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CLOSE FINISHES IN FOUR MILE RACE Charmer and Louis dOr Ban a Dead Heat ii 1851 An Interesting Story The many people who pronounced the Thornton Stakes won by Los Angeleno as the closest on rec ¬ ord for that distance were not aware that at Ja ¬ maica Long Island on the 13th of October 1832 a lead heat in the second heat of a four mile race took place between Black Maria and Trifle and it took twenty miles or five heats to decide the race At New Orleans in the spring of 1835 George R Kenners gray stallion Grey Medoc ran a dead heat with Colonel J IVi Whites bay horse Altorf doing the four miles in 735 the imported horse Denizen by Partisan being beaten less than three feet On the same track on the 10th day of April 1851 Thomas B Pattersons bay mare Charmer granddam afterward of the famous California mare Mnrioiii whose progeny Avon over 250000 won a race which was not decided after sixteen miles had been traversed but required Charmer to walk over for a fifth heat Following is the official summary of the race and the placing of the contestants T B Pattersons b ni Charmer Charmerby by Glencpe 32011 32011I I E Kenners b h Louis dOr dOrby by Sarpedon 2 1 0 2 d dT T J Wells ch e Kigodoon y yGlencoe Glencoe T 1 3 d dA A L Bingamans b f Atala by byRuffin Ruffin 4 d dTime Time 741 739 747 803V not taken takenThe The f if tli heat a Walk oer was made neces ¬ sary by tiie dead heat between Charmer and Louis dOr in the third heat Nearly fifteen years after ¬ ward I met Mr Kenner owner of Louis dOr at Saratoga He was the brains of the Confederate Congress and incurred the personal enmity of Jeff Davis by wishing to abandon the unequal struggle immediately after the battle of Gettysburg in 1853 Mr Kenner had many personal friends in California after whom he inquired and when that was over he began to talk of the oldlime races at long distances and then lie said 1ou remember the fiveheat race at New Orleans when Charmer got the money away from my horse Louis dOr Well the little brown horse was running beyond his true distance that day but I will die in the belief that lie won that third heat by about ten inches and as he had already won the second which was consid ¬ erably the fastest in the race that would have given him the money Of course I have no desire to throw any calumny upon the gentlemen who officiated as judges pfr that race for they were my personal friends and ashonorable men as could be found in the south But no man can make me believe there ever was such a thing as a dead heat especially in so long a race EARLY CALLFOHNIA RACING RACINGI I have been asked for my recollection of the four mile races run in California in the earlier days of racing before men sought to convert a sport into an industry So I must go back to 1859 On the second Wednesday of May in that year was run over the old CenterVille course Buck Harrigans at Sacramento the first four mile race ever run west of the Rockies The contestants were Nathan Coombs bay horse Ashland five years old 110 pounds by Glencoe ary Bell by Sea Gull ridden by John Williams and AVllliam M Williamsons chestnut horse Owen Dale six years old 118 pounds by Belmont Maria Donning by American Eclipse ridden by Samuel H Wilson The judges were Colonel Edward McGarry presiding Benjamin S Lippincott in behalf of Mr Williamson and Samuel II Brooks th n Controller of the state for Mr Coombs Ashland won the race in straight heats in 750 749 that being the only race of that ycar in which the second heat was faster than the first Out of this came a great deal of bitter feeling especially as Williamson had openly said that his rider had been bribed whether by Coombs or not he did not say but that he had been bribed and had ridden the race exactly contrary to orders Much was said on cither side by the partisans of the contestants that neither of them would indorse Owen Dale came out of the race a broken down horse and never started afterward afterwardCHANGED CHANGED HIS NAME TO LANGFOHD LANGFOHDIn In the spring of that same year Williamson had sold to Col E S Lathrop of Martinez a chest ¬ nut fouryearold called Vigilance by Belmont Los Givens by imported Langford The first thing Lathrop did was to change the colts name to Lang ford and as such he is known in turf history In the winter of 185960 the bitter feeling still kept up and Lathrop offered to run Langford four mile heats against any horse in America for 10000 a side and allow 2500 for expenses This challenge remained in the Spirit of the Times four weeks and met with no response A report then got out that Langford had gone lame in training and Lath ¬ rop sent a note to Marcus Boruck asking him to withdraw the challenge No sooner was it with ¬ drawn than Mr Coombs came out with a banter offering to run Ashland at heats of two three or four miles for 5000 a side against any horse mare or gelding in California One week after the issuance of this bold defiance Messrs Coombs and Lathrop met at the old Bank Exchange and signed agreements to run Langford and Ashland at four mile heats over the Centcrville track at Sacra ¬ mento for 5000 on Ashland against 3500 on Langford Mr Coombs paying 1500 for the privi ba run A few days later I met Mr Coombs CoombsWell Well you have done it this time timeWhat What have I donei he asked Well you have made a race to run in April according to New Orleans rules and by this you have let Langford iu at 100 pounds If you had made it to run in May he would have had to carry 110 pounds poundsYes Yes and I would have had to carry 118 which Is really twelve more than he likes No I had to run at 110 and take the chance of beating him that way said Mr Coombs CoombsDo Do you know how you will beat him You will run ahead of him under a pull for a mile you will lead for about a half mile further and then Laiigford will simply gallop you to death deathTWO TWO TO ONE ON THE KENTUCKY HOHSE HOHSEOn On the day of the race they were betting 2 to 1 on the Kentucky horse Just as they came out I pulled out 100 and bet it five times over at 20 to 100 that Ashland would not get a heat They crowded around me like wolves around a dying stag and I believe that if I had had 10000 with me I could have bet every cent of it Mr Coombs came up and said saidTom Tom Ill mark time witli you for 20 20Ill Ill do nothing of the kind If you want to mark time I will niatk time for 1000 and put both marks in an envelope to be placed in the hands of the judges and not to be opened till the race is over I would have marked 737 and that would have beaten Ashland by a city block blockAshland Ashland had waiting orders but was unable to keep up the furious pace Langford set with his light weight for the first two miles wliich were done in 342 After that the race was a mere canter for Langford which won in 743 Ashland being drawn after that thatFrom From that time out there was not a four mile race run in the state until 1807 when Pele a sevenyearold mare and a sister to Langford won a 1000 IIUKVJ at the Ocean House track beating Transita MaybeSo and Woodburn the latter be ¬ ing distanced in the first heat and MaybeSo in the second From that time on there was no four milt racing until October 1873 when George Treats horse Tliad Stevens beat Joe Daniels Just off the cars and Ballot Box a four mile heat race at the Oakland track the first heat being run in 733 and the second in 730 then the fastest sec ¬ ond heat in history historyGBEAT GBEAT SIXTEEN KILE BACE BACEOut Out of this grew the great sixteen mile race at the Ocean House track won by Thad Stevens in his third and fourth heats Of all the detestable jobs in American turf history this was the worst True Blue could have won the nice if Joe Daniels had not cut him down from behind and after that Joe Daniels could have won if his bridle had not broken The time was 745 808 757 S20 Joe Daniels taking the first heat and True Blue the second I know of at least three men who hail 10000 worth of checks in that pool box who had not one dollar in the banks on which those checks were drawn And had any horse but Thad Stevens won the race they would have been out in the harbor searching for outwardbound shins headed for countries witli which the United States had no treaties of extradition extraditionNext Next came the race in which Katie Pease boat Hardwood Henry and Thad Stevens over the then new Bay District track in straight heat The time was 743 730i Joe Daniels was also a starter but broke down and was distanced A year later they had the one that was guaranteed at 30000 but the winner got less than 7000 iu actual cash It was won by Mark LittelPs ch h Foster by Lexington Verona by Yorkshire beating Mr Baldwins Rutherford and sir others Golden Gate and Hock Hocking were well inside the flag but were reported distanced to save the payment of second and third moneys of course and this infamy ended up all fourmile racing ou the Pacific coast until 1895 when Thomas H Wil ¬ liams sought to revive the smoldering fires by in ¬ augurating the Thornton Stakes StakesI I have been asked by the Chronicle to give all the close finishes that have occurred in the several renewals of that event and from all that I can glean there is notiiing to parallel the victory of Los Angeleno over Mamie Algol which was by the shortest of heads The only other close finish in the history of the race was in 1S9S when Sandy MeNaughtons black horse Judge Denny beat Barney Schreibers Marplot a threeyearold at that by less than three parts of a length Other fourmile races were run at Ingleside one won by Little Bob and the other by the Australian mare Candid owned by A B Spreckels which defeated Corrigans great horse G B Morris in a comuiou cauter TUomus B Merry HlMalgo
