view raw text
HOW A 00 YEARLING SOLD FOR 30,000. "One frequently hears the remark that a horseman is of necessity a gambler," remarkrd a man who has had much to do with both running and trotting horses. "I maintain that there are many men connected with racing who should no more be classed In the gamblers category than the average merchant who buys or sells merchandise. We ate all gamblers, if it comes to that, even though we never turn a card or hazard a dollar on the result of a trial of speed between horses. "I recall one horseman who gambled to some purpose, and no one could find anything in the transaction to question. Some years ago there was a colored trainer of thoughbreds named Albert Cooper, who was uncommonly skillful in his profession. "He handled large strings of thoroughbreds at various times for such men as the late" George L. Hearst and Lucky Baldwin, also James R. Keene, and It was while training for the last-named turfman that he made the gamble which brought him more money than he ever expected to possess at one time. "Cooper was training a few of the Keene horses, when he saw a yearling colt in one of the summer sales that he fancied, and he determined to take a chance and buy him if he did not go too high. The youngster was a chestnut in color, and was by Hyder All out of Glorianne, by Joe Daniels. "On the day of the sale Cooper learned that Johnny Sheridan, a capable exercising boy, who was rapidly becoming too heavy to ride, was thinking of bidding on the colt, and before Auctioneer Easton called for a bid on the opening lot the colored trainer and the youthful Irish-American lad had agreed to buy the yearling in partnership. Fortunately for them nobody else fancied the big, lumbering fellow particularly, and they became his owner for something under 400. "When he was broken that fall he didnt show anything phenomenal and he was permitted to run wild in a big paddock near the upper turn. He roughed it in every sense of the word, his coat unkempt and his mane and tail full of burrs. "He was a sorry -looking prospect and wouldnt have brought 100 at auction. He also fell lame. When winter set in the colt was forgotten by all but his owners, who kept him out of view. His name was never mentioned in the newspaper reports from the training headquarters. "Domino, a black colt by Hlmyar Correction, owned by Mr. Keene and occupying the best stall in Coopers barn, was universally conceded the palm. Cooper had broken him and tried him as a yearling. Whenever anybody asked Albert if Domino was fast he would smile, shake his head and reply: " Yes, boss, he sure Is speedy, that Domino boss. "He may have been more open with Mr. Keene, but to the world at large the information that Domino was speedy sufficed. The colored man was amazed one day shortly after the training season opened when two of William Lakelands men came over from Brighton Beach with an order for the black colt and another. Mr. Keene had made arrangements with the wizard of Brighton to train Domino and El Telegrafo, and friends of Cooper say there were tears in his eyes as he watched the pair depart. "Mr. Keene on his weekly visits always told the colored man of Dominos progress and prophesied a great record for the youngster. In his opinion he was the best horse that he had ever owned, and those who heard him make this remark at once recalled that Spendthrift and Foxhall had both borne the white and blue dots. He asked Cooper If he had heard anything remarkable in the way of trials at Gravesend or Shccpshead Bay. " No, boss, nothing out of the ordinary, was Alberts reply; but all the time he was putting his big colt through his work in deadly earnest, most of the trials being before anybody else was astir. "The season opened at Gravesend In those days, and Domino flashed upon the turf horizon like a meteor, winning an overnight race as his maiden, and following this a few days later with a dazzling victory In the Great American Stakes, worth 1S,-G75 to the winner. The Great Eclipse, the richest stake event at Morris Park, worth 6,750, was won with consummate ease by the black whirlwind, and the turf enthusiasts were already proclaiming him the champion of his age and year. "Mr. Keene spent the greater part of every Sunday looking at the colt. Somebody finally told the Wall street man that his own trainer. Cooper, had a fast two-year-old of Ills own, and one Sunday, after ho had feasted his eyes on Domino, Mr. Keene drove to the colored trainers quarters and chided him for concealing his unnamed prodigy. " I didnt know, boss, whether youd care to look at a foah hundred dollar hoss. "The instant the big colt had been posed by his part owner-trainer under the shade of a big apple tree that stood in the paddock the veteran recognized something in the colts makeup that betokened class that indefinable quality which makes some men and some horses greater than others of their species. "How much do you want for him, Cooper?" queried Mr. Keene as his critical eye took in the superb colts outlines. " Hes not for sale, boss, was Coopers quiet reply. " What arc you going to do with MmV was the next question Mr. Keene propounded. " Win a few small stakes, boss, and then "pint" him for the Futurity, said Cooper. " Dont you know that Dominos in the Futurity? AVhat would your colt do with him? queried Mr. Kccne. " Nothin. boss, was Coopers quiet reply, except just run away and hide from them. "This was too much for Mr. Keene, who exploded. The colored man waited till the storm had passed and then, facing his employer, he said: "Youre a rich man. boss, and Im a poor colored man training some of your hosses. You all think Dominos the fastest hoss in the world. I dont. You all want me to put a price on that colt, and I says hes not for sale. But, boss, tell you what Ill do. Ill run you hoss again hoss tomorrow morning to see who takes both of them. "This startling proposition staggered the millionaire, who looked at Cooper. The colored mans face was stern and he stood stolidly with his short, stout legs braced determinedly. Mr. Keene did not take up the defi, but the next morning he saw the chestnut colt work au amazing trial. He had the boy and the saddle weighed, and realized that Cooper possessed a horse of undoubted quality. "The following Sunday he was at the course once more and looked over the big son of Hyder AH. The Futurity that year would be worth more than 550.000 to the winner and it had been an almost foregone conclusion that Domino could pick up all his penalties and win until this comparatively unknown colt of Coopers turned up. It would be a stroke of enterprise to get him out of the way, and the result was an offer of 20,000, which Cooper declined without an instants hesitation. " Give you 25,000, Cooper, called the turfman as he stepped into his trap to be driven to the railroad station that evening. " No, thanks, boss," was the colored mans reply as he turned away. "That night, however, Johnny Sheridan and Cooper talked it over till well Into the morning hours, and the bov was in favor of selling if the offer should be raised to 30,000. It was a lot of money, he urged, and horse racing was uncertain many a fast horse being of the morning glory variety, although they both felt that their champion was of the simon pure brand. "Mr. Keene had determined upon owning the chestnut colt and two days later he appeared at the course and bought him for 30,000, naming him Hyder Abad and leaving him in the charge of Cooper, who wanted to wager 5,000 that his pet would finish in front of Domino in the Futurity if both started and there was no declaration. "Hyder Abad was what you could term an unlucky horse. He had the speed of a meteor, but he never won but one race in the Keene colors. That was the July Stakes at Monmouth Park, worth G.795. He ran a dead heat at the same meeting with Henry of Navarre for second place in the Sapling Stakes, conceding the handsome colt that afterward proved to be a champion seven pounds. He was second a number of times that year and In all earned about 11.000. "In the Futurity he ran coupled in the betting with Domino and fell. Domino winning, to the disgust of Cooper, who maintained to his dying day that Hyder Abad would have won but for the mishap. Fitzpatrick, who rode the colt and who has also passed away, told his friends that Hyder Abad was going great guns when he was thrown."
