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TOM BOWLINGS PROWESS AS A RACEHORSE. Colonel Tarlton Says He Was a Better Horse Than Sysonby An Incident of His Career. , Cincinnati, O., August 8. Colonel L. P. Tarlton ran up from Ids farm near Frankfort one day last week to have a look at the racing. Colonel Tarlton was for many years one of the Latonia Judges. He comes from a racing family, his forbears having bred and raced horses in Kentucky and throughout the south as far back as 1S05. Colonel Tarlton Is himself an enthusiastic student of breeding, and few men are better posted on the history and tra- ditious of the turf than he. Knowing Colonel Tarl-tons weakness, and his ability also as a "horse conversationalist," he had not been on the grounds long until some one started an argument as to the superiority of the horses of the present over those of earlier days. "I maintain, sir," said the colonel, "that we have scarcely any real racehorses nowadays. We have a lot of flash-In-the-pan performers that can run five or six furlongs, but when It comes to packing weight and going a journey at a fast pace they are not in it with the old-timers. " "Take for example such horses as Tom Bowling, Blue Eyes, Enquirer, Duke of Magenta, etc., not to mention Longfellow, Harry Bassett, Checkmate and others of that date; where are their equals now? We havnt got them. We dont breed that kind, or at least it is very seldom that we produce a horse that would rank witJi any of those named. The trouble Is that in, the craze for speed wc pay too little attention to Individuality. In order to j?ct the fashionable blood, we breed to gangling, awkward, spindle-legged brothers and sisters to famous English racehorses, and as a consequence our horses are deteriorating. I do not recall that we have imported more than four great horses, that is royally bred ones, that were at the same time great racehorses and horses of fine individuality, in the last twenty years, namely St. Blaise, Ormonde, Meddler, and Mr. Belmonts recent importation. Rock Sand. Theres where the English have It all over us. They not only want blood in breeding, but they insist on racing quality and individuality as well." Asked as to the best racehorse he had ever seen, Colonel Tarlton replied: "Tom Bowling by all means. There was a real horse for you; carry any weight, go any route, and run you a record quarter In any part of the journey. His only fault was that he was a bad actor at the post. He was not a mean horse, just nervous and high strung. Among many of his great performances, I recall one race in partiuclar, that was the most remarkable that ever came under my observation. It was at Lexington. I was a stripping, just out of college. At that time the Kentucky Association was very exclusive and none but members of the club could hold any official position on the track. On this particular occaslou the starter was ill, or unable to attend to his duties for some reason or other, and some of the members asked me if 1 would tap the drum for them that day. I did not have much confidence in myself as a starter, but they insisted that I could do it all right, and so I told them I would. "As luck would have It Tom Bowling was a starter in a stake race at a mile and five-eighths, in which some eight or ten went to the post. Colonel Price McGrath had a big nigger that weighed over 200 pounds that always led Tom Bowling to the post and held him there until the start was made. On this occasion Colonel McGrath rode over to the post with me. Tom Bowling was unusually fractious and the nigger in order to control him took a double wrap on the chin strap. After skirmishing around for iositlon a little while Tom Bowling got straight and Colonel McGrath yelled Let cm go. I tapped the drum and away the field went, but the nigger couldnt let loose of Tom Bowling quick enough, and the horso dragged him a hundred yards before he freed himself. Of course, everybody thought he was out of the race. But Just then something wonderful happened. Tom Bowling went on after his horses like a streak of lightning and before they had gone three furlongs he was in front of them. He stayed in front and won as he pleased. "For years afterwards just how fast Tom Bowling ran that first quarter was matter for argument around Lexington. They caught him all the way from 19 to 22 seconds. It seems Incredible to believe that any horse could run a quarter of a mile in 19 seconds, but if any horse ever could that one was Tom Bowling. He could carry his weight and did it and run a fast two mile race, and finish the last quarter in 24 seconds. None but a great horse can do that." Asked if Tom Bowling was as good a horse as Sysonby, Colonel Tarlton said: "I think he was a better horse than Sysonby. I think he was the best horse we have had since the time of Lexington. Of course, It is a difficult matter to compare horses of different eras, and besides on account .of Sysonbys early death we shall never know just exactly how good, ho was. But, in coon phrase, Tom Bowling done gone and showed what he could do. He was a sure enough racehorse." Colonel Tarltons argument was not delivered without a touch of asperity here and there when remarks were Interjected, and sotto voice to some friends he remarked aside: "A lot of these people graduate from cigar stores into the racing game, and after a years experience they think: they know it all. I like to take them down a peg or two once in a while."
