Futurity Aftermath, Daily Racing Form, 1900-08-29

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FUTURITY AFTERMATH. The principal topic among horsemen yesterday was the Futurity, and those who got back from Saratoga too late to witness it were greeted with sympathy and a Bpice of sarcasm at the Long Island tracks. To miss Americas most popular racing classic is regarded as an almost irredeemable slip by the regulars, and there are many heartburnings among the crowd who were forced to stay the limit at the Spa meeting. Had any horse outside Ballyhoo Bey won, the mourning amoug the belated ones would have been comparatively trivial, but they saw the preparation and the phenomenal trial of Kingstons now famous son before J. E. Madden took hrT3 away from Horse Haven, and they are hot under the collar at losing such a golden opportunity to start the fall campaign on velvet. Ballyhoo Bey is the undisputed hero of the hour. His victory is not qualified by any "ifs" or "buts. and the great majority admit that he won a truly run race strictly on his merits. The colt was cooled out after his race in the Whitney private paddocks at the head of the new Futurity course, and was critically inspected by Trainer John E. Madden, August Belmont and Harry Payne Whitney. He proved to be sound as a bell and moved around in remarkable contrast to his stable mate, Elkhorn, who was palpably leg weary. Congratulations by scores are awaiting owner W. C. Whitney when he gets here from Europe about Wednesday and iearns that he has won his first Futurity. The financial value of the stake will count for little with the former Secretary of the Navy, but he will heartily appreciate the fact that he has outpointed his friendly rival. James R. Keene. who took great pride in possessing one of the most formidable stables of two-year-olds ever seen in this country up to Saturday. In the aftermath of the race horsemen find a wealth of material for gossip. Comparing the record of Chacornac, last years winner, and that ofBallyhoo Bey, there i6 a marked coincidence. Each horse only ran once in competition before going for the blue ribbon. Chacor-nac was uncovered for the first time at Sara- OOMTIXCID OK BSCOKO tlUM, FUTURITY AFTERMATH. Continued from First Page. toga a year ago and qualified out of the maiden class in rare style. Then James R. Keene purchased him at a fancy price from James Rowe and landed the Futurity. Ballyhoo Bey"s only effort in public before Saturday was at Morris Park on May 22, in a condition race, down the last five furlongs of the Eclipse course. With 108 pounds in the saddle lie finished third to Handwork and Golden Age, carrying the Eame weight. Little Odom had the mount and was then in poor physical shape. The race was run in the smart time of BN seconds, and Goodwins comment on it was: "Ballyhoo Bey needs more racing." The point was well taken, but unfortunately the son of Kingston went wroc« and showed few sign6 of doing any more racing until, after the shake-up in the management of the Whitney stable, he was intrusted to the care of John E. Madden. No attempt wa- made to race him at Saratoga, but his trial there showed that Madden had not lost his cunning. There must have been a previous trial, however, which escaped the notice of the rail birds or else Mr. Whitney is becoming a clairvoyant in the form of thoroughbreds. It was a rare stroke of either luck, foresight or judgment to engage jockey Tod Sloan : : • : [ , and to send him over from England to play hie part in what turned out to be the racing feature of the year. That Sloan filled the bill satisfactorily is freely admitted, but the win was not popular in [the jockey colony, as Turner is senior rider for the stable, and, according to his fellow artists, was entitled to the mount. Whether Turner could have got as much out of Ballyhoo Bey as Sloan did is a debatable point still, but the fact remains that Sloan won and won handsomely. If there was any infringement of the unwritten , ethics of the jockey colony, the blame can I scarcely be saddled on Sloan, who accepted a liberal offer in good faith and fulfilled his con- tract to the letter. Sloans refusal to get into the floral horseshoe after the race is explained I by a rumor that the decorative outfit is furnished - by speculative florists, and that the suc- cessful jockey has to foot the bill. Foxhall Keene. in the absence of his father, who is still in Europe, accepts the unexpected defeat of the formidable trio like the genuine type of sportsman he represents. The running • of Cap and Bells was a pronounced disappointment and can only be accounted for by the cuppy going. She had speed to burn for more 1 than half a mile and that she was the choice of the stable was shown by the presence of the 1 senior jockey, Spencer, in the saddle. Had he been on either of the others there might have been a different story to tell, as both Olympian and Tommy Atkins were dangerous factors right up to the finish. The performance of Tommy Atkins was especially brilliant as he was conceding seventeen pounds each to the horses that finished in front of him. The past record of the race, however, furnished ample consolation for the Keenes. as the stable won with Domino in 1893, and with Cha-cornac last year. The name of Dave Gideon is still preeminent in the history of the Futurity, which he carried off with His Highness in 1891, The Butterflies in 1894, and Requital in 1895. From the time standpoint the honors fairly belong to Ballyhoo Bey, as he equaled the figures set ud by Ogden in 1896 over a track which looked to be fractions slower.— N. Y. Sun.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1900082901/drf1900082901_1_3
Local Identifier: drf1900082901_1_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800