view raw text
THE BELMONT STAKES HISTORY OF THE OLDEST AND GREATEST SWEEPSTAKES SWEEPSTAKESFOR FOR THREE YEAR OLDS 18671921 FROM FROMCOMMANDO COMMANDO 1901 TO FRIAR ROCK 1916 BY W S VOSBURGH COMMANDOS For several years favorites had been beaten for the Belmont but this thisseason season the favorite was too good a one to lose Out of the 168 engaged YEAR 1901 only three appeared The enormous prestige of Mr J R Keene3 Keene3Commando Commando as a twoyearold in 1900 and the fact that he had retained retainedhis his form made him an oddson choice Ridden by Spencer he never left the race in doubt and won by two lengths beating Mr R T Wilson Jrs The Parader with All Green third Commando was a bay bred by Mr Keene and was a son of Domino from Emma C by the Australian horse Darebin He was a coarse colt with four white pasterns a coarse head and neck deep in the chest and barrel and lacked quality but he was the best stayer of the Domino family The coarse strain of Darebin supplied the muscle needed and in Commando Mr Keene had the best stayer he ever possessed with the exception of Sysonby which came four years later As a sire Commando was a great success his sons Peter Pan Peter Quince and Transvaal having carried on the line Time of race 221 Value 11595 11595MASTERMANS MASTERMANS Six colts came out in silken array to start for the Belmont of 1902 WhitneysYEAR out of 153 nominated the favorite being Mr W C Whitneys YEAR 1902 King Hanover but the winner turned up in Mr August Belmonts BelmontsMasterman Masterman which ridden in capital style by John Bullman finished finishedtwo two lengths ahead of Ranald vith King Hanover third Igniter Whisky King and Compute unplaced Compute broke down in the race but for which he might have won as he was the best colt in the field a son of Hanover and the great mare Reckon by Pizarro Masterman was a chestnut bred by Mr Belmolt at the Nursery in Kentucky and a son of Hastings Lady Margaret by IllUsed It vas Mr Belmonts first success in the race named for his family and Masterman had a title of next of kin to win the Belmont as his sire Hastings had won it in 1896 and his grandsire Spendthrift had won it in 1879 Time of race 2 22 Value 13220 13220AFRICANDERS AFRICANDERS Africanders year was a great one in racing great for the number of highclass horses racing a vintage year There was the all aged class VT AT 1 Q n Q JCJliAiC lyUo wjth Hermis Gunfire Heno Waterboy McChesney etc In three threeyearolds yearolds Africander Irish Lad Whorler Shorthose The Picket etc etcThe The Belmont had 174 nominations and four started Africander had not been intended as starter and was short but hearing that Irish Lad was not going to start for the Belmont his party shipped him to Morris Park where he won the Belmont by two lengths from St Charles with 5 to 3 on him Bullman in the saddle Red Knight was third and Rigodon last Africander raced in the name of the Hampton Stable He was a bay bred by Mr Haggin a son of Star Ruby from Afric Queen by Darebin and was one of the best colts of his generation He won the Suburban with 110 pounds being the first threeyearold to win that great race He also won the Realization and Saratoga Cup When a threeyearold goes out of his class and races and defeats the old horses he must be above the average averageWhorler Whorler which ran second to Africander was a chestnut by Inverness Whyota Mr Madden had priced him to Mr Harry Payne Whitney at 15000 hearing which his father Hon W C Whitney said to Madden You ought to ask him 17500 the next tune for Harry likes to buy on a rising market This Madden did and Mr Whitney took the colt without a murmur Shortly afterward however he bet a hat with Madden on a race and winning went to a hatters bought a Panama and sent the bill to Madden The bill was for 75 and Madden observed that he never paid as much as that for a hat before Time of the race 2 235 Value 12285 12285DELHIS DELHIS YEAR There were 201 nominations to the Belmont of 1904 and a field of eight starters Mr James R Keenes Delhi had won the Withers 1904 and was in such condition that he ruled as favorite at 8 to 5 and beat his field from post to finish in meteor style four lengths ahead aheadof of the pretty Graziallo which was the same ahead of Rapid Water with Conjurer Southerner Ostrich Leonidas and Robin Hood spreadeagled far back Delhi was ridden by George Odom and was a brown by Ben Brush from Vera by Mortemer He was a leggy colt for a Ben Brush and utterly unlike that family but he had a dazzling turn of speed He won the Great Republic value 41000 that season and at four years old the Brooklyn Handicap Time 206 Value 11575 11575TANYAS TANYAS YEAR It w s thirtyseven years since a filly had won the Belmont Stakes Ruthless having won it at Jerome Park And now when the race 1905 was for the first time run at Belmont Park a filly won it Mr H P Whitneys Tanya Hildebrand rode the winner Blandy finishing finishingsecond second a halflength behind Tanya with Hot Spur two lengths b ° hind Blandy Tanya was a chestnut filly bred by Mr Whitney a daughter of imported Meddler Handspun by Han ¬ over She was a very highclass filly but did not last long in training Time of race 208 Value 17240 17240BURGOMASTERS BURGOMASTERS Public form was confirmed in the Belmont of 1906 when the best twoyearold of the previous year Burgomaster won for Mr H YEAR 1906 P Whitney There were 214 nominations and six started Bur ¬ appearedhe gomaster had won the Carlton at Gravesend but when he appeared he had grown during the winter to so enormous a colt that trainers said He cant last long his legs wont stand such a carcass as that If he was ailing at the time he did not show it as he came out with Lucien Lyne in the blue and brown But then the quality of his opposition was not good enough to carry him along and he won by a length The Quail and Accountant a neck apart Burgomaster never ran again He was missed from morning work and then the truth came out he was lame His great body with quarters like a steer was more than his lower limbs could sustain He was pounds better than anything out that season and his decline left all the good things for Accountant which gathered up a small fortune in the absence of Burgomaster which could have always carried him Burgomaster was a dark bay by Hamburg from Hurley Burley by Riley Mr Whitney bred him and used him for several years as a sire but he got his horses too big like himself and he was finally sold to go to South America Time of race 2 20 Value 22700 22700PETER PETER PANS The Belmont had now become the most valuable of the threeyearold 1907YEAR events in Burgomasters year its value being over 22000 In 1907 OTHATJ lorw YEAR 1907 the race had 161 nominations and five started Mr James R Keenes KeenesPeter Peter Pan was favorite and won the race quite handily with Superman Supermansecond second and Frank Gill third Peter Pan beat Superman three lengths and there were six be ¬ tween Superman and Frank Gill It was the beginning of a career in which Peter Pan stamped himself a race horse of more than ordinary ability His best race however was the Brighton Handicap for which he took up considerable weight and after being so far out of the race that nobody thought he had a chance came again and won in a great burst of speed through the stretch As a sire he got the Futurity winner Pennant almost immeditely upon entering the stud and his colt and filly Tryster and Prudery were the best twoyearolds of 1920 Peter Pan was bred by Mr Keene and was a bay by Commando Cinderella by Hermit tracing to Mabille the sister to Cremorne the same family to which The Tetrarch traces Time of race none taken Value 522750 522750To To be continued
