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RACING UNDER DIFFICULTIES How G M Van Gordons Chinaman Won a Match Race from MexicanOwned Mare George Van Gordon the California breeder and turfman who has been racing at Tijuana this winter once owned a fast sprinter named China man And it was this horse that furnished that veteran turfman one of the most exciting times of his life Here is Mr Van Gordons own story of it itI I matched Chinaman against a mare belonging to several Mexicans for 1500 a side A thous ¬ and dollars was up on cacli side and the remaining 500 was to be put up in the stakeholders hands the days of the race Each side picked a judge and the lwo judges picked a third an utter stranger The Mexicans seemed to bo holding off to the last minute but that was only a blind They put up all right Two separate tracks had been built for the horses to run over the oldtime stylo side by side anil the race was to be run on Ihe top and bottom plan planThe The greasers had dug four or five holes in Chinamans track the night boforc filled them with water and put grass over the top sv that it looked all right The marc got away alntut a foot in advance of my horse which ran past Tier in a twinkling but stumbled in one of the holes and dropped back Hed get up to the marc again and make another stumble Finally they got near the finish and I thought the mare boat Chinaman about half a neck but the judges decided they had passed the winning iiost on even terms and as the mare of the Mexicans had got away a foot in in front 1 was given the race Immediately guns and knives were drawn and it looked bad for us Ameripans for we were greatly outnumbered outnumberedI I shall never forget how a big Texan got up and shouted that lie wasnt afraid of all the Mexi ¬ cans they could pack in the valley and his brave air seemed to scare the backers of the mare and all their friends for they put up their cannons and toothpicks and bloodshed was averted China ¬ man given a fair deal would have beaten the mare with case in fact he was one of the fastest horses at sprinting on the coast in those days That third judge the stranger was certainly a trump and strange to say I have never learned his name nor caught sight of him since
