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BELMONT AND THE TURF Father of Jockey Club Chairman Did Much for the Sport: rromincnt Fignro in the Political and Financial World, IIo Rendered. Valuable Services to Racing and Breeding. Although the senior August Belmont, father of the present chairman of the Jockey Club, attained distinction as an owner and breeder second to no American turfman, either of the past or the present, his services to the cause of racing as an official were no less important. When some future historian of thoroughbred racing in the United States sets forth the causes that gave popularity and character to the sport in the latter years of the nineteenth century, the example of Mr. Belmont will necessarily be the theme of praise as high as it is fully deserved. His name is intimately associated with the establishment of racing in this country upon a dignified footing, while it is synonymous with sportsmanship of the loftiest type. Considering racing officials of the past, Mr. Belmont is entitled to as full consideration as any man of his day. It is not saying too much of him to assert that to no small degree the prosperity of the turf of the present day was due to his efforts. Mr. Belmont filled so large a place in the view of the public that it is impossible to speak of his connection witli sport by itself alone. This was only one phase of his many-sided personality, and the success and honors which he gained upon the turf were only other manifestations of his strength of character and of will and his indomitable energy that made him eminent in many pursuits. EARLY ADVANTAGES. Born at Alzey, in the Prussian Rhineland, in 1S16, his ancestors had been people of wealth for several centuries, as well as of great inlluence in public affairs. The circumstances of his family were such that he received all the advantage which wealth and position could secure, including a liberal classical education. At an early age, however, he determined upon a commercial, rather than a professional career, and entered the banking house of the famous Rothschilds, in Frankfort-on-Main. Subsequently he held a position in the branch of the same establishment at Naples. He developed a business capacity of the highest order and a remarkable talent for finance. In 1S37, when but twenty-one years old, he came to New York and established the banking house which under his name pros-continued on second page. BELMONT AND THE TURF Continued from first pase. pered through all the vicissitudes of business and finance, and which from the date of its foundation to the present day has represented the interests of the Rothschilds in America. It is not germane to the purpose of this article to dwell upon the conspicuous part which, for fifty years, Mr. Belmont played in financial affairs, both of this country and of Europe. It is sufficient to say that he was one of the worlds greatest financiers of his day and generation. Brief mention must, at least, be made of his political career, for his activity in public life exhibited one of the strongest and most important sides of his nature. As soon as he arrived in this country he became an American citizen, determined to identify himself completely with his adopted country. He joined the Democratic party and became at once prominent in its councils. Generally speaking, public office had no allurements for him, but he rendered great service to the government at notable crises in its history, especially iji such matters as related to its financial affairs. Diplomacy was quite in keeping with his taste, and had he chosen to devote himself to that career he would undoubtedly have been as brilliantly successful as he was in the financial world. From 1814 to 1S50 he held the post of consul-general of the Austrian Empire in New York. In 1S52 he was appointed by President Franklin Pierce to be minister of the United States to the Court of the Netherlands and served with distinction to himself and advantage to the nation. Other tenders of public office were made to Mr. Belmont, but these he invariably declined, although he was always ready to give the national government the benefit of his counsels. Having labored earnestly to avert the rupture between the North and the South that led to the Civil War, he gave his most patriotic support to the cause of the Union when the perilous days came. He aided in the creation of some of the earliest German regiments recruited in New York, and twice crossed the ocean to carry on important and delicate negotiations on behalf of the government, receiving the thanks of President Lincoln for his valuable services. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1SC0 until 1872, when he retired from active political life. Many other features of Mr. Belmonts versatile yet strong character also helped to make him one of the foremost men of his time. It was justly said of him that he understood and did more things well than any man of his day. A leadership in the social world came to him as easily as his prominence in business. He was a discriminating patron of music, literature and art, and his magnificent gallery of paintings by the worlds foremost masters was one of the earliest, as well as one of the most famous, that America ever possessed. To all these gifts and accomplishments he added an innate love of sport which, in early life, made him adept in many exercises and pursuits, and which later became crystallized in his devotion to horses and the turf. His participation in racing and affairs pertaining to that sport dated from the very inception of racing under its present auspices. He was one of that group of gentlemen sportsmen who combined to establish the American Jockey Club, and his selection as its first president in 1S66, a position that he held for twenty years, was a fortunate choice. Ho brought to the position not only the full weight of his social, political and business prestige, but the entire racing community was the gainer by having as its head a gentleman of such matured judgment, high sportsmanlike instincts and thorough acquaintance with the best traditions of the European turf. Mr. Belmont was foremost among the men who gave to thoroughbred racing stability, settled order and a place among the pursuits which gentlemen of the highest standard could follow without loss of dignity. Ho made it one of the pastimes that the public could enjoy with unalloyed satisfaction and with confidence in the integrity with which it was managed. This involved both labor and sacrifices. The racing public of the present day can scarcely form an adequate idea of the circumstances that confronted Mr. Belmont and those with whom he was associated. The general community had yet to learn the pleasure of racing. Owners were few and widely scattered throughout the country, tracks had to be created and the financial burden of providing adequate inducements for the breeding and running of high-class horses had to be supplied by the principal lovers of the pursuit themselves. The successful results are the best evidence of the spirit in which the great work was undertaken, and on the roll of honor of those prominent in the task, the name of August Belmont will ever hold a leading place.
