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JOHN E MADDEN THE VERSATILE AND SAGACIOUS FOUNDER OF OUR GREATEST BREEDING ESTABLISHMENT JOHN K MADDEN was born at Bethlehem Pa in ISliO and being now 5J years of age finds himself the foremost breeder of thorough ¬ breds in the United States A few years ago one who knows about things pronounced him the best horse trader in the world and in bis buying aud selling at high values this characterization was well earned He Is more than that He is the one big breeder who gal laiuly stuck to his guns in the distressful times when other breeders were dispersing their thoroughbreds abroad over the earth whereevcr a buyer could be found and having kept the resources of Hamburg Place unimpaired is sure to reap a rich reward presently for his sagacious and plucky course He certainly has led a busy life and much of it has been de voted to horses In one way and another His eariest connection in that way was with the trottgrs and when no more than sixteen years of age lie had made himself a fairly accom ¬ plished relnsman In the time of his dealings with trotting horses he boldly gave big prices for rising celebrities and as readily sold them for greater sums In his early manhood he bought campaigned and sold among others such as Kobert McGregor Siiisun Kachcl and Bel Varra Later on he owned tlie famous Nancy Hanks and to show that after turning to the runners he did not lose sight of his first love so recently as 1U07 lie bought Hamburg Belle for ifSOOO and after she developed into a trot ¬ ting star of the first magnitude sold her for 50000 He bought Siliko after he saw him beaten In the Kentucky Futurity for twoyear olds and the following year won its sequel the Kentucky Futurity for threeyearolds with him This was worth 10000 to the wln neiv and then Madden sold Slllko to go abroad for ifr 000 These are merely sanmles of his many wealth building transactions In which the trotters were involved It is doubtful if he ever made a losing venture in that line If ho did he is the onlr one who knows il out It his first thoroughbred In Castaway U liy Outcast Lucy Llgle vhlch he sold aud which as a four yearold won the Brooklyn JIiindicai of 1 0 for tile BeycrwyfloStybJe But having acquired a taste for the rapid action ofMlie thoroughbred It was foreign to liis nature to embark in running racing in any small way and not many years from that first venture had passed before heJiad made his mark east and west Aiuong the horses he raced early were Applause Harry Keed Dundee Coquette Lottie Eastln and Handsjinu With them and others he won well Fuit it was not until 1807 that a year of tremendous success arrived for him It was then that he introduced the magnificent twoyear old Hamburg to the racing world ami with him won the Great Trial Stakes and Double Event at the Sheepshead Bay June meeting Flash Stakes and Congress Hall Stakes at Saratoga Kising Genera ¬ tion Slakes and Electric1 Handicap at Brighton Beach Autumn Stakes and Great Eastern Handicap at the Sheepshead Bay autumn meeting iind the Prospect Stakes and Excelsior Stakes at Gravesend In these races Hamburg justly earned for himself the name of being one of the greatest horses of American turf history Then after having won iS50 y for his owner Hamburg was sold to Marcus Daly for on the authority of Mr Madden himself the tidy sum of 4000L Mnddei had another twoyearold that year which won good races for him and was destined to bring further distinction to him stallionIn the next year This was the brown Hltuyar colt Plaudit now a successful stallion In 189S TohnW Schorr possessed a colt in vhlch he justly took great pride and with which lie confidently expected to win the Kentucky Derby This threeyearold was named Licber Karl and he was ii good one but unluckily for hini and the expectations of his owner a better one was awaiting his advent in Kentucky At Memphis Lleber Karl won the Tennessee Derby in great style iroin Isabey and Goodrich Then he beat Isabey again in the Luehrmann Hotel Stakes and wound u at Memphis by giving weight and a beating to the fouryearold Buckvidcre and other older horses In the Poabody Hotel Handicap Thus It came about that he went to Louisville to meet Plaudit VIth good racing credentials and tliere was miich excitement over the mutter in Tennessee and Kentucky as well as in other less immediately interested parts Plaudit in the meantime had done no racing that spring but had trained satisfactorily When Kentucky Derby day arrived tho track was good but not fust Lieber Karl was a prime favorite at 1 to while it was 3 to 1 against Piaudit The latter carried 117 ppnnds to 122 on Licber Karl and when in a severely contested finish Plaudit only won by a head It was claimed with some show of reasou by the Tenncsseeans that the five pounds difference was all that had defeated Lieber Karlj Therefore when the two cracks met again In the Clark Stakes with conditions so reversed that Plaudit had up 127 pounds to lill on Lieber Karl they strove earnestly to get even by backing the latter into 2 to 5 favoritism only to be forced to endure the chagrin of viewing Plaudit win in a canter liy four lengths Then the two went to Cincinnati and giving him two pounds Plaudit again defeated theMcmphis colt easily this time In the then valuable Oakley Derby Plaudit was now held to be an Invincible and had a walkover for the Buck ¬ eye Stakes at Oakley worth 5if 0 to the winner However when it came to the running of the Latouia Derby Plaudit had one opponent in the fast but erratic Han ilOr He carried 114 pounds to 127 on Plaudit and was not well thought of Plaudit being at 1 to 7 in such betting as occurred But Han dOr had his revenge for such slighting und running an extraordinary race won every yard of the way and covered the mile anda half of the race In 22 Plaudit also had to submit to defeat in the St Louis Derby because he could not concede twenty pounds to Pink Coat but made a gallant endeavor and finishing second did give twenty pounds and a beating to such a good one1 as Bannockhurn Having raced brilliantly in the west and given Madden his first experience of the joy of imssessing a Derby winner Plaudit was now taken east to win the Lawrence Realization if S sible and would have done so but for his old stable comrade Hamburg being in the way He IH run second and was sold to Sidney Puget but fell lame and could do nothing for the lafter In lafterIn tlie course of the next dozen years Mr Madden was at all times a leading figure in American racing affairs He raced extensively aud successfully and sold his Hamburg Placebred youngsters for surprising figures He sold some for stiff figures that proved failures but he also sold others that made good most emphatically About the time he sold Hamburg to Marcus Daly he Ixiughtfour hundred acres as a starting point to what is now the magnificently appointed Hamburg Place of over 200i broad and fertile acres There he gathered broodmares with cure and discrimination and from therewith such sires as Galore Ogden Plaudit Yankee mid Migraine he sent or took to the races a host of winning horses Aiuong them were Sir Martin King James Aristocracy Skillful New ¬ market Edward Hampton Court Lady Panchita Lady Bedford Joe Madden Fayette Shannon Naiishoii Acefnll Mexican Blue Girl Lawton Wiggins Etta and Harrlgan to say nothing of others I that raced prominently It would be dillicult in any short article to more than sketch his activities I and ventures When tlie last of the Hanovers was sold be gave 20000 for the Hanover Correction colt and naming him Yankee won the Futurity of 1IH1 with him but not altogether on his own account for he had sold n part Interest in the colt to William C Whitney Yankee is now the liest Hanover horse in the stud One misadventure of his was when he let Sam HHdreth have the great colt Novelty for a trifle compared with his real value But that had not beeu demonstrated at the time and he viewed Noveltys triumps with about as keen an interest as if still In possession of Kingstons splendid son sonAs As a turfman his best year was unquestionably when In 1008 he won the great stable total of 17117 with Sir Martin Fayette and Kdward his star contributors the first named being tho lead ¬ ing winning horse of the year with Jf7Sr 00 to his credit This splendid son of Ogden and Lady Sterling he sold In the fail of that year to the AngloAmerican Louis Wluans for a big price and how In the next year he would in all probability have won tho Epsom Derby for his new owner but for falling at Tattenham Corner is known to all who follow the fortunes of the horses He also sold to Winans the good horse Adam Bede with which the latter won the valuable Duke of York Stakes and Cambridgeshire Handicap last year Incidentally he 1ms sold the same turfman quite a band of other horses that have not done so well But among them is a now threeyearold brother to King James that may do something worthy of his relationship this year His name is Dnke of York John YorkJohn K Maddcns cheerv confidence In the eventual rehabilitation of American racing is l est in ¬ dicated by two recent transactions of importance Last year he bought from Col E F Clay all of the latters broodmares yearlings foals and his half Interest In the premier sire Star Shoot thus adding vastly to the resources of Hamburg Place Quite recently he supplemented this by buying the grand liorse Ballot from the estate of the late James B Keene and has brought him back from England to spend his days where he belongs Pity it is that he was not also moved to rescue the superb Colin from his present condition of neglect and obscurity in England However one cannot have everything and tlie owner of Hamburg Place deserves all praise for the enterprise aud he has already shown in abundant measure courage
