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I * FIRENZE. QUEEN OF HAGGINS MARES. Turf Career of the Illustrious Grandam of Water Pearl. Recently Dead. In the course of the last twenty years many fast and famous mares have graced the annals of American turf history. The names of Artful. Beldame. Imp, I.ady Amelia. Tanya. Hamburg Belle and Blue «.irl will readily occur to the present generation of admirers of racing as examples, but it is doubtful if any year In the past twenty produced the equal of Kirenze. She was a small mare, but every inch a high class racehorse, for which no distance or veight had terrors. She could sprint with sprinters nnd stay with the best of long distance runners, on dry tracks or wet tracks. It fell to her to lie actively racing when such great horses as Hanover, Kingston, Tenny, The Bard, Exile, Baceland, Riley. r»e Muth, Tournament, Eurus, Volante, Los Angeles ■ nd Tristan were in their prime and not one of them was decisively her master. Beaten now and then by such giants of the track she defeated them In turn and was almost as firmly intrenched in the affection of patrons of racing of her time as was the "Coal Black I.ady." Imp. a few years back. She was a hardy and enduring little thing. ■ true Olenelg. She raced actively and successfully for tdx years, beginning as a two-year-old in 1SSJ and running her last met in iv.ll. She was ■ bay, by Olenelg— Florida, by Virgil, and next to Salvator most beloved by Mr. Haggin of all the tremendous array of horses he has bred or bought and raced. Her first start was for a purse at Saratoga August 2. ISSt;. It was a five furlongs dash over a very heavy track and she won in 1:W from Beth Brocck. Losbia and three more. Purses were comparat ively ulim in those days and all that Kirenze returned liei owner in this initial success was M. It was an humble beginning of a subsequently brilliant career and a very busy career. A record of her successes in the big stakes of her time attests this latter feature amply and is interesting reading. These stakes fell to her; 1886. August 28 — At Sheepshead Bay, the Autumn Stakes; 3-4 mile .17," September 2-" At Jerome Park, the Nursery Stakes; 3-4 mile 4,1150 18S7. June 4 — At Jerome Park, the Ladies Stakes; 1 1 4 miles 2,070 June Hi — At ClttMUd, the Gazelle Stakes; 1 18 miles : 1,860 June 27 —At Sheepshead Bav, the Mermaid Stakes; 1 IS miles 4,:»40 July ft -At Monmouth Park, the Monmouth Oaks; 111 miles 3,540 August 18- At Monmouth Park, the West End Hotel Stakes ; 1 1-2 miles 3.070 October 11 — At Jerome Park, the Hunter Stakes; 1 :-4 miles 2,130 October 13 — At Jerome Park, the Jerome Stakes; 1 3 4 miles 2,470 IMS. July 12 — At Monmouth Park, the Monmouth Cup : 1 3-4 in iles 2,r 7." July 21 — At Monmouth Park, the Harvest Handicap; 1 1-4 miles 2,193 August 2- At Monmouth Park, the Freehold Stakes; 1 12 miles 2,020 August 11 — At Monmouth Park, the Champion Stakes: 1 1-2 miles 4,373 August 25— At Monmouth Park, the Monmouth Handicap; 1 1-2 miles 5.383 September 6 — At Sheepshead Bay, the Average Stakes; 1 3 16 miles 1,975 Scptemt er 15— At Sheepshead Bay. the Great Long Island Stakes; 1 IS mile heats... 4,852 October 4 — At Jerome Park, the Manhattan Handicap; 11-4 miles 1035 October 8— At Jerome Park, the Battle Stakes; 1 3 16 miles 1.750 Oc tolier 9 — At Jerome Park, the Firenze Stakes; 1 1-8 miles 1.3S5 1889. June 29 — At Sheepshead Bav. the Knickerbocker Handicap; 1 :; S miles 2,025 July 11 — At Monmouth Park, the Monmouth Cup; 1 3-4 miles 2.175 July 20 — At Monmouth Park, the Navesink Handicap; 1 1-2 miles 2,105 July .0 — At Monmouth Park, the Freehold Stakes: 1 1-2 miles 1,250 Septemlier 5 At Sheepshead Bav, the New York Handicap; 1 12 miles 1.920 Septemlier 7— At Sheepshead Bay. the omnium Handicap: 1 1-8 miles 2,525 October 9 — At Jerome Park, the Firenze Stakes; 1 IS miles 2,100 1890. June 26 — At Sheepshead Bay. the Coney Island Cup; 1 12 miles 1.S50 June 2*— At Sheepshead Bay. the Knickerbocker Handicap; 1 3-8 miles 1,843 August 7 At Monmouth Park, the Freehold Stakes: 1 12 miles 2.125 September 3 — At Sheepshead Bay. the Twin City Handicap: 1 1-4 miles 3,735 September 1 1 — At Sheepshead Bay, the New York Handicap; 1 1-2 miles 1,563 1891. August 13 -At Monmouth Park, the Champion Stakes: 1 1-2 miles 3.750 In this recapitulation there is one feature that stands out strikingly. That is the comparatively tiinall values. Here, in the course of her career, this famous mare won thirty-two stakes. With some few shining exceptions they were the richest of her time, yet the combined value of this great array of fixed events won was but 0,622.50 in exact figures. In these days the same number of stakes won on the big New York tracks would almost certainly net at least double the sum named. When a two year old, Firenze started in eight races, of which she won five, was sc -ond twice aud once unplaced. After winning the purse at Saratoga she next ran second to her stable mate. Milton, for the Criterion Stakes, at Monmouth Park, with the King Ernest— Julietta colt third. August 11. her next start, she ran unplaced in a purse won by Montrose. At Gravesend. August 20. she won a purse at seven furlongs over a slow track in 1:311. defeating Ittiltla. Louise aud three more fillies. September 3, at lie same track, she won from Butch. Pearl Jennings and two otliers at the same distance, in 1:2s,. Her til -1 important success was achieved at Sheepshead Bay. August 28, wheat she won the Autumn Stakes from Belvidere and Lady Primrose, with Oritiamiiic. Montrose. BradtVrd. Falstep and Koi dor unplaced. It turned out to lie the most valuable stake won by her in the course of her long and distinguished career. Her campaign as a two-year old terminated Septemlier 25. when she won the Nursery Stakes at Jerome Park, witli Belvldere second and Santa Rita third. Belvidere was a good racehorse and last year came into renewed prominence as the sire of tiic crack twoyear-old, Salvidere. Santa Kila subsequently became familiarly known to Chicago patrons of racing in the colors of Tony Licaizi and was long the mainstay of lie locally popular ••Watermelon" Stable. Kirenze was a brilliant star when a three-year-old and was never worse than third in any of her fourteen races in IKsy. She made her debut in the Ladies Stakes at Jerome Park and prevailed over Klageolctta. Almy and ihrec other fillies. All carried 113 pounds. June 10, she captured the Gazelle Stakes at Gravesend, again defeating Klageolctta. with Maggie Mitchell third and three more unplaced. In both races Klageolctta was an odds-on favorite. She was a fine, fast filly and was only beaten a head at equal weights in the Ladies. In the Gazelle she carried 103 to 113 on Firenze and this led her admirers to think she would reverse positions, but Firenze easily defeated her by two lengths. At Sheepshead Bay. June 18, she for the first time met the mighty Hanover and the little less formidable Kingston in the Swift Stakes at seven furlongs. The track was very heavy. Only the three started. All carried regulation stake weights, and Hanover ftm by tcu lengths, witli Kingston, second, ia I4fc At that tune Hanover was practically Invincible and this race was his sixth in a string of fourteen consecutive victories. A few days later Firenze won the Mermaid Stakes from Lady Primrose, Almy, Flageo-letta and Hypasia, easily running the mile and an eighth in 1:56, fast time then, and won by two lengths. Then she went to Monmouth Park and continued her clean sweep of the filly stakes by winning the Monmouth Oaks from Lady Primrose and Almy, then took a purse from Bradford and Belvidere at a mile and a sixteenth. August 13 she again tackled Hanover. This was in the Champion Stakes at a mile and a half, run in 3:38, but Hanover beat her three lengths aud Volante was third ten lengths behind her. Only the three ran and Firenze put up a good race. Five days later she won the West End Hotel Stakes at a mile and a half from Almy, with 120 pounds up. August 20 she triumphed over Hanover for the first time, but did not win the race. It was the Omnibus Stakes at one and one-half miles, track heavy. Old Davy Withers Laggard with 118 pounds up won. Firenze with 120 was second and Hanover, 12S, third, Kingston, 118, and Esquimau, 113, ran unplaced. The time was 2:44, Laggard won by an inch and Hanover was a short head behind. It was a battle of giants and Hanover was a 1 to 2 favorite lroin Monmouth she was taken to Saratoga and ran third to the western fillies Wary and Gri sette in the Pocahontas Stakes. Then she went to Jerome Park and won the Hunter Stakes, for tillies. and the Jerome Stakes for three-year olds. In this Hanover was her solitary opponent and an overwhelming favorite at 45 to 100 post odds. Ike distance was one and three-quarter miles. Hanover carried 125 pounds, Firenze 122. Hanover led to the last quarter, where the filly passed him ami won in a canter by* three lengths in 3:09J, extraordinarily last time lor that slowest of all slow tracks. After that Kirenze ran twice in stake races at Pimlico ami was second each time, first to Kingston at one and one eighth miles and then to Liudeu at a mile and a half. In 1SSS, Firenze was better than ever and a great celebrity. With 117 pounds up, she ran third to Elkwiiod and Terra Cotta in the Suburban, beateu a length and a half iu 2:07!. Outside of a purse. she won nothing until July 12 at Monmouth Park, where she won the Monmouth Cup at one and three quarter miles from Elkwood and Eurus in 3:08.1. Next she defeated Exile, Surinam, Eurus, Favor awl otliers in the Harvest Handicap, at a mile and a quarter over a heavy track. August 2, she won the Freehold Stakes at a mile and a half from The Bard in 2:34. The latter was a 2 to 5 favorite. Firenze carried 113 pounds. The Bard 120. Next she defeated Kingston and Sautalene for the Champion Stakes, one and one-half miles in 2:33, and won by three lengths. In the Monmouth Handicap she took up lJK pounds and won cantering from Exile, 118; Belvidere, 121, and five more high class horses. running its mile and a half in 2:36. At Sheepshead Bay. carrying 122 pounds, she ran away from Lelex. 102 12; Terra Cotta, 115; Montrose, 114; Wary, 101, and Brown Duke, 102. one and three-sixteenths miles in 2:02j. This was in the Average Stakes. Then she won the Great Long Island Stakes at one and one-eighth miles heats, with 125 pounds up, in 1:50. 1:56?. At Gravesend, Kingston beat her a length in the First Special and, with ninety-eight pounds up to her 126. Connemara defeated her by a half length in the Boulevard Stakes, one and one-half miles in 2:37. Then in succession she won a purse, the Manhattan Handicap, Battle Stakes and Firenze Stakes at Jerome Park. Raceland defeated her in the Grand National Handicap, it being her last race of the year. Raceland was always a troublesome opponent to the gallant little mare, defeating her several times in the following year. But Raceland was also a great racehorse. In 1889, she won the Knickerbocker Handicap from Eurus, the Monmouth Cup from Raceland, the Navesink Handicap, with 126 pounds to Inverwicks 102 and Tristans 107, they finishing second and third: walked over for the Freehold Stakes, took the New York Handicap from Retrieve, the Omnium from Strideaway and the Firenze Stakes from Winona. Raceland defeated her in a purse at Jerome Park, the New York Jockey Club Handicap ami. for a second time in successive years, in the Grand National Handicap. In the Grand National ol 1888, Raceland carried 110 pounds to her 131. In 1889 it was Raceland. 126: Kirenze. 130. In fact, it was nothing but high weights for Firenze now, she carrying 129 pounds when she defeated such a fast horse as Strideaway. trlth but 112 pounds in the Omnium. Of her other unsuccessful races she was second to Hanover for the Coney Island Cup. to Kingston in the Average Stakes, and third to Los Angeles and Eurus in the Champion Stakes. and to Eurus anil Senorita in the Monmouth Handicap. Growing lietter with years. Firenze gave notable exhibitions of speed aud endurance in 1890. She ran unplaced iu the Suburban won by her stable comrade. Salvator. but in the Coney Island Cup she gave convincing evidence of her still unsurpassed greatness a-- a stay.-r by defeating Cassius and Tea Tray in a canter and running its mile and a half course in 2:33. Witli 128 pounds up, to Long-streets 113, she defeated him lor the Knickerbocker Handicap. In the Freehold Stakes she defeated Tenny at a mile and a half in 2:5.!1. Tenny had previously beaten her iu the Eatontown Stakes at a mile over a heavy track. She shoived grand form in the Twin City Handicap at the Sheepshead Bay fall meeting, when, with 128 pounds up, she won from Tournament. Ill; Eurus, 119; Los Angeles. US; Rizpah. 97; Come to Taw. 110; Senorita, 117, ami Badge. 114. running the mile and a quarter in 2MI7. It was her last great triumph of that year. In 1881, she ran but three times and was then retired to the stud. At Monmouth Park she won a parse from Sir George, and a week later, with 120 p ds up, defeated Riley. 122. and Raceland. 125. for the Champion Stakes a I a mile and a half in 2:3si. she won by a half length and Uiley beat Kacclaud a neck. Her last race was in the New Tork Handicap at Sheepshead Bay. where, with 138 pounds up. she ran third to De Muth, 119, and Kronteirae. Hrj in. in 2:37*. In ail, the record of this extraordinary mare was: Year. Sts. 1st. 2d. 3d. Clip. Amt. 1888 8 5 2 O 1 2,575.00 1887 14 8 4 2 8 22,153.00 1V-SS 21 12 0 3 O 37.286.50 1888 21 12 6 3 0 21,065.50 1* Mt 14 7 3 0 4 14.510.00 1891 3 2 O 1 O 4.750.00 Total H 40 21 9 5 12,342.00 Mr. Haggin fondly hoped his great mare would produce sons and daughters equal to herself in fleot-ness and stan ina. but had to submit to bitter disap poiutment. As in the case of other great racemares. too much campaigning told its tale and the nervous energy that might have told in reproduction, was expended in racing. She was first and for three successive years mated with her mighty stable mate Salvator and foaled Firenzita. Pearl V. and Hiero. None of these achieved fame on the racetrack, but Pearl V. as the dam of the star two year -old Water Pearl, that unfortunately died a few days since, gives evidence that Firenzes daughters will uphold her fame. Her only son, Hiero, is a young stallion at Elmendorf that may be heard from. Besides the two mentioned, Firenze has foaled several other fillies to other stallions than Salvator,
