Actor. All of the heat bets on Lady St. Clair were lost. She won the next two and race, but Delay and Russell won very little except the purse. Bradford was the next stop. It had the reputation of being the best betting town in the Lake Erie Circuit. Plans were made for a clean up. Ten horses started. After four heats Lady St. Clair stood fourth. A second in 2:12l^ was the best she could show. Delay and Russell were trimmed. They had to borrow money to get back to Waterbury, where they raised another bank roll. RACEALONG 299 In the interval Lady St. Clair was given a let up to get her in condition for another race in the coal country. Belle Vernon was the place selected. Before the race was called, I arrived with Clarence Cole of Indianapolis, Ind. He looked over the horses at the track and soon located Lady St. Clair as the missing Edna L. At the time she was wearing a set of shoes which Cole made for her. Both Delay and Russell insisted that it was a case of mistaken identity. They made an effort to sustain their position by producing a statement from John Short in which he stated that he bred Lady St. Clair. They weakened, however, when it was shown that the foal by Sidney St. Clair out of the dam of May Day was a colt instead of a filly, and when they were brought face to face with the man who delivered Edna L. to them at Indianapolis. In 1916 a brass moulder named Charley Root took a flyer on the turf. He was raised in a small town near Rochester, N. Y. Being a Jack-of -all-trades, he ran a jitney for a brief period and then entered the employ of J. W. Gyles. From him he had a chance to learn the ins and outs of horse trading and racing methods, which did not require an umbrella to make them shady. Early in 1916 Root's sister and her husband moved from Rochester to Grand Marias, a village in Michi- gan on the shore of Lake Superior. Root had his mail shifted back and forth so as to give the impres- sion that he was also located there, training the chestnut mare The Princess by Electmont. Gyles 300 RACi^ALONG purchased her at one of the New York sales, took her to Rochester and as Root claimed handed her over to him as payment for his wages. About ten days prior to the meeting at Wheeling, W. Va., Root appeared at the track with a chestnut mare. She was entered in a slow class as The Princess. When the race was finished, she was third to The Rascal, Arnold being between the pair with Walter S. The fastest heat was paced in 2:13l^. The Princess won the next week at Dawson, Pa. From there she was shipped to Waynesburg. Root started her in two races and won both of them. Her winnings were stopped under a demand for identifi- cation. As Pennsylvania was no longer a fertile field, Root billed his pacer to Winston-Salem, N. C. He entered her as Lady Hermond by Hamlin's Almont Jr. She won, but before the race was finished, a man who had a few gallopers at the meeting went to the stand and told the judges that he had seen the same mare racing in Pennsylvania as The Princess. Root heard of it and skipped. The groom drove the mare to a wayside station, outside of the big tobacco town, and shipped her to Rochester, N. Y. While looking about for another place to raid, the chestnut mare Flora A. by Altoneer, which was then owned in Rochester, was brought home with a big knee. She had been starting in New York, where she won at Mineola in 2:14l^, defeating Lizzie March. Knowing that Flora A. would not be RACEALONG 301 in condition to race until the following season, Root tacked her name on his pacer and shipped to Wind- sor, Conn., for the overcoat meeting. Upon his arrival he entered his mare as Flora A. in the 2:14 pace. When race day arrived, Harry Brusie was selected to drive her. Before taking the mount, he skirmished around among the trainers and grooms who had been racing in New York state and asked them if Flora A. had a chance. ''Red" Hanifan and a few others, who had seen the genuine Flora A., thought she had. Brusie made a bet on her and won the first heat in 2:13l^. O'Brien landed the next two with R. C. H., Root having in the interval backed his mare to win the event. The fourth heat went to Tillie Tipton in 2 : 111/2. It was Saturday. The sun was drop- ping behind the trees when Tillie Tipton finished her heat. Night stopped the race. R. C. H. with two heats won was awarded first place. Root's money was gone. There was still another chance at Woonsocket the following week. After a five-heat session. Flora A. won. The deciding heat was paced in 2:191/4. The judges declared the bets oif. Root was up against it again. He shipped his gambling tool to Waterbury, Conn., charges to follow. She was Edna L. dyed chestnut. In 1917 a slip of a boy named Erie Shelton of Davidson, Mich., appeared at Wheeling, W. Va., with a brown mare named Ethel Starplex. He had been racing a mare of that name and color -over the tracks on the Michigan thumb without getting her out of 302 RACEALONG the 2:20 class. No one paid any attention to him. The first two heats of the race in which Ethel Starplex started were won by John Arnold with Walter S. in 2:121/4. She did not show in either of them. On the next trip Ethel Starplex rushed off in front but Ben Jones caught her in 2: 14 14 on account of a little hard racing luck. The next three were won easily by Shelton. Prior to the third heat, a slim built man with white hair and a scar on the side of his chin was very active in the betting ring. As soon as Bob Anderson, the race manager of the meeting, saw him he knew that there was something being put over. The man was A. E. Richardson, who rung Jack London. Arnold also spotted the brown mare by her behavior when scoring. He called the turn when he said she was the same mare that had raced against him the preceding year as The Princess. The money was held. The following week at Clarksburg, the Michigan raiders decided they would get the money by copper- ing their pacer, and bet against her. She started favorite and finished last in the first two heats in 2:23l^. The judges put up another driver. He won with Ethel Starplex on a jog in 2:171/4. The bets stood. The purse was held and the marauders were trimmed again. That night they shipped out. Ethel Starplex was Edna L. dyed brown. She was under the management of A. E. Richardson, who used the boy who owned the genuine Ethel Starplex for a blind. R A C E A L 0 N G 303 For half a century, the Wilhams family have been horse dealers and traders in Connecticut. When Prince Williams, the head of the family, died, his sons Dick and Belcher continued the business. Their sister married another dealer named Squires. Her sons took up dealing in horses. In 1918 one of them named Belcher, when racing in Vermont, traded for the black mare Sister Hal. He thought that she would make a fair pacer but a win in 2:221/2 was the best that was placed to her credit. This did not stop them from entering her at the Windsor overcoat meeting. Her race was won by Margaret Dillon in 2:171/4, Sister Hal being distanced in the third heat. No one paid any attention to the outfit other than to notice that the mare raced in hopples with a big sheepskin roll for a shadow bhnd. When the association added a second week on ac- count of Woonsocket declaring off, Squires entered Sister Hal in a faster class with Princess Cecilian, Tommy Hayes and King Bob. It looked like a crime to take his entrance money. When the race was pro- grammed, the members of the Williams family, none of whom were ever known prior to that date to bet ten dollars on a fixed race, were hopping around, bidding for tickets on Sister Hal. Starting off at five dollars in tickets that called for fifty, they were so anxious to get their money on that they began bidding against each other or men whom some of them had selected to put on a little money for them. In a few minutes Sister Hal was alrhost even with the field, in which there were three or four horses 304 RACEALONG which could race several seconds faster than Margaret Dillon did the preceding week when Sister Hal finished behind the flag. Surmising that some- thing was wrong, the wise folks pulled away and let the Williams outfit and a few from Waterbury have it to themselves. When the race started Rowe rushed Princess Cecilian off in front and won a heat from Sister Hal by a narrow margin in 2:1414,. This jarred the Wil- liams family. For the next twenty minufes they were busy looking for help They got it. During the balance of the race the other starters were constantly inter- fering with the Princess while Sister Hal had a clear path and won in 2:1514. Between heats Sister Hal was tucked away in a stall with the door fastened on the inside. No one ever saw her stripped except when she was on the race track. When the last heat was finished, instead of cooling her out, she was transferred from the sulky to a cart and started over the road towards Hartford. The next morning it leaked out that after Sister Hal was distanced the first week of the meet- ing, she was driven to Williams Bros, stable in Hart- ford in the night and not returned. In the interval Edna L. was brought over from Waterbury in a truck, dyed black and the night before the race driven over the road to Windsor. She was slipped into the stall which had been occupied by Sister Hal. This was Edna L.'s last race. Squires was expelled for the part that he took in it. Later on Delay re- funded every dollar that the mare won under her RACEALONG 305 different names and colors. It was redistributed to the owners of the horses which she defeated. After being raced as a bay, black, brown and a chestnut, Edna L. was sold in the spring of 1921 and exported to England. Her owner, also had ample time to decide that he wasted what would have proved a Grand Circuit performer, to get what he thought would be a little easy money on the half-mile tracks. Perhaps The outlaw careers of Jack London, Edna L. and many others prove that a horse which was fast enough to ring had enough speed to win in his class. Some are even better, as was shown by Perhaps. He was owned in Michigan and acted as if he were marked for life when he paced in 2:13%. His owner became disgusted with his showing in a race and sold him at auction in front of the judges' stand. A man named Brown, who had been in trouble the preceding year on a Vermont race track, pur- chased him for a trifle. He substituted Perhaps for one called Walter K., which had a few southern en- gagements but was unable to start on account of lameness. Brown wintered Perhaps in New Orleans. The following spring he hit the trail for California. His first start was at Santa Rosa, where on July 4 he won in 2:12 and repeated three days later in 2:08. With the assistance of N. T. Smith, who was at that time Treasurer of the Southern Pacific Rail- road, it only took a few days to round up the eastern 306 RACEALONG party. The horse was shipped east and sold for freight charges at Kansas City. Later on he was sent to New York, where he was driven on the speedway to pole with Tar Tartar, another outlaw. Tar Tartar At one time Tar Tartar, alias Little Joker, was used as a medium to win a few dollars by Pliny Grov- er of Moravia, N. Y. Pliny met the man who controlled him at Bradford, Pa., during a meeting at which P. Mulqueen started Norval M. While Tar Tartar and Norval M. were on the track, Grover noticed that it was almost impossible to tell which was which. They had the same white markings while both of them looked alike and had the same way of going. The next week at Hornell, N. Y., Norval M. was injured while being led from a car. He was shipped home. Before leaving, Mulqueen told Grover that his horse was entered and paid up through a New Eng- land Circuit and he would be compelled to loose his entrance fees, as it was then too late to declare out. As soon as Grover was satisfied that Mulqueen's horse was turned out, he looked up the Tar Tartar people and made arrangements to get their pacer to fill Norval M.'s engagements. He slipped a cog, how- ever, by changing his own name to F. H. Howe, as it was not many days before he met Henry Pope, who knew him'. Right away Pope suspected that the horse was not as represented when his owner was sailing under an alias. A telegram from P. Mul- queen anchored Grover as it was an easy matter for him to show the genuine Norval M. RACEALONG 307 Thorp When the Alcander horses were dominating the New England and New York state tracks, Homer Brewster purchased a gelding named Thorp from H. C. Thorp of Charlotte, Vt. He could! pace a two- minute gait straight-away but he could not race around the turns of a track without pounding his knees. This made him worthless as a racing tool. Brewster decided that he could make him go clear. He bought him and Thorp's breeder was delighted to pass him along. The following spring H. C. Thorp received many favorable reports from the Brewster training camp. The Alcander gelding stood the preparation and was soon in trim to go to the races. All he wore for pro- tection was a light pair of felt boots. Brewster's skill as a trainer was above par at Charlotte. When the racing season opened Brewster won regularly with Thorp. Many hinted that the gelding was other than as represented. Finally during the meeting at Malone, N. Y., Brewster sent for H. C. Thorp. He arrived while the horse was being raced and told racing officials that he bred and sold Thorp to Homer Brewster and that there was noi question in regard to the identity of the horse and that he was sired by Alcander. This statement cleared the air until one winter evening when Brewster's wife was entertaining a few friends in a Burlington hotel. The partitions were rather thin and a man in an adjoining room heard her tell how clever her husband was in racing 308 RACEALONG affairs. A few days later a man called on me in Hartford. He asked what information was required to trace a horse which was raced under two names. I told him. He handed me a card on which the names ''Harry S" and "Thorp" appeared, and with a bow departed. Within an hour a telegram was dispatched to U. C. Blake of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, requesting him to send me from Marion, Iowa, a man who could identify Harry S., 2:11%. Two days later the man arrived in Hartford. I went with him to White River Junction, Vt., where Thorp was then owned. As soon as he saw him, he said he was Harry S. Later it was learned that I. A. Chase of Brandon, Vt., told Homer Brewster that while he was buying cattle in Iowa he saw a fast pacer which was a duplicate of Thorp. The horse was Harry S. Later on when Ed Allen came east to work for James Butler at East View, N. Y., he brought Harry S. with him. Brewster heard of it. He bought the horse. So that no one would be aware of the transfer, Brewster attended to the matter personally, even to the extent of going for the horse and riding with him in the car. Harry S. was unloaded one station short of his destination. Brewster located him with a farmer and went home on the evening train. The next morn- ing he hitched Thorp to a sleigh and went for a ride. That evening Harry S. was in Thorp's stall, while; the latter was shot and buried in the woods. Brewster's wife. Chase, and a lawyer in Burling- R A C E A L 0 N G 309 ton, Vt., who loaned him a portion of the money to purchase the two horses, were the only people who were aware of the substitution, except himself. His wife let the cat out of the bag. Her husband, like all who seek money by the easy route, died broke. Joe Bailey The primrose path looks attractive but very few of those who pluck flowers on it bring home the coin. Hal Oatman fluttered towards it in 1912. That season he shipped from Oklahoma to Ottawa, 111., intending to race Joe Bailey, 2:lll^, in the Valley Circuit. A spell of wet weather left him short of funds. One afternoon while in a billiard room, a tempter sug- gested a trip to Maryland to make a dollar. Oatman swallowed the bait. In a few days he was whirling around the half-mile track at Salisbury, Md., behind a horse called Franklin E. His name appeared on the hotel register as Frank Foster. Franklin E. won the 2:25 pace at the meeting in 2:161/4. The purse netted the outfit $110, while they managed to get $40 from a bookmaker on a heat bet. This did not cover the expenses of the party. The following week plans were laid for a sweep on one of the Baltimore half-mile tracks. When the race was over, Franklin E. stood fourth in the summary. Oatman's backer was disgusted when the horse was beaten in 2:21l^. He went home. Oatman sold the horse and his equipment to get out of town. Later Oatman and the horse were identified and 310 RACEALONG expelled. The clue came through a business card which his backer handed a chance acquaintance while at Salisbury. After the penalty had been in force for several years, the governing board decided to give Oatman another chance to make good. In the interval he had located at Fond du Lac, Wis., and soon appeared with the good horse Dan Hedgewood. Kewanee Ruth Early in 1918 Oatman met Thomas Graham of Chicago in Fond du Lac. Graham was connected with a film company and showed an interest in horses. Oatman told him that if he purchased a couple of horses for him, they could make a ton of money. Graham fell in with it. Their first selection was made at a Chicago sale, where Oatman bid off Lucille R. for $160. She had no record but had shown a few miles below 2:20 in races. The next move was to purchase Kewanee Ruth, 2:06l^, for $2,500. A few days later an application was made to insure Lucille R. with a live stock company for $2,500. The policy was accepted but when the company made a move to place a portion of the policy with an organi- zation of the same kind, an up to date agent, who was in touch with the auction sale reports, turned it down and reported what Lucille R. sold for. The policy was cancelled and the premium returned. Both mares were shipped to Logansport, Ind., and placed in training. A few days after their arrival, Oatman wrote his wife and a man named Rogers, living in northern Wisconsin, that Kewanee Ruth had RACEALONG 311 a bad tendon and that he would be compelled to send her to Fond du Lac to recover. A little later he shipped Lucille R. to Windsor, Conn. She was entered in the slow classes in the Bay State Circuit. A fast work out on the Connecticut track started the rail birds talking. Oatman assured them that Lucille R. was as represented and that they could not expect him to come east with a pacer that would not make good. For five weeks Oatman followed the Bay State Circuit. He won $65. During the Worcester meeting the man and horse disappeared. Hints that the mare was Kewanee Ruth helped to start him west. In the latter part of August, Oatman appeared at the Illinois State Fair at Springfield with Kewanee Ruth. He said that she had recovered from her lame- ness. She was started and could not win. By this time Graham became impatient. His racing venture had put a dent in his bank account. He and Oatman parted. The latter had had a pleasant outing for the summer but when he substituted Kewanee Ruth for Lucille R., he made a slip by overlooking the fact that the latter had two white hind ankles while Kewanee Ruth had only a slight white mark on one hind coronet. In due time the usual penalty was passed along to Oatman and Graham. Those who have brushed the dust of a thousand race tracks off their clothes have learned in the hard school of experience that in racing, like every other iDusiness, honesty is the best policy. -Without it, a man touches the zero mark in every walk of life. 312 RACEALONG There are days when the ringer is a lure for those who are seeking easy money. In the end it is the most expensive that was ever collected. Like Dead Sea fruit, it drops to ashes at tH^ touch after the victim has run the gauntlet of the black mailer and every other kind of parasite that lives by their wits or what they know about a man who has not been caught. The hand of every man who stands for all that is good in racing is at all times raised against the sure thing player, who goes out in broad daylight to rob those who enjoy contests between horses which are classed. Frequently a hint from one of them or the grooms who live in the stalls during the racing season puts the brand on the raiders. There has been cases where one will race for a season or two before being detected. In time, how- ever, some one calls the turn as truth will work its way to the surface on a race track as it does in other walks of life. When it does and the mark of fraud is placed on the names of the guilty parties it re- mains, like the old time brand on the convict, for life. RACEALONG 313 AUCTION SPEED The returns at the auctions have considerable to do with fixing the prices of race horses in the rough or developed. They show what the public is willing to pay for the lots offered and frequently start a demand for the get of a stallion whose foals made a favorable showing in their races. This has been demonstrated repeatedly by the prices paid for the get of Guy Axworthy. On the other hand, his stable companion, Peter Volo, who was a splendid race horse and a champion, did not fare so well until Peter Maltby and Hollyrood Susan appeared in 1925. Since that time the demand for his get has been on the up grade. Many of the leading turf performers have passed under the auctioneer's hammer at New York, Chi- cago and Lexington. Some of them were at the crest of their careers when sold, while others were disposed of as yearlings and had their future before them. For years Walnut Hall farm has been selling all of its colts at auction as yearlings. During that time the buyers had ample opportunities to select racing material. The Harvester was one of the few that was kept until he was a three-year-old. He won all of his stake engagements in 1908, and ulti- mately reduced the stallion record to 2:01. In 1912 the yearling crop contained Lee Axwor- thy, l:58l^, the stout race horse Lu Princeton, 2:01, and the double-gaited champion Prince Xoree. Other offerings from Walnut Hall farm included Sanardo, 314 RACEALONG 1:59V2j The Real Lady, 2:03, Jeannette Rankin, 2:031/2, the leading money winner of her year; the Futurity winner, Mary Putney, 2:04%, and Fire- glow, 2:04. The most attractive feature so far as the buyer is concerned in selecting undeveloped racing material at auction is that the cheap colts are as apt to win as the high-priced ones. In 1924 Harry Brusie pur- chased three yearlings by Peter Volo. He paid $300 for Tippie Volo, $250 for Purple Volo, and $430 for Neil Volo. Purple Volo won in 2:20l^ as a two-year- old and was sold for export. Tippie Volo won all of her engagements as a three-year-old. She was also sold for export. Neil Volo made a record of 2:08i/^. They made a splendid return on an investment of $980. The greatest prize package ever picked out of the auction ring was selected at Lexington in 1924 when Townsend Ackerman purchased the yearling colt, Guy McKinney, for H. B. Rea of Pittsburgh, Pa., for $925. This colt did not do very well as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old Guy McKinney won all of his engagements, including the first Hambletonian stake. His earnings that year were over $70,000. In 1927 Guy McKinney as a four- year-old made a new world's record of 1:58% In 1923 Dewey McKinney, a half-brother to Guy McKinney, was sold as a yearling at Lexington for $165. In his two-year-old form he made a record of 2 :0934. In 1927 he changed owners for $15,001. In 1929 he reduced his record to 2:01% and placed the RACEALONG 315 half-mile track record for trotters at 2:041/4. Of the yearlings sold in 1926 Shirley Harvester was the cheapest that showed in front as a two-year- old in 1927. She was knocked down for $100. Her race card shows that she won thirteen out of four- teen races and made a record of 2:09%. Plucky was purchased for $400 as a yearling. At this same age Azure Volo, another winner, sold for $825, and Georgia Volo for $225. Fine Girl, a winner on the mile tracks and one of the fastest two-year-old fillies raced in 1927, was purchased for $900. She came out of the Walnut Hall consignment which also contained the cham- pion Fireglow, 2:04. He brought $6,500 and was subsequently sold for $10,000. Of the other year- lings which were disposed of at that time Pal O'Mine brought $2,900, Florence McGill $2,200, Lexington Maid $2,500. The prices paid for the yearlings in 1925 varied as much as they did the following year. The pacer, Ace High, which won all of his engagements in his three-year-old form, sold for $425, while $825 was the last bid on the Chestnut Peter colt Radium which was lapped on Doane when he won the three- year-old trot in 2:07% at Endicott. At the same sale Cub Ortolan, then a two-year- old, sold for $400 and Bert Abbe for $1,200. Signal Flash, at that time a yearling, brought $300. The next fall he was back again after his two-year-old campaign and sold for $7,100. A number of splendid yearlings were disposed of at the New York sale in 316 RACEALONG 1924. At that vendue Bugle Call sold for $2,300, High Noon for $3,500, Bright Dawn for $1,000 and Full Worthy for $4,100. LOST RACE TRACK In the racing world it is not unusual for a man or horse to disappear without notice but so far as the record shows E. King Dodds is the only man who ever told of a race track that faded from the picture. In 1908 when recalling a few of the Canadian events which came under his observation he referred to an odd incident in the career of a Toronto hotel keeper named Riley. In the early seventies of the last century Riley was the proprietor of a hotel in Toronto at the foot of York Street. Then as now, a little horse racing was relished by both old and young. In those days the swell track was known as Boulton's. It was located in the neighborhood of Beverly Street, later a thorough- fare fringed with stately mansions. In the winter time trotting on the ice was a favorite amusement, and scores of matches would be made and settled while the snow was flying. One winter Riley made up his mind to distinguish himself. He waited for the ice to form on Toronto Bay, and as soon as nine inches was reported he commenced preparing to construct a mile track. An engineer was engaged to do the work. Every owner of a horse in the city was congratu- RACEALONG 317 lating himself on having a high old time as soon as the track was ready and Riley saw looming in the distance a big reputation for enterprise, with a fine run of customers at his hotel. A big gang of men were put to work and at the end of two weeks, on a Wednesday at noon, the track was completed and announced perfect. It was bushed every fifty yards, and altogether pronounced the greatest thing ever attempted in that line. At two o'clock a great crowd of people were on the bay taking a look at things and speculating on the grand prospects of sport ahead. In Riley's hotel on the shore the boys were congregated getting up a programme for the races. About this time a strong easterly wind blew up. The sky became overcast and the people at the track made for shore. The storm came on so quickly that in two hours Toronto Bay was clear of ice. Riley's track, with its bushes acting as sails, swept almost intact out into the open lake, and much fun was made over the mishap. Some sent messages from Hamilton and Oakville that Riley's track went sail- ing by their respective places at the rate of ten miles an hour. The strong breeze did more than blow away the track, it blew out of Riley's mind all desire for speculation in that line. In his long career as a hotel-keeper he had met with many slip- pery customers, but nothing in his experience came up to his race track venture. 318 RACEALONG CHANCE Pranks played by chance make the lives of many horses look like a chapter of accidents. In 1856 the dam of Blackwood was purchased at Lexington, Ky., by Adam Steel for $125. In 1860 he gave G. H. Buford a half-interest in the colt that came with her, to develop it. Buford trained Blackwood four months and reduced the three-year-old record to 2:31. Steel then repurchased his interest for $12,500 and sold the colt to Harrison Durkee, of New York, for $30,000. The blind pacer Sleepy Tom, that cut the world's record to 2:121/4 in 1879, became the property of Steve Phillips in exchange for a colt worth about $75, an old watch, a quart of whiskey, and $7.50 in money. Little Brown Jug, 2:11%, the next pacing champion, was purchased as a yearling by O. N. Fry for $50. He sold him as a two-year-old for $75 and took him back on a debt of $60. Moko was offered for sale at Lexington, and as no one made a bid on him he was taken back to Walnut Hall Farm, where he became one of the leading sires. Walnut Hall, his assocaite in the stud, did not get a much better reception. When John Splan purchased his dam, Maggie Yeazer, she was in foal to the gray horse, Conductor. That did not look very good to L. V. Harkness, but when the colt was foaled his color, form, and early speed earned him the name of the farm, where he was destined to remain for life. RACEALONG 319 Bingen, 2:061/4, the sire of Uhlan, 1:58, would in all probability have been added to the list of geld- ing, if George W. Leavitt had not heard of him trotting a quarter in thirty-five seconds as a year- ling. No one in Kentucky would buy a stallion by May King, 2 :20. Leavitt gave $800 for Bingen. He shipped him to New England and sold him the fol- lowing year for $8,000. Later he brought $30,000. The breeder of Pilot Medium sold him for a trifle to get him out of his sight on account of an injury. Walter Clark took him to Michigan, where he got Peter the Great, 2:07l^. George H. Ketchem ordered his foreman to kill Cresceus when he saw him suffering from distemper. The foreman put the colt out of sight until he recovered. In time Cresceus reduced the world's record to 2:021/4, and proved to be one of the best race horses that ever wore har- ness. John H. Shults paid thousands for stallions, one item being $28,000 for Pancoast. Axworthy, the best sire he ever owned cost him $500. Hamburg Belle, his fastest trotter, owed her existence to E. T. Bedford seeing Axworthy brush on the Parkville Farm track. He bred Sally Simmons to him and got Sally Simmons IL She was fast but a knee knocker. John E. Madden purchased her and shod her so she went clear. He changed her name to Hamburg Belle, won a number of races with her, and sold her for $50,000 after she defeated Uhlan in 2:J01l^. In 1891, while at the Vina Ranch of Governor Leland Stanford, in California, Orrin A. Hickok took 320 EACEALONG a fancy to one of the leaders of a four-horse team. The horse was turned over to him to train. He did not do very well for Hickok, but in the hands of Monroe Salisbury and Andy McDowell, he trotted in 2:04%, and defeated Hulda, the fastest trotter Hickok ever raced. The horse was Azote. The plough horse. Captain Lewis, 2:21, was the greatest find on the trotting turf. Every one who had him made money. In March, 1882, Colonel Par- sons of Rochester, N. Y. turned him down at $175. In April, A. H. Tower, of Lyons, N. Y. gave $300 for the gelding and sold him in June to Colonel Parsons and Burt Sheldon for $5,250. He started in ten races that year and won all of them, or in other words made a sweep just as R. T. C, 2:06%, the next plough horse, did in 1911. MISS WOERNER In 1929 when Walter Cox began winning races with the fidgety three-year-old filly Miss Woerner by The Laurel Hall, a glance over the breeding of her dam that appeared on the score cards recalled a few horses that had been before the public for a number of years. Her name was Mary Coburn. She was one of the last trotters that W. J. Andrews drove in 1919 after being on the retired list for four years on account of a sunstroke at Syracuse the day he won with Lee Axworthy. Mary Coburn was retired from the turf with a record of 2:07l^. She was got by Manrico, a horse R A C E A L 0 N G 321 with which Will Durfee won the Kentucky Futurity in 1912 arid sold the following day to L. V. Hark- ness to place in the stud at Walnut Hill Farm. Mary Coburn was foaled in 1914, her dam being Alma Sedley 2:29% by The Director General. The next link in Miss Woerner's pedigree intro- duces Miss Rita. She was one of the pacing team which Orrin Hickok drover to pole in 2:09Vi at Lexington in 1916. Her mate was Josie B. This pair of pacers were owned by the Patchen Wilkes Stock Farm. At that time Mrs. Philip Lydig was Mrs. W. E. D. Stokes and the wife of the owner of that establishment. Miss Rita was named for her and when in Kentucky she frequently drove the team on the farm track to a pole cart. SULKY DUSTERS May and December was seen regularly in the sulky in 1919 at all of the Grand Circuit meetings, many of the best contests in the two-year-old events being between the youthful reinsman Lyman Brusie with the Brook Farm gelding Mr. Dudley and the veteran 'Top" Geers behind Dudette, whose sire Etawah and dam Dudie Archdale were in their day the brightest stars in his racing stable. While at the first five meet- ings, Henry Thomas defeated both of them with Natalie the Great, they finally came through in front on the eastern loop, Mr. Dudley winning at Philadel- phit and Dudette at Hartford after sKe defeated The Great Miss Morris at Boston. 322 RACEALONG In these races the skill of the older reinsman was frequently offset by the dash and zip of the little Yankee. Fearless and with a Hght hand, Brusie sent his mounts away from the wire on high gear and kept them going until they won or run down. At the July meeting at Cleveland, Lyman made the country sit up when he won the half-mile dash for two-year- olds with Mr. Dudley in 1:02%. This was flying and the clip was continued at Kalamazoo the follow- ing week when Echo Direct won in 2:07l^, equalling the four-year-old record for geldings made by Uhlan in 1908. At Syracuse Echo Direct gave this mark another rapf when he won a third heat in 2:051/4 to a sulky with a wrecked wheel. A little thing like that, how- ever, did not disturb Lyman Brusie. The first time I saw him in aj race he was driving the pacer Rhoda Ashbourne over the half-mile track at Windsor, Conn. Some one bumped into him and crushed a wheel. In order to keep going he climbed out on the opposite shaft and almost won the heat. This young man has but five letters in his alphabet. They are h. o. r. s. e. On account of this, he has a limited vocabulary and is minus the ''gift of gab" which made his father conspicuous on the New Eng- land race tracks. He will never miss it, however, as a driver frequently says more in a minute than he can take back in a week. Geers at that time was in his sixty-ninth year. His" first victory in the east was won over Fleetwood Park, New York, in 1877. At this track in 1892 when R A C E A L 0 N G 323 in the employ of C. J. Hamlin, Geers also secured one of the best horses he ever drew a rein over. In a three horse race Geers won two heats with Glenden- nis before Champ Brown showed in front with a little knee sprung gelding. Brown also won the fourth heat after which Glendennis died of the thumps. While Geers was looking at him, C. J. Hamlin made a re- mark about the race and Geers suggested that he buy the little gelding while he buried his pacer. Hamlin followed his advice. The horse was Robert J. He reduced the world's record to 2:01%. In his day Geers raced more phenomenal horses than any man who ever sat in a sulky with the ex- ception of Charles Marvin, who at one time held all of the world's records for trotters. This remarkable reinsman's group ran in the pacing w^orld from Brown Hal, Hal Pointer, and Star Pointer to Direct Hal, Heir at Law, Robert J., Napoleon Direct, and Goldie Todd, while his trotters included St. Frisco, The Harvester, Dudie Archdale, Anvil, The Abbott, Lord Derby, Nightingale, Etawah and Molly Knight. When Geers was racing Star Pointer, everyone expected to see him start the two-minute list. C. J. Hamlin, however, refused to buy him in the spring of 1895. The horse was purchased by Boston parties. They turned him over to Dave McClary, who drove him in 1:591/4 at Readville on August 28, 1897, after he became the property of James Murphy. Other drivers dropped horses into the two-minute list but Geers always fell shy of the mark until Napoleon Direct won at Columbus, August 16, 1916, in 1:59%. 324 RACEALONG In 1918 he also rode two miles below even time at Toledo when he defeated Miss Harris M. with Single G.in the fastest three-heat race on record. Geers never made pets of his horses. His business was to train and race them. After familiarizing him- self with all of their peculiarities, he moulded them to obey orders and race from behind. If a pupil showed a rebellious spirit, it was not long before he learned who was in command. Hal Pointer, of which he was prouder than any horse he ever raced, tried to make a rough house at Cleveland one day, but after Geers whisked him with the whip a few times, the gallant gelding was willing to admit that the man in the sulky had the best of it. Andrews' career on the mile tracks dated from 1890 when he won the Charter Oak Purse with Prince Regent. He was by Mambrino King out of Estabella and possessed every quality that goes with a race horse. He had speed, class, racing manners, and en- durance. His early death, as well as that of his brother Heir at Law, robbed the Mambrino family of two sires which judging by their few foals would have made it a formidable rival of the Hamble- tonians. My old friend Rensselaer Weston was very fond of Andrews and had a high opinion of his abil- ity as a trainer and reinsman. One day when referr- ing to him Rensselaer said that Andrews never lost a match race. I accepted this statement as correct without looking it up, as Mr. Weston was always very correct in matters of this kind. Later, how- RACEALONG 325 ever, I found that he had overlooked the match in which Directum defeated Mascot at Fleetwood Park, New York, November 2, 1891, in 2:07%. From the start all the horses that Andrews raced brought home the coin. He made Mascot a champion and defeated Hal Pointer with him at Buffalo. He prompted William Simpson in 1895 to purchase John R. Gentry for $7,600, when everybody supposed that the beautiful son of Ashland Wilkes had seen his best days. In 1896 Andrews reduced his record to 2:001/4. The horse was then sent back to the auc- tions and brought $19,900, a gain of $12,300 in one year. John E. Madden was the next owner that was bene- fitted by Andrews' skill. His first pupil was Sally Simmons II. He changed her name to Hamburg Belle and turned her over to Andrews. A trip down the Hne in 1908 resulted in a series of victories, one being in the Charter Oak Purse. In 1909 Andrews won with her from Uhlan in 2:01%, 2:013/4, the two fastest contested heats up to that time. Like Budd Doble, Andrews was always a quiet, retiring man on the track and in his home life. He was the opposite of red blooded Alonzo McDonald, who was with him on the training staff of the Village Farm. The latter has still the verve of a boy and a laugh that can be heard at the half-mile pole. Back of it, however, is the caution of the Scott blended with the alertness of a northern New York Yankee to take a chance on anything that looks -good to him. It was this that prompted him to purchase with 326 RACEALONG Howland Russell the filly Sadie Mac, which he named after his daughter, and won the Futurities at Hart- ford and Lexington, and lease Early Dreams, the leading money winner in 1917. The little man inside which twists so many of us towards good or bad fortune gave McDonald a jab and made him buy Miss Harris M. as a two-year-old. She was then a trotter but the following year upon his return from California, she was pacing. General Todd trimmed her that season but after that year it took a champion to catch her. McDonald sold Miss Harris M. to S. A. Fletcher. Lon gave Miss Harris M. a record of two minutes. She was then sent to the auctions and in 1918 Murphy cut her record to 1:5814. Murphy and Cox were opposites. While with the trotters. Murphy was a fashion plate. His bright green tie and smart tweed suit made a stranger think that he was a visitor helping John Benyon out when the horses are being aired during the morning hours, while during the races his red, white, and blue colors with tiny American flags on the collar and front of the cap looked as though the tailor touched them up between heats. On the other hand. Cox whirls out in the morning wearing a shabby pair of trousers, an old coat, flannel shirt, and a hat with a hundred holes in the crown. A half smoked cigar at an angle of forty-five degrees is usually seen in the corner of his mouth while on a dusty day a little soap and water and an applica- tion of the old razor, which he carries to cut the RACEALONG 327 wire hairs on his chin, would improve the portion of his anatomy that the camera men aim at when snap- ping a winner. Within this make up there is a man who has been successful in the racing world. In Lu Princeton and Mable Trask he had the two best trotters in their day, while McGregor the Great and Mignola were race horses of the highest calibre. They were in time followed by Grayworthy, Hazleton, Walter Dear, Volomite, Sir Guy Mac, Miss Woerner, Guy Day and Fireglow rated the best of all until death closed his career at Cleveland. Cox is a New Hampshire product. He drove his first race in knickerbockers at a church picnic. His mount was the gelding May Morning. He was owned by a Manchester man, who told Cox to collect the $15 winnings so that he would not be asked to donate a portion of it to the church. Cox did so and held out five for his services. While preparing May Morning for this event, Cox had a brush one afternoon with a local star. He had his trotter hitched to a Concord wagon and his three brothers were with him. As the town horse flashed by, Walter pushed his brothers under the seat and set May Morning going. Cox won after racing by his home. His mother was on the porch and saw the con- test, as well as the four boys in the wagon. Upon his return the budding reinsman pulled his brothers, who are now known to the world as Governor Channing Cox of Massachusetts, Honorable Louis I. Cox, Judge of the Supreme Court of the same state, and the 328 RACEALONG Honorable Guy Cox, District Attorney, from under the seat and put May Morning in the stable. His mother then interviewed him in the woodshed and added the usual remedy. The opportunity to make a dollar prompted Cox to go with the trotters. After scurrying around the half-mile tracks, he appeared in New York in 1903 and won with Prince of Orange. Since that date his colors have been seen behind many fast performers as well as a few that were sold for the high dollar. He prepared Peter Scott and sold him for $30,000, while he also received large amounts for Lady Wanetka, George Gano, Belvasia, Guy Richard and Adam. Cox is a good mixer. He is an inveterate joker, being when he is in a rollicking mood a composite of Peck's bad boy and Tom Sawyer with a vocabu- lary of the Commodore Vanderbilt variety. To him at such times the world looks good, if no one calls his hand. In this Barton Pardee, who owned Mabel Trask, and Lu Princeton, took a special delight. There was an outbreak at Hartford in 1919 when the Lu Princeton and Mabel Trask special was being talked over. It was suggested that Murphy or Geers be invited to drive the mare. Geers was preferred on account of him having driven so many races against her with St. Frisco. Cox stood and listened but the manner in which he was grinding a cigar between his teeth showed that an explosion was coming. Finally he could not stand the pressure any longer and turning to Mr. Pardee said: "She's your mare RACEALONG 329 but none of those gents will drive her. Why she is one of the family and if something happened so that the man who was put up hit her with the whip, I would have to kill him." When everybody burst out laughing, Cox saw that one had been put over on him so he walked off and ordered Lu Princeton, the laziest horse in the world, hitched up for a jog so that he could have a fight with him. Such is the life and rivalry of the men who train and race horses. But aside from that each of them has a human side which man to man brings them out in the open among the best hearted lot of people in the world. I had an example at Lexington, Ky., in 1918, when one morning I received a dispatch that my soldier boy who gave his life in the cause of free- dom was dangerously ill in the hospital at Camp Johnston near Jacksonville, Fla. When the drivers heard of it before I could get a train for the south, dear old *Top" Geers, came to me and with tears in his eyes said: ''Remember me to Billy and tell him I hope he will get well." At the time Murphy's wife was critically ill at the hotel. He shoved his own worries aside long enough to ask if there was anything he could do, while Cox sailed in like a diamond in the rough with the tender of his roll and more if needed to get that boy well. To only a few are accorded the privileges of seeing this side of the racing world. Its followers are like other folk. They are born, grow up and die, but they are not forgotten. 330 RACEALONG PALATIAL STABLES About half a century ago when the rivalry between New York horse owners for trotting teams and fast road horses was at its crest W. H. Vanderbilt and Frank Work built two of the most palatial stables that were ever erected on this continent. The Vander- bilt stable was located at the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and Fifty-Second Street. It was a two story brick and stone structure. On the first floor there were stalls for about twenty horses with ample room for all kinds of vehicles. After the death of its builder this stable was used for other purposes. It was finally torn down in 1930 and replaced by a modem structure. The Work stable was on West Fifty-Sixth Street adjoining Carnegie Hall. It was smaller than the Vanderbilt building but a much more costly struc- ture. The first floor was an open court with stalls for ten or a dozen horses in the rear. The celebrated pair Edward and Dick Swiveller occupied two of them the first time that I visited it. Later on Frank Work had Wanda, Bosque Bonita, Peter Sterling and Pilot Boy. Of these Edward and Pilot Boy were pensioned, their last days being checked off the calendar at Carl Burr's farm near Comae on Long Island. On one side of the stable there was a covered corridor in which the horses could be walked or turned loose on days they were not driven. The upper floor of this stable had club rooms and many a dinner Frank Work gave to his friends in RACEALONG 331 them before old age and family jars made him sour on the world. Finally he was left alone in a big house with a bull terrier and the servants. David Bonner was one of his few visitors. One day when he was in a clever mood he pre- sented Wanda to Mr. Bonner. He bred her to Ax- worthy and in due time her fillies produced a number of fast trotters. After Frank Work died the stable was let for other purposes. In 1930 it was used as a night club when a fire attracted attention to it. The only other stable that measured up to the standard of the buildings which sheltered the Vanderbilt and Work road horses was erected in 1888 by D. Edgar Grouse in Syracuse, N. Y. In 1887 he sent an architect to New York to examine the stables in that city. Upon his return a stable was planned that cost over half a million when it was completed and equipped. The builder selected the Romanesque style of architecture for the exterior. The interior was finished in mahogany, white birch and rosewood. The carvings of the staircase, the walls and the ceilings were elaborate. The stalls for the horses were of as fine wood and as carefully cut. Later, when in use, mattings and carpets covered the floors, in- cluding the hitching rooms. Ghandeliers hung from the ceilings. Stained glass windows let light into the stable. Tapestries and paintings covered the walls. It was the palace for the horse. 332 RACEALONG D. Edgar Grouse died in 1892. The property was offered for sale the next year in the settlement of his estate. After his death the stable was open for the first time for public inspection. Before that only a few of Mr. Grouse's friends and some who had bribed his employees had been inside the building. For a week the curious were allowed to satisfy their curiosity. Passes were issued by the executors of the estate. Only those with cards were admitted, and yet the attendants could barely handle the crowds. Thousands visited the stable. The crush finally became so great and the handling of the crowds so difficult the doors were closed, and visitors were barred. People during the time they were permitted to enter were carried up stairs on an elevator put in to carry carriages. Horses, some of them worth thousands of dollars, were in the fourteen stalls. At one side of the stallrooms were two brass trimmed, porcelain bowls for drinking troughs. Rub- ber mats covered the floor. Outside there was the exercising court. It was covered with a skylight, and the floor with tanbark. bark. Off the hitching room was an office done in rose- wood with mosaic panels, oil paintings and chande- liers setting it off. Through blue velvet portieres costing $3,000 could be seen the inlaid marble floor of the vestibule. From the office their was a private elevator to the upper floors. RACEALONG 333 The top floor was filled with carriages and sleighs, and each ready to be run onto the elevator and taken to the lower floor for use. The kitchen was on the top floor, over the dining room, a dumb waiter between them. A $750 velvet spread covered the table in the dining room, where a dinner was never served. Over it was a crystal chandelier. The walls and furniture were of mahogany. The down with which the dining room couch was stuffed cost $17 a pound. In the china closet were the finest dishes, each with the monogram on it, *'D. E. C." made at the Haviland pottery in France. The china closet and contents cost $5,000. The closet was of satin wood with white mahogany trim- mings, artistically carved. There were $3,000 portiers at both ends of the parlor, pictures of wild duck in flight on one set and on the other domestic fowls. In this room were costly bronze statues, and a $25,000 pair of vases. The rug on the floor was the skin of a Bengal tiger, and over this was a chandelier like that in the dining room. The walls were of mahogany. From the parlor were doors opening into the barber shop and billiard room. In the barber shop, on a pedestal in the bay window, was a statue of Venus bathing in a shell-shaped fountain. At one end of the room was a $2,000 mahogany cabinet, inlaid with a fine tracery of brass work. Japanese antiques and vases were other decorations. An onyx wash bowl was near the barber chair. 334 RACEALONG There was no duplicate of it in America. In the bilhard room was a cue rack which cost $7,500. It was of oak, and its value was in its carv- ing and that it was made from one piece of wood. In one corner was an ancient German sideboard, made 400 years before in Nuremburgh. The rug in this room was appraised at $3,000. There was also a $2,700 pair of vases here. The office, Mr. Grouse's favorite room, had walls and ceilings, chairs and desk of solid rosewood. Over the desk waa a mosaic panel containing 150,000 pieces of stone. It was four feet high and three feet wide. It represented an Italian soldier starting for war. So it was all through the building the most beau- tiful works of art, of furniture, of everything money could buy and a person could wish for were housed in the stable D. Edgar Grouse built for his horses. Four years after the stable was built and before it had been used by anyone but the owner, his help, and horses, the millionaire died. In his will D. Edgar Grouse left the old time reinsman Jack Feek a com- fortable fortune. Upon receipt of it Jack retired from the turf and began dabbling in Wall Street. It was a new game for him and in a few years all the money was gone. Jack sought relief from his troubles by the suicide route. In 1893 the year after Mr. Grouse's death the stable, horses, carriages, and luxurious furnish- ings were sold at auction. The building went to Gharles M. Warner. Later it was the club house of RACEALONG 335 the Syracuse Athletic Association. Later it was known as the Craftsman's Building and finally passed to a telephone company. The building was still stand- ing in 1930 on South State Street. MURPHY'S GALLERY There is an old saying that if a man has a fad you will find evidence of it in his home and thrice fortunate is he whose hobby is in line with his pro- fession. No better evidence of this fact can be found than what Thomas Murphy gathered around him at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. One night in the winter of 1918 when the wind was making the snow and ice rasp against the glass enclosed porch, I made a round of the gallery of champions which decorated the walls of the living room. As I moved from one paint- ing to another, Mui-phy's remarkable career in the sulky passed by like pictures on a screen. In a corner near the door to the hall Hetty G., rather thin and angular but high headed as a hawk looking for some one to have a scrap with, peered from her frame at Susie N. She brought Murphy on the mile tracks in 1904 and was followed in 1905 by the Moko filly. The name of the latter also recalled how Edward Thompson happened to purchase her. One evening during the winter of 1905, he was going from New York to Brooklyn on the ferry. As the boat pounded its way through the ice in the slip he got a glimpse of Tommy Murphy among the 336 RACEALONG passengers. When he joined him he saw that there was something wrong and in his blunt, good natured way, the big oysterman asked for an ex- planation. After considerable questioning he learned that James Butler, the owner of Hetty G., was so well pleased with the manner in which Murphy had raced his pacer that he told him if he could find a trotter he would buy it and place it in his stable. Murphy was then returning from an interview with Butler during which he had told him of a filly that could in his opinion win nearly all of the futurities. Mr. Butler, however, decided not to buy her as he had just purchased The Phantom by Boreal and shipped him to California to Monroe Salisbury to prepare him for his engagements. Before leaving Murphy told him that the Moko filly could distance The Phantom and when he re- peated it to Edward Thompson, the latter said: '*Do you really think she can?", and when Murphy as- sured him that he was positive of it, he drew a check book from his pocket, wrote his name on the bottom of a blank check and handed it to Murphy with the remark, ''Well, Tommy, go and buy her for me.'' Murphy never got off the boat. He returned to New York and he was not seen again on Long Island until Edward Thompson owned Susie N. The following summer the Moko filly made good. In her first race at Buffalo and in the first heat she ever won she distanced The Phantom. She also won her engagement at Poughkeepsie while at Cincinnati she landed the Review Purse and at Columbus the RACEALONG 337 Stock Farm Purse, making her record of 2:09l^. At Lexington, Susie N. finished second to Miss Adbell in the Kentucky Futurity and won the Lex- ington Stake in which she again distanced The Phantom. After this trip Murphy went on and completed Edward Thompson's royal flush of winners. In 1906 he paraded Rudy Kipp and won nine out of ten races with him, giving him a record of 2:041/4 in a dash race at Columbus. For some reason a picture of this Tennessee pacer does not appear in the gallery but the balance of them are there. The others in the group are Native Belle, which startled the world when she cut the two-year-old record to 2 :07% in a race in 1907, the ''old plough horse" R. T. C. in his light chestnut almost a buckskin coat, and Frank Bogash Jr., the first gelding to race across the two-minute line. Of the other paintings the latest arrival is the roan colt Trampfast as he looked when he defeated Dorothy Worthy, dam of Chestnut Peter, in the two-year-old division of the Kentucky Futurity in 1907, Peter Volo, the champion two, three and four- year-old whose record of 2:02 was made in a race, the black coated Anna Bradford that came within three-quarters of a second of entering the two- minute list in her three-year-old form, and Lassie McGregor, a winner of the M. & M. at Detroit and which broke down while being warmed up for the Charter Oak Purse at Hartford in 19-14. The 1915 campaign brought two champions to 338 RACEALONG the gallery. One was Peter Scott, the largest money winning trotter up to that time. The other was Directum I., the world's record pacer in the open. At that time it looked as if there were no more worlds left for Murphy to conquer. Still in 1916 he brought out The Real Lady and reduced the two and three-year-old records of Peter Volo. She has a place of honor over the piano on which Murphy was drumming out a snatch from an opera while I was looking at the paintings. These are, however, only a few of the performers that decorate the walls of Murphy's home. At every turn some celebrity which he has driven peeped out from a frame, many of them being snapshots in action. On the porch near a door George Gano, winner of the Chamber of Commerce, is looking over his driver's shoulder while Baroness Virginia, his first Kentucky Futurity winner, was assigned a place near Innerguard, Don Derby, Leland Onward, Copa de Oro, the sire of Oro Fino, Pan Michael, one of Dr. McCoy's products, the old standby Brace Girdle, and Locanda slipping through at the pole at Lexington when he defeated Nathan Straus in 2:02. RACEALONG 339 JOBBERS In the early days of light harness racing when the number of high class performers were limited it was an ordinary matter for the owners and drivers to form a combination and back what they considered the best horse to win. Sometimes these selections landed the event while occasionally their choice proved a flivver and they were compelled to hedge in order to get their money off. As the number of starters increased the interests became so diversified that except on rare occasions not even the cleverest could select a winner with any degree of certainity unless the horse stood out several seconds over his field in the matter of speed. This brought about situations in which the play was made on one that should have been second choice and steps taken to stop the favorite. This change introduced the jobber who would stoop to anything to make a dollar if he thought there was a chance to get away with it. The Temple Bar race at Cleveland was a sample of that kind while the $10,000 race at Boston in which Nelson and Alcryon started was a sure thing play for the loser. Temple Bar was owned by Dr. Sayles of Morgantown, Ky. He was a dentist with a hill town disposition and considered kilHng the proper treatment for anyone who interfered with him or his possessions. Aside from that he was a poHte, considerate Kentucky gentleman that flashed into the front row of publicity on account of the 340 RACEALONG « speed and splendid racing qualities of his horse. The year that Temple Bar reached the crest of his career Dr. Sayles and his sister started out early in the season and made a trip through the middle west before tapping the Grand Circuit. While in Minnesota he had some differences with Tom Settle who was driving his horse and took Temple Bar away from him. • Being short of a driver someone recommended a young man named George W. Spear. He had been driving horses for Governor Merriam of Minnesota and a number of people in St. Paul and MinneapoHs. It proved a good choice so far as skill in the sulky was concerned but in the end it dropped the doctor and his rugged horse into a pit of sack cloth and ashes. On the other hand the prominence which Spear acquired while in the sulky behind Temple Bar started him on the up grade. For a number of years he ranked with the leaders as a skillful reinsman, especially with horses which were irritable and diffi- cult to control, but when the crash came he in turn dropped into the pit so far as racing was concerned. No trainer of note ever seemed to have a brighter future or a stronger grip on men who were willing to wager thousands on races and none ever passed off the turf under a blacker cloud. Temple Bar arrived at Detroit with a nomination in a $10,000 event. It was the first big fixture of the year and the rivalry to win it had always been very keen from the day that "Tink" Hills landed the first RACEALONG 341 one with Hendryx. No one paid much attention to the stoutly made black horse on account of the poise of the Montana contingent. It had come with a ton of money to place on Prodigal and they were anxious to let everybody know it. The big brother to Patron did not require very much introduction to the eastern race goers and where any was wanted Andy McDowell did not hesitate to furnish it. The morning of the race it looked to be all over but the announcement, still the association did not feel dis- posed to pay off until the regulation contest of three or more heats was placed on record. The first matter to be settled before the race started was the selection of a driver for a big raw boned bay gelding named Prince M. which a railroad conductor shipped in from Indiana. He wanted Budd Doble to take the mount but that reinsman wanted more money or a greater percentage of the winnings than he was willing to pay. This spht made a difference in the result although no one gave it a moment's thought at the time. When the race was called the railroad conductor stopped the negotiations and took the mount him- self. He also led the field of eleven horses to the wire in the first heat. The judges promptly set him back to third place for swerving in the stretch, something that would not have happened with an experienced man in the sulky. The heat was awarded to Prodigal but there was no demonstration in the Montana xiamp. An un- known gelding from the tall timber had tamed their 342 RACEALONG favorite and anyone with half an eye could see that several of the other starters were not tearing their harness off to get in the front row that trip. In the second heat Spear as soon as he could get through the field laid his horse alongside of Prodigal and raced him into the ground. From that time it was plain sailing for the Egbert horse. He won as he pleased. The next morning George W. Spear woke up to find himself listed among the leading reins- men and a bright future was mapped out for him by those who backed the field against Prodigal. The Cleveland meeting followed Detroit. When the racing caravan arrived at the old Glenville track they found that Temple Bar was to start against Aline, Leicester, Junemont and five others. It did not look Hke much of a field although Leicester had never lost a race and Junemont was always considered a stout battler when the heats were split. Later it was learned that the race was also the last one in which Spear would drive Temple Bar on account of Monroe Salisbury having made arrangements to add him to his stable at the close of the Cleveland meeting. The race was programmed for the second day of the meeting. When the betting started on the event it was apparent that someone had an unlimited order in the pool box on Leicester. His tickets were knocked down in a flash as each pool was started and while a few of the regulars played some money on Temple Bar the bulk of it was scattered all over the ring. James Goldsmith, who had less than a month to RACEALONG 343 live, drove Leicester. Elliott, a market gardener from Philadelphia, was up behind his mare Aline. Carey drove Junemont, who caused considerable trouble for a couple of heats. Jackson I. Case had Clara Wilkes and Geers the Mambrino King mare Henrietta. • Spear did not make a Inove for the first heat. Goldsmith winning it easily from Kenwood with Henrietta third. On the second trip Leicester and Temple Bar were lapped at the three-quarter pole, the balance of the field being strung out behind them. As they passed the distance Spear stopped driving and Goldsmith won by two lengths. Colonel William Edwards, who was acting as starter and presiding judge, did not like the drive and spoke about it at the time. Prior to the third heat he requested H. M. Hanna, who was one of the judges, to keep his glass on Temple Bar for the mile. The two stallions trotted away from the wire like a team. They were lapped to the head of the stretch where Temple Bar made a break. Spear did not make much of an effort to catch him and come on. Leicester also faltered near the distance. When Gold- smith picked him up to stall off Alfne he made a break and the mare won. Notwithstanding his tired break Leicester still remained favorite. He sold at two to one over the field prior to the fourth heat and the money con- tinued to pour in on him as long as anyone would take the field end. 344 RACEALONG In the interval the judges had a conference. When it was over a messenger was sent for Gus Wilson, an old time driver who was training a stable at Cleveland. When he came to the stand Colonel Edwards requested him to take the mount behind Temple Bar and not to say anything about it until the horse appeared on the track. Wilson went away to get his colors, gloves and whip. When he returned he sat down under the judges' stand near the scales, remaining there until after the horses had scored once for the fourth heat of the race. When they were recalled Colonel Edwards stopped Temple Bar and requested his driver to come to the stand. When he appeared he was advised that Mr. Wilson would drive Temple Bar during the balance of the race. As soon as the horse stopped Dr. Sayles rushed on to the track. When he heard the announcement he began shouting at the judges telling them what he would do if they took his horse or injured Temple Bar. As soon as he was silenced Colonel Edwards told him that Temple Bar would be driven to win if he could and for the balance of his threats they would be taken care of after the race. From the time that the word was given in the fourth heat Leicester was dead to the world while the betting instantly flopped to two to one on Temple Bar and even greater if anyone would take the short end. Junemont was the contending horse in the fourth and fifth heats, both of which were won by Temple Bar. RACEALONG 345 After this heat Wilson came to the judges' stand and asked if he could remain there until the horses came out for the fifth heat. He was given a chair in the stand with the judges but even then he could not get away from the wire pullers who were still doing their utmost to have Leicester win. While the judges were busy John Turner came up the stairs and beckoned for Wilson to come over to where he was standing. Wilson never let on that he saw him. Finally Turner walked over and as he sat down beside him said in his quick jerky way, "Will the black horse win?'' "Yes," said Wilson, "unless he drops dead." Turner left the stand. As he went down the stairs Colonel Edwards turned to Wilson and said, "Gus, what did he want?" "Stop me if he could," said Wilson, ''but he never had a chance." Temple Bar won the fifth and deciding heat on a jog. After the race was finished it was found that he had thrown a front shoe in the heat, the clinches on the nails having been filed off before he was brought out, while the nut on one of the sulky wheels was also set so tight that the wheel locked and was dragged for a portion of the heat. As soon as the winner of the race was announced Colonel Edwards tapped the bell and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the manner in which Temple Bar was driven by George W. Spear was an insult to everyone who came to the track to sjee an honest race. It is the order of the judges that Temple Bar, 346 RACEALONG his owner and driver be expelled." For a time Dr. Sayles was stunned by the an- nouncement. As soon as he recovered he began vow- ing vengeance against the Cleveland race track and everybody connected with it. He plunged into the courts with a $50,000 damage suit. At the time the Cuyahoga County courts were three or four years behind. When the case was finally reached it had to be continued on account of a defect in the com- plaint. Before it came up again Sayles died. The horse also died expelled. Spear succeeded in getting reinstated by turning state's evidence and pleading that he was driving to orders. The name of the man who made the plunge on Leicester was never divulged. He paid for his tickets and took his loss without a murmer. If James Goldsmith had lived a few months longer another chapter would have been added. He was one of the master minds in the transaction. George W. Spear had another day in court before he faded from the turf. The stage was set for the act in 1904 but the last scene was not completed until the spring of 1907. In the interval between the Temple Bar race and his final appearance Spear trained a formidable stable of race horses for N. W. Hubinger of New Haven, Conn., and one for Elmer E. Smathers of New York. Both of them were plungers in the largest sense of the word so far as gambling on trotting and pacing horses were concerned. Spear landed many a long shot for both of them RACEALONG 347 with doubtful or very uncertain horses. His most unexpected coupe for Hubinger was scored at Detroit when he won the $10,000 purse with Royal Baron. The fast but high strung mare Grace Hastings was for several seasons the star of the New Haven stable and when she was on her good behavior nothing short of a champion could show her the way to the wire. Hubinger and Spear parted in 1899. The following year he got in touch with Elmer E. Smathers, who after purchasing a horse through him to brush on the Harlem Speedway in New York gradually built up a racing stable which was one of the best on the mile tracks. As soon as Smathers struck his stride in light harness racing he took up the amateur as well as the professional end of it. Being an expert reins- man with the proper temperament for driving races he rapidly forged to the front and was soon challeng- ing men who were for several seasons recognized as the leaders in the fun racing brigade. In 1902 the Memphis Trotting Association at Memphis, Tenn., offered a $5,000 gold cup for a free-for-all trot to wagon, amateurs to drive, Elmer Smathers purchased Lord Derby and won the first race for it from The Monk driven by C. K. G. Billings. Under the conditions the cup had to be won twice to become the property of a club. Lord Derby represented the New York Driving Club and gave it one leg. In 1903 Lou Dillon was; sold at auction at Cleve- 348 RACEALONG land. She had trotted a half within a fraction of a minute and while she was known to be a bundle of nerves several of the leaders wanted her. C. K. G. Billings lasted the longest and bought her. The airy- going daughter of Sidney Dillon began making new wagon records as soon as the racing season opened. Doc Tanner^ tried his hand on her for a few weeks after the sale. He could not make any headway with her and sent for Millard Sanders, her first and only trainer, and requested him to take charge of her. Sanders soon had her flying again and at Readville in August drove her to a record of two minutes. After the performance he started to prepare her for the Gold Cup race at Memphis. Smathers soon saw that Lord Derby could not catch the fleet-footed filly from California. After looking the field over he pur- chased Major Delmar with which Alta McDonald had been winning regularly in fast time and had him prepared for the event. It did not prove much of a contest as Lou Dillon won each of the two heats by half a dozen lengths in 2:04%. Sanders and Lou Dillon also continued their record breaking by trot- ting the Memphis track behind a pacemaker in 1:581/2. After the race Alta McDonald was instructed to take Major Delmar back to Albany, N. Y., and pre- pare him for the third race in 1904. Everyone knew that Lou Dillon was a trotting marvel and while Major Delmar had shown two-minute speed he lacked the flash which made the Sidney Dillon mare a favorite. R A C E A L 0 N G 349 The third and last race for the Memphis Gold Cup was trotted on October 18, 1904. Major Delmar, the entry of the Smathers stable, was carried along with the other horses in the McDonald stable and raced or started in specials when he could find a place for him. He was a stout gelding with a bad temper but he would race whenever he was turned loose in any kind of company. Lou Dillon was sent to Memphis to be prepared for the contest. Tanner and Sanders trained her, giving her at times faster work than any trotter had up to that time shown in a race. At that time Tanner had not as much experience with extremely fast horses as came his way later while Millard Sanders was known as a speed maker rather than a man who could prepare a horse for an important race. Twelve days prior to the race Lou Dillon was worked below 2:02, a rate of speed that would have won anywhere at that time. Three days before the race she was worked two miles in 2 :06 to wagon out- side of a runner driven by Tanner. McDonald at the time had Major Delmar at Lexington. He worked him as much as he deemed necessary, his aim being to have the gelding ready for the race of his life at Memphis. The race proved a disappointment. In the first heat Major Delmar and Lou Dillon raced to the half in 1 :01%. At that point the mare faltered while the Major rushed on to the three-quarters in 1:311/4. From that point Smathers took him back and won in 2:07 while Lou Dillon finished in 2:18. When Lou 350 RACE A LONG Dillon was led out for the second heat she had the thumps. A veterinary said she should be drawn. Mr. Billings, like a true sportsman, decided to go over the course so that Major Delmar would have a clear title to the cup. The latter trotted the mile in 2:18i/^ and was declared the winner. The race was soon forgotten like many other turf disappointments. Smathers sold his trotters that fall and his runners the following summer. When he retired from the turf he did not require the services of George W. Spear but paid him his salary to October, 1905. Three months later Spear went west. He stopped at Chicago and called on Murray Howe. The latter had been Secretary of the Memphis Trotting Asso- ciation but was then in the employ of a gas company. Spear and Howe went to the Chicago Club for luncheon. After making their selections from the bill of fare Spear told Howe a story about the gold cup race of 1904 which resulted in a series of cases in the turf and state courts. As Spear ate the best that the Chicago Club's chef had to offer he told Howe that in 1904 during the race meeting at Lexington, Ky., Elmer E. Smathers instructed him to confer with Ed Sanders and see if something could be done to Lou Dillon to keep her from winning the race at Memphis. Ed Sanders was a brother of Millard Sanders, the trainer of the mare. Ed told Spear that he would deliver the goods for $10,000. Spear reported that his employer considered the figure too high and that he would not give over KACEALONG 351 $5,000. Finally after several interviews Spear said that Smathers told him to drop it as Major Delmar could defeat Lou Dillon. Spear made affidavit to his statement and moved on to California. Howe proceeded to start suit in the name of the Memphis Trotting Association and re- plevined the cup. Elmer E. Smathers was in Chicago when the suit was started and on his return to New York gave bond and took possession of the trophy. Millard and Ed Sanders were in California when the gold cup suit was started. Millard was located at Pleasanton with a bunch of colts by Sidney Dillon which he was training for Sterling R. Holt of In- dianapolis. Ed helped him when he felt like working. On the afternoon of April 17 the two brothers took the train to San Francisco and met George W. Spear at the Palace Hotel. Arrangements had been made for Ed to prepare and sign an affidavit that would confirm what Spear said at Chicago in regard to stopping Lou Dillon in the gold cup race at Memphis. After dinner Millard and Spear left Ed in his room with plenty of writing material. They went to a boxing match. Ed remained to prepare his state- ment which was to be sworn to and delivered the next day to Murray Howe, who was also in San Fran- cisco to receive it. As Ed had not been doing much writing for some time the preparation of the article proved an up hill task. Several were written and de- stroyed before he managed to produce one that was satisfactory. As his companions had not returned he rolled over 352 R A C E A L 0 N G on the bed without removing his clothes to wait for them. In a few minutes he was asleep. The balance of his story was told me a few days later in the front room of his home in St. Louis. I called early in the morning and was told that Ed was out getting his breakfast. He returned with a bottle of whiskey and a dozen eggs in a paper bag. That was his morning meal. His hands and face were covered with scabs and for over an hour he talked of the gold cup race and the San Francisco earthquake, the only interruption being when he broke an egg in a glass, poured in some whiskey, and drank it. *'When I rolled over on the bed in the Palace Hotel," said Ed Sanders, 'T left the statement on the table. I fell asleep and was dead to the world until the bed seemed to be tossed half way across the room while plaster was falling off the ceiling and walls and the air so full of lime dust that I could scarcely breathe or see. Jumping up I rushed to the window to open it. As I approached it the glass was shattered from the casing and came towards me. If I had not unconsciously put up my hands to protect my face the fragments would have in all probability blinded me. Instead of that the splintering glass cut my hands and a few hit my head, making wounds wherever they touched. The fresh air rushing into the room also gave me a chance to get my breath. "As soon as I got the lime dust out of my eyes I looked out of the window. Buildings were falling down on the other side of the street. No one was in R A C E A L 0 N G 353 sight but a grinding noise which came from some- where was almost deafening. *'By that time my face and hands were covered with blood. Rushing to the bathroom for some water I found that there was none. Then there was another shake. Grabbing a towel I fled from the room. As I ran down the corridor I saw that the walls were cracked and that some of the pillars supporting it had dropped into the court. Coming to a stairway I dashed down, hanging on to the rail as almost all of the steps were broken and a few had disappeared. ''My room was on the third floor. It did not take me long to get down to the court into which stones were falling and dash out of the carriage entrance into the middle of Market Street. "When I stopped I looked at my watch. It was between five and six. Day was breaking but it was not very light as there was a dusty haze hanging over everything. "I was dazed and started up Market Street. When near the Chronicle Building I saw that the water was still running in the Lotta Fountain. Going over to it I took a drink and washed the blood off my hands and face. ''As I was drying my face with the towel I carried from the hotel a pohceman walked down the middle of the street. He yelled at me to get off the sidewalk. I ran towards him. When I stopped and turned I saw the wall of the building fall where I had been stand- ing. 'Close call/ said the officer as he looked at me. << and Prince La- valard, 2:11%. Also after John W. Conley selected Kentucky Prince for me I bred him to Young Daisy and secured another filly which was named Mar- guerite. This mare was a fast trotter but was not raced. She was foaled in 1876. "In 1889 after John W. Conley, W. P. Ijams, and Fred Moran paid $105,000 for Axtell, I sent Mar- guerite to Terre Haute, Ind. and bred her to that remarkable colt trotter." Marguerite remained at Terre Haute until she produced Marguerite A., 2:12i/2J Axtellion, 2:15l^, and Axworthy, 2:151/4. After Mr. Darling's death his trotters were sold at a New York sale. When Axworthy was led into the ring no one would make a bid on him, possibly on account of him having been injured after he made his record as a two-year-old. When John H. Shults noticed it he said, "I will not stand around and see any of Mr. Darling's horses led out of the ring with- out a bid." He nodded for $500 and Axworthy was knocked down to him. This proved his most fortunate purchase although he made hundreds before that date and after. At Parkville and Shultshurst Farms, Axworthy laid the foundation of a family which still dominates the turf. Of his greatest sons, Mr. Shults bred Guy Axworthy and General Watts. Dillon Axworthy, Morgan Axworthy and his other leaders were foaled 400 RACEALONG in Kentucky, where Axworthy was sent by William Simpson a few years after he purchased him. Bettie Wilson In 1921, when I was in the south tracing the pedi- gree of Peter the Great, I met Charles P. Warfield. He hved on a farm which his father purchased on the Russellville Pike, about five miles from Clarks- ville, Tennessee. A few years after the close of the Mexican War the father of Charles P. Warfield was a merchant in Baltimore. Close application to business shattered his health. On the advice of a physician he disposed of his business in the Maryland city and started south on the back of a saddle horse to find a place where he could live and labor out-of-doors. Following the saddle paths, over which the people of that day travelled, this member of the Warfield family after visiting E. Warfield, a cousin at Lexing- ton,! Ky., and who later became known to the turf world as the breeder of the great race horse Lexing- ton, moved on to the banks of the Cumberland River and finally selected thq farm on which I met his son. All of the Warfields were fond of horses and while this branch of the family did not race or breed any of that kind they took an active interest in the prod- uct of their neighbors and through it were familiar with the best horses in that section of Tennessee. Charles N. Merriweather was a neighbor of the Warfields. He had a large plantation further along RACEALONG 401 the Russellville Pike and nearer the Kentucky Hne. Merriweather also had a large stud of race horses, some of them being imported from England. Among the latter he had a stallion named Ambassador, the sire of several good race horses. One of these was a gray horse named Cumberland, whose dam was the gray mare Fraxinella, Jr., by imported Autocrat. He was foaled in 1854 and was raced before he was retired to the stud. Cumberland w^as in service in the vicinity of Clarksville from 1857 to 1860. In one of these years Thomas Wilson bred a mare to him and got a gray filly which was named Bettie Wilson. When the war clouds settled over Tennessee and adjoining states in 1861, Charles N. Merriweather sold or gave a number of his thoroughbred horses to officers in the army, Cumberland going to General Albert Sidney Johnson. Charles P. Warfield, who told me about the Merri- weather horses also added that when General John- son was shot on the second day of the Battle of Shiloh he was mounted on Cumberland. The horse was also killed. Those who are familiar with the details of that important engagement will recall that on the first day of the struggle Johnson^s force almost drove the Northern Army under General Grant from the field. Early the following morning Grant was fortunate in getting reinforcements and with the fresh troops turned what looked like a defeat into a victory. Before the fighting started on the second day 402 RACEALONG Johnson rode back and forth in front of his troops assuring the soldiers that they would win. His staff remonstrated with him for unnecessarily exposing his person to the enemy but he remained in the thick of the fight and received the wound which resulted in his death. Thomas Wilson, the breeder of Bettie Wilson, died very suddenly and as his widow could not use a race horse she sold the mare to Nicholas Barker. He lived on the Russellville Pike, his house being almost opposite the blacksmith shop of Joe Thomas. This blacksmith was busy at his forge one day in the early months of 1862 when a bunch of cavalry men rode up and ordered him to rough shoe their horses so that they could travel over icy roads. One of the soldiers had a mare that was heavy in foal. He was leading her. Before leaving, this man whose name was Wells, traded her to the blacksmith for a big gelding that was in the field back of his shop. This mare was Lady Bess, the first foal got by Lex- ington. She was bred by T. J. Wells of Alexandria, La. A few weeks after the cavalry men rode away Lady Bess dropped a black colt which Thomas raised and finally sold as a three-year-old to Samuel John- son of Clarksville. Lady Bess was retained by him for a saddle mare. When he passed on his son kept her for that purpose until she was retired by age. The colt which Samuel Johnson purchased was named Creole and broken to saddle. The following spring he stopped at Nicholas Barker's place and RACEALONG 403 while there bred Creole to Bettie Wilson, whose pedigree can never be established as all of the people who knew her history died before anyone made any inquiries in regard to it. In 1867 Bettie Taylor produced her only foal. It was a black filly and named Dixie. She was also the only foal that Creole sired as that spring he was lost in a stable that was destroyed by fire. Everybody knows the balance of the pedigree. Nicholas Barker made his daughter, who married Dr. Greenfield, a present of Dixie. She bred her to Madison's Octoroon, Jr. The foal from that mating was known as Lady Duncan. Later on after S. A. Browne purchased her and took her to Michigan her name was changed to Shadow. Shadow was bred to Grand Sentinel and produced Santos, the dam of Peter the Great. Shanghai Mary There is but one link in the chain of evidence that keeps Shanghai Mary from being dropped out of the list of unknowns. It does not look now as though it would ever be welded unless someone stumbles on a letter from or a diary kept by a wandering boy who traded her to two sheep buyers near Canton, Ohio, in 1850. Shanghai Mary made her first step into the pages of horse history in 1869 when John H. Wallace called the attention of Charles Backman to ,a doubt in the pedigree of Green Mountain Maid. When this mare was purchased for $450, Mr. Backman was handed 404 RACEALONG a slip of paper on which it was set forth that she was by Harry Clay and out of Shanghai Mary by Lexington, the celebrated running horse. Mr. Wallace stated that if Shanghai Mary was by Lexington it would be a very easy matter to estab- lish that fact and in order to look it up Charles Backman sent his secretary, Mr. Shipman, to western New York and Ohio. In due time Mr. Shipman returned with a report which showed that Shanghai Mary was foaled in 1847 which made her older than Lexington. Mr. Shipman also learned that Wilcox Brothers of Liv- onia Center, N. Y., while buying sheep from the fai-mers in eastern Ohio, met a young man on the road near Canton, Ohio, one morning in the fall of 1850. He was riding a three-year-old chestnut filly with four white feet and a strip in her face. She was foot sore and having lost her tail presented a very indifferent appearance. The boy said he had ridden her about five hundred miles and wanted to exchange her for a blind mare that Wilcox Brothers had taken in trade for some sheep. The trade was made. The boy rode away and was never heard of again. Wilcox Brothers brought the white faced mare to New York state. After being broken to harness she showed speed and was started in a number of races in western New York, none of which were ever re- ported as the Angelica mare. The Angelica mare finally became known as Shanghai Mary. Under that name she passed to RACEALONG 405 Samuel Conklin of Middletown, N. Y. He bred her to Harry Clay in 1861 and got the filly afterwards known as Green Mountain Maid. She was small, as wild as a hawk, and was never broken to harness. Even age did not tame her. In 1887 when Green Mountain Maid had her last foal at foot, Mr. Backman opened her stall door one morning to let me get a glimpse of the dam of Elec- tioneer. Even at that time of life she resented a stranger coming into the stall. Aside from that this little mare was a genuine asset as Charles Backman received over $90,000 for her foals. Green Mountain Maid died on June 6, 1888. She was buried at Stony Ford Farm. Her grave was marked with a monument with the following in- scription : — In remembrance of GREEN MOUNTAIN MAID Great mother of trotters 1862-1888 at Stoney Ford Birthplace of her children Dam of Electioneer Prospero, 2 :20 Elaine, 2 :20 Dame Trot, 2:22 Elina, 2:28 Elista, 2:203^ Mansfield, 2:26 Storm, 2 :263^ Antonio, 2 :28-% Miranda Paul Lancelot foaled 1887, Remembered by their worth and honored by her dust. 406 RACEALONG When Mr. Shipman returned to Stony Ford from western New York he brought along a picture of Shanghai Mary. It was given to him by one of her former owners. This colored print was placed in a frame and hung in the smoking room. Aside from the odd markings it did not attract very much atten- tion until it was examined one day by H. M. Hanna and William B. Fasig. Both of them were familiar with the horses of southern Ohio and both of them without a moment's hesitation declared that the mare belonged to the Cadmus family. John H. Wallace had also called attention to the resemblance between Shanghai Mary and Pocahon- tas and said that if the breeding of Shanghai Mary was ever established it would be found that they came from the same tribe of horses and probably from the same horse, Iron's Cadmus. This sugges- tion never took root until the summer of 1894 when Herschel I. Fisher, the editor of the "Western News'* of Lebanon, Ohio, saw a reference to it. In an article which he later on sent to the Horse Review, Mr. Fisher said: — *'I called the attention of the veteran horsemen of Warren County, to the fact that Electioneer was descended from a sorrel mare, with white feet and face, that was three-years-old in 1850 and that she might have been a Cadmus. They were asked to communicate with me in case they had any knowl- edge of such a filly having b^en disposed of at or near Canton, 0., in 1850 by a young man or a boy. "Not a person was found who had any knowledge RACEALONG 407 of the horse trade on the highway near Canton, but it was not long before several old gentlemen called attention to the disappearance of Thaddeus Coffeen from Red Lion with his father's sorrel filly, marked with white face and legs, in the summer or fall of 1850. The incident would probably not have been recalled had not his father. Goldsmith Coffeen, been the most prominent horseman in the county at that time and the filly a well-known member of his stable. 'Trom three men, who were living in the imme- diate vicinity of the Coffeen farm at that time, and were intimately acquainted with the younger mem- bers of the family, I learned that when Thaddeus arrived at an age when he began to want to do for himself, he asked his father to give him a part of the money he had won for him on the turf as a rider. A controversy arose between them that led to an estrangement which lasted as long as they both lived, or at least prevented Thaddeus from ever becoming a member of the family circle again. Thaddeus Coffeen disappeared and it was common report that he had taken the filly with him in lieu of pay for his services as a jockey. It does not now appear whether he had any proprietorship in her, but no one blamed him for taking her, unless it was the old gentleman himself. Three other persons, all members of the Coffeen household then, or about that time, remembered the incident, wholly or in part, and the Rev. Samuel Gallagher, who was a nephew of Goldsmith Coffeen, and was raised by Goldsmith Coffeen, Sr., on an adjoining farm, re- 408 RACEALONG membered the filly and her breeding. "It may be well to say that I was led to consult Mr. Gallagher by the repeated assurances of the elderly men of the neighborhood that he knew more abouti the Coffeen horses than any other man now living, as he was not only a nephew, but the trusted lieutenant of Mr. Coffeen, and handled his horses for him in the early fifties. He was represented as being an enthusiast and a successful rider and trainer. ''Mr. Gallagher, replying to an inquiry as to whether he recalled the filly, said he remembered her well; that she was by Irons' Cadmus, sire of Pocahontas, and out of a mare by Jerry. I was un- able to fully identify Jerry. But, judging from the general character of Coffeen's stud, I expect to find that he was a thoroughbred, or at least a highly- bred running horse. The disappearance of a young man in south- western Ohio, riding a sorrel mare with four white legs and a blaze in her face, leaving home after an estrangement serious enough to prevent his ever re- turning, the appearance of a young man of about the same age in eastern Ohio, two hundred and fifty or three hundred miles away, the same fall riding a mare of the same age and with the same peculiar coloring, and the fact that he did not seem disposed to talk about himself or the animal, make a chain of circumstantial evidence that, in the absence of a single fact pointing in any other direction, would convince most persons that the two fillies were one RACEALONG 409 and the same. But when it is shown that the southern Ohio filly had lost her tail, as is stated by the Rev. Mr. Gallagher, and that the filly the boy rode in eastern Ohio looked like her tail had been eaten off by calves, the presumption becomes very strong in favor of the theory that the foot-sore animal the Wilcox brothers traded for and took to New York State was the Cadmus filly Thaddeus Cof- feen rode away the same summer. "Irons' Cadums was by Beach's Cadmus, a son of American Eclipse. His dam was a fast pacing mare, that was purchased by Mr. Coffeen from a stranger from Kentucky. He was a rich sorrel, with white legs all around and a faint star in his face. His dam was sorrel with four white legs and a white strip down her face. She generally went at the pace, mov- ing in a quick, nervous 'way, and was supposed to have a good deal of speed. He bred her to Beach's Cadmus and got Irons' Cadmus, which was foaled the joint property of Mr. Coffeen and John Irons, of Lebanon. They were well pleased with the colt, kept him ten years, and only parted with him to close a partnership. He went all gaits and gave evidence of having plenty of natural speed but he was never given a chance to develop it. He is not now remem- bered as a fast horse, his chief claim for the patron- age of breeders being his well-nigh faultless physique, very lofty carriage, frictionless action and uniformly big, rangy, quick selling foals. He was regarded as a phenomenal sire of toppy, long-strid- ing, level-headed carriage horses, rather than a 410 RACEALONG speed-getter for a long time, and was neglected by the trotting horsemen for the then popular Clays, until the phenomenal performances of some of his get forced him to the front. ''One day in the same year (1846) that he got the sorrel filly which we are trying to show to have been Shanghai Mary, after having served seven mares since sun up, Iron's Cadmus covered the eighth for old man Dines, who had come over from Butler county, hoping to get a colt that would be a runner. From that cover came, Pocahontas, the fleetest- footed pacer, all things considered, that has ever appeared in this, and, so far as is known, any country. Her well authenticated 2:08 to wagon over the Queen City course, at Cincinnati, away back in 1854, without boots, weights, ball-bearings, pneuma- tic tires, or even scientific conditioning or driving, was a performance that no horse, mare or gelding has eclipsed to this day. She had to retire from the track because there was no longer anything to go against." The above is all that is known of Shanghai Mary and the white faced filly that Thaddeus Coffeen rode away from his home at Red Lion in 1850. Were there two three-year-olds of that description in Ohio that summer or was there only the one which ap- pears in the pedigree of Electioneer ? Webster Family a/ of ^/eterirign/ Medicine ••'U^'"' .cui^me at Tuf y 200 Westboro Road North Grafton, IVIA 01536