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JOSEPH J BURKES INTERESTING BUDGET OF RACING GOSSIP AND REMINISCENCES New York April 10 One day not long ago Mr August Belmont told rejireseatatives of the press that the largest attendance at any race course In the east within bis knowledge was on Decoration Day 107 when more than 000 persons saw that days racing at Belmont Park That was only live years ago At that time every daily paper in this city printed columns and some of them gave pages of matter daily to racing matters Some of this matter was just so much space thrown away for it was silly frothy irresponsible stuff not worthy of serious consideration But all of it acted as an advertisement for the turf and the race courses re ¬ ceived the benefit through the gate money What a contrast nowadays Most of that 50000 people are still alive and interested in racing Yet day after dav and week after week goes by and one seeks in vain for turf news in the daily papers Even the ono journal which made for many years a sj ecialty of turf matters has forced into the background even the little news which crops up these days and a man who had got into the habit of buying the paper was forced to look through it very closely to find out what may have happened in the turf world In former days the turf news was thrown at one as it were In these days it is almost hidden away with apologies for publishing it it would appear appearManaging Managing editors of the great daily journals men whose salaries run up to 15000 a year because of their presumed value as shrewd judges of what the reading public prefers to see in their favoritiS jour ¬ nals are responsible for this But though they arc no doibt all able men I beg to take issue with them iu the manner in which they treat turf news True there is not much actual news going on dur ¬ ing the winter in New York but there Is always some gossip worth while retailing in the columns of a paper read by metropolitans yet you cannot force this sort of matter into the dailies Give us only turf news we cant give space to gossip Such are the inflexible orders to turf reporters whoso reminlsccnccs of great events of the past thirty years could not help being interesting I throw aside one after another of the local daily papers which 1 buy at the rate of x ne every hour during the day filled with disappointment at the barrenness of turf news I envy the people in England France and Germany whose tastes are so thoroughly catered to as to be responsible for scores of daily papers devoted to turf news Here we do not even get cable news as to the winners of the wellknown turf fixtures unless it happens that some American horse has won An exception to this was seen last week when the Herald gave us fairly good stories from Paris when W K Vanderbilts Mont rose II was beaten twice the second time by II B Duryeas Shannon a colt whose twoyearold form was at least fourteen pounds inferior to that of Montrose II Fancy Mr Duryeas feelings as lie lauded ii England a few davs after Shannon had won and beat Montrose II to learn that he had injured himself by running away after breaking looso from his van ou his way back to training quarters quartersWhen When Shannons victory over Montrose II was cabled here I went up to the Jockey Club olfice to look up his pedigree Thanks to the efficiency of Registrar W II Howes ollice I was afforded in sixty seconds full information One day during the Saratoga meeting of 1JOS 1 was told that Mr Duryeas entire slnd was to be at once sent to France This was several months after the Ilart Agnew laws had passed ajnl It marked a general movement on the part of breeders to send out of the country many of their mares and stallions Messrs Ketne Belmont and Haggin each sent scores away Hut when Barney Schrcilier was in ¬ terviewed by Tom Gallahcr for the Herald be emphatically declai d that he would never send a horse across tin water that so long as there was one KKit on thin continent where racing was going on thero would be found horses from the Wood ¬ lands Stud Tin famous breeder has never broken his word lie has never sent a horse across the water dusplte tin xlrong temptation to do so John Sanford ald the Kami thing and none of his horses havo crowed tlm Hcas Since 1JMS others have Ixen sent away awayAmong Among the lot lhat Mr Duryea sent in 1008 were Census a mare covered by Irish Liid and the colt Shannon is tho rcmilt of Hie mating Ho was foaled In IMft and six a Iwoyearold he was a fairly good colt but even Mr Durytn did not have much faith In him sm hi WHS not entered for the Grand Prix de Paris though nine others of Mr Dnryeas were nominated Thus far none of that nine have shown form good enough to l e at even 500 to 1 for tho big nice Irish I id you of course recall for bis many brilliant victories beginning as a twoyearold whun John E Madden sold him to Messrs Dnryea mid II I Whitney and this colt was then trained by the bite John W Ilogcrs He was really bred by Eugene Leigh owner of bis dam at that time Ajrowgrass and Irish Lad was reared in New Jersey on L Applebys Silver Brook Stud Begot by Candlemas a brother to St Blaise Irish Lad good game honest racer never captivated by his looks for lie was called some ¬ what coarse by connoisseurs although no one who saw his splendid effort In the Brighton Handicap of 1004 when he went laino at the head of the stretch yet forced Broomstick Tommy Burns up to do his best to win by a bead in the fastest race ever seen for the distance will ever forget him Yet despite that thrilling effort when everyone was declaring to II P Whitney that Irish Lad would make a great sire that gentleman failed to Iwcomo enthusiastic over the suggestion and said that ho would not cart to breed to him He seems to have acted up to this too for it was only Mr Duryeas marcs that were mated with Irish Lad LadMr Mr Whitney never let Broomstick get out of his mind however and when the breakup of the Seuor ita Stud came Klliott C Cowdin purchased the young stallion for Mr Whitney for 7000 Ceu sus dam of Shannon is by Ethcllicrt a great racer out of Calculation she by St Florian out of Ituckon Both the last two raced for tho Messrs Morris MorrisAn An interesting situation now looms up Mr Dur ¬ yea lias in England under the care of Athie Persse the threeyearold colt Sweeper II a son of Broomstick and ICavello II hence halfbrother to Jack McGirnis Frank Gill which won his owner a fortune and dropped dead one day after a race at Gravcsend Frank Gill was a stayer as well as a good miler his victory in the Withers over Peter Pan showed that and Mr Duryea was fond of his dam So Mr Elliott Cowdin bought her for Mr Durvca at the same sale in which Broom ¬ stick was sold Through some technicality of the French racing rules Sweeper II is not eligible to races for French horses but he was duly named for the English classics His races as a twoyearold wore highclass and he clearly showed that he needed a firstclass handrider which was the reason his owner when In this country recently endeavored to secure a firstclass jockey to take back with him for Mr Duryea is confident his colt has a Derby chance second to none He told a friend in the rooms of the Jockey Club here not long ago that Sweeper II as a yearling far out looked Shannon both then being in the same stable in France where they were seen by Jimmy Kove and Tom Ilealey when they went abroad In the winter of 1010 Both these men greatly admired Sweeper II Now If that foolish jockey Peak really had good judgment ha would have snapped at any offer that Mr Duryea made him Peak i understood to have said that Mr Duryea would nol pay his price In my judgment any price was a good price if it carried with it the chance to ride in England a Derby horse and in France pos ¬ sibly the best threeyearold there to siy nothing of a great baud of twoyearolds the got of Irish Lad Kahclais and others Among the twoyear olds are two that are the produce of the fine mares Uunning Water and Content purchased by Mr Duryea from the owner of the Newcastle Stable who had paid to Woodford Clay more than 25000 for them one day at Saratoga six years ago At agoAt present Garner does some of tho riding of Mr Dnryeas horses The French division is trained by G T Murphy who for years was David Gideon trainer At one time Murphy had a chance to train for Itichard Croker in Ireland Tho wife of Mr Duryea is one qf the most ardent of turf devotees She is a rich woman iu her own right and is so fond of the horses in the stable that1 she is present at all important trials and sees much of the de ¬ tail work workIoor Ioor Jimmy McCormick has gone to his long rest His death was discounted here some weeks ago Mr Belmont having received a cable from Baron Oppenheim that the poor fellows case was hope ¬ less Ho died a rich man but paid dearly in some ways for his worldly success His only son died a few years ago and when this was followed by the death of McCormlcks wife while he was on the ocean en route to Germany in the winter of 1000 it nearly killed him He began his career In a for ¬ eign country under a terrible handicap could not speak the language and besides enduring a long spell of sickness had to look after tho most exten ¬ sive stable of horses In Germany Thai he should have overcome all this is a tribute to his naturally strong character His only surviving child is a daughter married to Dayton Hedges of Patchogne L 1 A brother William McCormick also survives the deceased A fortune of nearly a quarter of a million dollars was accumulated by the deceased horseman He has had a varied career I saw him carried off senseless a good many years ago after now the Gravesend track He was riding the gray steeplechaser Derby Ever afterwards he wore a silver plate in his skull and I noticed that ho was a severe sufferer in warm weather In 18 i he was ou the verge of death from typhoid Ho was conveyed from St Louis to New York and for weeks could get no rest except when lying on a water bed He had then been training two years for Burns Waterhoiise of California James Bowe had recommended him to Col Dan Hums and with Eddie Jones and others to ride the horses the stable won many stakes aiM wagers Hi leased Traverser from Pa Bradley and won the Cali ¬ fornia Derby in 1SOS for his employers lie tried hard to land the Burns Handicap for tho man after whom the race was named but failed Lovdal twice running second for it He won a large sum when Alex Shields shipped Logan from New Orleans to California and the iron horse won by a nose at 10 to 1 the sharps all thinking he had just landed whereas he had for a week or more been at San Jose recuperating Charley Ballard rode Logan that day Ho is now a turf speculator here in New York YorkAmong Among others McCormick trained for W A Eugeman the man who built the Brighton Beach track and as such did much to encourage hurdle racing with the Withers castoff Ventilator and raced castoffs from the stables of Messrs Pierre and George Lorillard August Belmont the first and other prominent turfmen of that period At that time and for years afterwards there was n book making at Brighton Beach Auction pools and pari mntuels wero the medium of speculation Thomas II Ferris a wellknown backer of billiard players managed the betting ring and Mr Engemau thought lie had found a goldmine when Ferris paid him 800 a day as his share of the parimntuels A few years later with big Jim Brown as manager of the betting I saw first choice in the feature nice of the day sell for 1200 and the tracks share of the percentage in the mutnels came to 0250 a day which showed that 125000 a day was turned over in the boxes As trainer for Plunger Wal ¬ ton II O Bernard called the dipper August Belmont James H Keene Arthur Hunter W L Scott John Mullins owner of Badge G Wal baum owner of Lamplighter L V Bell owner of Hermis as a threeyearold and Alcedo when be won the Suburban though the horse ran in the McCor mick name and colors because of a bereavement iu Mr Bells family and finally as owner jnd trainer of Glorifier when that horse won the Carter and Metropolitan Handicaps in 1007 McCormick had enjoyed far more than the usual success which falls Jo a trainer trainerThen Then came the hostile racing laws and with his usual foresight McCormick saw no prospect for the restoration of racing here and accepted Baron Op penheims offer There he achieved tremendous suc ¬ cess for three years Three months ago I spent a most interesting hour in his company In Dr Mc Culleys otllce here and was regaled with some good stories As a raconteur ho was unexcelled His memory for incidents long since forgotten by others was wonderful It was his fortune to be one of the leading spirits In the famous outlawry at Gnttonberg about 1S02 It had been decided to go ahead and race despite the edict of tho Board of Control Eugene Leigh James McCormick James Shields and others each donated the first purse they won ou the opening day to the hospital In charge of the Sisters of Charity The racing went on in due time the ban was removed and all the well known trainers of that track lived to become the trusted confidantes of the richest men on the so called big tracks Leigh McCormick Welch Garth four of the best known have achieved fame since in various parts of the world worldJOSEPH JOSEPH J BURKE
