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AN OFTEN ASKED QUESTION i VIEWS OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS AS TO "WHICH WAS THE GREATEST RACE HORSE. Opinions of Many Experts Swayed by Association with Famous Horses — Difficult to Correctly Compare Celebrities of DLfcrent Times. By W. S. Vosl.urgli. HWM h v; the best rseenone you seer nw!" la ■ qvestion I am asked frequently during the !■;: i-i :ir season; and if persons asking it were to rack their brains for months thej could net ask ■ more difficult question to answer. Rimimheiliiu Marshal 3eavaron**a contempt for any one who replied t a question MJe m snis pas." i hare, perhaps, earned a d are ar aaon "iimk" raeen ef tin- past, and if in ii plies arc remembered, may have Rained a reputation of changing mv opinion ofti n. "lie [iiostion is one to which no man can make a satisfactory reply. It is purely a matter of opinion, or what is nunc likely, of impression. Tlicre are M moans by which we can compare the horses of one generation with those of another — they never met, and there is no collateral form by which to mcasnr e thui, unless they are only a few seasons removed from each Other anil even then the animal we use as a "trial horse" may luo lost ail form. With the average racegoer, the atoat recently successful hone is tin- lust. There has aearcely been a year in my experience that I have not heard some horse exalted as "the greatest racehorse of the century." 1 heard it said of Longfellow, of Harry Basnet*, ef I-uke Blackburn, of Hied. 10 and of Troubadour after he had beaten Miss Woodfvrd. I heard it of Barrator and I have heard it of Boomer, not to speak of atany others. A few years -.111:1 the late .1. .1. Burke i it the question: "Which was tli" liit-.t race horse you ever saw:" to a number of ruing men. and published their replies In the New York Herald. Wheal the replies were counted Sysonby received the greatest lumber of votes, but the majority of them wen from people in Whom than was | natural bias, as they hail in on • way or another been associated with that horse. Among them were Mr. Ke. lie. his owner; Mr. Baan, his trainer, anil several of Mr. Keenes relations. Hamburg had tin- votes of John K. Madden and W. I.. Powers, but loth of them had been identified with tie-ownership or pun base of that horse. Mr. .loyner was one of the few who CBt loose from personal Interests and named Hindoo, a horse with which he had had no association. John Hylan 1 had trained Kecnan and declared for him. Matt Byrnes voted for Barrator, of which horse he had been the train. -r. Indeed, in nearly every eaae, the horse named had been in some way identified with the man who voted for aim. Riders Opinion of Great English Horses. The eld.r generation of English Jockeys, when asked "Which was the greatest r n-choi sje •" all nbowed the effect of bapresalons. Sam Chifaey at rirst said S"lim. but later declared for Priam. Koblusoa was always for Bay Middloton: Flatnian favored Clonr and Orlando: Bill Sen* t was for Velocipede "never sack another horse foaled". John Day was doubtful, but spoke of Venison: Templeaaaa curiously declared for Battledore; Job Marson, v ithout stopping to think about it. said Teddington. and John Osborne, in his memoirs, reports that Maison told him that when he won the Poncaster Cap of isr 2. Iliallag Kingston, he whipi eit T ddington farther than be had ever whipped a hone, and tin- little hen • answered with tiie heart "f a. U m. Prank Bnckle, although he had ridden five winners of the Derby and two of the St. Leger, cariaualy enough, said Viola ate was the greatest racer he had ever ridden. When the celebrated Fred Archer wis in this country in 1884, I spent an evening with him at Ihe II del Brunswick, and in the 1 nurse of conversation. I endeavor d to draw from him an expression of opinion BS to the best racehorse he had ever ridden. lie was rather reluctant to express en opinion, and fenced a great deal, asking if I meant a two year-old. three-year-old. or one of the all-aged class. I answered that my iiuery included all classes. "Well." he replied. "I hare a notion that Barcaidiae could do more with hi h irses than any horse I can remember." Of course Archer had not yet riddea OnaoafdV — that great bone Came two ."„r-. later: but he had ridden Bend Or. Iroquois, Silvio. .Peter, Master Hilda re and nearly all tin- "f.yers" of his generation. Of Hi- modern Bngttsh jockeys a noil was taken a few seasons since. The veteran John Osborne,, although he had ridden Vedette, Prime Charlie, Lord Ctlfden, Pretender, Ayrshire, Apology ami so many noted ones, replied that the speediest animal he had ever rldd a was a filly named Exa t by Blrdcatcher, away back in 1852, but he thought the best general botsi he sad ridden was Vedette. Tom Cannon, although he had ridden Isonomy and Boberi tin- Devil, asserted that ;-;:! gfield was tin- best horse he had bestrode. Charles Wood wrote: "I should say tin- best horse I rode was St. Simon. St. Cation WH a red good i.i rse. Tie- day he won tin- Cesare- w.: ii. under 122 pounds, .1 I a three-year old. he cool i have done so with 128 pounds on his back was a t.n pound better horse than when in ran a dead heat for the Derby." Herbert Jeans gave his rate for Diamond Jubilee. W, Higgs, strangely enough, voted for Bttera QaBlon. otto 1 aladden and Kin.;. ton Cannon both voted for Aid 1 Patrick, liornington Cannon declared for Flying i. . Sam Loatea said Cyllene was fir and away i the lust hone he ever assnntedL Barriagtoa Lorn-hum stated that Black Arrow was much the beat h- had ridden. Bernard Dillon declared for Spearmint and so did Danny Maker, -.hih William 1 Griggs and W, HsJeey bath rated for The White ! Knight, American and English Expert Ideas. Tin- English trainer- are quite as divided as the jockeys in their opinions, and are evidently influenced by personal association with tin- horses they prefer! Sil* Franeis Doyle. Pnfeasar of Poetry at Oxford, relates a visit to that asset noted of nil Baglish trainers. John Bcott, who mentioned Touchstone, Velocipede and Glum Continued on btcoud page. • t j 1 3 .. t , j | t- j ; ■t I I i | , , ; | -, ; , ; J * 1 1 s 1 ■ 1 . 1 I I . - J AN OFTEN ASKED QUESTION. Continued from first page. the best that he had known. Sir Francis asked him how be would place Glnucus before Don John? Mr. Scott replied that the autumn he was three -years old 18*8, he belie i red Don John could , ae beaten any four-year-old in England at even , weights. Vet. he said. Don John "had not at- . tainod into the three named." Mattiiew Daw -on j considered St. Simon the greatest horse. John Porter considered Ormonde the greatest, while William Waugh, the Kingsclere trailer for the pake of Portland and Westminster, awarded that distinction to Fenck. a son of Buccanneer, which he t had trained in Austria. In America, our older jockeys all showed the ■ prejudice of association when asked to name the bet hsrse they had seen. Hayward leaned to The Bard. Hughes favored Sensation, Isaac Murphy said Salvator. Fred Taral said Domino was the speediest, but after the Suburban of 95, ad- i mitted his pet "could not stay." Redfern thought Hermis the best. Niool thought Sysonby, Walter i Miller pronounced for Colin. Dugan seemed to favor Iitz Herbert. Frank OXeil used to say Irish Lad. I never heard Notter express any preference, but Putv,"U used to say Roainer was his choice — he may have changed his mind since he ceased riding him. Years ago. Luke Blackburn and Hindoo were both in the Dwyer stable. Bowe trained and Jim McLaughlin rode them. Asked which was the better of the pair. Rowo. while diffident about a positive declaration, inclined to Hindoo, while Mclaughlin answered, "Luke Blackburn, of course." Longfellow and Harry Bassett. Since I began attending races I could name many horses which in their day outclassed their contemporaries, and anyone of which a man might be justified in considering "the best be had seen." Kentucky. Harry Bassett, Longfellow, Tom Bowling. Duke of Magenta. Spendthrift. The Bard. Hanover. Luke Blackburn. Hindoo, Salvator. fenny. Henry of Navarre. Ben Brush. Miss Woodford, Kthelbort. Kinley Mack. Hermis, Sysonby, and several others might he considered. Put how to decide which was the best, I know of no means. For years. I though Longfellow was. A horse of gigantic stature, he had a stride such as I have sever seen equalled; but in heavy ground it was his drawback, as shown when Helmbold beat him shortly after his Saratoga Cup race of 1871. In this respect he was the opposite of Harry Bassett. whose action was the perfection of animal mechanism. Longfellow, in appearance, was different from any horse I can remember, and what is most remarkable was that for so large and long-striding a horse, he was as quick as a cat at the IKist. Gathering himself for a spring, he leaped to the front at the start with a pace that carried his opponents off their stride at the outset. He always made the running, never trying to win by waiting, and his owner, old John Harpers theory of racing him "from eend to een.i" becaiae a byword. Tom Bowling, Luke Blackburn and Others, Tom Howling was one of the most exquisitely beautiful of all the horses I can remember, and repeatedly demonstrated his superiority over the horses of his day, but he was cursed with a temper that often causi d him to lose races by refusing to start. The late Waltej- Rollins, who was one of his exercising lads, used to tell how Tom Bowling would catch rats like the most approved terrier, leaping upon them in his box and stamping them to bits. Duke of Mai nta. the last of the really great sons of Lexington, was a plain bene, coltish and even "cobby" as a two -year -old. but at three no colt could live his pace. The best evidence of bis class was shown in the tact that, while as a throe-yo.ir-old. he always defeated Bramble, but as soon as he was sent So England Bramble became the champion, winning the Baltimore, Westchester, Monmouth and Saratoga Cups. Luke Blackburn was probably the most heavily-muscled horse that has appeared within the last forty years. Only a moderate two-year-old, at three he was invincible, winning all the stakes of his lass, and then won the Grand Cnion Prize, for all : gas, at Saratoga, when he carried 110 pounds — a great performance, us he defeated the five-year-old Glenmore with IIS pounds, and ;lenmore was the crack horse of the all-aged class that year. Hindoo, which su-ceedel Plackbum as the hero of the hour, was completely his opposite. A racing machine in appearance, hut with a long weak -looking back, he never did more than his jockey ashed him. while Blackburn nearly lulled McLaughlin out of the saddle. Spendthrift, when he won the LerU-lard Stakes, gave nil exhibition of speed similar to Lord Clifdens in the St. Lcgor. coming from far behind and beating his field in the last furlong; but he had toaster feet and. sent to England, he turned "roarer," and the turf knew him no more. Salvator, Tenny, Henry of Navarre. The Bard and Hanover were contemporaries, but The Bard defeated Hanover for the Brooklyn Handicap while in receipt, constructively, of three pounds, though they both carried the same actual weight 125 pounds. Similarly, there is the case of Salvator and Tenny. in which Salvator defeat. 1 his rival, but there was hardly more than three pounds difference between them. Miss Woodford was undoubtedly the superior of any horse of her time, and most people will claim we never saw her equal in her own sex. She was a great coarse mare, so masculine as to deceive the casual observer as to her sex. Ben Brush, a plain demure little horse, was quite the best of his era, and at two years old could, in my opinion, have conceded his year in weight to any three-year-old of that season. Henry of N ivarro was not an impressive horse to look at. but it is doubtful if we had ever see* a In Iter one up to the date of his appearance. Deal -. ino was his master up to a mile, but beyond that Henry could outrun anybodys horse. He raced four seasons and met and defeated the best horses of those four seasons — that is a fact that should be remembered. I have always thought his race for the special at Morris Park was one of the best exhibitions I could recall. Domino was sent out and made a terrific pace, but at a mile Henry beat him off. No sooner done than Clifford came up. but Henry shook him off and won. To anyone familiar with racing, it must be known that there is no greater test than for a horse to race with one horse until he has lieaten him, then to be compelled to tinisi with another. He carried the highest weight 129 pounds when he won the Suburban that any horse had carried to the front up to that time, and he practically won it on three legs, as he was a broken down horse, and never saw the post again. The Supreme Quality of Sysonby. Ethelbert and Kinb y Mack were contemporaries, and there was quite as little difference httnecs them as in the case of Salvator and Tenny. The Conner, a rather moderate-sized, but well-knit one; the latter, a great, angular, loose-jointed owe, and never sound. Had he been sound it is diili.-ult to lay what be might not have accomplished. As it was, he has gone into history as the first winner of the "double event" of the Brooklyn and Subur-I ban. Hermis was the quickest starter sees in many a day: a small horse, hwt so perfectly nd-; jested, that be tired less under weight than horses usually do. He also met a better class of horses than :.,,i,ie champions have had the luck to meet. a-id his Suburban, with 127 pounds, beating The Picket and Irish Lad. left no doubt of his right to class with the giants of racing history. Sisonby was one of the most powerful as well as one of the spt ediest horses that has ever carried a silk jacket. His race fir the Great lli-pul.lie Stakes at Saratoga, when, after h ing almost left at the post, he outran his horses in the first quarter of a mile, was an exhibition such as few people have even seen equalled. His race for the Annual Champion, when he ran away from MesaS .ind Proomstick. peered him a stayer SO well as a sprinter. He evidently held Safe any hoise of his era from a quarter of a mile to three miles and the power of his heart and lungs must have been far beyond the ordinary. Put which of the:.- great rac. :s was the greatest? That is a question I could not answer. I know-no means by which we could judge them by comparison. It h only a matter of opinion after all. I know there an people who presume to answer each questions, or any question with their "se : b ctioss" of wiun-rs and their "figure systems" for breeding winners, and who would vainly try I to reduce breeding and racing to aa exact science. When the breeding or racing of thoroughbied I horses is reduced to an exact Seleses, racing will die a ii.itur.il death; but. in so far as the efforts of such people will contribute to that result, the friends of lacing may regard them with absolute composure.
