view raw text
•i» ■ — 4. BREEDING PLANS OF THE KEENE ESTATE AND OTHER MATTERS . ENTERTAININGLY DISCUSSED BY JUDGE BURKE T New York. Febraarj 1-. Actlag with the heredit- irj hii-inos acumen and promptness which made her late father the really great breeder that In- was. Mi-- Elisabeth Daiageraetd rawc to New York a lew days since, sought an iaterview with .Mr. S 1-iinii llanford. tin- legal adviser of the bite James U. Ket ne. ami upon his assuraajce thai the breeditig stud now at Kingston Is to be continued under aer Bianageateat. n returned lo Kentucky and will de .1. hersell to tbe i*ougeaIal task of orerseehsg its produ.iioii of - .11- and daughters of tbe famous sires ami .lam- which for many years made Castle lou the talk of the racing world. 1; is a big responsibility for a v.. .man. hut it i- i.ot a new ihir, for Mi-s Daiujrerfield. whose monthly reports to tin-lale Mr. Keeue were f..r years the only dependency he had upon whi.-h to rest In- tbougufs cooceraiog th" youug thotoughbreds he owned. .Meantime, at this critical time of year, when about I in 1 y - ii extremely valuable mares will : .■ foal hag any time from date to the .ml of April. Mr. Foxball Kcenc i- u 1 i 1 a lot of time ami though t.. the pi.p.r mating .•! tbooe mac- again. Ii is true that iu iln- eight stallions Ike .lroperty of the Keen- estate, there is much diversity, and It 1-the proper seiecthia of those stallious for the mars* that i- taking no Mr. Kecaes attention There is no heller qualified man for this ailuriag pursuit. for it is a matter of coiBUMMl kimwledg nat !ii leat of external 1 irm in race h-nsrs is --.c •! lent. Indeed, it WOUhl he no surprise lo .ee the name of Foxkall Keeae in the Derby, daks, s-Lcger and atber Eaglisli events to cl. se In July and September of this year, lo he run in 1915. Mr Keen.- is .1 regular habitue of the Melton Mowbray and other busting counties cf England, has 1 r horses abroad, and it may be that be will coutluue the famous ••white Mac -pot-." which during the years beginning with ls7ti -v - so well known Ii this couatrj :i|! Englaad. It would i« ly g.H.d business sense to cuter in the English classics a dozen oi the best colts and ■ tiles bred at Kingston. ami if I bey should show good form in trials the* could be sent aver with excellent changes tu win. or to Bad new owners. Hut if we had racing In this itry, in New York State, the hulk of the Keeue estate yearlings would be sold annually at auction at r.ciinoni Park or Sbeepshead Hac. That is acarij |lo-ili e. "lag aged in turf ownership here in New York are many n of huge wealth whose loyalty to tic barrasscd sport deserves recognition, yet not much is heard of them. Recently 1 -at in conversation with one of New Yolks keenest business men. II was in 01 f those towering buildings which repre sent capital ruaalag Into millions. This particnl.ir structure is .lirectl;. aero-- the sued from the newl finished Crank Central Depot. Four men own tke building, whi.-h is beiag rushed to completion so that tenants may move in by May 1. It is casting si and a hall million dollars. The four men who own it are t. K. ;. Billings. Anthony N. Brady. Mr. Kaapp. president of the Peoples Gas Light V Coke «o. of Chicago, and Frederick .lohuson. It was Mr. Johnson with whom 1 talked. He owns sixteen racers, now occupying th stable abutting on Neck Road, formerly tenanted bj Mr. lanes 1; Keenen horses. The staid.- occupies ntore groaad of the Coo. * Island Jockey Clubs propertj than any other. In the "g 1 days" there used to he fifty-five of Mr. Keenes hor-os liern under the joint care of Jaine. Rowe ami tbe recently deceased ••Tim" Green. In this fa us stable were h. used all that splendid collection whi.h made their owner and breeder fain on-all over tin- world. In a aeat cottage there Mi. Keene used to lake in- rest on Sundays, looking .eer hi- horses ami listening to the eoauacats ol his guests. Mr. Johnsons sixteen horses are not a- arreted tiops a lot as their predecessors, hut there is at least two year old in the stable which will ! ■ heard from. This i- .■, gelding by Cncle— Catherine arson, for which Mr. Johnson paid 50 t Mr. John E. Madden. Mr. Johnson tolls me that his other youngsters cost htm in some cases three times a-inucli as did this one, ye| he rleaaed them all up in their trials last fall at Sheenshead Bay. Not long ago Mi. Madden hunted up Mr. Johnson and told him that he hail Intended to keep this yearling and race him himself, hoeau-e of bis relation-hip to : ., well -re mil. red Salvhlere. hut that he hud over looked him. Through sire and dam this geldiag goes hack ill four crosses to Jaconet. It would not lie the iii-t time Mr. Madden had sold a I one ;,, Mr. Johnson, for it i- easily recalled that he let him have Lady Winifred as a two-year-old a fev. days before -he defeated King .lame- at Sheenshead Bay. Catherine Carson, dam of the Lel.ling above referred to. cost ,100 as a yearOag. Sh.- was : ■ Ben Sir.. me. Mr. J..hns..n gome years ago leased Aeronaut from Mr. Clarence Maekaj and had great success with him. At about the same period his fathers mare Florham Queen accomplished a sensational coaquesl over llermi-. s.Hin after Mr. Thomas had 1 gi that horse. As ■ matter of fact, George I. John sua, father of Frederick Johnson, has been for tifiv years one of New Yorks best kaowa men who* love of -port has made rhini notahle. He backed lit Ilanlon. the oarsiuHii. for many thousands to In-at Wallace Roes about thirty-five years ago. He has been a notable figure a: all trotting and running races, aad at all boxing bouts. When New York began to grow fast, about forty years ago. lone before elevated roads were aide to do much • earr tin1 people uptown. Mr. Johnson -aw boa the tendency was am! began to bay land at o.v price-. Thi- -tailed him on the road to grmj — — — . wealth, and his Ihree son- ail Inn e followed hid example. The present sporting editor of the Herald told me today that if he had only followed the eld 1 Mr. Johnsons suggestions he would now he a riin man. The same editor told me that the late Col. s. I. Brace once begged him to bay a yearling for ,000 which later heeame famous a- Trouhadour. In 1887 I was judge at Niagara Kali-, where two running meetings were given at a lug L.-s. The men who owned the I rack were also promoters and capitalists and were pushing an enterprise which we all regarded as :i dream. This was he "harnessing" of Niagara Falls. You see BOW much of a ••dream it was. They all became multi millionaires. Reverting to Frederick Johnson, 1 would like to call attention to the fact that the "subscription posy" idea which J .x-k i.ot at Piping Bock last year was really his suggestion. He had been .0 Japan and China and in the latter place saw ihi Boaj racing, apparently tbe most popular form of equine sport there. When he came hack he told Mr. Thomas Hitchcock shout It, and .Mr. Hitchcock laid il lief.. re the Piping Kock management, with the result that last fall we had a series of polo pony races for lug stakes, which did much to keep ansa tour sport before Ike public. Mr. Johnson also brought on from Maryland a portioa of his sialih-and raced iu everj race at Piping Keck in which lie could run a horse. Il was here and utter at Be! niont Park Terminal that Beyboura made such a reputation as a weight carrying galloway. Not long since Mr. Johnson ofle •• 1 to endow with ,000 a stake to he known as .he Piping Rock Oak-, and hi- offer will no doubt he accepted. He -a hard worker for the -alvation of the mil. has In adci and contributed liberally to those aabacrip lion lists of 1000 and 1010 when the racing asaocia lions asked lor funds upon which lo draw in .a of deficit, and is again ready to do his shale in that respect. Like many others, he i- certain thai there will he no racing legislation iu New York this year. and that whatever relief we get must come through the Appellate Court and the Court of Appeal* Meautime, at Sbeepsbead Bay, his trainer. John I. Mayberry. is cheerfully looking forward to a snod . ear. An agreeable surprise was furnished our racing men when Joka K. Cells Highhridge ran second III the 1. .me .I Wal.s Steeplechase at Sandowa Park on February 8. Few knew that he was to race ro early, though all the training reports from Newmarket had been unanimous in saying thai he w.i-uioving well. I have had a look at the handicap weights for the race in question, and see that tin-two top weights were Lord Rivers and Highhridge. each at 17." pounds. The original weight- on them were ]7"_ pounds, hut under Rule 52 they were raised. Now. in the Grand National, the weights for which came out on January :;o. or two days after the weights for the Priace of Wales steeplechase. Lord Rivera is given 150 pounds and High bridge 154. The Grand National is a mile ami a half longer race than the Prince of Wales Steeple-chase, and perhaps that would account lor the difference of five pounds in llighhridges favor. It is asserted in well-informed circles here that tbe jumps in t lie Grand National are by no means so hard as BOSBe have declared: that, iii fact. the;. have been reduced in height, and nothing said about il. This 1 know, to-wit, that upon Thomas Hitchcocks return from Eagtaad about four years ago he told his friends that he did not think the lira el National so formidable a course as it had been depicted: that the .jumps were of the same height as those at Saratoga at thai time. On the other hand. Foxhall Keene, who ran Preeeator in the Grand National two years ago. asserted thai it is a hard COOrse. At any rate, the victory of 1 he v ■: French horse Latteut ill. about four years sgo opened the eyes of the turf world to the fad that a speedy young horse can win a race which tradition said could only he won liy well seasoned old bones. Wlun Highhridge ran second la-t week I looked up hi- near relatives in the Stud Book. I Bad that he wa- hied by K. I. Clay in Kentucky, hence if the horse should win his breeder will receive 80 as the conditions -.. require. Highhridge is i. lit idgewaler out of Duress, by Duttgarvaa out if Weishaden. Bridgewater was an Imported horse hi Hampton • tit ..r Bar Mahl. by Gall lard, hence a bor* • of high class breeding. V. II Rowe told me todai that the late W.i . Whit nc. on..- paid 5,000 for the mare Rambling Katie, a sister to Bridgewater. II ■ liked the mare ami bought her or his own accord. with BO suggestion from any interested parly. At one time Highhridge ,in- owned by J. Howard Lewis, wh .mages Joseph k. WMeaer"a horse- m l.ym wood. He -old him to P. S. I. Randolph for ,200 and 00 additional when he won. Mr. Kan dolph did nol persevere with iln- horse, present I him lo his -on in law. John R. Fell, ami in the hands of James K. Iravling he became the i..--i horse on the jumping turf in Canada and at the fall hunt meetings in New York. John R. Fell, owner of Highhridge. is a near relative of the Drexels of Philadelphia. His th T is a daughter of that famous house. She manic I for the second time Mr. A. Van Rcnnsak-ar Ii i-Mr. Fells intention to leave here for England on February is. hi two occasions lately 1 have heard that when Governor Snlaer appoints ■■ new state Racing Commission Ih.- appointees will he Messrs. August Del in. :n .iu. I Charles Kohler of New York City, and Montsgne Cerrans of Buffalo. All. any correspondent, are sot able to corroborate this, but the names were giv n me l.. good, reliable men. Joseph J. Rarke.
