Bonniberts Race, Daily Racing Form, 1902-08-05

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BONNIBERTd RACE. LaBt Wednesday, Bonnibert, running at Brighton Beach, put on record a grand performance at a I mile and an eighth, which was thus described by Charles E. Trevathan in the Morning Telegraph : "Frank Farrells Bonnibert, four years old, by Albert Bonnie Ola, ran a mile and a furlong yesterday at Brighton Beach in 1 :51 fiat, and becomes, through that performance, the champion horse of the country at the distance. "The previous record for the route was 1:51, held jointly by Water Cure and Roehampton, each of these accomplishing the feat in his three-year-old form. Water Cure set the mark in 1900 with 100 pounds on him. Roehampton followed the next season with 94 pounds on him. Yesterdays per-, formance is so far and away beyond the runs made by these two that there is no possible comparison "When a horse of any age takes up 120 pounds and breaks a record he is alone. Record holders who have carried no more than a feather in their record performances are not to be seriously considered. But 120 pounds in these days is a racehorses weight, and Bonnibert took up that load and set a mark which will stand for a long time. "That all three of these runs were made on the Brighton Beach track further substantiates the oft repeated statement that it is the fastest racecourse, in the east, if not in the country. "This Bonnibert race was worth traveling miles to see. He had no picnic in the finishing of his record-breaking purpose. He had another good horse looking him in the eye when he got to the wire. Tom Kenny, that overnighter of recent excellence, was right there with him, and the backers of Kenny had no grumbling word after they saw what he had made Bonnibert do to beat him. " It was a great race from the break to the wire. Contend was a wild horse at the post, and when the barrier lifted to a fair break Contend shot out in front to make it a quarter race. The pace was terrific from the first. The furlong was put down in 12J seconds, the quarter in 23, the three furlongs in 35 and the half in 4875. At that point Contend was still leading, with Bonnibert, Tom Kenny and Ten Candles a length apart behind him. "Almost immediately after passing the half mile ground Martin began to move Bonnibert to the front, and at the middle of the turn Bonnibert and Contend were on even terms. Then Bonnibert took a commanding lead. The pace at which he must have run around the second turn was awful, for, with Contend doing a mile in 1 :38, this fellow was able to close a length of daylight and to finish: the quarter with a clear lead of two lengths. It was by that margin that he entered the stretch. "Contend was done when the straight was reached, and Tom Kenny made a try to catch the leader. The pace had told upon Bonnibert, and at the end of the mile he was willing to go home. Martin sat down and began to ride him hard. Tom Kenny was coming from behind with a rush. There was a ding dong finish between these two, Bonnibert lasting out to win by half a length. Tom Kenny was gaining on him every stride in the final hundred yards,. Contend was third. "It was a horse race to rouse the most phlegr--matic observer, and yet Bonnibert did not get so great a hand as is frequently given to a close fit winner of a selling race. It will be some time before another one comes along that will take up such weight and run such a race, and Bonnibert must be called a high class horse. His race makes him a possibility in any sort of company at Saratoga. Tom Kenny ran a smashing race himself, though he had up but 105 pounds. He cannot be overlooked in the subsequent proceedings at the Spa."


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1902080501/drf1902080501_5_3
Local Identifier: drf1902080501_5_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800