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GOLDEN DAYS OF THE TURF. Reminiscences of Famous Races and Prominent Turfmen of the Long Ago Interestingly Related. Replete with interesting reminiscences and sidelights id the golden days of the turf is a resume of Hie history of racing at Saratoga and famous races at other eastern tracks to which the New York Sun recently devoted two of its pages. After referring to the blighting effects of the Hughes crusade against the greal si«ort of thoroughbred racing, the Sun goes on to say: "But the Puritan present cannot, outride and ride down the cavalier past. As we are watching tonight under the arching Saratoga elms the golden memories of the long ago come trooping hack again. We hear the shouts of the thousands watching the battle between I gfelkrw and Harry Basset t at Ixmg Dr. inch re-echoed by more shooting thousands when these splendid champions of a faraway turf meet again at Saratoga. The hoof heats of Salvator over the prepared track at M on booth, when a new record for the mile was established, come hack to us through the years as we listen in memory to the hoof heats of Springbok and Preakuess. as they race neck and neck past the judges stand on even terms for tin- Saratoga Cup. "Those are mellow memories of mellow times, when gentlemen drank from the stirrup cap, when gentlemen were sportsmen anil sportsmen were gentlemen, and when the American thoroughbred ran true to his form. Those were the days when the first August Bel moat and John Hunter and William R. Travels, who together owned and raced the great Kentucky, and James M. Marvin, the 1irst president of the Sain toga Baring Association, and Ltoiiard Jerome, who won manv a ilollar on One Dime, and Gem. Stephen Ran ford, still looking through his ti. ld glasses at the racing of horses of 1 own breeding at the Harrleana Farm, raced for glory Brat and money last and then talked it all over at a dinner at Moons, washed down with an old burgundy or an older ort. "And then there came that later epoch when the gel of Lexington, the lather of the American thoroughbred, and Kentucky and Longfellow and Bonnie Scotland and Virgil and Glenelg and Hiniyar came to the races, ami the butcher brothers of Brooklyn, Mike and Phil Dwyer, were Invincible on the race courses of the east from the days of Rhadanianthus to the days of Elanover. To he sure, the measure of the Dwyers horses was sometimes taken by those turfmen from the Kentucky blue i:rass. thinn and Woodford and Milton Young and J. W. Hunt Reyn-oldf. and later by Janus ]. Kecne. the sturdy and grtauled vice chairman of the Jockey CI ah. But individual turf history has Do liner r ird. not even that of the Duke of Westminster, or the Karl of Koneberv or even of Englands late kirn., than that •if the Dwyer brothers while their red. hlue sash ami red cap were carried by Rhadanianthus. the black heaiitv that was their first thoroughbred venture; Bramble, Miss Woodford, G ge Kinney. Ramos. Hindoo. Luke Blackburn, Tremont, Hanover and Handspring. ••And then came that western invader. E. J. Lucky i Baldwin, luckj in mining and lucky on the turf, when he brought from the broad acres of the Santa Anita Ranch ill California, 3.000 miles across the continent, Los Angeles, that wonderful daughter of Stenelg ami La Polka, to measure strides with the Ik-sI in the east and heat them: Mission Roll, whose tolling as siie Mashed by the winning |ost knelled the ihfeat of s of the smartest fillies bred in Kentucky or anywhere else, and the Mighty Ktnperor of Norfolk, believed hy Baldwin to he the gri atest thoroughbred that ever wore plates, and the aame Volante. "And by and hy In those olden, golden davs came that Instv, crusty; lighting Irishman. Ed Corrigan. with Modesty, queen « f the turf of her time: Frceland. which seemed to he fit to race for any mans money un any day and on any track, and Pearl Jennings, she that could race and win straight miles or mile heats with equal satisfaction to her owner and her hackers. "Meanwhile the brothers LoHBard, Pierre and O •ge L. — Pierre, the master of Rancocas and the owner of the great Parole and Iroquois, the only American-bred horse that ever won the English Derby, and Barrett and Cncas: George L-. owner of the great Monitor and the unbeaten Sensation and Ferida, which, like old Ben HoUadJay. could run better the farther she went — were battling for turf honors with the Dwyera and Milton Young and General Jackson of Belle Meade and Baldwin and Corrigan and the rest and BMMC than holding their own. And right abont here in the turf almanac may be found the lurf debut of those two ultra fashionable voung gentlemen, Frederick Cehhard and K. Kerry Wall. "Roth Gebhard and Wall had recently come into their Inheritances, Gebhard by way of horn st w hiskey and Wall bv tin ropewalk. Wall was in tic limelight as king of the dudes. Gebhard, piiet. self poaneaeed, tall and broad of shoulder and as baud some anil well dressed a boalevardier as any metropolis ever knew, was the owner of Role, tin- splen did son of Eoltis and War Song: Eloist. by the same sire, and St. Savior, later to become a sensational thoroughbred and a sensational sire. The speed and stamina of Bole were transmitted to Ethel beri ami by him to those great thoroughbreds of today. Fitz Herbert and Dalmatian. Wall broke into the turf with two horses. Wallflower and Gboet. Phew! Bat it was a swift pace that Gebhard and Wall set. Double eaglea to either of them were as dimes, and there seemed to be no bottom to the cash barrel of either. Hut there was. and poor Cehhard is slowly dying today in what to him must be modest lodgings on the border of the gay while way. which he knew and loved so well. Wall is no long, r regarded as the king of the dudes, but if fashions didnt change he had clothes enough left from his haleyaa days to keen him comfortably riot bed for a decade or two. i Note Frederick Gebhard has died since this article was published in the Sun. i "Wall, as the story comes down through the years, took umbrage at something Gebhard was alleged to have said. He concluded to take up the matter and settle it in the barroom of the United States Hotel at Saratoga. Nobody oataide of a verv few ever knew what really took place but the pleasantest feeling did not exist between the two young men and the outcome of it all was a lot of talk about a match race between lade and Wallflower. The match was not arranged and so far as history records thai was the last uersonal encounter between Gebhard and Wall. Rut it was not long after that Bole scored a memorable triumph when from post to finish he won for his owner the famous match race against Milton Youngs Getaway at Saratoga on August 12. 1881. Getaway was the favorite, bnt Cole won the match bv four lengths. "John Morrissey. champion prlseflghter of the world, congressman and first lessee of the Saratoga track, having been gathered to his fathers, fhaiies Reed still hale an. I heariy. though not far from eighty succeeded to the ownership of the famous Saratoga Club and became less I the Saratoga rack. He had made the ezperlmeal of raising thoroughbreds in the north coaatry at the Meadow Brook Farm on the eastern shore of Saratoga Lake. Although he imported Feebler and towlnader from England and bad among ids mares the great Thora and HenlOfien, the venture was not a success. Then he abandoned the north country farm, went to Tennessee, bought Exile and sent to he races such horses as Dobbins ami York vide Belle. "Ceii. Stephen Banfnrd had been experimenting in the breeding of thoroughbreds at Amsterdam. N. Y.. with Indifferent success. In the Saratoga Club one sight Beed got the general over in a corner and told him he could never gel size and strength anil s|ieed in horses bred in a cold climate. General Saaford is a very determined man. He usuallv carries through to success that w hich he plans. j !e had made up his mind to raise winning thoroughbreds on his own farm, even if that farm were in Mohawk Valley ami they had to plough out the roads in winter to lei even log sleighs pass. So. quite characterlaticalty. he replied to Beed: " Beed, you wail ami see. I shall not only breed [Ooatiaaed on second page.] GOLDEN DAYS OF THE TURF. [Coo tinned from fust page.] winners at Ilurricana. but 1 shall send to the races breakers of records. I give you my word and 1 keep my word. "General Sauford is a gentleman of the old school and of great dignity. When he made that Statement to Charles Keeil it was to him the equivalent of giving his bond. It was absolutely necessary, there fore, to make good, and the general did. "In tiie old days the Sanford purple and gold stripes were sported by ItStaea entered by plain S. Sanford. Kor some reason or other the general concluded to let the tall wag the dog and now all of the Sanford horses are sent to the races as owned by former Congressman John Sanford. General Sanfords only son. "The Combination of father and soi made more than good the statement made by ieneral Kan ford to Charles Reed years ago. The Silnfords bought the great Clifford and Isktor and some other stallions and installed them at Ilurricana, and then they bought La Tosca of Pierre LorlUard and other royally bred matrons, and when they got ready they sent to the races a Chucta nunda and a Mollv Bran; and a Caughnawaga and a Roekton. The Sanfords do not believe in early racing. They begin their campaign at Saratoga. General Sauford has as much regard for his thoroughbreds as an art collector would hive for peachblow vases or other rare Chinese porcelains. Along aliout 190] or 1902 lie had a colt — maybe il was Rock ton — that had shown phenomenal sliced in its trials, and Hayward. son of the famous old jockey, who trained the Sauford horses at that time, thought that he had a Futurity winner. Not long after the stable had arrived at Saratoga. Roekton, if that wife the colt, bucked his shins. General Sanford heard of it. At the track the next day ho sent for Hayward and told him to send the eolt back to the farm. But. Ceneral, said Hayward. bucked shins dont amount to anything. He will be well in a few days and well win the Futurity. •Hayward. said the General. T told yon to send that coll home. I think 1 have made my meaning quite clear. The eolt. with a few hairs oil his shins, anu sent back to Amsterdam and there was no Futurity to the Sanfords credit. "In thai wonderful land that is bounded and populated by memories of the turf one may not wander without seeing all over again those wonderful long-distance races, like the Westchester Cup at Jerome Park, at two miles and a quarter, where George L. Lorillanls .Monitor, with Costelio in the saddle, took the measure of McElmeels General Monroe, ridden by the daredevil Fitzpatrick. and of Eole. guided by Billy Doiiohttc. or the Monmouth Cup. at two miles and a quarter, at the old Mon mouth course, where Monitor again heat Eole by a scant length, Costelio and Donohue again being Hie jockeys. "Then there was the Champion Stakes in he autumn of 1883 at Monmouth Park, at a mile and a half, when old Billy Hayward. then in his prime as a jockey of the first water, piloted Monitor to victory again. Iieating brother Pierre Lorillards Parole, witli Feakes. the trailer, up. with Eole bringing up the rear in one of the greatest three-horse races ever seen in this country. "In that same memorable year of 18S3, at the autumn meeting at Monmouth, the Monmouth Stakes was run for at a mile and a half on August 25. A three-year-old youngster of the name of George Kinney, with the famous jockey and now well-known owner and trainer. James McLaughlin, wearing the colors of the Dwyer brothers, threw Ills gage into the ring to Eole. to Iroquois, to Monitor and to the Dwyer brothers Miss Woodford, most famous perhaps of all the grande dames of the American turf. While thousands cheered him on to victory tleorge Kinney made good his gage, beating Eole by a length and a half and Eole beating Iroquois, the English Derby winner, by half a neck. "On the following day there was a renewal of the Monmouth Stakes, in which the starters wore Eole. George Kinney. Monitor. Drake Carter, then owned by Pierre LorlUard, and tha same owners Iroquois. ; Mid old Eole this time taught t lie young Oeorge Kinney better manners. In spite of all the skill of McLaughlin. Eole beat Kinney Hy a length and a half. Then there were those battles in the Baden Baden Cup. at three miles, at Saratoga, most memorable of which pefbapfl was the defeat of Charles Heeds great Thorn by the Kentucky mare, Lida Stanhope; and those races for the great Long Island Stakes, with the Woodlawn vase as a special prize thrown in. at four miles, where Eole once beat 8. B. Brysons Bushwhacker, that curious quadruped combination of uncertain breeding that looked like a barrel with the head, tail and legs of a horse added to finish the cartoon. In that race the Coney Island Jockey Club added a Special prize if Lexingtons record for the distance was beaten, but it w .-isnt. "Then there was that Other race for the great Long Island Stakes— greatest perhaps of all — where the peerless Miss Woodford, under McLaughlins pa-lical and affectionate guidance, ran two heats of two miles each and heal Drake Carter and Modest three lengths in the rat heat and lour lengths in the second. "But old days pass and new days come, and one is brought up sharply with a reminder that the Victorian age ami the nineteenth century are closing. Two stars more brilliant than all the others shine in I lie turf firmament Hanover, the greatest son of Hindoo and Bourbon Belle, and tin; unbeaten Treason t, both owned by the Dwyer brothers, are sweeping ever;, thing before them. "Hanover begot Hamburg and a new turf magnate was begotten with blm. John E. Madden, previously known only on the trotting circuit, became tin owner of Hamburg and Hamburg became the king of the turf. Hamburg had his day and then the black whirlwind. Domino, son of Himyar and Man-nie Gray, came on to carry the white and blue polka dots of James R. Keene to victory in the principal stakes of his time. But one must not pass by the record of Domino without giving full credit to Richard Crokers Dobbins, which made him hustle as lie never hustled before, and to Henry of Navarre, which gave hini a giMxl sound heating. "With the coming to the races of Hamburg and Domino what might be called the dynasty of highest speed on the American turf was established through Hanover ami Himyar. Hamburg was by Hanover. Hanover by Hindoo. Hindoo by Virgil and Virgil by Vandal. Domino was by Himyar. Himyar by Alarm. Alarm by Eclipse and Eclipse by Orlando. James B. Keene bought Domino from his breeder. Maj. P.. G. Thomas. When the black whirlwind broke down he was sent to Mr. Keenes Castle-Ion Farm and began his career as a sire under the wise direction of Maj. Foxhall Daingerfield. Mr. Keenes brother -inlaw. And what a splendid lot of colts and fillies Domino sent to the races. There was the mighty Commando and Cap and He lls, that won the Knglisu Oaks. Mr. Keene giving all the fillys winnings in the stakes to British charities. Then there was Disguise, thai won the Jockey Club Stakes in England for Mr. Keene. and Colin, by Commando, that was never beaten in the two years that he met all coiners. A great line of winners for any one man to breed from a single sire. "Madden retired Hamburg and sold him to Marcus Daly, whose untimely death put an end to the Montana miners dream of establishing the greatest stock farm in the world. Not long before the dispersal sale al Madison Square Oarden of the Daly slock. William C. Whitney bad served notice that he was going to retire from all active business at 00. and in preparation for that retirement ho took to the turf. The former secretary of the navy and the man who di l much to make GrOTer Cleveland president didnt know much about thoroughbreds at that time, and for the first year or two his horses ran in the name of Sydney Paget. Nobody ever accused Mr. Whitney of being dull-witted, and he brought to near on his racing stable the same business foresight tliat had made possible the consolidation of all the street railways in New York and the formation of the American Tobacco Company. Paget seemed to have carte blanche to buy anything on four legs that he wanted and pay for it what he pleased. With the help of Paget and Madden Mr. Whitney gathered together a great stable. When he wanted a horse he boogbt it and the price v as no object. He paid what many men would regard as a handsome fortune for Nasturtium, for Endurance by Right, for Blue Girt, for Ballyhoo Bey. for Cunlirc and for Yankee. "It didnt take more than a year or two for Mr. Whitney to acquire sufficient knowledge of the turf to run his horses in his own name. Then he wanted to send to the races those of his own breeding. So he acquired a splendid property in the heart of Kentuckys richest blue grass, bought on Maddetis advice Hamburg at the Daly dispersal sale, established him at the head of his stud and named the farm Hamburg Place. That is where Madden is raising the horses that he is now sending to the races. Matters of finance had developed in Wall Street differences between Mr. Whitney and Mr. Keene. Mr. Keene was sending home-bred horses for the richest stakes of the turf and winning them. Mr. Whitney went right after him with the produce • if his own farm. Hamburg did as well for the honor of the Virgil family for several years as Domino did for that of the line of Eclipse. Up from Hamburg Place to meet the best of the east and west came the great Burgomaster and Bumble Bee. that met so untimely a death at Saratoga: Inflexible and Artful, thought by many to be the fastest horse or mare that ever looked through a bridle and that beat the mighty Sysonby in the Foturity. "But il was sol with a horse of his own breeding that Mr. Whitney had his spiciest turf contest with Mr. Keene. Then came in the Futurity of 1900. and its aftermath, the Flatbush Stakes, in the same year. Mr. Whitney was BO sure that he could win the Futurity wilh Ballvhoo Bey if the colt got off well thai he brought Tod Sloan over from England SI. cm in Ihosc days being BOtortmtslj quick al the barrier and. according to the storv. gave Sloan *.-.. uK t,,r ile job. Ballyhoo Bey v. on ami Mr. Keene BnisbedJ second and third with olympian and Tommy Alkins respectively. Neither Mr. Keene nor his son Foxhall was satisfied that. Ballyhoo Boy could beat Tommy Atkins, which they thought was the best t wo-year-old in the Keene stable. The following week Ballyhoo Bey and Tommy Alkins met in the KL-i I ltnsh Slakes and Atkins was trimmed again, but there were 1 1 protests that the Keene horse had been interfered With and thai the race had not beta truly run. Keene partisans ami Whitney partisans became belligerent and there was talk of a match for almost any stake. As usual nothing came of all the heated outpour of words. Tommy Alkins soon afterward was shipped to England, where he had been entered for the Derby, but the Ill-starred colt died of pneumonia, either on the way over or shortly after arrival. Ballyhoo Bey never started again. In due time he was sent to those luxurious winter quarters which Mr. Whitney had built for his horses at Westhury. L. I., along with Blue Oirl. Nasturtium. Endurance by Right and Goldsmith. "John Huggina was training Hie horses that Mr. Whitney had sent to England. He made a special trip over the ocean to look over the Whitney two-year-olds and fiick out of those nominated the one he thought most likely to win the English Derby. He hesitated for a time between Nasturtium and Goldsmith and then picked out the former because of his wonderful size, conformation and apparent staying qualities. But the sea fog came ashore at West-bury and got into the lungs of all the best youngsters Mr. Whitney had. Neither Nasturtium nor Endurance by Bight ever ran after the two-year-old season. They had become hopeless roarers, as had Ballyhoo Bey. Coldsmith and Blue Oirl. "But when one has wandered down the years of turf history and romance to the early years of the present Century — only eight or ten yenrs agone — the tale has no longer the interest of the olden years and it were better closed.
