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i i i RACING MEN WHO BEGAN WITH TROTTERS. P. Lorillard. James Galway and E. E. Smathers of ■ the Number — Latters Faith in McChesney. New York. February 3. -Assuming that the enemies of the turf, who are introducing bills in the legislature which would kill the sport are on the "level." those who are working to prevent the annihilation of the sport, lost a great opiKirtnnity this ; week. Tlie "Old Glory" sale of trotting and paling stock, held at the Madison Square Garden, attracted i its usual lliousands of visitors from all parts of the country, and a horse which had never f been trained sold for ,000. Others sold for ,000 and from that down to small figures. The encouraging feature of the whole sale was ■; the fact that there is any amount of money in the . market for the right kind of stock. But even the so-called "culls" found purchasers, men who need I them for pleasure driving on the road, for mat i- lues and in their own homes. It was a revelation 1 to me, in scanning the names and residences Of the l- buyers of these trotters and pacers, to note from i what a large area they came. It would have been i a convincing argunn nt that horses can be used for • some other purpofeo besides gambling upon them. One purchaser of an . mm stallion is Henry Steers, an engineer by profession, engaged in the 1 stupendous and apparently never-ending work inaugurated by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company lu and about New York. New Jersey and Long Island several years ago -work which concentrated in i this vicinity many splendid specimens of manhood 1 who had grown up in the west, received a college • education and became engaged as engineers, etc., by the big railroad company. An old New Yorker can i almost unerringly pick out from a crowd who may be crossing the Thirty-fourth Street ferry, men of this character, some of whom are destined to achieve • distinction in their profession. At least one, Mr. C. L. Harrison, has become a i turfman, he being the owner of the colt Alfred I Noble, which is named after another engineer of the Pennsylvania system. Now comes Mr. Steers, who recently bought a place at Portchester, which i was formerly owned by John II. Shnltz. the noted t breeder of fast trotters. Mr. SteeTs will establish i a stud and hopes to produce some fast ones. It is easily recalled that at least two noted men t of the running turf of past days were at one time ■ equally fond of the trotter. The late Pierre Lorillard first began to drive road horses for the plens- lire to be undoubtedly derived, but he was not long in plunging into the more exciting sphere of the galloper, and his career for about thirty years, both in American and England, was one to look back upon with interest. Tlie only man who lias thus far won the DoTby with an American colt, the late Mr. Lorillard. was in the year 1881 one of the two most popular Americans, the other being Mr. Keene. So enthusiastic were our countrymen over the triumphs of Iroquois in the Derby and the St. Leger, that the declaration was made that Mr. Lorillard could easily be elected president of the United States. For a long time after 1881 Mr. Lorillard maintained an English stable and resumed again in 1890, after a gap of some years duration. His remarkable successes for aliout five years, from MM lo 1901, achieved with the product of the Ran-cocas Stock Farm, are matter of record, and attest the great ability of John Huggins. who trained for Mr. Lorillard then. Mr. James Galway, who is still alive. I am glad to say, though he appears to have quit active racing, was the owner of the famous St. Julien, a famous bay trotting gelding which dominated thai branch of the turf fur several years. Another man who spent a lot of money in a brief period on the running turf after a long connection with the trotters, is E. E. ,Smathers, whom I frequently meet at the Waldorf. His ownership of McChesney was a source of satisfaction to Mr. Smathers, and the Twin City Handicap of 1903, won by the beautifully proportioned son of Macduff, when he ran the mile and a quarter in 2:04j», which has never lieen beaten In that race, was sufficient vindication of Mr. Smathers faith in this horse. By the way, Mr. Galway, mentioned above, owned and raced Macduff, sire of McChesney, when that racer was on the turf. Reference to Mr. Brf»athers calls to my mind the very unfair treatment which a portion of the New i i • 1 i 1 • i • i I i t i t ■ York press administered to him and his trainer, Sam Hlhlretb, and his undeniably good horse, MiChcs- nej . It was at the time that the late John Bodcti, Jr., then racing secretary of the Brighton Beach Association, offered to add 0,000 to a special race between McChesney and Waterboy. Tlie former was in Chicago at the time, and Sam Hildreth had not then been reinstated by the Jockey Club, the consequence of the row with John Madden. Still. Mr. Smathers scratched McChesney from some important Chicago engagements to accept the Brighton Beach offer, and had his horse brought on here. The first snag was struck when it was ascertained that Hildreth, not having a trainers license, could not train McChesney. This was overcome by handing the horse over to Frank Taylor, whose wife is a sister of Hildrethg wife. Next came the news that McChesney had gone lame, and the match could not come off. Scoffers in the press stand asserted that it was never intended to be a match; that McChesney was made use of for advertising purposes, and that he was a "false alarm." anyhow. Every fair-minded man expressed sympathy with Mr. Smathers at these insinuations, and lie was appreciative of his friends. But deep down in Ids heart he resolved to show tlie doubters of the east that they didnt know what they were talking aliout when they said McChesney was a "four-flusher." flu- opportunity came in tlie Twin City of 1SW3. It was McChesneys second appearance here, he having been defeated by the two-year-old The Minute Man, which broke his leg and was destroyed a few weeks later at Brighton Beach. The Minute Man. ridden by a boy named Higgius, at 92 jKHinds. fairly flew the first five furlongs in 1:00$, over the Sheepshead Bay mile course. The speed seemed to tangle up McChesney. but he was undoubtedly closing on the two-year-old in the last furlong. This was on September 4. On September 7 McChesney, 129 pounds up, same weight as Her-mis, beat him a length and a half in 2:043. with His Eminence. 100: Douro. 119: Proper, 98: Caugh-uawaga, 111; Injunction, 10S: Igniter, 108; Short-hose, 110; Sheriff Bell, 92; Thorney croft, 92. and Hunter Raine, 112, as the beaten field. Hermis ran, the first mile in 1:383. with McChesney always close to him. and in the last furlong McChesney drew out and won casfJy. He was ridden to perfection by Fuller, who saved ground on all the turns. It must be said in behalf of Hermis, however, that only two days previously he had run in the mile and a "half Century Stakes, won by Walerlioy in 2:313. and that for seven furlongs he was pacemaker on that occasion, with such good ones as The Pick, t three years old then and Heno in i ln» race. If he had not run in the Century lie would have been a better horse in the Twin City, without a doubt. However, the scoffers who had d. -cried tlie western horse had no ground to stand on iu view of his success in the Twin City. Mr. Smathers is only one of many rich men who staud ready to invest their money in race horses if they felt certain there would be no adverse legislation this winter. As good business men they do not think it well to pay big prices for thoroughbreds with a view to winning rich stakes, only to-find that with adverse legislation the values of all the added moneys must inevitably be reduced, except where the stakes have already dosed. J. J. Burke.
