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RECOLLECTIONS OF A FAMOUS RACE IB a recent issue of the Nashville Banner of Nash ¬ ville Tenu there appeared from the pen of B Frank Moore of Harrodsburg Ky an Interesthig accOHat of tbe great race run by Lecomte and Lex ihgton famous fonrmilers at New Orleans In 1854 The article Is written from the standpoint of an eyewitness and is as follows I was born and reared on a sugar plantation in Louisiana one hundred miles above New Orleans on the Mississippi River On the evening of March 30 river gathered at my fathers home to take the Bayou Sara and New Orleans packet steamer J A Cotton for New Orleans to attend and witness that race on Apjrll 1 1854 Owing to a violent tain and wlnd4 wlnd4stprniT stprniT Wowlqgtbe chjimneys off andotherwlsa IJsabllhg the HtcambtJat we did riot reach Xpw Or ¬ leans until tbe morning of the race day When we entered the office room of the St Charles Hotel my father stumbled against W J Minor o whose plantation twelve miles bclqw my fathers the horse Lccomte luul l cen sent by liis owner Col Jeff Wells to Iwcome nccnstomod to tbe water and climate and for full training on W J Minors track When my father took Minor to one side to have a little horse talk he asked him about a reported sensational fourmile trial run Lccomte bad made pn his track only a few days before Minor smiled and said Moore Lecomte did make a little run the other day but secrecy is enjoined upon me and I cannot speak of it but I will say this much that If it was a dry good track today every dollar I could command negroes plantation and everything on earth I possess would go on that horse beating any horse in the world that could be pitted against him The track however is very heavy and stiff In mud and Lexington coming down here as a noted mud horse I would npt risk one cent on Lecomte The track was very heavy and stiff just suited to LexlngtonTs going aft the result of the race proved Well now for the entries and the race raceThat That great State Post Stakes was represented by four horses from four different states with ah en ¬ trance fee of 5000 from each state viz Lexington from Kentucky Lecomte from Mississippi Arrow from AlabamaLecomte Louisiana and Highlander from Alabama Lecomte was born and reared near Alexandria Rapides Parish Ea and was entered from that state at first but owing to the celebrated Virginia horse Planet being unable to reach New Orleans in time Lecomte was entered from Mississippi and Arrow substituted by Duncan F Kenner another Louisiana sugar planter and turfman as the Louis iana entry entryHighlander Highlander had made a fairly good reputation as a three nnd fourmile horse Some Mobile sportsmen had paid 10000 for him and confidently entered him In the race from Alabama AlabamaTo To make assurances doubly sure they engaged Kilpatrlck 4Gen Andrew Jacksons old Jockey to ride him But that was about all be did for Lex ¬ ington and Lecomte were under the string when Highlander and Arrow had not much more than en ¬ tered the homestretch homestretchWhen When the horses were brought out to start Lex ¬ ington drew the pole and when they started took the lead but was headed at the quarter by Lecomte which kept the lead for three and onehalf miles running more beautifully and gamely than any horse I had ever seen on a track Lexington however kept within easy reach of him evidently under a strong pull At the last halfmile post the rider gave him his head and step by step he went up oil Lecomte until they were on even terms at the head of the homestretch It was then a struggle under whip and spur to the wire Lexington winning by a bare length Arrow and Highlander were shut out and the second beat was 6rily between Lexington and Lecomte and was simply a repetition of the first heat except that Lexington won by three lengths Such excite ¬ ment was never before witnessed on a similar oc ¬ casion and I dont suppose such a concourse of peo ¬ ple was ever assembled on a race course courseThree Three of the largesfand most commodious steam ¬ ers werechartered at Lbiilsvllle by men and women from Fayette arid adjoining counties of Kentucky to conrey them to New Orleans The mayor of New Orleans proclaimed a halfholiday and it did seem as H every man voman and child inthe cltj bad turned out 1 shaft ever remember my f = atl experience of tun Vay I met In the Jt Charles Hotel early that inorii ing an old Kentucky horse and mule trader fricml who told me he bail in a nearby livery stable smn fine saddle horses and if I would get some frloinls to Join him we could have a more pleasant time than being crowded to death in the grandstand I thought well ot this suggestion and soon hail friends to join me Soon after reaching the field we were surrounded by carriages buses buggie and every conceivable conveyance and our view of the horses and track was almost completely cut off offOnly Only now and then could we catch a glimpse of the horses through the slight openings and what was worse still we could not iwssibly escape from out enforced imprisonment until all was over and tb vast crowd dispersed My father was in the grandstand among the Jubilating Kentuckians and not only sacrificed com ¬ fort but lost heavily in pocket because his state pride caused him to meet the banters of those habpy Kentueklans who were yelling out 3 to 1 on Lexing ¬ ton after the first heat But all that fun and frolic was over for n time nnd another like event was on tho tapis The tapisThe following Saturday April 8 another JockPv club meeting ut the Matarle race course began and Lexington Ltcomte and Renbe were the entries for the fourmile race for a purse ot 2000 2000The The wwk preceding had been dry and balmy characteristic of spring weather in Louisiana and the track was in firstclass order when the race was called calledThe The three entries appeared In splendid form and condition and while Lexington was the favorite in the betting Lecomte had plenty of liackers The start was made witb Lecomte in the lead which he held to the finish in the recordbreaking time of 726 and leading Lexington six full lengths Renl e barely saved Ills distance evidently being outclassed The second heat was about as the first Lecomte win ¬ ning by four lengths from Lexington In 738 and Reube distanced distancedThis This ended the contest between tho e two horses but Lexington on the 2d of May 1855 made the run against time in a single dash of four miles which was run in 719 He however had every possible advantage a fine day fine track a running start and the fastest mile horses for every mile in turn turnNow Now what was the denouement of all this Le comte was crowned champion of the American turf and Dick Ten Broeck recognizing this fact bought and took him to England with Pryor and Pryoress in the spring of 1856 but the champion never again appeared on the turf He took cold on the ocean steamer which developed into pneumonia of which he died shortly after reaching Londoir Lexington went stone blind at four and was sold to Alexander of Woodford County Kentucky for 10000 ami put in the stud on his farm farmLecomte Lecomte got his name from a rich planter living on Cane River Natchitoches Parish Louisiana and the town or village of Lecomte was bnilt up after this race on the sugar plantation of Jeff Wells which he previously called Lodi sixteen miles from possible upon that invincible horse hence the name Lecomte All of the above is from my personal observation and recollection which I trust will be of some in ¬ terest Sincerely SincerelyB B FRANK MOOUK MOOUKHarrodsburg Harrodsburg Ky September 9 1910
