Sweet on Omar Khayyam: Mccarter Potter Sorry He Let Great Colt Get Away from Him, Daily Racing Form, 1917-08-22

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SWEET ON OMAR KHAYYAM. McCARTER POTTER SORRY HE LET GREAT COLT GET AWAY FROM HIM. Would Havo Given 0,000 for Him, and Believes Ho Would Havo Been Cheap at That Dick Doggotts Experience on Runaway Horse. I By Ed Colo. Saratoga, N. Y., Aug. -1. MeCartcr Potter, who presides over u small breeding farm in New Jersey, with Knight of the Thistle at its head, intends to go deeper into the industry when he can buy the material suitable to his taste. "I made n mistake when I let Omar Khayyam get away from me," said he in speaking of the big imported horse. "Mr. Viau would have had to go higher to get him had the Liberty Bond ques-ion not been so patriotically inviting just about the tinie of the sale of the Johnsou-ISillings horses. My bid would have been 0,000, and he is a mighty cheap horse at that figure. Hed have been a pretty good horse to have on my Jersey establishment after his racing days are over. However, ho has gone, and I have no chance to buy him, so I shall look elsewhere for some stock material. There is a fascination about breeding horses that excels racing them. It is mighty fine to see a horse of ones own breeding win. In fact, I would rather see a ciieap plater of my own raising take a purse than win a stake with a horse purchased from someone else. "Speaking of Omar Khayyam," continued Mr. Potter, "Kimball Pattersons description of the horse and his ability is expressive. Patterson says that it is not until after Omar Khayyam has covered a mile in 1:38 that he begins to show the hind of horse lie is. Which infers that the longer the distance, the greater impression he makes, lie may be defeated at times, but that should not detract from his ability, as he lias shown more than once that his true form is excellent. I make the unqualified prediction that Omar Khayyam will make one of the best sires in this country." Dick Doggctts Hovel Experience. Wherever racegoers gather there are snre to be some experiences related, plots disclosed that have been secrets for years, killings magnified until ,thejr"ihaKe " Aladdins Lamps golden rays look like lucifors ablaze, but a story of a runaway lias been brought to light that is worth relating. It is told by Dick Doggett, who is unquestionably the most wealthy jockey in this country. It happened to himself in his early career when he was just a plain exercise boy with just enough clothes to pin up with a blanket pin and an appetite that sometimes liad him guessing to keep it satisfied. It happened at Guttenburg," said Dick, Avliile he AV18 lounging on the porch of his Saratoga cottage entertaining a few friends. "There was an old black mare belonging to somebody, I just forget who it was. neither can I remember the mares name, but slio was such a pro-nouupcd runaway that the stable boys refused to ride Iter. She had got away with the strongest of the jockeys and nobody seemed able to hold her. I was asked if I would work her and consented, though the bunch of kids told me she would break my neck. In those days I had no fear of a horse and I took the job. "Well, sir," continued Doggett, "I was lifted on to the old mares back and she certainly was a buckr jumping old gal. Two or three rubbers led her on to the track and once there they turned her loose. This was about seven oclock in the morning. I dont know just how far she went but she ran around that old Gutteilburg track so many times I lost count. Finally she made a dash for the outside fence just by the three-quarter pole, smashed through it, took a head on dive into the track barber shop, busted through the doorway, scraped me off along with the door jamb and finally landed me squarely in the old barber chair. Then she upset the bottles and wash basins, swished her old tail and shot out again into the open, leaving me bundled up In the big chair. " Now that I am here, said I to the barber, you may us well let me rest a bit, shave me and cut my hair. As I said before I dont know just how fur the old mare had gone, but it was many a mile, for when the barber was through with me it was lunch time and I know I had only just had my breukfust when I started to work her. It was the longest ride I wver took in my life to get a hair cut and a shave."


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1917082201/drf1917082201_1_2
Local Identifier: drf1917082201_1_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800