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WONDERFUL RACE OF 1892 Snapper Garrison Tells How Montana Won the Suburban Probably No Finer Display of ofCourage Courage Under Punishment PunishmentWas Was Ever Witnessed NEW YORK N Y May IS Everybody con ¬ nected with the turf has somo particular race treasured in his memory as greater than all the others in his recollection and it is a source of keen ¬ est pleasure to hear those intimately connccteu with such contests discuss them in a way that recalls tlfc scene as vividly as though it were yes ¬ terday instead of perhaps more than a quarter of a century ago agoFor For many persons no race decided in the United States in the last thirty years had a greater appeal than the Suburban Handicap of 1892 which Snap ¬ per Garrison won with Montana in a heartmid head finish with Major Domo and Lamplighter There have been faster races for the Suburban whose thirtyfifth renewal will be held at Belmont Park on Saturday June 4 but none that represented a finer display of dogged courage on the part of a horse or a more vigorous and brilliant quality of horsemanship by a jockey jockeyMontana Montana was a fouryearold horse by Ban Fox son of the English mare Queen He was the pride of his owner the western miner Marcus Daly who named the horse in honor of the state in which his treasures were located He had brought with him from Ireland that love for a good horse which is a heritage of all Irishmen and he always said that he would own the best when he was able How well he kept his promise the performances of Mon ¬ tana Tammany Ogden Senator Grady and other great horses which raced in his colors attest If lie had lived to carry to completion the plans he had laid put for a breeding stud Montana would have equaled any state in the union in the produc ¬ tion of fine thoroughbreds His importations of blood stock were made with rare judgment It was from his Bitter Root Stud that the dams of Colin and other champions came and the blood brought to this country by the warmhearted Irish ¬ man who delighted in telling of his skill with pick and shovel made turf history wherever it was carried carriedLet Let Garrison a left handed rider who was then a jockey of great ability especially on a sluggish horse of the Montana type and whose power as a finisher has been incorporated into our language tell the story of the Suburban of 1S92 1S92Mr Mr Daly was fond of bis liorses and liked to bet on them began the old time rider at the Jamaica Track a few days ago He was anxious to win the Suburban which then as now was a much talked of event There was i lot of specu ¬ lation on it from the time the weights were an ¬ nounced early in the winter of 1892 and Montana got a special prep for it There was a strong field that year including Lamplighter Locohatchee Major Domo Raeeland Poet Scout Pessara Tour ¬ nament His Highness Russell and Picknicker every one of them stake winners and I knew it would be a tough race to win winWHIPPED WHIPPED FROM FIVEEIGHTHS POST POSTMy My troubles began right after the start when I was knocked back to almost last position Mon ¬ tana was a long strider and not smoothly gaited lie floundered and climbed in the rush to and around the first turn and whenever I looked through the dust I could see the field strung out for a hundred yards and that one horse which after ¬ ward turned out to be Major Domo was leading us a merry dance Nearing the fiveeights post I didnt think I bad a chance but Montana got In his stride over there and I went after him with the whip What a licking I gave him At every cut he flattened out and fairly flew The way lie answered punishment made me think I had a chance to be in the money if I could squeeze through In and out through the maze of horses enveloped in clouds of dust I shot him and at every stride I whipped him At the halfmile I ost he was flying and from that to the quarter post he was timed in twentythree seconds secondsI I was iii the pink of condition then and could ride a horse like Montana better than any other kind We picked up one after another of the horses in the rush around the turn leading to the home stretch At last but two horses were ahead of us They were so far away that it seemed hopeless to try and get tlieim One was far in advance of the oilier which I recognized as Lamp ¬ lighter At the eighth iwst I had hopes of catch ¬ ing the threeyearold and although I hated to do it I went at my horse again with the whip Under terrific punishment I got Montana to the brown colts tail and there he hung for just a moment He closed up again however with the greatest resolution and Major Domo tiring from the early pace began to come back to us I never rode a i harder finish in my life and in the last fifty yards we were locked every man whipping and driving for his life Neither Lamley who rode Major Domo Bergen who was on Lamplighter nor I could tcli i which horse had won when we pulled up on the i turn Montana was staggering he was so tired but I can tell you I was a happy man when i we rode back to the stand and I saw that my number was up Major Domo was second and Ber ¬ gen didnt look pleasant as he unsaddled Lamp ¬ lighter when lie found that he got the short end 1 of the stake stakeMontana Montana was the most severely punished horse I ever rode He could hardly walk the next day Nothing approached him in courage that I have i1 ever ridden although Tammany which was the greatest horse I ever had a leg up on was a close second in the matter of gameness Mr Daly won 110000 on that race and my fee was a present of 10000 10000Garrison Garrison who had the mount at some time or other on every good horse of his time was asked 1 how the race horses of today compared with those of that period Outside of Man o War which he declares is in a class by himself he is of the opinion that there were more good liorses racing in 1 the period between 1SS5 and 1895 than arc seen 1 in public today He is loud in Jiis praises of Fi renze which he declares was the greatest mare he ever rode He says that Tammany worked a mile and a quarter at Sheepshad Bay in preparation for his match with Lamplighter in 204 and could have beaten those figures considerably
