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ILLUSTRIOUS AMERICAN GELDINGS EXCELLENCE OF UNSEXED SONS OF FAMOUS SIRES FROM FROMPAROLE PAROLE TO BILLY KELLY BRIEF HISTORY OF OFTHEIR THEIR WONDERFUL DEEDS ON THE TURF From time to time famous geldings have played great parts in the mimic baltlclichl of racing One does not have to go far back to reach the time when Dean Swift was a turf idol in England his rr markable scries of highclass exploits in the City aifd Suburhiin Handicap furnishing a topic for admiring reminiscence to this day It is probable that the knife is resorted to more frequently in the United States than in any other racing country with the result that our turf history is gemmed with the names and deeds of such great gelded racers as Parole Frorland Kantiuct Kaccland Strnthmcath Proctor Knott Old Kosebud Itoamer Hoots Horrow and right now Exterminator njid Hilly Kelly Everyone of these raced and had their time of glory within the time of thousands who still love to pay tribute to King Horse HorseNone None of this galaxy of illustrious unsexrd sons of famous sires was more popular or had more de ¬ voted and persistent followers than Parole This none too handsome brown son of Leamington Maiden was a racing machine of the highest order He could sprint with the sprinters anil stay with the stayers carry high weights successfully and his easy frictionless way of going was a delight to behold He won the Saratoga Cup twice when it was a two miles and a quarter race and in the centennial year of 1S70 de ¬ feated Ten Hroeck and Tom Ochiltree in the intersection race that then convulsed the turf world This race was at two miles and a half and took place at Pimlico in the fall It was witnessed by a tremendous assemblage In the heavy betting over it Parole was third choice to Ten Hroeek and Tom Ochiltree but that did not pitvent him from trimming them both handsomely In tin fall of 1S7S Pierre Lorillard sent him over to Knglund where in 1S79 he scored a series of brilliant triumphs His Sirst start there was in the mile and a half Newmarket Handicap April 10 He carried 115 pounds The then Horse of the Century Isonomy carried 124 pounds and was a hot favorite at 7 to 1 Parole was well backed by the faithful American contingent and starting at 100 to lit won by a length and a half from Isonomy with Lina third and three unplaced This notable triumph lie followed by winning tin City and Suburban Handicap from seventeen of the best handicap horses in England He was ridden by Fred Archer and carried 11 pounds Then he took tip 124 pounds and won the Great Metropolitan Han ¬ dicap at two miles and a quarter Hr was beaten in the Chester Cup but won the Great Cheshire Stakes under 134 pounds AVith 125 pounds lip lie won the Kpsom Gold Cup He won no more in England but was brought back to this country and won frequently before being retired retiredHanquet Hanquet was a wonderful and enduring race burst He was the best son of the great French horst Hayon dOr which AA L Scott brought to this country at the then high cost of 30000 Hainiuet was not the popular star that Parole had been with the general racing public In fact of the many high class horses Dwycr Kros raced in their long turf career few were Luke Itlaekburn Kingston and Miss AYoodford being the exceptions PaiHiuct ran in the great number of ltli races in this country of which he won sixtytwo and in money 11853 He was one of the horses taken to Kngland when Mike Dwyer made his disastrous invasion of the English turf and there his bones rest His last years were spent in the ignoble occupation of drawing a London cab cabJoe Joe T llmuli than whom no bookmaker was ever more widely known or more popular in the Tnited States chanted to attend a sales of yearlings at Lutonia in liSSO and chanced to make an inadvertent jUU ° JV JUUJijuJ i amJ LUiliei idCaJ idCaJof of what was afterward the famous gelding llaceland and it the moderate cost of 2t 5 Considering that he figures in our racing history as the winner of a total of 1103 1 it can be deduced that he was truly a bargain horse He developed into a racer of high class i ml great speed and won abundantly for riluian Hut Ullmnu was without desire to figure as an owner and finally sold him to the elder August Kclmont for 20000 For Mr Helmont he won the Suburban Handicap of ISM and many other important races Subsequent to Mr Helmonts death he became the property of Dwyer I5ros and won frequently fo them Ho was a highly popular racer and was affectionately dullbod Old Hones by his host of faithful followers When just right he could display a marvelous flight of speed an essential in which it is superiorIn doubtful if even Parole was his superior In the course of his long career on the turf Green H Morris raced several noted geldings and Avon the Kentucky Derby with the unsexed Apollo and the American Derby with Strathmeath The latter was one of the great geldings of American turf history but his career has recently been sketched in Daily Kacing Form and needs no recapitulation h re reComing Coming down to more recent years 1 17 was made memorable by the noble racing of the four re ¬ markable geldings Itoamer Old Kosebud Horrow and Hoots That wsis the year of Old Kosebuds sen ¬ sational comeback to racing Of the four Horrow was the veteran and in the sere and yellow of racing age but still not to be trilled with by any horse He and Hoots were international characters both having started their racing careers in Kngland As a twoyearold there Horrow raced brilliantly and numbered the famous Middle Park Plate among the sp Hs of his speed Sickness prevented him from shining as a threeyearold but after that age he won some important stake races there for Mr AVhitiiey before being brought back to the land of his nativity to score further triumphs That he could still race to some purpose was shown when he won the Prooklyn Handicap of PJ17 and with 120 pounds up ran its mile and an eighth in such fast time as 14S Hoots won some races in Kngland for Oscar Lewisohn but did not make much of an impression there lie was slow in developing and became a highclass racer after being brought back to the United States Among his notable achievements in 1917 was win ¬ ning the Hrookdale Handicap at a mile and an eighth also in 1AJ when carrying 127 pounds and de ¬ feating Itoamer 1115 and Horrow 125 However of the illustrious four Old Kosebud was undeniably best that year Nature planned him to be one of the greatest racers of American turf history and had he not fallen lame early in a glorious career when a threeyearold there is no telling to what heights of equine grandeur he iiiight have ascended In the Kentucky Derby of 1914 he simply ran away from his opponents in the fastest time ever recorded in that justly coveted race Then he fell so lame while leading in the AVithers Stakes that he was deemed broken down However he was turned out on a Texas ranch to see what naiure might do for him while roughing it Then he came back in 1017 a great nice horse to become the idol of eastern patrons of racing He started in twentyone races of which he won iifteen and was unplaced in but two His victories included the Clark Handicap Latouia Inaugural Handicap jueens County Han ¬ dicap Carter Handicap Frontier Handicap Delaware Handicap and the Hayview Handicap In the Delaware Handicap Mr Vosburgh gave him 133 pounds to 127 on Koamer and in the Hayview 133 to 123 on Horrow an authoritative pronouncement of their relative capacities As capacitiesAs for Koamer well everybody interested in the thoroughbred knows about ICoanier His mile in 131 Is at Saratoga is a mark for the swift one to shoot at and may not be supplanted for many a day Fleet hardy a stayer and a weight carrier of high dejrrec Itoamer made it apparent that the premature death of his sire Knight Krrant was distinctly a loss to American breeding His brilliant career covered a number of years in the course f which his name became a household word Old Itosebmljiad a few pounds the best of him in P117 but Koamer gathered his fair share of the spoils of the year and among other achievements of great note won the Saratoga Handicap nt a iiiile and a quarter in which he gave Old Kosebud a sound trouncing as well as such other celebrities of the time s Spur Ticket George Smith Cumpfhe and Horrow However he had up only 122 pounds to 131 on Old Kosebnd goingThe The track was muddy and Old Koscbnds weight proved too much for him in such trying going The present time boasts of one gelding in Exterminator which gives precedence to none of his prede ¬ cessors A long while ago 1S79 to be specific the hardy horse Hramble won enduring fame as a cup horse and stayer He won the lialtimore Cup AVestchestcr Cup Monmouth Cup Saratoga Cup and Prighton Cup His renown was well earned and has been upheld by his son Hen Hnish and his grandson Hroonistick Hut as a cup winnr Hramble had nothing on Exterminator Against his score of five cups won Exterminator lias a record of eight and if he keeps in form is likely to increase his present record of two Saratoga Cups two Pimlico Cups one Latonia Cup one Ontario Jockey Club Cup and one Kclniont Park Gold Cup In the latter newly instituted race In carried 12S pounds and made u new American in that distance in 3lHf Previously he had a made a new record for a rith 120 pounds on his back he won the Saratoga in 250 His purchase as a forlorn hoin when it became patent that Sun Prinr could not In prepared for the Kentucky Derby of 191S and jhis victory in that race constitutes one of the romances of American racing He is truly a great race horse and an ornament to the American turf turfOther Other fine geldings graced our racing last year Lion dOr was an extra good sprinter the best of the year Naturalist an exasperating villain could run like the wind when minded to but was cursed with a sour temper Yellow Hand was a fine and fleet threeyearold and liable to rank Jiigii as a 1undicnp horse this year Hilly Kelly was that same gallant warrior of the track he has always been since he made his first bow to an admiring crowd in 191S by winning his first four races in a row as a two yearold Good track or bad track he is a mighty good racer and capable of battling nobly with the best of them Also there are Minto II Irish Kiss Flags Dr Clark and others of which a story might be told but not how
