view raw text
EVER GREEN LEOCHARES Veteran Gelding Ready for His Tenth Year of Racing His Record Sparkles with Great GreatDisplays Displays of Speed Under UnderHeavy Heavy Weights The general run of veteran thoroughbreds of ton or more years still taking part in our racing ire of the cheaper or selling platrr grade of horses A notable exception is that prime favorite uil sterling gelding Leochares Now eleven years old Icochares is ready to begin his tenth year of consecutive racing and if all goes well with him iiid thorc is no reason to think otherwise as re ¬ ports from the McLean stable of which 1 V Schorr is trainer arc that the gelding 1ms win ¬ tered well it is expected that he will head the winning horses of his sire Rroomstick II P Whitneys famous stallion which now commands the largest stud foe in the world At present Cudgel is Rroomsticks largest winner lint Loo chares is less than 200 behind liim and only a serious accident can prevent him from supplanting him himKarly Karly in the year 1912 John V Schorr purchased several good twoyearolds from II P Whitney It Is probable that lit the time Rrawny was supposed to lie the best of those bought but the flight of time revealrd that Leochares was the real bargain and a rarely good one to Ixiot IxiotAs As a twoyearold he was given time to mature and did not sttrt in his firstraee until July 3 11112 at Fort Erie His debut waiTin a fiveeighths Of n mile dash for maiden twoyearolds This he won from ten opponents and finished eight lengths in frollt of Miccosukee in 100 convincing evi ¬ dence of being gifted with speed of a high order In hi next race he was beaten by Ilorron over a heavy track and the same distance in 103 at Windsor July 13 Two days afterward he achieved his first victory in a stake race when he defeated Iysander Confido Miss Edith and Loch Lomond in the Edenwold Stakes and ran its fiveeighths in 103 f over a muddy track After this triumph he was beaten in six consecutive races and theu oddly enough he turned in and won seven in a row without an interveining defeat Altogether he started in twentythree races as a twoyearold winning eleven and being unplaced but three times his stable earnings amounting to j9475 j9475HIS HIS THREEYEAROLD RACING RACINGWhen When a threeyearold Leoehares further distin uislied himself in racing but did not win so much money as he did the year before In respect to his speed it may be said that he had made all the development to be hoped for being at the end of the year one of the joint holders of the new American record of 110 for threequarters of a mile He and Jefferson Livingstons great sprinter Iron Mask met twice in the course of the Douglas Park fall meeting with honors even as to the out ¬ come but Iron Mask was giving him much weight on both occasions The first of the two races was run on September 23 1013 The starters were Iron Mask 127 pounds Leochares 105 Helen Rarbee mid Samuel It Meyer 108 each In the race Helen Rarbee ran the first quarter in 21 Then Leocha ¬ res took up the running and covered the first half mile in the extraordinary time of 45 Hut not ¬ withstanding the excessive pace at which they were traveling Iron Mask was equal to the requirements of the occasion and joining Leochares in the home ¬ stretch defeated him by a head in the new record time for threequarters of a mile in 110 Their second meeting at the same distance took place October 3 and this time Iron Mask had up 132 pounds while Leochares had 109 Helios and Pan Xaretii 10S each Helen Rarbee 112 and Theresa ill 93 This time the race was somewhat dif ¬ ferently run the fractional reading 23 40 110 and Leochares won by five lengths with Helios second and Iron Mask third Leochares was then as good as he could possibly be and a few days previously had defeated Kleburne Morristown Prince Hermis and Sonada at a mile in 137 being the Douglas Park record for the distance these three races together giving a fair present ¬ ment of what Leochares is capable of doing in racing All of his victories as a threeyearold Were achieved in purse races racesIn In 1914 Leochares was a busy horse and won ten of his twentyfour races Moreover he raced with as much speed and dash as in his previous years llid included in his spoils of the track were the Memorial Handicap at Douglas Park and the Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs His campaign for the year began at Churchill Downs May 9 when he won a purse race at five and a half fur ¬ longs in which he readily defeated Grover Hughes Caugh Hill and Othello winning easily by three lengths in 1 This was the race immediately preceding Old Rosebuds Kentucky Derby At Douglas Park May 23 Grover Hughes carrying 111 pounds to his 120 defeated him for a purse at threequarlcrs over a quite fast track in 111 Star Jasmine being third while Othello and Helios ran unplaced May 30 at the same track and distance he took up 120 pounds and won the Memorial Handicap in 111 with Meridian 127 pounds scored Casuarina 101 third and Haw ¬ thorn llii The Norman 9li and Roots and Saddle 110 unplaced Although knocked back to last place directly after the start he made up his lost ground rapidly and coining thrcugh the home ¬ stretch with a remarkable burst of speed wound up by winning in a canter four lengths in advance of Meridian the latter being the favorite nt 21 to 20 and a highclass horse in any company and at any distance Leochares was second choice it 13 io Following this important success he was taken East and did not fare well there He won only one of seven starts and then was shipped to Fort Krio KrioThere There he resumed his winning ways by defeating Hack liny Little Nephew Pan Xaretn and some others at threequarters in 1H but was beaten in his next five races although second three times and third twice lie did not win again until at Continued on second page SEVER GREEN LEOCHARES Continued from first page Churchill Downs October 9 when he captured the Falls City Handicap at threequarters of a mile in 113 over a muddy track Then he won five of his next six races all for purses over the Louisville and Latonia tracks His last race of the 1 year was at Latonia in a dash of threequarters of a mile which ho won by a nose from Hringhurst in 111 carrying 124 pounds to 120 on the latter Helen Barbee 117 was third and three more unplaced Bringhurst hail beaten him in 111 a short time previously and their clashing was one of the highly interesting features of the Kentucky fall campaign campaignLoocharcs Loocharcs began his 1915 campaign in whirlwind fashion winning the first three races in which he started In his first race at Churchill Downs he met and defeated such highclass exponents of speed as Iron Mask High Noon Hodge Bars and Stars and Chalmers running the five and a half furlongs in 105 If In his next race he picked up 121 pounds and beat High Noon carrying 112 at threequarters of a mile in 112 f His third vic i tory was easily achieved Leoehares with 123 Pounds in the saddle running away from the lightlyweighted Chalmers which carried 107 pounds poundsWith With such an excellent start it appeared as if Leoehares was in for a recordbreaking year How ¬ ever it was far from suh He AVOU but one more nice during the year that an allaged handicap at Saratoga in which he finished ahead of Conning Tower Thornhill and six others The good handi ¬ cap horse Hodge proved a stumbling block for Leoehares as he heat him on three different occa ¬ sions in fast run races Avith Leoehares a good sec ¬ ond each time J AV Schorr in whose colors he had run since a twoyearold then sold the fast sprinter to John Sanford and he Avas scut to Charleston S C for a muchneeded rest restAfter After a Avinters respite from training and racing Ledcharcs came back in 191C With all the dash and vim of his younger days He was not started until the Saratoga meeting and Avon his first start there by four lengths with a good band of fast horses finishing behind him Proceeding to Belmont Park he easily accounted for the only races in which he started there and then again changed hands going to the stable of AV P Orr Avho immediately shipped him to Laurel Md where in the colors of his new owner he Avon the Laurel Handicap from Sir Edgar Top o th Morning and nine others Later at the same meeting he finished second to A N Akin in the Columbus Handicap but forced the winner to equal the track record for threequarters of a mile to beat him From Laurel he was sent to Pimlico Avhere he experienced little trouble whining the Pimlico Fall Serial Handicap No 1 from good Oppo ¬ sition In the running of the Serial Handicap No 2 the Frenchbred Chiclet took Leoehares measure after the latter was forced Avide in the stretch Leoehares wound lip his racing for that year by a victory in the Terminal Purse at one mile at Bowie Altogether he started in seven races that year won five and finished second on the other two oc ¬ casions casionsLccchares Lccchares made an early start in 1917 his first race being at New Orleans on January 9 in the New Orleans Handicap in which he picked up 130 pounds and Avon by ten lengths in 112 equaling the track record for threequarters of a mile A few Aveeks later Leoehares with 145 pounds in the saddle finished first in the Momus HigliAveight Handicap ahead of J J Murdock 120 Fruit Cake 110 Sqneeler 124 and Amazon 111 111REMARKABLE REMARKABLE WEIGHT CARRYING FEATS FEATSLeoehares Leoehares Avas then reserved for eastern racing where he did not fare so Avell but ran some re ¬ markable races under heavy Aveights and Avas always close up fighting with the best of them He was not raced at Saratoga but rested until the Belmont Park fall meeting in September His first race there found him third to St Isidore and Corn Tassel in an oVernight handicap loiter at Aqueduct he earned brackets in a dash of six and a half furlongs in which he equaled the track record for the distance 118 At the same track a AVeck later Ixwchares Avith 140 pounds in the saddle Avas only a short distance behind Ultimatum and Sharpshooter in a highWeight handicap tit six and a half furlongs and yas gaining with every stride at the end despite his heavy impost Straight Forward then beiit him by a nose in a race in which Leoehares AAouht have Avon but for poor racing luck and interference interferenceAVith AVith the close of the metropolitan racing Leoeha ¬ res was shipped Jo Maryland where in the Gcorge toAvn Handicap he started for the first time in the colors of E B McLean wll ° purchased him at Aqueduct and Was beaten by AVesty Hogau after another rough race In the Prince George Handi ¬ cap he finished third to Ticket and Naturalist on a heavy track and Avas evidently handicapped by the going Leoehares than defeated the great little twoyearold Tippity AVitchet after the latter had set the pace to the final eighth eighthGoing Going to Pimlico Leoclmres duplicated his suc ¬ cess of the year before in the Pimlico Fall Serial Handicap No 1 Avinning by four lengths over good opposition A week later in the Pimlico Fall Serial Handicap No 2 he ran a grand race to beat AVesty Hogan threequarters of a length at one mile in 139 His record for the year was six victories out of twentytwo starts in which he Avas unplaced but three times timesThe The two following years found the gallant geld ¬ ing carrying his years as lightly as he did the crushing Aveight burdens handicappers assigned him Time after time he gave startling exhibi ¬ tions of his marvelous speed with high weights1 up For instance at Douglas Park June 4 1918 he took up 132 pounds and ran threequarters in 111 winning easily A few days later Escoba defeated him but only after a great race and by a head in the fastest mile ever run before in Kentucky the time recorded being 131 Later he Avon the valuable Quickstep Handicap with 130 pounds up running threequarters in l and defeating Boniface by four lengths In 1918 he Avon six out of twentyseven starts and Avon 10020 while in 1919 he accounted for five races out of twenty three starts his earnings for the year amounting to 8159 8159Lewhares Lewhares racing of last year is still so fresh in mind to need any detailed description He Avas the same game and consistent racer of old and Avas found fighting it out with the leaders when not victorious himself That he Avas able at the age of ten to Avin seven races out of tAventy three starts and be unplaced but fotir times while he earned 12275 the largest sum of his career is convincing evidence of his greatness and merit as a racer Altogether Leoclmres has Avon sixtytwo races and 78C7 during nine years of raciiig the following being a record of his remarkable career Lcochares b g 1910 by Broomstick Xeayonara Xeayonaraby by Woolsthbrpe Year Age Sts 1st 2d 3d Unp AVon 1912 2 23 11 4 5 3 9477 1913 3 23 S 7 3 5 5191 1911 1 X4 10 ti 3 5 9575 1915 5 13 4 4 1 4 2i45 2i45191i 191i i 7 5 2 0 I 4453 1917 7 22 7 i 3 7071 1918 S 27 i 4 2 15 10020 1119 9 23 5 7 2 9 S159 1920 10 23 7 i r 4 12272 28 4S OSSi7