Exciting Old-Time Match: Circumstances That Brought About the Famous Domino-Henry of Navarre Race, Daily Racing Form, 1915-07-23

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EXCITING OLD-TIME MATCH CIRCUMSTANCES THAT BROUGHT ABOUT THE H + FAMOUS DOMINO-HENRY OF NAVARKE RACE. I I Gram! Stretch Struggle Between Crack Horses and , Jockeys That Ended in a Dead Heat — Riley Grannan s Strategy. of o 1; of tin- Mm notable match racea in the ebrtory •« A t Lit- Ann in mii mi I it is doubtful if there over was one which created More interest than thai »i the $ Uraveseud traca Saturday. September 15, 18B4, ne • inrni iiriiix of Navarre aad Domino, li not only provided a sensational finish, resulting in a deal heat, bin iraa marked bj a pyrotechnlcal performance of the late Riley Grannaa in the betting ring prior in the race. Domino ami Heavy of Nerurre were three-year-oiils. and s.i niiiiii were li"ili admired that opinions weru a Into* I evenly divided as to which waa t lie belter i»f t Ik- two. At sprinting for six furlongs iiiiii- tenth- nf the horaemen conceded Domino to be t In- hotter, but al any distance beyoad that a doubt existed. H ith bad run memorable races. Henry of Navarre :is second thai year in the Brooklyn Han dicap, ■ meritorious performance for a three-year-otd. So much Interest had been created as to the merits of the t- liorsis. that "Phil" Dwyer offered i special purse of ,000 for ■ race al a mile ami cfc eighth, wnli the provision that Domino and Henry of Navarre luusl start If the raee took place, it wai Israel Ically ■ atatch race, inn as match racea were noi eueouraged as aucb, it was termed a special -v -nt. cadi entry to carry 122 pounds. The daj waa perfect for the raca and ■■ inoraMn* crowd was present. James it. Keewe, the owner f Dmulnn. was positive that his horse would stay the distance. Dot withstanding thai many of Ids friends wen- pessimistic and doubted liis judgment. on the other hand, tie late Byroa McClelland had proof that Henry of Navarre would uo ■ route. I*-cause the roll finished second to Dr. Rice in the i Brooklyn Handicap. •| he regular race follower* favored Domino, not . only i rom what they had seen him do. hut becanxe , t he Itel loved Mr. Keene would not rouse nl to a mile ami an eighth race unless he had great i ■- i-.. 1 confidence in his huso. It was this opinion on their part that canned the bookmakers to make Domino a . 1 to 3 favurite. Riley Grannaa had purchased a bookmakers stand lor tliit day. with the silo purpose of making book on the match race. His knowledge of the ImsJncx* taught him thai be could not place his commlsutous on llenrj of Navarre, which, it is riainwd, anumatid io muri than 00,000. without having to accept a much sieiiir pi ice than in- might otherwise obtain if lip undertook to spread his money around the bel tin: ring. Consequently Grannan decided to take in all the public money obtainable by offering tetter o*»s :« i4 :i 1 1 1 t I ■ -i i i ■ • - at all times than his neighbors did. wien Hi.- elgblj odd bookmakers posted l to -against Domino Grannan Immediately put up 11 to _ ». This brought him in several thousand dollar-. and took the business from his neighbors. So.. u II to "Jo was offered in spots by other hook maker--. Graiinan Immediately posted •! to 5. Agal i this hroughl ho speculative crowd to hi- -land, and many or the bookmakers left their positions and wagered on Domino at :: to 5. It did not take long for Grannan to he surrounded by a huge crowd, and only he ami :i low of his intimate- ever knew how much money be took in on the race, for In- never "rubbed" his :: to ." offer inc. The ring was absolutely demoralised, nine lentils of tin I kniakers refusing to do business. preferring to make what wagers they wanted with i Irannau. The result of this clever maneuver was that Grauuan placed nearly every penny of his commission- al odd- of i bout 29 to" II. Had In- distributed it among tin- bookmakers, he would have been taking pntMiblj 5 t" 1. The result was that his winnings, even after the tickets had been split, as customary, were something like Jlo.oco. it was a notable instance ..i a betting ring being demoralised by one man. aid showed the eooi and calculating brain "I Grannan. who «.i- one of the greatest plungers jn the history of Hie nirf. The ra.-e was a hair-raising, heart-stopping con ie-i Grannan stood on the lawn in his shirt sleeves, fur tin .lay was exceedlugl warm, surrounded by a multitude ol the curious. He was the center of attraction before Ibe start was made. When the horses left the post Domino went to the front immediately and opened up a foot or two of daylight on his opponent. Tar.il sar still on the Keene horse, though be gave him sufficient rein ta make tho pace bit en sting. Sain Dnggett, who had the mount on Henry of Navarre, had tu keen the handsome chestnut at hi-work Io hold his position, which was as closi to the nil a- be could ;. i him. li.- never let him fall mole than a I Bgtfa and a half behind. These cinili ion- prevailed lor about three-quarter*. Turning no! of the hackstreteh Taral allowed Domino to move a trifle from the rail path. Doggetl knew that be would have to lose much atones] if be bad to go around the black horse, so he drove Navarre into the space between the rail ,n.l Domino ami did it so successfully that a quarter of a mile from borne the horses locked and the real race began. Inst me and then the oilier would show iiis no- in treat. Taral rode with hand and hi-.-l mi Domino, al tin- -ame rime keeping his hor-o so dose to Honrj of Navarre thai their rii.s and hips were al- llio-t I blOg. By doiug this he had deprived Doggett of House of his whip band. The latter could not uri it. and had to be content to ••hand ride" hi- horse. Then was not an inch between them in their drive down the stretch until they reached tho sixteentn post. At thai point it looked a- if Domino waa weakening. might] roar went op from the crowd. "Navarre wins." Everyone seemed to see al once ihe no-.- of M. -CI. -Hands horse forging in front. Bui I..- race was not over. Taral had something hit in Domino. As the horses passed the grandstand Henry of Navarre was probably three Inches is front, hut in- did li.-l seem to improve on that margin, though Doggetl was riding lik.- a demon. The next Instant Taral picked up his whip ami. striking Domino once, or twice, tin- Mack horse ■nswered and again i:. t up on even terms. It was horse against horse and Jockey against i...kcy for tin- last tifty yards of the race. Neither animal could gain a fraction ol an inch on the ether. Neither would give no. The thoroughbred determination manifested it-e]f in both The shouts of ihe crowd encouraged l otii horses and rider-. At last tbey dashed by the judges Nn , , i , . could Ill which h.ui won. There was breathless KilenCC for a few seconds, when hut two word- wore uttered Klmultaueooslj from 25,000 throat-: "Dead Through it til Grannan stood on tic- lawn, hi- iiili si. ml-i figure Iteins ark. o contra* to some ,,i niosc .iroiinii him. lie never -poke a word during the running of the contest, hut held his field glasses tiimly glued io bis eyea. After the ••.lend beat" sins had he. n posted be turned around with a smile . ,7d nonchalantly remarked: "It was a nice race, v isnt it;"


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1915072301/drf1915072301_1_2
Local Identifier: drf1915072301_1_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800