view raw text
I . ; [ . • 1 , 2 j r r ? [• I n r t e VETERANS OF THE TRACK AND RING. Lucien Applebys Solution of a Famous Case — j John Huggins Career. New York. January 4. — To the man able to . afford it. New York in winter is a fascinating place and in my rounds I frequently run across main old-time sporting men, attending the mati- nees and evening performances. To judge from the -rowded condition of some of the theaters, j 1 there is no scarcity of money, yet it is only a few . of the plays which havt» made solid hits. Two men of some celebrity in racing were at Wallaeks recently. They were Lucien Appleby aud his one-time partner, Mattie Looram. When | bookmaking onN the races was at its height here. ! these men made fortunes. Looram has now with- j drawn, devotes himself to the education of a large ; family and attends more strictly than ever to Wall j street, for whichtjhe has always had a penchant. Because he was a creditor of A. H. Lamar, an operator well known on the tracks, Mr. Looram was forced against his will to become the owner 1 of that erstwhile good filly. Whimsical, which. In the hands of "Tim" Gaynor, was a high class two- varolii and up to a certain time a good three- , year old. But it was alleged that she was neg-le. led and in the summer of 1900 she was turned over to another trainer. Frank Weir, noted for lii- ability to "nurse" horses back to form, could do nothing witli Whimsical, however. To the horseman she gave undoubted evidence of having turned "sour" and when she ran her first race early in tbe year 1907 at Jamaica, her condition was pitiable. Her action was like a cat treading on hot bricks." and after that ex- bibition she made as many hostile critics as she had made friends when a two year -old. Few men so long in any given profession look so little the worse lor wear as docs Mr. Appleby. For more than forty years he has been a prominent tigiire in the racing world. His acquaintance with every turfman of influence has been notable wi r since the early days at Jerome Park. There never was ■ dispute involving wagers that Appleby was not eoii-ulted by 1. D. Withers and men of that • lass. With the first August Belmont. Lucien Appleby was especially popular. It was he who was el,. .-en by Ml. Belmont to purchase QeorgC Oyster and Baceland about the year 1SN7. when Ihe founder of the original Nursery Stud on Long lslaud wade up his mind to take another whirl at the gr.-at game. The mos! able trainers of the day were alwax- I,, lie seen in converse with the Vetera sporting man. No mole intimate nipiainl-ance of John Huggins exists today than Appleby. This friendship began away back in tbe aid days, when Huggins first came to Saratoga and trained Bend Or ithe American horse of that namei. When the late A. .1. Cassatt changed his trainer from young Pryor. Huggins succeeded to the command, and this was due to some extent to Apple l.ys recommendations. That the arrangement was eqiiallv satisfactory to both employer and employe is a matter of history. "Whenever Mr. Cassait comes bail; to the turf. I expect to train for him." said Huggins to me many times. ■ and all my engagements have been made with that roserv.uion." Mr. Cassatt never came hack and Huggins thereby had a chance to train the Derby winner. Yolodyovski. which never would have hap-l eiied but for the fact that Pierre Lorillard in ISM went to England to race and took the Texan with him. There his career was one long triumph. He trained for the confederacy which included Mr. Lorillard. Lord William Beresford and the Duchess of Marlborough the Dowager, nee Lily Price. This lady was a power on the turf, though that was not generally known. She was fond of racing and for several years the Anglo American confederacy had many of the l est stakes at their mercy. Huggins career in England reached its zenith when he won the Derby for the late W. C. Whitney with Yolodyovski and in a year or two afterward he came hack to America. He wanted to rest, but the importunities of Herman B. Durye.t were not to he denied and for two years now he has tried to make the famous "green. with white stripes" as notable on the turf as in the days when Irish Lad was making turf history under John Rogers handling. Reverting to Mr. Appleby, an instance of how the turf authorities of that day relied upon his advice conies to my mind. On Saturday. June ti. 1S91, the Great Eclipse Stakes was run at Morris Park. It w* won by Marcus Dalys Tammany, ridden by Miller — George Miller, he whose name recently appeared as the purchaser of Sewell at the Dnrnell sale in California. Hell Gate Doggett. Dagonet Garrison, and Osric TaraL. ran ■ dead heat for second place. This was an unheard of thing in this country and the great question then was — how to pay off the bets for second and third places? "Marcus Daly ran three in the race — the winner. Tammany, Sir Mathew and Shellbark. All three were quoted independently in the bookmakers odds, and Tammany was at 00 to 1. so little was he thought of. The late John A. Morris sent for Mr. Appleby and asked lor an opinion to the fairest method. The matter had never come up in America and it required some deliberation. Finally, the undoubtedly fair plan was adopted, and those who held place bets on Hell Qate received one-third the face value of their tickets. This was because the claim of each of those which ran a dead heat for second place was disputed by the others. The decision made a great deal of talk at that time and stands today as a precedent. Those who held show-tickets on the horses received two-thirds of the face value. Briefly commenting upon the mooted question of racing dates, Mr. Appleby, who had large interests in the Monmouth Park and Linden tracks in New Jersey, said that it would be disastrous to racing Interests to have a public dispute and that he hoped for a peaceable solution of the matter. J. J. Burke.
