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. BIG PRICES REPAID AND OTHERWISE. Instances of Great Sums Paid for Horses Which Hade Good, but Not Always. The subsequent success or failure of thoroughbreds bought at auction has furnished the theme for many a turf story, and the following article along that line from the pen of John Boden, former secretary of the New York Racing Commission, is both interesting and enlightening: "Romances of the turf, happenings that brought joy lo many and deepest gloom to others— that filled one day with sunshine and the next with darkness almost abysmal are practically numberless. But. wilh the stoicism whi-h seems to be begotten in individuals by the buiTet- of fortune, there are few records of failures and still fewer of successes. No man cares to apeak of his disappointments and but a limited aMaber lo exploit their triumphs. Now anil again there may Im stories of vast stakes won. and at times a hint at losses that would cut deeply into fortunes. But that record always is lacaaaniete, and at best only approximately correct. There is one branch of the roaansM of the turf, however, that yields to ab-oiute proof, and that is the pri.es pai-1 for Hint, ughbreils at public auction and their ■aheeqaeat aacreaa or failure, as measured either by the stakes in which they triumph* i or the BCtaal wagers won on them by th-ir owners. Not always does the owner win when his horse does. Many a time within the aeraaaal experience of the writer has he known owners not to have a cent wagered on their horse, while some pr ofessienal bettor and sometimes the public had backed the horse and believed him a cimii. Not a roasaaee this to the owner certainly. Bat then, as if to balance this, there scarcely is an owier who has not at some time had in his barn a horse that pleasantly surprised him. "A gtaaCQ at some of the prices paid for horses and their subsequent careers may be interesting. Virgil, for example. f„- away years was a hurdle rae.-r of no distinguished merit, and it was through good fortune that an opportunity in the stud was afforded him. Here he begot Tremont, the great black whirlwind, that the Dwyers purchased for a small sum. and with which, as a two-year old. they won more than S88,808 — a big figure in those days. Virgil al-o was the sire of Hindoo, one of the greatest race horses in the World. Hindoo begot Hanover, that tin- Dwyers bought for SI .000 and with which tlc-y won over 18, 000. After a brilliant career he went to the stud aad in time begot Ham burg. John B. Midden paid .20O for Hamburg ai a yearling, practically swept the turf with him as a two-,* ear-old aad as a three-year-old sold him to Marcus Baly for 1 38.8881 Mr. Daly retired him after he woa the Brighton Cap, and at a sale conducted by the ezccatan of his estate William C. Whitney bought Hamburg f.,r 1917.shtl.MM». Hamburg Brount C.00D at Auction. "Only a few years later, when the executors of the state of Mr. Whitney pai the bane up at auction ho was bought by Barry Payne Whitney ■«■ 870,0081. Hamburg in the meanwhile had got Artfal. winner of the Futurity and of the 835,080 Brighton Handicap, and. according t so good a judge as the lite John W*. Rogers, the best mare this country • ver saw. High praise this from the man that hail trained probably more great horses than any other man in Aaaeriea. it was this potent line that area for the Dwyer brothers— then a tremendously string racing confederacy — their supremacy. Of course they had mar.y horses of otter strains of blood -such. tor example, as Luke Blackburn, that Michael F. Dwyer always insisted was the beat horse he erer owned, notwithstanding that in th" Coney Island Cap of ls n. ],,. loet on him one of his biggest wagers. He had bought Luke as a two-year-old for I2,B80 and. as he has then in his heyday as a plunger, won t:-"nieiid us wagers oa hint. In tin-cup it was eoaceoed by almost everyone that the l.orse would have a walkover. Winter books were made in New York .n those years on big events and Kelly *: Bliss, as usual, had tin- htffCSt on,-. Tin v were making a 8180,808 book. Only a few days before tie- :•;,... they g,,t ward that Blackburn was not at his best- tin! be was on tin- verge of breaking down. Kelly and Bliss sent word to William Jennings that if he would start ilenmore, a horse that bad cost only .«: .".» he would be -on. 883,008 to BOthiag. In other words they would aaallfi him a present of ,000 simply for starting. Jennings accepted the otfe:-. starting Ids hois.- and won. in their Wiater book, alter il-ducting tin- 85,080 they had given to •I-iinings. Kelly said the balance in their favor was close to Stic quo. "James B. Keeae was singularly fortaaate with his purchases. l-or Foxhall. tie- winner of the • .rand Prix of 1881, and of the C.imb: idgeshirc. he paid, as a yearling, only S650. It was rnattihil in England that year that had Foxhall been in the Derby lie would not bare been worse than second to Iroqaoia, and might have beaten the wearer of the Cherry and black. Bat his most fortunate purchase was made on tin- night of Jane .. iv.rj. whew Domino, the s,,.. ,,f Himyar Maaaie Gray, fell t-. i.is bid for $:i. m*i. Mr. Keeae had anticipated tie yearling would go to at least 810.800, and In- was astot nded when he foaad bbaaelf the purchaser at a tiiini of what he led expected to pay for tie- cdt. Domino the next year won S170.S90. But, bet ter than all. he laid tin- foundation of the Castleton Btad— the most successful breeding faun in the world. It was from his loins that spraag Cap and Bell.;, the only American winner of the Oaks in England; Disguise, which was third in the Bpsom Derby, and later won one of the three ten tboa-saad pounders at Newmarket: CoaunaBdo, Peter Pan any many others that have made history on the turf. When Dentine died, his son Commando took his place and !.ei ame the sire of Colin, undoubtedly the best horse that has raced in this country within the prcs-nt generation. From that 88,808 yearling have come champions without parallel in the history of the thoroi-ghbr.-d world. Largo Sums for Withering Disappointments. "On tin- other hand there are instances, almost as numi rous, wherein horse-: tiiat were bought for large sums were withering disappointments. For example, when the Rainey brothers — Boy and Paul A. — went on the turf they sought for tlie best, bet they measured tie- best by the prices that w--re asked. At the time a coit called Horace B. was racing at Ascot Park, Los Angeles. He seemed a smart colt and wa ; bought by Boy for SHO.O00 and shipped to New York. A short time later the east was stirred with stories of the marvelous speed of a colt named Be Mund. in the- stable of Newton Pennington. It was said he was the fastest two-year-old that ever was saddled. At that time Mr. Bennington had a credit account with James B. Haggin. the breeder, which went to 0,000. Do Mund was cue of tie- yearlings that had been bought for a fair though net an unreasonable price aad for which Bennington was. in part, indebted. Mr. Bainey, after some negotiation, offered Mr. P.. u-ningtou 5.000 — a split between the 0,000 that h* alar J had first affered and the 0,000 that Ben nington demanded. Shrewd business man that lie was. Mr. Haggin. when he had read in the morning papers of the negotiations in progress, sent for Bennington and insisted on his selling. Bennington did so, and it was the best sale he ever made. De Mund won some races, but was nearly always a disappointment. Horace B.. the colt for which Roy Rainey paid 0,000. finally drifted into the selling plater class and Mr. Bainey sold him for the proverbial song, and he, like his brother. Paul, has no longer any substantial interest in racing. "After the death of William L. Scott, the turfman and politician of Pennsylvania, Phil Dwyer paid 5. 000 for Bolero, then a two-year-old. He was the most dismal of failures, and. later, Mr. Dwyer passed him over to W". C. Daly, who won some cheap races with him over tiie New Jersey tracks. Nasturtium, for which William 0. Whitney paid 0,000 to A. L. Aste, the Italian who has the bootblaeking privileges on all the ferries in New York «nd in most of the big buildings, never anywhere near compensated his purchaser. After an unsuccessful career here he was sent to England and there his wind became affected. It was Mr. Whitneys intention to send the horse to Colorado for special luag or throat treatment, but the death of Mr. Whitney put an end to what might have been a most interesting experiment. "Tournament — well, one may scarcely apply a measure to him. He won the Realization in the orange and green colors of Senator George Hearst and may, therefore, be considered a horse that was successful. At the dispersal of the stable, after the death of Mr. Hearst, Mr. Keene bought him for 3,000 and he was raced without success — so much so that he was deemed unfit to carry the white and blue poka dots and was retired. James B. Keene Paid 830,000 for Hyder Abad. "But it wasnt the only oiu . There was one other and about this one, no person who regarded the good will of Mr. Keeae ever made mention in bis presence. It was a purchase that bad its ludicrous side and the great old bear of Wall street isnt given to humor when it is directed against himself. It was in LS93. Keene at that time had divided his stable into two sets. One that included the matchless Domino was trained by William Lakeland. The other was in charge of Albert Cooper, an illiterate but shrewd negro. Deeper, besides the Keene horses, had a big chestnut colt two years old called Hyder Abad that belonged to himself. He was an eligible for the Futurity and Deeper fastened upon Keene as the most probable purchaser. Keene was eager to win the Futurity and believed Domino would capture the rich prize; but Cooper teed him such stories of Ryder Abad that the Wall street manipulator lx-came doubtful. It would be the deepest humiliation if a cast OWaei by his second trainer— and a negro at tliat should defeat his pet Domino. He resolved to purchase Hyder Abad. Deeper asked 880.800 for him. but Mr. Keene balked at the price until the day before the race, when he bought him. Mr. Keene sent to Cooper a certified cheek by his secretary, but the ■ egre would have none of that. He always professed he had a horror of any paper that he couldnt recogaiae as a bank note. Finally, cwucacj was obtained for the check, and Albert saw it tucked ■Way in the safe of the Coney Island Jockey Club, and Hyder Abad ran the next day with Domino in tin- Futurity. Domino won with GatUee earning tin- bourgonis tale— of •Doc* Streett. splitting him and Dobbins. Hyder Abad had met with an ae.-i,|eiit ai. d was nowhere, nor was it ever safe to ask Mr. Keene win re the coll sul s, quent ly went. It was even money that night as to which man was the happier — .Mr. Keene. whs had won the roe. or his BCgro second trainer that had carried off his 888 010 "The oft told story of King Thomas, for w hi. h Be— tor Hearst paid nearly 0,000 as a yearling, is worth but a mention. The colt was the rankest of counterfeits. He was a maiden aatfl his fourth year, when he scratched in a winner in a race at Brighton is poor company. Dobbin:, bought for 821,080 as a yearling at the Bhret sale by Richard roker, also more tiian repaid the pun-has -i-. He won the price paid for him twice over. and. besides, had the distinguished honor of running a dead heat with Domino in the famous match race that was the MeatcJ to the seaawtioaal Futurity in 1s:i.-:. For Longstreet Mr. roker paid to Michael F. Dwyer 825,008, only to have him break down before he had won a race with him, but it was well under- st 1 -it the DaM that the reason for the purchase was the desire of Mr. Broker to place him at the head of a breeding farm, in tin- praassea of which lie had bought a one-fourth interest."
