John E. Madden and His Methods.: Guided by Sound Judgment and Knowledge in His Many Activities., Daily Racing Form, 1917-03-09

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JOHN E. MADDEN AND HIS METHODS. Guided fcy Sound Judgment and Knowledge in His Many Activities. John E. Madden, master of Hamburg Place, near Lexington, has forty thoroughbreds in training at hurchir Downs. No better-looking or more royally bred youngsters can be found anywhere. With 200 mares at Hamburg Place, and with such stallions as Ogden, Star Shoot. Friar Rock and Plaudit. Madden sends each year to the races contenders in all the great stakes, and lie has to his credit many winners. He finds Churchill Downs an ideal winter training grounds, and his big band of yearlings always attracts the attention and admiration of turf experts. Plaudit, which won the Kentucky Derby for Madden, was prepared at the Downs. He was a sterling race horse, ami when retired to the stud. et King .lames and many other serviceable racers Physically and mentally John E. Madden is one of the most commanding figures on the American turf. A skilful boxer and foat-race winner in his youth, he has perfected the magnificent physique l -attire gave him. until today, with more than half a century behind him. he is in perfect condition and can hold his own with men twenty years younger. Athletics is one of his fads. The gymnasium at Hamburg Place contains every known machine and device for physical training. His sons I.dward and Joe, are splendid specimens of young manhood, having been trained from boyhood by the best boxers and runners, until they are proficient in every form of athletic sport. Refuses to Take Well-Earned Rest. Madden is the only millionaire breeder of thoroughbreds who trains, develops and races his own horses. With more than 2.000 acres of bine grass devoted to his thoroughbreds, trotters and blooded cattle, and with every year showing an increase in his business, he refuses to take the rest he has earned, but finds recreation and happiness in rising with the sun and giving his personal care to the stable of fifty or more thoroughbreds with which he invades the east every year and competes for the Futurity and other stakes with the Belmonts, the Whifneys and other millionaires. No other train can surpass him in "prepping" a horse for a gruelling race. His skill extends even to the shoeing, an important detail so often neglected. He is an expert on the care of a horses foot, and even Joe Murphy in "Kerry Gow" could not shoe one more artistically. Madden not only knows what his horse can do when the day comes to decide a Futurity. Saratoga Special or a Kentucky Derby, but he knows the condition and the work of every other horse engaged. He leaves nothing to chance. Every detail about his stabh — the quantity and quality of the the food, the ventilation, the disposition of every horse and the kindness of the attendants- is planned by Madden and must be rigorously carried out. Purchases Only Richly-Bred Sires. His theory is to breed the best to the best. When he wanted a head for his stud he bought Ogden, an imported horse and winner of the Ill tarity. Plaudit, a Derby Winner; Yankee, a Futurity winner: Star Shoot, one of the leading American sires: Ballot, purchased from the Keene estate and afterward said to Haggla, have been in the stud at Hamburg Place. A few months ago Madden startled the turf world by paying August Belmont 0,000 for Friar rock, a three year old son of Rock Sand, the stallion purchased for a fabulous sum by the French. Madden is rated as the best salesman in America, but he has never failed to pay a big price for a good horse. He has done more than any other turfman in keeping up the value of thoroughbreds. When Governor Hughes stopped racing in New York, and panic reigned among horsemen everywhere. Madden stood firm, refused to be rattled, and instead of following the example of other breeders and selling out his stud, mares and race horses, he eliminated the unfit and purchased hundreds of the best horses in America. It took courage and foresight to take this course in the face of seeming disaster, but Madden has these qualities in the highest degree. The result is that today Hamburg Place is stocked with the cream of American thoroughbreds, and its value as a breeding establishment has more than doubled. Stud Matrons Royally-Bred Turf Queens. When Madden buys a mare she must be well bred and have looked the Judges in the eye. There is no haphazard business with him. He tries them in the fiery furnace which, from the head of the stretch to the finish, tests muscle and heart and purges them of all unsoundness. The roster of his Mares would sound like a roll-call in the royal court — many of them queens and all of them bred in tile purple. For instance. Imp. the only mare that ever won the Suburban: Etta, an Oaks winner; Myrtle Harkness, an Oaks winner; Mamie Worth, a frequent stake winner; Maori, the dam of Ethclb rt ; Ivory Bells, the dam of Old Rosebud and Ivory Black; Cleonlnis. :i great race mare; Flora Pomona, winner of the California Oaks and dam of Flora Fina; the dam of Sir Martin, which, but for an accident; would have won th" Epsom Derby; dam of The Finn, the best of the handicap division in the east, and 200 more. The list is too long for recital. It is a turf honor to have waded through the succulent pastures of Hamburg Place, and hundreds of the fastest horses in training were bred there. Madden believes in encouraging the big races on the turf. lie has ]".! entries in this years Futurity. Wherever there is a rich stake, a Hamburg Place entry will be found knocking at the door at the finish. He has won the Futurity, the Kentucky Derby, the Saratoga Special and dozens of other stakes. The secret of Maddens success is a bright mind, a sound body, unbounded energy and an efficiency that approaches genius, so perfectly has he applied it to every department of the breeding and racing industry.


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800