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TRAINING OF RUNNERS AND TROTTERS Methods Employed Entirely Different — But Few Trotting Trainers Succeed with the Runners. Once in a while, when I meet a former trotting sane trainer, who has severed his lonneetion with our snort and associated bhasetf with the- runners, I like to .piizz him as to the different training system which lit* has to employ with the thoroughbred from that used in training trotters and pacers. From these conversations I have learned that. If a runner was a ached fifty per cent as stack as we work our horses, he would be made worthless as a racing tool. This is due largely to the fact that the runnels possess sack highly attuned nervous -.-tems: that their speed and gait is natural, consequently not reqniriag the same amount of work to develop them, nor to key them up to top form. I take it that the greatest precaution must be used by the trainers of thoroughbreds to see that they do not Overwork their charges, and thus kill off their Speed and dull their keen eshje. Just a little too much work puts them out of form and interferes with their racing. In other words, in order to "pi ay safe." the thoroughbred trainer has to take a chance of not doing enough with his charges, rather than doing too nueh. It is for this reason that horses are often raced, rather than worked, into form. They all say that a race is worth more to a horse th in several weeks of work-outs: this being also true with reference to our own horses. Myron K. McHenry told me after he had several Mais experience with the gallopers, something like this: "I certainly had the conceit taken out of me shortly after I began training runners. Like every other trotting horse trainer. I assumed that our running brothers didnt know much about their trade, ami that, with my knowledge, acquired in training trot I eis and pacers, 1 would Quickly get to the front in my new occupation. I thought, too. the runners didnt receive proper care, and that the same sort we gave our horses would mean much in my favor. Put I quickly learned that the knowledge I brought into the running game was not applicable to its class of horses, it being, as a matter of fact, more of i handicap than a benefit. 1 used to observe the trainers closely when I first joined them, and before 1 had it demons rated to my -atisl.u-tiou I thought they were a lazy huii-h. who didnt have sufficient ambition to give their horses half enough work and exercise. Thought after their races they penaitted tin caretakers to cool them out too quickly, and did many other things in a slipshod. esrsWsa way. I not only discovered my error in respect to these things, but to many others, anel. to be frank. I had to start in ::t the bottom anel work along the- lines of the men vvhei had made a success with runner--, discarding the whale harness horse training system. It tot k me a jour before 1 really caught on. and. I must freely acknowledge, still longer to learn my new trade, for the reason that I had rid myself of many long-standing harness racing habits of training." Regarding McHenry. I might add that he never elid learn to train runners, and. despite the fact thai he was with them for four e;r five years. Sanaa only a limited success of the undertakng. I cant recall a single trotting horse trainer of my ac-quaiataeee who did as well, e r better, with the runners as he had done with the trotters, with the exception of Will Young of Lexington. "Snaps" McCarthy, yoa may perhaps recall, went with the runners for a time, but failed to make good. "Body" Patterson, who deserted our sport ;i few-years ago. I believe, did have some success with the runners, but the same could not be said of Jack and Oil Curry. McHenry. McCarthy. Mart and Barney Demurest. Redand Drake. Lee Darnaby. and a number of others. Frank Van Ness was the most successful trotting horse trainer who ever broke into the running game, but he is an exception. GHt Davis did better than most, but was glad later on to return to the trotters. Jediu E. Madden is often cited as an example of a trotting trainer who ntade good with the runners, but Mr. Maehlen ceiuld seareely be- called other than a gre i nel trainer of harness horses. And yes. 1 almost forgot — there was Je hnny Campbell, who scored a big eliml success back in the "eighties. Qns Mae-ey and his son. Ramey. tried both games, but both did best with harness horses. Put did you ever sit around anil hear our trotting trainers sigh and remark: "I am wasting my time foottag around with harness but sis when I could be- making a lot of money training runii-rs." Well, if you havent heard them get off this Uae of stuff. I have. many, many times. YoU would think that all that they had to do to make the as selves headliners among thoroughbred trainers would be to just change vocations as a man would change lata a new suit of cinches. Mi-Henry anil others of OCT transformed horsemen blamed their failures on tin- jockeys, stating that they were a beach of pinheada, devoid of any -lit of brains, and particularly lacking in anything that savored of horsemanship; but so long as other nr-u sin eceded wilh the help of the same sort of riders ii would seem cleat that McHenry and the others werent cut out far running horse trainers. — Marque in Horse Re-view.
