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STARS OF AMERICAN TURF COMMENT ON OUR GREAT RACERS OF THE LAST THREE DECADES. Salvator a Grand Horse, but No Faster Than Roamer Domino and His Rivals, Henry of Navarro and Dobbins Other Great Ones. There is always dilliculty in arriving at a definite conclusion as to the quality of thoroughbreds of different periods, and 110 person can with any degree of accuracy classify the champions of past and present. The best we can hope for is to place the best animals of the different periods and tell of some of the performances, which made them so highly regarded by racegoers of their time. Class has been defined as a quality that makes some animal excel its fellows in deeds of speed, strength, skill or courage, or which combines all of these attributes, and it is a term which is used more in connection with the racing of thoroughbreds than in" any other sport. Two animals mav have the same conformation, may be equallv weil bred and trained to the same degree of perfection, yet one will always excel the other when the test which calls for every last atom of effort is applied. It is then that "class" a really indefinable qual-is ito play. Perhaps the heart is the seat of tins most desirable qualification, and it is the horse which struggles on and will not accept defeat while life lasts, which conquers in a majority of hard fought battles. At any rate, whatever it is and from whence it comes we recognize it and acclaim all those which possess it in the superlative degree, and when they pass it on to future generations the building of mere monuments is praise all too feeble for these remarkable animals whose prepotency has excited tl admiration of horse breeders the world over. The comparison of the stars of the past with those of the present by the application of the time test would be impossible, as the courses of our day are not as deep as those over which the horses of, say, twenty-live years ago, were asked to race. If a track didnt have an abundance of "cushion" at that time it was regarded as unsafe, and the mile of ten Kroeck in 1:39 was regarded as the limit of speed at that distance when the record was made Nowadays any maiden which cannot negotiate the distance in time equal to that of the son of Phaeton stands a good chance of reniain-"B maiden for an indefinite period. U hen Salvatwr ran a mile over the straight course at Monmouth Park in 1:35 u. twenty-six Tears ago that great horse was at the zenith of his powers. He had only 110 pounds up, and Martin Kergen, who had the mount, let the big son of Prince Charlie run all the way. The day was perfect for fast time warm and humid and the sap flowed from Salvator in rivulets of crystal while Matt Byrnes tightened the girth preparatory to putting the jockey up. It is true that there was a bungle in the selection of a pacemaker, as the filly that was sent out to carry the big chestnut along the last half mile did not have enough to pick him up and he finished alone. Salvator. however, was a free running horse and the exhibition, which was arranged by Mr. Withers himself, was a great attraction. There are many men alive today and in the full possession of their faculties who saw Salvators trial. Many of them would be willing to wager heavily that Roamer, for example, with 110 pounds up and over a straight course of the resiliency of Aqueduct, could beat Salvators time considerably. et none. of them with Salvator in the flesh and the dusky Isaac Murphy in the saddle would dream of backing the gelding to lower the colors of Mr. Ilaggins champion at a mile and a quarter. Time ever has been regarded as a fallacious test. Yet it is the medium by which Americans in the preparation of their horses are guided. In England and other Continental countries the test of horse against horse is applied, and the neophyte is asked to try conclusions with a warrior that has won his spurs in actual contest. If a "morning glory," as the animal which can run fast when alone is termed, develops abroad it doesnt cast his stable anything to learn the facts. More than twenty-five years ago there was a sprinter racing at the Eastern courses known as Dr. Ilasbrouck. He was a son of the Australian sire Sir Modred and could run three-quarters with his weight up in 1:14. In those days that was something few horses could accomplish. At the same time thu Dwyer brothers, then in the heyday of their career, had in their barn a mighty race horse named Kingston. This horse, a superb son of Spendthrift and the Stockwell dam Kapanga, was started in all manner of races from five-eighths up to a mile and three-quarters, and his flight of speed was known to be remarkable. When Dr. Ilasbrouck was waning race after race turf followers were hoping that an event could be arranged that would bring the fliers together. Hugh D. Mclntyre, the Brooklyn Jockey Clubs able secretary, put a race on the program for Gravesend and one bright September day thousands journeyed to the course to see what they supposed would be the fastest three-quarters that ever was run." Kingston carried Dr. Ilasbrouck a dizzy first quarter of a mile and galloped home alone. It was an admirable object lesson in "class," and was so regarded at the time. The time for the race was much slower than 1:14. Kingston was a mighty racehorse, and if kept for sprinting exclusively would have been a phenomenon. There is no better judge of a thoroughbred or his speed than the veteran trainer, John Iluggins, who raced quarter horses in his youth throughout tlie South and Southwest. He afterward trained The Bard and many other great horses in this country, and wound up his honorable career in England by winning the Derby and other classics for Messrs. Lorillard and Whitney. He saw the fastest sprinters in England when they were at their best. During one of his visits to the United States the question of the speed of English racehorses came up, and the names of Eager. Koyal Flush and others that were prominent at that time were mentioned. "Are they faster than Kingston was at his best?" somebody asked. Without a moments hesitation Huggins replied: "No, and I never saw a horse that was faster than Kingston." Yet mighty as Kingston was, he lived in tlie shadow of Hanover, a horse that could beat him over any distance of ground. Hanover was great on the race course, but mightier still in the stud. Kingston and Hanover were wholly unlike. The former was a horse of such faultless action that he raced until nine years of age and then retired to the stud as sound as the day he was born. He could be placed at any spot in a rac, and McLaughlin, who rode him when he was at his best, has said that he had the most perfect disposition of any horse the Dwyer confederacy ever owned. Hanover, on the other hand, was an impetuous rusher that the moment the flag fell took the lead and galloped his opponents groggy. A climbing-gaited horse, the son of Hindoo gave the appearance of laboring, but no route was too long for him and Ills speed was remarkable, though for one breathless effort it did not approach that of his soberer stable companion, Kingston. Had this horse lived out the usual span in the stud his family would have been greater than it is, Coatfmied on sepond page. STARS F AMERICAN TURF. Continued from first page. but with a limited period at McGrathiaua before he bad, to be destroyed he founded a clan that has made turf history here and abroad. His daughters are exceptionally famous. It was his granddaughter. Bhoda B.. by The Commoner, which produced Orby. Richard Crokers Derby winner, and she continued to throw good performers, her daughter, Rhodora. being a classic winner for the onetime Tammany chieftain. If the average man who has followed racing for thirty years or more would be asked to name a. . period, when the United States had the. greatest number of good horses racing he would undoubtedly favor the decade in which Salvator.; Longstreet, Tenny, Firenze. Tea Tray. The Bard. Raceland. Sir Dixon. Emperor of Norfolk, Eurus, Hanover, Kingston, Bella B., Prince Royal; Fides. Riley. Proctor Knott. BashforiL Azra, Aolante, Prime Minister, Los Angeles, Terra Cotta, Exile, Elkwood and a hundred others lived. Around the tirst-named there has been a glamour and he will always have the reputation of having been a great race horse. He was beaten only once as a two-year-old. when Proctor Knott headed him in the initial Futurity. As a three-year-old he achieved great distinction, winning the Realization at one mile and five furlongs with 122 pounds up and conceding lumps of weight to Tenny and Long-street. He only lost one race that year 18S9. when Longstreet. carrying 118 pounds, won " the Omnibus Stakes at one and a half miles. Salvator had 125 pounds up and was beaten for second place by Proctor Knott, to which lie was giving two pounds by the scale. It was after this race that the Dwyer Brothers offered to match Longstreet against him for 0,000. These were Salvators only defeats and his victory in the Suburban in 1891. when he packed 127 pounds and beat Tenny, Longstreet, Raceland and others, placed him at the top of the. tree. Longstreet was a good horse as .1 four-year-old, but a still greater one at live when he won sixteen out of eighteen starts, while Firenze of the mares of that period will never be forgotten, though in the stud she was a comparative failure, producing only one fair horse George Kessler. when mated witli Salvator. Firenze could shoulder 130 pounds and win over a long distance of ground and she was quite as great an idol as her French prototype, Basse Pointe, also a small mare, which won the Prix de Conseil Municipal with 139-li pounds up. This race was at a mile and a half, but Basse Pointe was wont to carry such weights up to three miles. Staying is a quality which is admired the world over in the thoroughbred. If we are to develop mares of the type of Firenze we must have more races over a long journey. Those well known trainers Thomas AVelch and A. J. Joyner, who- spent years abroad, the former in France and the latter in England, are both on record as favoring the methods by which those countries abroad have developed their horses, and Mr. Joyners recent suggestion that there should be at least one race a day at one mile and a quarter or over is a good one. If the Jockey Club should set the seal of its approvel upon this program trainers would speedily find that different methods in training would reveal the presence of stayers in some of their sprinting division. In the period when Salvator, Longstreet, The Bard and other great horses existed we had any number of stayers and with conditions similar to those which obtained at that time when most of the big prizes were at a mile and a quarter, or over we could have them again. A large number of the present day breeders favor the placing of these tests once more upon our progranies and all honor is due to the AAestehester Racing Association for reviving the Lawrence Memorial, one of the few remaining tests for three-year-olds. Another period when good American race horses were numerous" may best be referred to as the D0111-ino-Dobbins-Henry of Navarre era. It was the day of Clifford. Sir ATalter, Ornament. St. Florian, Don AIouzo, Glenmoyne, Banquet, Yorkville Belle, Correction, Ajax, Hornpipe, Requital, Rey El Santa Anita, Tammany, Lamplighter and St.- Leonards. Domino was a phenomenal two-year-old, winning all of his races with the exception of his sensational dead heat, with Dobbins. His greatest feat was perhaps winning the Futurity with 130 pounds up. The fact that Dobbins was only beaten a head by Gallee, which finished at Dominos throat latch, undoubtedly influenced; Richard . Croker, who owned Dobbins, to match the son of Mr. Pickwick against the Keene champion. Michael F. Dwyer had half of Mr. Crokers stable and John Hunter shared in Mr. Keenes 0,000, the Coney Island Jockey Club adding ,500. There never -was a more desperate contest than when this pair of gamecocks met on August 31. 1S93. They ran locked from the start and. despite the splendid jockeyship of Taral and Simms, both of whom were then in the zenith of their careers, the colts tottered over the finishing, line on even terms. Domino won every other start he made that season, and put up all sorts of imposts. The showing he made was really phenomenal. and through it all he had the fire and determination which, when transmitted to his progeny, made them equally great. Taral rode him in all his starts, and this terrific finisher, who could use a whip with more force than any other jockey we ever had with the exception of Garrison, no doubt helped materially In many tight finishes in keeping Dominos nose in front. Domino finally got to hate him ski thoroughly that every time he heard the jockeys voice back would go his ears. Finally an attendant had to hold his hand over the great horses eyes while Taral was mounting. It would not be too I extravagent praise to characterize Domino as the equal of any two-year-old that ever raced in the United States. His peerless grandson Colin, did , not have as powerful opposition to overcome when he swept the field some yean; later. As a three-year-old Domino began auspiciously, and gave no evidence that his many hard races as a two-year-old had hurt him. He finally met. Henry of Navarre at equal weights for a 85,000 special at one mile and an eighth at Sheeps-head Bay. Henry of Navarre, a sterling son of Knight of Ellerslie and Moss Rose, was one of the I most popular horses of his time, but it was thought that Domino could beat him at any distance up to a mile and an eighth. Navarre, however, dead-l heated the crack from the Keene stable, and subsequently gave both Clifford, a speedy horse, and I Domino a sound beating over the mile ami an I eighth route. I Henry of Navarre was a first-class race horse, I and in the colors of Byron McClelland and subse-1 iiently in those of August Belmont, who at that ; period raced in the name of the Blemton Stables, I lie ran splendid races. I The Suburban of 1890 gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his greatness when he shouldered I 129 pounds and beat The Commoner. Clifford, Bel-1 mar, Sir Walter and others, conceding his oppon-1 cuts all the way from three to nineteen pounds 1 by the scales. Mr. Belmont has a great affection 1 for Henry of Navarre and regards him as one of 1 the very greatest horses that ever carried his 1 colors. The horse is now the property of the federal government, and is at the Front Royal experimental breeding station in Airginia, the chair-man of the Jockey Club having presented him to 1 the war department some years ago in order to assist in the work of breeding cavalry remounts. As a sire of thoroughbreds he was not a success, . nor has any other son of the Knight of Ellerslie . achieved distinction in the stud. It was in the stud, however, that Domino showed his true greatness. After winning nineteen races out of twenty-five starts, for a total of 93,550, which is the record performance for this country, the "black whirlwind," as he was termed; though his. true color was a dark chestnut, founded a great family of thoroughbreds, his fame being perpetuated chiefly through his sou Commando. This horse was no doubt Dominos greatest son, and that he was a good race horse nobody will dispute. He was a much coarser type than his distinguished sire, and he bore a much stronger resemblance to his dam, Emma C. a daughter of the New Zealantler Darebin, and the American mare Guenn, that he did to Domino. Gueiin was by Flood and a noted stayer, and this cross seemed to be just what Domino needed. Commando was a great big wilful two-year-old that wanted his own way, and came pretty near having it. He was a rough and tumble customer at the post and on one occasion in a race tried to savage Beau Gallant at Morris Park, crossing the entire width of the course to get at the Hildreth representative. He had the qualities which made for success as a sire, and Colin, Peter Pan, Celt aiid many other splendid performers came from his loins. Colin was no doubt his best son, and it is a question whether this country ever saw a colt that was Ills . superior. His unbeaten record, with a- list of fifteen victories and S0,912 to his credit, has never been equalled, though it was approached by his stable companion, Sysouby, which won fourteen times, including the dead heat with Race King in the Metropolitan Handicap. A few of Sysonr bys. races were as a three-yearrold, and his total winnings exceeded those of Colin by it few thousand dollars, the exact figures being 84,438. Had Sysouby won the Futurity of 1904, for which he started favorite at odds-on coupled with AAild Mint, he would have far surpassed any rec-. . ord for winnings in this country.. As it : was he carried127 pounds and finished third to Artful and Tradition. Sysouby had .the outside position at tin ;start and Redfern injudiciously crossed the course in the first eighth in order to reach the rail in stead of sighting his course for the elbow. The rare was worth 2,SS0 to the great AAhitney filly. The public will never know how near they came to seeing a match between these great threc-ycar-tilfls at Brighton Bench the following year. The match was practically made for ,000. a side, with the association adding a like amount, when there was a hitch and the race was abandoned. But Sysonby went the wayof Domino and died In the heyday of his powers ; as a race horse and his skeleton is now on exhibition in the Museum of Natural History in Central Park Colin was the next .meteor to flash across tit. J turf sky and his phenomenal performances in 1904. will long be remembered; They included the Futui;. ity and Fl.itbush Stakes, the chief tests of the autumn for a two-year-old, and the son of Commando ami Pastorella will .go down into historv as practically invincible.. That he is in the stud in Kentucky after a sojourn in England is a source of congratulation, for Colin was too great a wee horse and is a .scion of too. successful a familv to be an utter failure as a stock horse. Prior to Colins and Sysonbys day, but in the srune decade. Hamburg, a relative to Domino 011 the dams side, demonstrated the. brilliancy of the Hanover-Mannie Gray cross. This phenomenal colt won witli all kinds of weight in the saddle, his crowning achievement being the . capturing of the Great Eastern Handicap with 135 pounds ul. Like Domino., he, too. has ..achieved distinction" in the stud, his get being .remarkable for their great size and handsome conformation. There were other good horses prominent at this time, chief among them Irish Lad, Hermis, Broomstick, AAaterboy, The Picket. Accountant, Kinley Mack. Imp. Allan-a-Dale, Africander, Beldame, Ort AAells. Aoter and Delhi. Irish Lads race witli Broomstick for the Brighton Handicap, in 1904. was one of the greatest exhibitions of bulldog courage ever seen in any country. Mr. Duryeas great four-year-old carried 127 pounds to the 104 of Broomstick, which was then a three-year-old, and though he broke down a .quarter of a mile from home Broomstick hail to hang up a record at the distance in order to beat him a few inches. The first mile was covered in 1:37 and the full distance in 2:02. It was little wonder that the big son of Candelmas .sired so many good winners for Mr. Duryea when taken to France, for lie had all the qualities which make for greatness whether on the track or in the stud. Hermis was admittedly tiie chief rival of Irish Lad, and there are good judges who contend that the "little red horse." as he was affectionately termed, was one of the best thoroughbreds of any peritid. Of perfect dispostion and possessing action that was the poetry of. motion, he was never in trouble and could take advantage of the mishaps of others. Todoy he is an honored member of the French governmental stud, having passed from the hands of M. Edmond Blanc, who purchased him from his early owner, M. II. Zeigler of, New York and Cincinnati, who took the son of Hermence .abroad when racing was crippled in this country some years ago. Beldame was a phenomenally good filly and ran many brilliant races as a two, three and four-year-old; in fact she was the best mare of her day. Then came the era of Ballot, King James, Fitz- Herbert, Dalmatian and Novelty, after which there was a hiatus prior to the revival which is now in progress. Fitz Herbert, Ballot and Dalmatian were first-class performers, and King James was a glutton for work and raced so courageously that he never knew when he was beaten. Ballot won every good race in the United States before going, abroad, and he is making good as a sire since his return from England, some of this: seasons best two-yenr-filds being by the handsome son of Aoter. The horses from the AAhitney stable, notably AAhisk Broom II. and Regret, have since the general resumption of racing perhaps enjoyed the center. of the stage to a greater extent than tltose from other states, though Roamer is a public idol and has been, taking all things into consideration, a class by himself. The big AAhitney champion AAhisk Broom II.. was a great race horse in England, anil he showed some remarkable performances here on his return to Brookdale. and Regret was a marvel; but no horse that ever was foaled perhaps has run so many fast races witli weigiit up, or worked so many fast trials as Mr. Millers champion, which simply has to be "set down" to the limit in order to show his top form. Stromboli and Borrow, both good performers at times, but not in Reamers class when it comes to racing day in and day out. are fair horses, while Short Grass, whose form of late has been improving,- is a read good performer and may wind up the champion of 1910, though he will have to measure strides with the best of both east and west and overcome opposition of the most determined character before lie can claim his crown. Pennants recent victories have been wonderful, and if his shins do" not go back on him he is likely ed character before he can claim his crown. Roamers performances recall the fact that Ken-tiickians have always regarded Old Rosebud as the superior of this remarkable pair of geldings. They say that the late AAoodford Clay would never have sold Roamer if it hadnt been for the fact that, the Applegate two-year-old could gallop . away from him. Old Rosebud; by virtue of his Kentucky Derby victory, when he established a record for that race, must he ranked as one of the best of the latter day performers. Among the three-year-olds of the current season it is difficult to pick any individual of outstanding quality. At one time Friar Rock looked the best, but Chicle took him and others into camp too easily at Aqueduct to warrant Mr. Belmonts colt being regarded as the champion. But Chicle has gone wrong and will hardly be seen again this season. The same is true of Dominant and Bromo. both remarkably lleet colts as two-year-olds, and trainer Rowe is to be sympathized with as he has few sound horses in his , stable. Thunderer would be a colt of. the highest : finality, but he, too. is on the suspicious list, and racegoers will remember that The Sun called attention to the fact that his knees had been punch fired tiie first time he ever went to the post. Spur and Friar Rock of the eastern contingent call for more praise than any of the others. It was thought in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga that Mr. Belmonts colt was the master of the Butler champions, but after Spur packed 129 pounds and gave . Star Hawk 13 pounds and a nose beating in 2:05, Sam Hildreth, who trains the Belmont horses, said to a friend: "I dont think theres a three-year-old in America that could have beaten Spur today." Hildreth has every right to hold Spur in high esteem. He owned and raced his sire. King James, for years, and Spur is a chip off the old block. King James was a marvellously courageous horse anil he never gave up till the wire was passed, i He won many great races for Hildreth, anil is now at the head of Henry T. Oxnards stud in Virginia, where Spur was bred. Mr. Oxnard came all the way from Upperville to see the Travers and was the happiest man on the grounds when the bulldog got his nose in front at the. wire.. Dodge, the winner of the Latonia and. American Derbys, on his western form, looks like being as .good as any three-year-old in sight. He will be seen at Saratoga, and racegoers will have a chance to look over a real colt when the son of Jim Gaff-ney goes to the post, equally at home on a heavy or fast course. It is too early to make any definite predictions concerning the two-year-olds, as there are many good colts that have Jiot yet gone to the post. Campfire would seem, to be the best to date, aiid Mr. AVilson is singularly fortunate at the very outset of his career as a breeder to produce such a good race horse. This son of .Olambaki should not have suffered a defeat to date. AAhen he ran at Jamaica and finished behind Arnold, he was suffering from a blind splint ami was .started against the judgment of trainer Thomas Healey, while in tiie United States Hotel Stakes at Saratoga, on the opening day, Schuttinger pulled him .up at the start and made no effort for the prize. He showed his form the following Saturday,, however, when he picked up 125 pounds and galloped a fast field dizzy in the Sanford Memorial, which he won cantering. New York Sun.
