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MAJ. BELMONTS PATRIOTISM ♦ — - Deprived Chairman of The Jockey Club of Great Colt Man o War. » World War Caused Noted Turfman to Dispose of Probably Best Horse He Ever Bred. • It was :i strange twist "f fortune which gave Samuel I. Diddle the colt Mm « • War, the best iu.i-yc.-ii - ilil of 1919, writes V. c. Vreel.ind in llic Brooklyn Eagle. Ill MMM wrinkle of f;ife gave Ban aet s. Hildreth Mad Batter, LaculUte ml Prim *ps, three big winners of last rear. This ■ orrucatfou in lifes pathway furni lied the roach field in M.i.j. August BebntOBts tnrf holding- and arrested froai him something aear and dear to liis i ..iit thoroughbreds of extreate speed and endurance. rin- war broach I iliis about, it fare hi Messrs. Riddle .-mil Hildreth ■ ehaaee to buy rate horses ihey would merer hare owaed hat lac the mixap »f tempers aniens the eitiaeni of Earope. it raased Maj. Aucust F.eliimnt. who is first :in l fort-inn-1 .-.ml shore everything else an mil -and-mii American. t« sell his race imr-i -ao that he could serve i » i — country whea Caele s.im was caacht in the whirlpool of trouble and was forced to declare war its the German*. In order to lie free so that he could devote .ill his time and .•ittention to the goveraaient he -old his thoronchhred yearlings gad rare horses in traininc. That gave Messrs. Riddle .•mil Hildreth the opportunity to aareaase horses tli.it made lie- tnrf history of 131! stand out as a nir: le one. In tiie stui ies meat the racing season of 1919 this imp. riant future has beea overlooked — that Maj. August Itelmonts patriotism and sense of duty as a citizen to his lounlij had taken frsaa him hi- mosi hichly esteemed treasure- thoroughbreds of power and speed. If there is one thing more than another that Maj. I.ohnoiit highly appreciates sad adntires i; is a Mne-htooded horse that pes--e--i s extreme xpeed and endurance. He does inn care particularly for a horse that possesses only one of these qualification-. A horse in order to lie real worth while owaiac must combine both. In lis estimatJoa ol a horse, while speed is -siinial. ii. should not dominate over that quality known a- endurance. Kniluranee in a horse stamina, as tarfmea tall it should he paramount. MR. BELMONTS IDEA OF A HORSE. Maj. Hclinmit believes that a horse, to he a real horse, shoald he aide to go any distaace, tip hill or dowti dale, and carry big weight. Of course, the faster a horse can travel the better, hnt endurance i- lie thing worth while. That is the kind of a horse he has always tried to breed and to develop. Ii has heen his aim for veals to do this, l-or pride "I ownership? Yes. And yet not with a motive of profit by such ownership. The thought of such a horse being Weighed in the scales of profit and as an investment never at any time has • nit red Maj. Belmonts calculations. lint 10 raise and develop saefa proceny, transmit his greatness of endurance and speed, has heen tin- aim of tin chairman of The Jockey Claw. To improve the • breed of horse, in America ha- been the aim and ambition of Ma.j. r.elmont ever since be has heen 1 a patron of the turf. And at all times he has i eld to this purpose with one object in rtew -to lelp la.!, Sam obtain better horses for the cavalry and artillery arms of the service. In the last twenty years Major Belmont ha- done more than I any other maii in the Iniieil Slui- lo improve . ihis roadltlna He has donated to the United i states goverameat lamouihlwi d stallions that were worth in the sccrecate close t.. 25 ,000. Many of ■ them were great race horses in their day. the heal he ever owned. M i, ir r.ehnoiii has bred many great race borsoes. Among those thai have wea important events on the turf in America and abroad were Hourless, Tracery, Fair Play, Back View. Watervale, Strom -lmli. friar Rock, Trap Rock and many others. Hut i. is doabtfal if he ever bred a mil of such ex- iri ..ne ] I a- that poasessed by Man o War. Man o War nut only was ine cliamphni of 1919 among the two-year-olds, hnt tnrfmea regarded him i- a el: tnpiou aiming champsoai. a i olt that stood out. :- it .eie. like Colin, Bysoaby, Bambarg and Moreno. BEST HE EVER BRED. N, i one of the great bones that Major r.elmont In ,1 in oil. it .Mars ever ibowcd such high quality a- two year-olds as did Man o War. Many of them won race- as two-year-olds, bat achieved their greatesl distinction wbea three and four years of a-, Man o War proved to he a phenomenon. He pa—cwni d dejadiag speed and could cany big weight. Keemingly he could ti" • great distance. Re was the kind of a oli that Major Belmont hi- been Iryiag to obtain by years ol breeding. Itecaase i.l ti.e war and his ho-h noli. .lis of patriotism he gav up the chance to own such a colt. lie lied Man . War and sold him a- a yearling. Wlin Major r.elinoiit sold Man ■•" War. Mad Hatter. I.in ullite and Princcp* he sold horses that played important parts in tin- winning li-t of last y i: Had he retained those four horses le- would hav. -ami 35,953, and would have displaced s. C. Hildreth as second on the list of visaing owners. It weald also have placed Major Belmont at the iop notch of hi- tint winnings m anj one season .n the America! turf. i tit- 55,953 which tin-former Belmoal horses earned maj he said, in a broad sen-,-, to have heen contributed to the govern incut by the chairman of The Jockey Clnb. He gave up ill thought* of racing horses dariag tin- a tr ■Then the history of the Amerk-aa tint i- writ- ten one iii.n- na win stand out prominently iii n- pages- Major August Belmont. He has dene more to build up and maintain the tnrf fabric than . .my three una This i- i.oi exacgeratioa. One has1 1 I hut to turn bach lie- pages hat record the turf 1 i 1 events if the butt fifteen years to realise l ow j lint. Ii In- ha- accomplished !or racing. Without hi- 1 I | guiding hand it i- 1 1 ui t •- like!] almost a certaintj --thai the majority of the race course- in this . Continued on second asjgm. I MAJ. BELMONTS PATRIOTISM Continued from first page. state would today be overrun with weeds e r cut -up into building Iota. He is ngreat student of • blood lines and there is perhaps im man better in-formed regarding the pedigrees of race hocaea aad their antecedents Nor is he selfKh ill his a Tool i n for the race horse. Many visitors to the race- courses have an Idea that Mn.i. P.elmciiit is in racing because it | in ings him in a revenue each year. They sarmise that his horses win moaej feu- him each season i ami that his holdings of stack in variius race tracks are so great that they aelel niate-rially ta his . income. Sn-li ideas are fallacious. In all the years that i his maroon ami scarlet colors have- been cm the turf I it is well known thai his horses have only area i a profit for him in two or three seasons. And. i strange ta say, the greatest amount of his winnings has been achieved by his race horses in England and France. As for his holdings of stock then- is just one track in which be has i financial , interest Behaoat Park. His investment in this is 110.000, and was niaih- hecaaae of sentimental reasons and without any idea of making a profit. Major Behaoat is one of the- few men in thiol- any other eoantry who can wttneaa horses nee without betting on the result. He is not a betting man in anv sen-,- of the term. He does not place erea i small wager on his harass in order to gite the winnings to the stable hands when a bone of tin- stabh- wins. The present ionics out of his own pocket lb- has been a strong advocate agaiasl bet tin JC. TO those who have -aid that they see no Uana in placing bets be has advised extreme m ■* i .,;,,,:: and has asked Ihem as I favor not to bet l-.-aviiy iii order that the apart may not suffer and be- stigmatised as a gambling gaate. NEVER TOO BUSY TO TALK HORSE. Maim- Behmaal hi aerei taa tired nor too busy to talk horse-, it is really remarkable that a man ol his varied interests, in which millions of dollars are involved, sets aside many hours ■ week to turf affairs and breeding industries of the Initeel States. Time means money ta nest Americans, but more so to Major Behaoat than la many other citizens; yet he cheerfallj glrea many hours for the battel an at of the laaf. Nothing plc-ase-s him better than to ste-al away from his banklag house ill New Yolk and to run dou n to his Nursery Farm in Kentucky. It is m the P.lue Grass se-e-tion thai he has his great Stallions and brood autre* quartered. He is usually on hand when the mares foal if it is possible to ch SO aad thus bee es aeaaaiated. as it wire-, with his future race horses from the time they first see tin- light of day. lb- dearly hives to make snapshot ,.f t hi- voiingsters during the elilT.-re-nt stages of their clc-e-l ipment. Thereafter it is only accessary for him to look at these photos to tell the youagster* at and that of its sire and dam. This proves that Major Behaoat is a true haaac-■ naii. leer sal] thos, that have keen affection for a horse- possess this trait. Major P.elim lit has several training quarters both ill Long Inland anil in Kentucky. lb- l.a k- carefully after his stable help, especially the young boys. Years ago at his training quarters at P.ab hui he hired a seheolaaaater to teach the Imivs , luring the- winter. He- was equally sollcitoas about their religious training and insisted that the Roman ! Catlielie-s and Protestants attend the churches of their faith. . a
