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. 1 i i ! ; 1 I i 1 i - j . : 1 J j 1 " 1 " " 1 - 1 r s s 1 - s r FAMOUS AS RACER AND SIRE BRILLIANT CAREER ON THE TRA CK OF THE WONDER FULLY FAST HORSE DICK WELLES AND HIS MARKED SUCCESS IN THE STUD AS THE SIRE OF BILLY KELLY AND OTHER FLEET RACERS Dick Welles was twenty-one years of horse age when he died recently. He was a magnificent race horse in his day on the track and one of the highly successful sires of this country. A handsome horse, he was gifted with tremendous speed. Nearly all of his racing was done over Chicago tracks, where he was a prime favorite. There are still thousands living in Chicago who were electrified on that day at AVashington Park when he. was left at the post in a three-quarters dash, but took after the others with such an almost unbelievable flight of speed as to overtake the flying Runnels and, in finally defeating him, make a new American record at that distance. Making records was one of Dicks specialties. The same year he ran at a mile at Harlem, in what amounted to a match with tho fast horse Grand Opera, in 1:37, which stood as the American record at the distance for over five years. This race was run in 1903, when he was a three-year-oldi and won fourteen races of the fifteen in which he started. Dick Welles was bred by .It. 11.. Anderson at his stud farm near Georgetown, Ky., in 1000, and was a son of King Eric and the famous Hanover brood mare Teas Over. In some way the colt became the property of Keating and Hecker of Kenosha, Wis. These gentlemen were affiliated with the trotting turf and. having no use for a runijer, took Dick to the Harlem track when he was a two-year-old to sell him to whoever might pay their price. They sold him and were pleased at the time with what they received, but the buyer had infinitely the best of the deal. He was introduced to the folks at Harlem June 14, 1002, in a half-mile sprint for two-year-olds over a heavy track. There were eleven starters, and Dick, starting as the property of Keating and Hecker, was at 50 to 1 in the betting." He was never accused of being a mud horse, but he could run fairly well ii it when the occasion demanded, aiid he finished a good third to The Don and Foxy Rane after making iP considerable ground in the last Quarter. There was something about the colts performance that pleased Jerome J Respess and lie bougt hfm for the reputed price of .,000, and in doing so secured the bargain of his lifetime. Right off the colfi began to win races for him. Four days after his first race he was started fori ht-Tnew owner a,t four ajjdalialf: furlongs, and won easilyr.in 53, with Capt." Sani -Browns ,P,lucic second ,.iucty,rUaldwihs Americano thirdand nine more unplaced. It was a vfastrtraek that day, and so rapidly had Dick Welles fame grown that he was a 13 to 5 favorite at the post. June 26 lie started at AVashington Park in a foul- and a half furlongs race with seven opponents. John A. Drakes colt,- Apn Rouse, was one of them;--He;Avas thought to be something more than ordinary and, besides that, the track was soft and slow, which was held to be in his favor. So he was a 4 to 5 favorite, and Dick AVelles was . at 3 to 1. He lost no time about showing that it was himself that was above the ordinary and, leading all the way, won in a canter by five lengths, with J. Sidney AValker second and Foxy Kane third. Time 55. It was different when he made his next appearance. This was on June 2S in a live-eighths of a mile dash oVer a slow track. He had seven good opponents, but was at 1 to 3 , in the betting, and won pulled up by ten lengths in 1:04, with Topsoil second and Linguist third. By this time the colt had accumulated a large ,store of public confidence, which was rudely shaken and diminished when he next started. This was in the Kenwood Stakes, at live-eighths, July 1. Only Sam Hildreths Tom Cogan and Fred T.. AVoods Stemwindcr opposed him and. as frequently occurs when fields are small, the colts and their riders were unruly at the post and wasted considerable time before a start was effected. Dick AVelles was at 1 to S in the betting. Stcmwiader led into the stretch, but when his admirers were expecting Dick AVelles to forge into the lead they wore amazed to see Tom Cogan pass the other two with a rush arid win by. a length in such slow time for the distance as 1:08, the track being extremely heavy. Of course it was a fluke for Tom Cogan to beat Dick AAelles, but the history of racing is full of such surprises. All carried 118 pounds, and Dick AAelles finished second. So it came about that when the rich Hyde Park Stakes came on for decision, July 17, Dick AAelles was not favorite, preference going to the Drake coupled entry of Savable and Aon Rouse, at. S to 5, while he was second choice at 2and to 1. There were fourteen starters,- but so far as the race was concerned it was a case of one horse and thirteen pursuers. Dick Welles was far out in front all the way and won cased up by six lengths, with Savable second and Eaily third. Since Savable afterward went to Shceps-; head Ray and Avon the Futurity from twenty-three opponents, some idea can be gleaned of what kind of a two-year-old Dick AVelles was. The subsequently great winner Claude and his Kenwood. Stakes conqueror Tom Cogan were among the also-rans in the Hyde Park. The three-quarters of a mile was covered in 1:13. His next start was in the Test Stakes at Hawthorne July 31. It was a heavy track and he lost so , much ground by a wide stretch turn that he could not get up and finished fourth to Topsoil, Gregor K. and Foxy Kane, The distance was five and a half furlongs, run in 1:111s. At Harlem August 4 he ran five-eighths of a mile in a purse race in 1:00 and won in a canter from Sidney C. Love, Mirance and six more, and at the same track, August 0, Avon another at four and a half furlongs in 53, with St. Minor second and Ahola third. His last race of the year was in the AVhite Plains Handicap at Morris Park October 25. The race was over the straight Eclipse course of three-quarters, and at the finish in 1:09 Merry Acrobat, 100 pounds, was first; River Pirate, 118, second, and Dick AAelles, 118, third, a head and two noses apart. Eight more ran, and if Dick Welles had been at his best that day he would have won in a canter. It was his only race over a New York track. HIS FINE RECORD AS A THREE-YEAR-OLD. AAlien a three-year-old in 1903 Dick AVelles was only once beaten and won fourteen races. His cam- paign began at Latouia May 2t. in the Rrewers Exchange Handicap at three-quarters of a mile for three-year-olds and over. At 2J4 lol he was second choice to the coupled entry of Jack Ratlin and Bardolph, but won in a canter by four lengths in 1:13, with Jack Ratlin second and Hilec third. Ho carried 112 pounds to 118 on the four-year-old Jack Ratlin and 99 on Hilee. Then he was brought to Chicago, and at Harlem June 13 defeated Burnic Uunton. Nitrate and five more at three-quarters in 1:13. At AAashingtou Park June 27 he Avon at the same distance in 1:12, defeating Runnels, A. D. Gibson and four more and Avas a 1 to 2 favorite. June 30 he ran one of the most Avonderful races on record. It Avas another dash of three-quarters, in which he carried equal weight, 109 pounds, with the fast John A. Drake four-year-old colt Runnels, the others all having less weight. Dick AAas the favorite at C to 3 and Runnels second choice at 2 to 1, it being recognized that the race Avas between the tAAo, Dick AVelles was so badly left at the post that it seemed madness to hope that he might Avin. Setting, a great pace, John Peters rushed away in the lead, with Runnels racing close up, and led to the last eighth. But, knowing Avhat an extraordinary racing machine Avas under him, jockey T. Knight had sent Dick AVelles after the others and by the time this stretch was reached had made up considerable of the lost ground, but Avas still next to last. Then, calling on the colt, the latter covered the ground Avith an unequaled burst of speed and, finishing straight as a bullet, got up and nailed Runnels in the last stride to Avin by a nose in a din of screams and cheers beyond description. AVhen the then new record time of 1:11 Avas hung out there was another frantic outburst. As a matter of fact, separately timed by competent men, Dick Welles ran his three-quarters in 1:10 , and it AAas a marvelous feat only to be done by a marvel-r ously fast horse. July 7 he carried 110 pounds in the Drexel Stakes and, running its mile in 1:3S, Avon Avith ease from Bad -News, McGee and MeGoAvan, being a 1 to 3 favorite. At HaAvthorno July 20 he Avon the Premier Stakes at a mile in 1:41, and, carrying 122 pounds, won by four lengths from McGee, 107, and Orsina, 112, Sir Hugh and Gilfain running unplaced. His solitary defeat of the year followed at Harlem August 3 in the Garden City Handicap of three-quarters of a mile. The track AAas bad, and having 122 pounds to carry, besides being pocketed and knocked about, he AAas not eA-en placed, Jack Ratlin, 109 pounds, Avinuing in 1:15, Avitli Ahola, 97, second, and Orfeo, 91, third. FiAe days later, with 110 pounds up. he Avon the Chicago Stukes at a mile in 1:41 from Toah, 5, 113, and Bragg, 4. 117, Avith McGee, John Bright, Aladdin, Ontouagon and Gregor K. unplaced, it being safe, but not fast, going. August 12 he Avon a purse at three-quarters in 1:12 from A. D. Gibson, Delagoa and four more, but had to be driven out to beat A. D. Gibson by a nose, carrying 113 pounds to 103 on the latter fast live-year-r oid. It happened that at that time E. E. Smathers owned an extremely speedy four-year-old named Grand Opera, which he conceived could trim Dick AVelles at a mile, so on August 14 the two came to-r gether at Harlem, Avith Dick carrying 112 pounds to 115 on Grand Opera. There Avas not much to the race so far as a contest Avas concerned, but the colt set his army of followers to Avhooping lustily when, after leading all the Avay and winning easily, the new mile record time of 1:37 Avas displayed. That record stood f or six years and Avas one of the things, that made him u famous horse indeed. Next he Avon the Speculation Stakes of a mile at Hawthorne over a sIoav track in 1:40, Avith Orsina second and Flo-s carline third, and then beat Postmaster Wright, Flocarline, Bondage and Glassful at a mile and an eighth in 1:52. .Only Delagoa and Emma A. started against him in the Speed Stakes, at Harlem September -S, and he Avon in a canter in 1:14. His next and last tAvo races took place at Latouia. As a 1 to 10 favorite, he Avon at three-quarters pulled up, October 24, in 1:14 from Red Raven and Carl Kahler. Then, on October 29, to please the home folks, he Avas sent a mile against the then existing Latouia mile record of 1:30, made by Battin in 1809, and delighted all hands concerned by covering the distance in 1:3S. That Avas the last race of one of the fastest horses that ever stood on iron. An accident incapacitated him from further racing and he AAas sent to the stud. His stock began Avinuing as soon as introduced to- racing. As a sire he Avas an unqualified success. His son Billy Kelly c is today one of the best race horses in America. He has a tAvo-ycar-old son hoav in Kentucky Avhich may ; do great things in racing nest year. For years he has been one of the tAventbest sires and, among a - host of others, has sent into racing such successes as Dick Roller, Fruit Cake, Scarlet Oaks, Lady Light-s is nlng. Water AVelles, Flense AAelles, Lady Moonot, C. AV. Kennon, AVintergrcen, Zin Del, Miss Jeans, Miss e Declare. Droll, Kinney, Roscoe Goose, Gipsey George, Loftus, Richard Langdon, Ratina, Deliver," Alex - Getz, Highland Lad, Souvenir, Gniio, Vanessa AVelles, C. A. Comiskey, Major Parke, Fort Bliss and Gen-c cral Ilaig. His son AVintergrcen won the Kentucky Derby of 1909, and had it not been the stable policy to win with Sir Barton the Derby of 1919 Avould huAe been placed to his credit by brave Billy Kelly.
