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mchesney, ch. c, bt macdoff— manola mason. j McCHESNEY. ! At no time in recent years has any other j horse filled the position now occupied by McChesney as the undisputed champion , western racehorse. This is because the west- ern view is that he is truly a great racehorse . and because his racing has been confined to , western tracks. Down east his claims to equine greatness are not accepted seriously, but if all goes well with "Big alike," as he has been dubbed by some of his admirers, the close after the Saratoga meeting may see the western idea of his prowess forcibly impressed on the minds of eastern doubters. McChesney was a good two-year-old, a good three-year-old and is a good four-year-old. He is not a first-class racehorse, but he is a high-class racehorse. There is no first-class racehorse now running in the United States, but until it is proven to the contrary it must be held that McChesney is presumptively as good as any horse we now have in training. In some respects he has been an unlucky horse,, but his brilliant achievements *wltave heensumclent compensatibnV*"*" v~~1~" McChesney started his two-year-old career as the property of Oots Brothers, who sold him to J. S. Ward, the ,latter selling him to S. C. Hildreth. As a two-year-old he ran in twenty-six races of which he won nine, was second in six, third in five and unplaced in six. His first essay was in a four and a half furlongs dash at Latonia, May 14, 1901, in which he ran third to Owenton and Andy Williams. Time, 56J. Then he ran in eight more races before he earned the winners brackets, having in these races been second once and third twice. This did not speak of future greatness, but he was not an "early" horse and has not been since, being characteristically slow about rounding into his best form each year. It was not until July 23, that he scored his first success, when carrying 105 pounds he won at three-quarters over the Hawthorne track in 1:14$, beating nothing of much account except the subsequently goqd performer Aladdin. July 26, he again won over a slow track at seven furlongs in 1:34. At Harlem, August 7, he beat Lord Quex, Commissioner Forster, South Trimble and Talpa at three-quarters in 1:13 j, a smart performance. Then he fell in to evil plight and lost in seven consecutive races of which he was second in four and third in two. By this time he had fully ripened and at Hawthorne, September 22, he beat Uledi, Barrack and six others, a mile, in l:39i. This at once stamped McChesney an exceedingly fast colt, even though he only carried 80$ pounds, and is to this day his fastest record at a mile. September 28 he took up 108 pounds and conceding Lucien Appleby seven pounds beat him and five others, one of which was the flying filly Bessie Spahr, at a . mile in 1:401, a better performance than his preceding one. .People -were now fully aware of the fact that the big colt was of more than ordinary excellence. At Harlem, October 2, McChesney set a -sprinting record that will probably stand for some time. It was at six and a half furlongs which, with 105 pounds up, he won from .Merriment, Aladdin, South Trimble, Hoodwink and Stuart Toung in 1:182, winning with great ease by three lengths. His next success was at Worth, October 17, when, with 113 ppunds up he beat Lucien Appleby •58, and five others over a slow track at ! j , . , seven furlongs done in 1:315. Then he beat a field of eight others at five and a half furlongs in 1:07, and wound up his two-year-old career by winning at seven furlongs in 1:27| at Worth, October 26. In this race he carried 118 pounds. Lucien Appleby, carrying 105 was second and Miracle II. 96, was third. Sam Hildreth then bought the colt for the reported price of 0,000 and sent him into winter quarters with the well earned reputation of being the best two-year-old in the west. Last year great things were expected of McChesney, and Hildreth felt confident of winning the American Derby with him, but he did not even start at the Washington Park meeting. Giving him the most careful and unhurried preparation, Hildreth sent him to the post at Harlem, June 18, for the hardening benefit of a race prior to the Derby and had to endure the misfortune of having him fall and injure himself badly because of a collision with Cruzados and Prowl. This mile in 1:39$, and then ran unplaced in the Twentieth Century Handicap, in which Scintillant II. smashed all records at one and three-sixteenths miles, by running the distance in 1:571. McChesney had up 114 pounds, Scintillant H. 109. At Harlem, September 6, McChesney took up 122 pounds in the Oak Park Handicap and ran one and one-eighth miles in 1:511, defeating Bon Mot 106, Corrigan 105, and four others. From the standpoint of weight carried and time scored, this was perhaps his best performance, and oddly enough his putative eastern rival, Hermis, with the same weight up, ran in the same time last year. Both were great races, and in a measure indicate that the two colts were not far apart in excellence when at their best At Harlem, October 6, McChesney won the Chicago Stakes, one mile, 113 pounds, 1:39|. At Worth, October 9, 126 pounds up, he won the Phoenix Handicap, time, 1:472. October 11 he won at a mile and an eighth in 1:54J, caused the colt to be thrown out of training and in a spirit of disgust Hildreth sold him to P. J. Ryan, who afterwards sold him to Durnell and Herz. His first start after the accident was at Harlem, August 5, where he ran unplaced in a six furlongs dash over a slow track. But he was coming around and three days later beat Joe Frey and eight others at six and a half furlongs in 1:192. In the Harlem Stakes, August 16, track slow, he ran third to John Bright and Aladdin in 1:57. Then he won a six furlongs dash at Hawthorne and at the same track, August 23, carrying 114 pounds, was beaten a half length by John Bright, 117, for the Northern Handicap, one and one-quarter miles in 2:065. This was a great race and McChesney was giving so much weight, by the scale or actually, to everyone of the eleven other starters, that he was its real hero. August 28, he beat Joe Frey and some others at a with 123 pounds up. October 15, 122 pounds each, he made a spectacle of Sombrero at one and one-eighth miles, done in 1:55, whereat Green Morris was surprised and grieved exceedingly. Then, with 125 pounds up, he won the Columbia Handicap at Worth, doing the mile and a quarter in 2:05|, and giving much weight and a beating to Caliban, Lucien Appleby, Scintillant IL and other good horses. This was his last great success in the north and he was taken to New Orleans, where he was a great magnet last winter and practically invincible. With his career there and his defeat in the Montgomery Handicap this spring over the difficult and tiring Memphis track,, readers of Daily Racing Form are familiar, as well as with the sale of the horse to E. E. Smathers. His three-year-old record was twenty starts, twelve wins, three times second, once third and four times unplaced.
