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IllJLt TffFIllJLt TffF HISTORY OF THE OLDEST AND GREATEST SWEEPSTAKES SWEEPSTAKESFOR FOR THREE YEAR OLDS 1867 TO 1921 FROM COLIN9 S YEAR 1908 TO TOFRIAR FRIAR ROCKS YEAR 1916 BY W S VOSBURGH COLIN S YEAS The Belmont Stakes cf 1908 is memorable for the great race it pro ¬ duced between Mr J R Keenes Colin and Mr August Belmonts 1908 Far pjay Qoiin lhe undefeated twoyearold of 1907 had beaten beatenFair Fair Play for the Withers and had plainly shown that he retained retainedhis his speed Fair Play had run once before and shown poorly But there was a doubt on the part of many whether Colin could stay the Belmont course of one and threeeighths miles It was a very stormy day rain falling heavily and the track deep in mud Colin was at 2 to 1 on a favorite It was a duel between Colin and Fair Play from the start and Colin won after a desperate finish by a neck Fair Play beating King James ten lengths with Robert Cooper last There has always been a story that Notter made a mistake by easing Colin after passing the judges stand the finishing post being beyond that point and but for which they claimd Colin would have won much easier As many more who saw the race deny that Notter ever eased his colt Colin was a blackbrown bred by Mr Kesne a son of Commando from imported Pastorella by Springfield He won all his races at two including the Futurity but after the spring of his threeyearold form he went lame He was stopped and sent to England the next year but his ailing limb would not stand the ordeal of training Fair Play on the contrary improved every day and before the year closed he was about the best horse in training He won the Municipal Handicap for all ages as a threeyearold with 127 pounds up a smashing performance in trainers parlance and then followed Colin over to England But whib Colin went lame Fair Play turned sour and refused to run and was brought home He sired the renowned Man o War and is canonized among the Fathers of the Stud StudColin Colin and Fair Play which fought out the Belmont finish of 1908 were both sons of Belmont winners Commando 1S01 and Hastings 1896 and Fair Play was also a grandson of a Belmont winner Spendthrift 1879 and it was fitting that two colts whose ancestry was so greatly identified with the event should have been competitors in one of its most memorable finishes Time of the Belmont was not taken Value 22765 TO1 ELADDENS Qe ran heavily when the Belmont of 1909 was run and there were several horses scratched Donald Macdonald a colt which whichYEAR YEAR 1909 had won some good events in the West had been brought to New York to win the Belmont and had plenty of followers as it was wasthought thought to be an open rcae Mr J E Maddens chestnut colt Joe Madden ridden by Ed EdDugan Dugan won with Wise Mason second and Donald McDonald third Time 2 21 Value 24550SWEEPS 24550 SWEEPS YEAR The Belmont of 1910 was a hollow affair Mr 5ames R Kesne won the race with his colt Sweep beating Duke of Ormonde the 1910 only other starter Sweep was a brown by Ben Brush from Pink PinkDomino Domino by Domino granddam Belle Rose by Beaudesert third thirddam dam Monte Rosa by Craig Millar He ran third for the Dwyer Stakes and won the Carlton and Realization As a twoyearold he won the Futurity National Stallion Stakes and was second for the Hopeful and Saratoga Special Time 2 22 Value S9700 PEINGE EUGENES There had been no race for the Belmont Stakes in 1911 and abandoningYEAS 1912 Repressive legislation had compelled the abandoning YEAS 1913 of all racing in New York during those years and the sweep ¬ stakes including the Belmont had been declared off In 1913 1913racing racing was resumed on rather short notice and the stakes opened at the last moment The condition of affairs was similar to that in Belmars year 1895 the form of the horses being so well established as to necessitate the Belmont being made a handicap Four came to the post and Mr Belmonts Rock View with 128 pounds was the favorite 4 to 5 He had won the Brooklyn Derby giving Prince Eugene twentytwo pounds the Withers beating Prince Eugene at even weights and the Rennert Handicap at Baltimore beating a field of ten Mr H P Whitneys Prince Eugene 109 pounds was second choice 3 to 1 Captain E B Cassatt in fine sportsmanlike spirit started his filly Flying Fairy 106 pounds with no great expectation of winning but because of a desire to help the race and the effort being made to restore racing after the two years interval Prince Eugene ridden by Roscoe Troxler won by half a length Rock View second a half length in front of Flying Fairy The result was not a true one Rock View was much the best but he acted badly at the post getting off last and Tom McTaggart his jockey ran him into a pocket on the turn compelling him to pull out and go outside of Prince Eugene and Flying Fairy and lost so much ground he could not get up in time although he was overhauling Prince Eugene Prince Eugene was a brown colt by Hamburg from Eugenia Burch by Ben Strcme son of Bend Or bred by Mr Whitney at Brookdale Stud Red Bank N J In the Travers at Saratoga Rock View beat him easily Mr Jefferson Livingston had purchased Prince Eugene but the latter never seemed to recover from his race for the Belmont and he won no more Time of the race 218 Value 2825 LUKE McLUKES It cannot be said that the season of 1914 was marked by a high class of threeyearolds For the Belmont Stakes there was an anyjpiATfcj yjpiATfcj 1914 indifferent race The flaxymaned Gainer was a favorite at 8 to 5 Charlestonian at 2 to 1 and Luke McLuke at 9 to 5 Luke LukeMcLukc McLukc racing in the colors of Mr J W Schorr and ridden by Buxton won the Belmont by eight lengths from Gainer which defeated Charlestonian by a half length Luke McLuke was a brown by Ultimus from imported Midge by Trenton granddam Sandlly by Isonomy Unlike others of the get of Ultimus he was not raced as a twoyearold but at three he won the Kentucky Handicap for all ages one and onequarter miles in 202 After the Bslmont he won the Carlton Stakes beating Stromboli Charlestonian and Figinny He did not race afterward owing to infirmity but while he raced he proved himself a fast colt Tune of race 2 20 Value 3025 3025THE THE FINNS YSAE Only three colts started for the Belmont of 1915 but it was wasan an open race so the public seemed to consider it between 1915 Mr James Butlers Pebbles and Mr H C Hallenbecks The TheFinn Finn Pebbles had been one of the best twoyearelds of the theprevious previous year and as a threeyearold he had been sent to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby for which he had finished second to Regret and later had won the Lakeville Handicap at Bdniont Park and for the Belmont he was a favorite at 3 to 5 The Finn had been out twice second to Top o th Morning in a sprint at Belmont Park with the worst of the weights and had then won the Withers Stakes beating Sharpshooter and three others and for the Belmont he was at 13 to 10 The Finn ridden by Joe Byrne made all the running and won by five lengths Half Rock second beating Pebbles the same Pebbles sulked The Finn was a black bred by Mr J E Madden and a son of Ogden Livonia by Star Shoot He was the best three yearold colt of the year winning the Hamilton Derby Huron Handicap Manhattan Handicap Dixie Handicap Ellicot Handicap and Baltimore Handicap He trained on and was a winner of the Metropolitan Handicap as a fouryearold with 120 pounds and at five was third for the Suburban with 129 pounds In his first year in the stud he sired KaiSang one of the best colts of 1921 Time of race 2 18 Value 51825 51825FRIAR FRIAR ROCKS The Belmont of 1916 like the race of the previous season was the medium of a hotly divided favoritism between this time Mr Bel YEAR BelYEAR 1916 monts Friar Rock and Mr James Butlers Spur The pair had met metfour four days previously for the Withers when Spur won Friar Rock Rockfinishing finishing third But Haynes who rode Friar Rock had made a mistake trying to go through on the inside where there was not sufficient room and was cut off losing several lengths and those who knew the circumstances held that the result was not a true one For the Belmont the track was muddy Spur ruled favorite at evens but Friar Rock had plenty of support at 12 to 5 The race was between the pair throughout each led in turn but Friar Rock ridden by Haynes won by three lengths Spur second Churchill third and Chicle beaten off Friar Reck was bred by Mr Belmont at the Nursery Stud in Kentucky and was a son of Rock Sand from Fairy Gold imported by Bend Or He was a chestnut with large black spots on his quarters as have many of the descendants of Pantaloon At the same meeting he won the Suburban and at Aqueduct the Brooklyn He then won the Saratoga Cup beating Roamer and The Finn To have won the Belmont Brooklyn Suburban and Saratoga Cup which no other horse has ever accomplished and the fact that he boldly went out of his class and defeated the allaged division proclaimed him a colt of unusual merit The was withdrawn from racing after his Saratoga Cup victory and entered the stud in 1917 The first of his get in 1920 were nearly all winners among them Inchcape which is supposed to have been sold for a greater price than any American twoyearold Time of race 222 Value S4100 S4100To To be continued
