History of American Thoroughbred, Daily Racing Form, 1922-11-25

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History of American Thoroughbred Twelfth Article. ! SECOND HEAT Flirtilla went to work in earnest. She challenged at the start, passing ahead and kept up a telling pace. Ariel followed with all her power, hut each round dropping farther and farther behind. In the second mile it was evident that her chance was out. Toward the termination of the last mile, when Flirtilla entered upon the quarter stretch, she had beaten the gray filly a full 100 yards and thus far in advance was she when she passed the four-mile distance, forty rods from home. -As she neared the crowd and had arrived within twenty or twenty-five rods of the winning post she became sulky or restive, refused to run, actually braced herself, and it was with the greatest difficulty that her rider prevented her from coming to a full stop. Young Laird, having given up all idea of winning the heat and intending barely to drop within the distance post, seeing that something was the matter, clapped whip and spur to the filly and brought her up at a rattling pace. But it was too late; the distance yet to be measured too short. One more stride would have given him the heat. It was a hair-breadth business, adjudged to Flirtilla by only six inches. The time of this heat was 5 minutes 54 1-2 seconds. THIRD HEAT It was now evident thai Flirtilla had the field at command and that nothing save her restiveness left any chance to Ariel. At the summons they both took their stations and the signal being given went off at a rattling- pace. Flirtilla took the lead and kept on at a terrible pace, apparently determined neither to give nor to receive quarter. Bob "Wooden had orders to keep her i steadily on and he did so, gradually dropping the filly, which, in the second round, was dead beat. She kept up a hopeless struggle to the last, falling in the rear 100 yards. Thus determined a match, twice lost to the northern sportsman, which proper preparation or good management would have given them. So much for changing a successful trainer or rider. AN OLD TURFMAN. Ariel was now purchased by sportsmen of the South and placed in General Wynns stable. S. April, 1S26. At Belfjeld, Virginia, she was beaten by Colonel Johnsons Shakespeare, four years old, by Virginian, for a Jockey Club purse, 00, in three mile heats. 9. May. At Newmarket she won a post stake, 00, three-mile heats, beating Mr. Fields Mark Time, four years old, by Gallatin a very superior three-mile horse in fine style and time. Wc are unable to furnish particulars. The following week Mark Time won the three-mile heat in the best time known at Tree Hill. 10. At Tree Hill, the following week, she won with ease a Jockey Club purse, ,000, beating Mr. Fields Gohanna the first race he lost Colonel Johnsons Betsey Richards and Harrisons Frantic. Time, S minutes 7 seconds for the first heat and 8 minutes 2 seconds for the second. The preceding week at Newmarket Gohanna and Betsey Richards had been winners, both running severe races of twelve miles, beating Flirtilla, Shakespeare, Janet and others. 11. At Nottoway, the following week, she won a Jockey Club purse of 00, in four-mile heats, beating Gohanna again, with others. 12. September. At Nottoway she won a Jockey Club purse of 00 with ease in four-mile heats, beating Shakespeare. 13. At Broad Rock she won a Jockey Club purse of 00 with great case, in three-mile heats. 14. October. At Newmarket, the next week, she won cleverly a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats, beating Botts Fhlyyis sister to Gohanna and Colonel Johnsons Betsey Archer. j 15. At Tree Hill, the week following, she ran second to the then famous Monsieur Ton-son, four years old, by Pacolet, for a Jockey Club purse, winning cleverly in two heats. ; Botts Gohanna was distanced. Monsieur Tonson trailed Ariel in the first heat until the last quarter-mile, when Ariels saddle slipped and she was forced to give up the contest. The second heat was run in the same way and, to general astonishment. Monsieur Ton-son won by more than a length. Time first heat, S minutes 4 seconds; second heat, 7 minutes 57 seconds. 1G. At Belfield the succeeding fortnight, she was again beaten by Monsieur Tonson in a Jockey Club race of three-mile heats. The race was an extremely interesting one. Sally "Walker won the first heat, which was well contested and run in good time. We regret being unable to give further details. 17. November. At Halifax, N. C., the next week, she was beaten for the third time by Monsieur Tonson for a Jockey Club purse of 00 in three-mile heats. Two weeks after, at Boydton, the memorable race between Monsieur Tonson and Sally Walker, called "the best four-mile race, all things considered, ever run in America," took place. 18. 1S27. January. Ariel was taken to Augusta, Ga., where she won with ease a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats. 19. February. Ariel was next taken to Charleston, S. C, where she received the amount of a Jockey Club purse, 00, being withdrawn in favor of Red Gauntlet, the ostensible winner. 20. The next day she won a 00 purse in three-mile heats. 21. Two days after she won a handicap purse of 00 in three-mile heats. Thus she ran, as a four-year-old, fifteen races, two in one week, of which she won eleven and lost but four, three to the famous Monsieur Tonson and one to Shakespeare, which she afterward beat. I 22. May. At Newmarket, Ariel, now five years old, won a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats, beating with ease Maid of Lodi, Atalanta and Phillis. Time, 7 minutes 5S seconds for the first heat and 8 minutes 8 seconds for the second. After this race ,000 was given to Mr. Wyche for six weeks use of Ariel. j 23. At Tree Hill, the next week, she won a Jockey Club purse of ,000 with a post stake of 500 each, which had four subscribers, making a total of ,000. The race was i in four-mile heats and Ariel beat with ease Botts Gohanna, the famed Sally McGee ana Maid of Lodi. Monsieur Tonson, calculated upon in the race, had broken down and Sally Walker was racing at the Union course. The track was excessively heavy and at places near knee-deep with mud and water. 24. At Broad Rock, the following week, she Avon a Jockey Club purse of 00, beating Lafayette and others. 23. At Norfolk, the following week, she won a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats, beating dohanna and the celebrated .Sally Hope, four years old, by Sir Archy. J The defeat of the latter has been ascribed to the state of the course, which was heavy, j 26. June. At Nottoway, shortly thereafter, she won a Jockey Club purse of 00 in three-mile heats, beating Gohanna, Sally McGee, Red Gauntlet and others. She ran a capital race. ARIEL CONSISTENT WINNER. Thus Ariel, in one campaign, won all of her five Jockey Club races, three of them four-mile heats, beating most of the best horses, without taking in consideration the three races won a few months before in Georgia and South Carolina. Having previously passed through several hands and the veteran Wynn being dead, Ariel war now bought for ,000 by the latters nephew, Colonel William Wynn. 27. September. At Broad Rock, for a Jockey Club purse of 00, in three-mile heats, Ariel was beaten in a severely contested race by Sally Walker, 5, by Timo-leon, after she beat Lafayette and another in both heats. Sally Walker was comparatively fresh, having run but one race in the spring, which she won with ease, though in three heats, and was therearter declared the best of her class in the South that haa ever been introduced on the Union course. Ariel was not in condition nor did she become exactly "in fix" during the campaign. The time of this race was the best on record up to that time, 5 minutes 44 seconds for the first heat and 5 minutes 42 seconds for the second. 28. At Newmarket, the next week, she was beaten easily by Sally Walker for a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats. 29. October. At Tree-Hill, thcfollowing week, she won a post stake of 5tT in -a single heat of four miles, beating Colonel Johnsons famed Trumpator, 4, by Sir Solomon. DEFEATS CELEBRATED MEDLEY. 30. At Nottoway, the next week, she easily won a Jockey Club purse of 400 in throe-mile heats, beating Colonel Johnsons celebrated Medley, 3, by Sir Hal, in one heat. 31. At Belfield, the week following, she was beaten by Sally Walker for a Jockey Club purse of 00 in three-mile heats. The race was uncommonly severe and there was scarcely a shade of difference between them. The time for this race was 5 minutes 46 seconds for the first heat and 5 minutes 4S seconds for the second. 32. November. At Halifax, N. C, she was again beaten in the succeeding week by Sally Walker for a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats. 33. At Scotland Neck, a few weeks after, she won a Jockey Club purse. 34. 1S28. January. She took a Jockey Club purse of 00 at Augusta, Ga., in four-mile heats, beating Colonel Myers Lady Deerpond and others. 35. February. She was taken to Charleston, where she was beaten for a Jockey Club purse of 00, and a side bet of ,000, in four-mile heats, by Mr. Singletons Crusader, 4, by Sir Archy. The race was an excellent one, Ariel losing the second heat by a scant head. The time is not known. 36. A few days thereafter she won a handicap purse of 00, beating Crusader, which broke down in the first heat, and. another. Thus, as a five-year-old, Ariel again ran fifteen races in one year, of which she lost only five. 37. April. At Belfield she won the Proprietors purse of 00 in two-mile heats, beating Peggy Madee, by Sir Hal, a cele brated two-miler. At this point Ariel appeared amiss and Colonel Wynn was induced to sell her for ,000, giving a certificate that, while ewned by him, "under a continuation of one training, she ran the astonishing distance of ninety-nine miles, mostly under whip and Spur, and having been vanquished in several contests perhaps from want of condition rather than talents." 38. May. At Newmarket she was beaten for a Proprietors purse of 00 in three-mile heats by Colonel Johnsons Medley, a four-year-old. The race was well contested and each heat was run in 5 minutes 49 onds. 39. At Tree Hill, the following week, she iwon a Jockey Club purse of ,000 in four- mile heats, beating Red Murdock, which had Beaten Medley in the three-year-old sweepstakes at Newmarket, and Sally McGee. Medley was the expected winner of the race, but fell lame and never ran again, f 40. At Broad Rock in the following week ;she won with case a Jockey Club purse of ,00 in three-mile heats. 41. At Norfolk, the next week, she won a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats. 42. At the same meeting she won a handicap race for 00 in mile heats, the best three out of five. Ariel won this race in three or four heats ; the particulars are not on record. 43. June. At Boydton, a fortnight after, she won a Proprietors purse of 00 in two-mile heats. 44. September. At Norfolk she won a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats. She beat Colonel Johnsons Trumpator and another. The time of the first heat was S minutes 2 seconds and the second heat was run in 7 minutes 43 seconds. 45. At Broad Rock, the following week, she won in four three-mile heat? a Jockey Club purse of 00. beating- Trumjwtor, Lafayette and others. It was an excellent race. The fourth heat was run in 5" minutes 47 seconds. 4C. October. At Newmarket, the following week, she won a Jockey Club purse of 00 in four-mile heats, beating Trumpator. Red Murdoch and Hypona in four heats. The time was : First," 8 minutes 22 seconds : second, 8 minutes 13 seconds; third, 7 minutes 57 seconds, and fourth, 8 minutes 4 seconds. Red Murdoch won the first heat in S minutes 22 seconds, with Ariel and Trumpator both in reserve. Ariel took the second heat with great ease in 8 minutes 13 seeonds. Intense interest was excited at tho prospect of a severe struggle for the third heat, which, to an observant eye, seemed inevitable. Trumpator, which in many a well-disputed field has earned distinguished honor and more than once excited the apprehensions of his formidable adversary, had yet made no effort in the race and was in the hands of a most skillful, deliberate and experienced turfite. It was obvious he alone attracted the notice of his fair adversary and that the tug of war could no longer be postponed. Never were anticipations more fully realized and never was reputation more nobly sustained. GRUELLING RACE THROUGHOUT. From the onset both pressed forward with a desperate rush and maintained a severe and ceaseless press throughout the heat. For the four miles neither whip nor spur was idle. For three and a half miles it was impossible to conjecture the result. Then Trumpator gained a slight but precarious ascen-i dancy, which he maintained with difficulty to the close, coming- in a few feet ahead and winning one of the best heats ever negotiated on the Newmarket course and, perhaps, the best third heat ever run in America or anywhere else up to that time. The heat was covered in 7 minutes 57 seconds. The readiness with which bojh recovered and "cooled off" surprised those most familiar with the turf. In a short while both were prepared for the decisive engagement. At the sound of the trumpet the ardent conpetitors appeared for the fourth time, eager for the conflict. At the word they pressed forward with desperate efforts, both conscious that the slightest advantage must prove decisive in a contest of such equal powers. For a mile and a half their prospects were alike. Then Ariel gained some advantage. Trumpator strained every nerve and they are again locked and all is as doubtful as ever. On the fly, urged by every persuasive, ever and anon fiercely called upon and at every call found worthy of almost boundless confidence. In the third round victory inclined to Trumpator he gradually cleared his opponent light appeared between them. But the spirit of Ariel was unsubdued and her efforts unabated. She firmly maintained the arduous struggle and, half a mile more, they were again side by side. On closing the mile she had gained the track and swept around the turn "nose and tail." Up the backstretch continued the tremendous struggle, Ariel still maintaining the lead, but, in making the sweep of the last turn Trum-pators prospects seemed to brighten. He closed in and entered the quarter stretch "nose and nose." Intense interest was at its height when the fortunes of Ariel decided the conflict. Having the track and the firmest ground, Ariel beat her opponent down the stretch, at her utmost speed, by only a few feet. She closed the race and bore off her well earned honors in S minutes 4 seconds, after one of the most arduous contests ever known, amid the acclamations of the multitude. I saw Sir Henry do the first heat, wth Betsy Richards on his haunches, in 7 minutes 54 seconds, and repeat it in 7 minutes 5S seconds, the best four-mile heats ever run at Newmarket. BEATS KATE KEARNEY AND STAR. 47. At Tree Hill, the next week, for a Jockey Club purse of ,000 in four-mile heats, all of her older competitors being beaten "off or broken down, she raced Kate Kearney and Star, two extraordinary three-year-olds. It was "gold to copper" on ArieL notwithstanding her severe race of sixteen miles the preceding week. She led off in good style, trailed by tha others. Star made unavailing efforts for th lead in the first three miles and then felS back far in the rear. Kate Kearney trailed until the quarter stretch, when, with an in expected burst of speed, she went ahead aai won the heat in 7 minutes 59 seconds. Despite the loss of the heat Ariel was still the favorite and led gallantly in tho second heat as before, but, near the end, was passed by both her competitors, Kate Kearney again winning in fine style with the others near at hand. The second heat was. run in only two seconds more than the first, 8 minutes 1 second ; and the two heats were two seconds quicker than Mcn-pjeur Tonsons fine race at Tree Hill. To Be Continued.


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800