view raw text
WHEN SALVATOR MADE HIS MEMORABLE MILE RECORD OF 1:35 1-2 . . JL. Iii view of the attempt which Iron Mask will make at Juarez i:ext Sunday to reduce Salvators long-standing American mile record of 1:15. a review of the circumstances under which the son of Prince Charlie and Salina made his memorable record at Monmouth Park, Long P.ranch, N. J.. August 28, 1800, is timely and may prove of interest to racing folk of the present day. Salvator had been sweeping everything before him and his owner. J. P.. llaggin, determined to retire him to the stud while still in the zenith or his glory and fame. On August 12, he had decisively defeated his greatest rival. Tenny. in the Champion Slakes at Monmouth. Then it was that Mr. llaggin ordered him declared from all the rest or his engagements preparatory to bringing his turf career to an end. His mile trial against time was the one task that was to be asked of him before his retirement. The new straightaway track that I. 1. Withers had built at Aloimiouth Park had been the scene of so many ivcord-breaking performances hat it was conceded to be by far the fastest race course in America. A short time previously. Uacine had established a new American record or l:10ii for one mile in winning a race at Washington Park. Chicago. Itavcloc soon afterwards ran a mile over the Moii-nioeth Park straightaway in 1:10 Vi- Shorter distances were being run the straightaway almost daily at rates of soeed before considered incredible. A recoril-bret.king "furore had arisen and this was whv it was decided that Salvators farewell to the turf should take Hie form it did. The dav selected for the trial was the lasl day of the meeting. Conditions were favorable and the Hack was in good shape, although contemporary accounts or the occasion state that the course was not espccialR prepared for tin; performance. A writer in the Horse Review who apparently went thoroughly into details, furnishes the following minute dc.-erii.tion of what took place: . "Two races were contested over the s.raight-av.av before Salvator appeared and no planes, harrows or rollers were run over it in the interim. Two pacemakers were selected from the llaggin s stable to carrv the champion on his journey, Na-ii.oima lo race him through the first half and Rosette to take up the task there and bring him home. As the going looked a tritle the best in the center or the track, the coll was started in that position, with Xamouna about ten lengths in advance. A llyilig star! was taken and when Salvator crossed iJlL Ulll" Wi,s ""Ving at a cyclonic pace. lun-nlugnltllVst quarter in 2:::ri seconds, he hud. In tlds distance eansht and passed Nainounu. Keeping on at the same dip a 1::!.". rate he had left : hei twenty vards behind when he reached the half in :4". Here Rosette met him and Matt Hyrnes. his trainer, who had stationed himself at that l,,1,lt-shouted to Marty Itergcli, who was in the saddle. to go on. The next quarter was covered in 24 seconds, a 1 ::! gait, making tho three-quarters in l:lli. Passing this point, Bergen hit Salvator two or three times lightly with the whip, but realizing that the colt would do his best without such punishment, he hamlrode him only thereafter. On he came, straight, and true, and covering the last quarter also in :24. finished the mile in 1 ::.." V. "While the odds had been 1 to .1 on Salvators beating the record, the most sanguine had not expected anything better than l::tS and few had anticipated a mile that rast. The result was so phenomenal as to be simply staggering. When the figures, I were displayed iu big black type by practically every daily in the country the next morning, their readers rubbed their eyes in wonder and pinched themselves to see iT they were awake or dreaming. Then they plunged into the text below to learn whether or not the figures were a misprint. When they found that they were correct, their powers of speech were inadequate to express their astonishment. Time, simply as time, does not count for as much on the running turf at it docs among harness horsemen. Class is there determined by many other things as well such as the ability to pack weight, go a distance, and win from the best horses in training. But, after all. the time test is, in its own way, a searching one. Salvator had shown himself, as a race horse, at all distances and all weights, over all kinds of tracks and iu all kinds of company, lo be. unconditionally. Hie king of the turf and without a rival. There was no lit adversary for him but time and his conquest over lime, beini: so unparalleled and absolute, came as the climax removing the last doubt as to his real status. Among thoroughbred turfmen the 1:?Vj mile, very probably, did not mean as much as Salvators Suburban Handicap victory or the vanquishing of Tenny. But the general public, over whom record breaking exercises a prodigious influence, hailed It as the greatest achievement in turf history. It placed the name of Salvator apart from those of all other thoroughbreds and shed around it a glamour that will never fade such a glamour as but one other American horse has ever possessed. That was Lexington. To this day that story has never faded. Be sure that to all American horse lovers, howsoever ignorant they may be concerning thoroughbred history, the names of two horses are familiar, one of which is Lexington, the other Salvator. The day .when reputations such as theirs was made s over am it is not likely to return. ConnnerclallHiu has klle the spirit which made of them equine demi-gods and " national heroes. Their equals may be produced, but they will : not enjoy such reputations, for the age of chvalry. of idealism, on the turf as well as off it. is past, and the champion oT today, be he ever so great, is forgotten tomorrow."
