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: , Struggles of Turf Titans BY SALVATOR. i i i r c i t I t i 1 t : i 1 5 t I 1 I ] ] , , , Ard Patrick, which died a few weeks ago in Germany, and of whose career Mr. our- I sell gave a sketch in a recent number of 1 Daily Pacing Form, has always been to ! me one of the most interesting of twentieth-century race horses. During the period in which I have followed turf events two races run in England have seemed to me to excel all others in their intensity of excitement. The first was the Hardwickc Stakes of 18S7, in which the contenders were Ormonde, Minting and Bendigo, the first-named winning by a neck, with Bendigo two lengths behind Minting; and the Eclipse Stakes of 1903, in which the contenders were Ard Tatrick, Sceptre and Rock Sand, with Ard Patrick winning by a neck and Rock Sand three lengths behind Sceptre. In a way these two races have remained to me more memorable than any others, and I can think of no others in which three so grand performers contended so gloriously, the results being in each instance indicative of a greatness that race horses seldom attain. The entire turf world was thrilled by these titanic contests, the enthusiasm which they proveked being by no means limited to those fortunate mortals who witnessed them, but sweeping like a great wave throughout what may truly be described as the whole racing universe. It was said at the time that had Ormonde been defeated in the Hardwickc Stakes it would have been a national disaster. And j it is well known that the ovation he received after the race was in some respects the most delirous in its abandon ever seen | at Ascot. The struggle had been so severe that the uncertainty attending its outcome had wrought the spectators up to a nervous tension almost unbearable. And when Ormonde, by a heroic effort, managed at last to wear down Minting Bendigo. after a brilliant fight, having already been disposed of, preserving thereby his unbeaten record under circumstances so unprecedented, it gave occasion for a release of pent-up feeling irresistible to even the most stolid Anglo-Saxon. ORMONDE TOUCHED IN WIND. At that time Ormonde had become decidr edly touched in his wind, yet he was meeting the two best horses, aside from himself, that Britain could produce and two of the best she ever produced over a mile and a half of ground, and exceedingly trying ground at that, for at the finish he was obliged to climh one of the sharpest gradients on any of the major English courses. He was opposing, also, two horses that were not only "speed marvels" but grand stayers, both ol them of herculean strength— Minting especially having been a veritabe giant, only a shade under seventeen hands and of immense bulk and brawn. Of all the performances which won for Ormonde his proud title of "The Horse of the Century," it was this that "set seal to his greatness" as did none of the rest. Of the three contenders for the Eclipse Stakes of 1903, none assumed such a handicap as did Ormonde in the Hardwicke six years before. As regards Rock Sand, however, this is true : that he had been given a S3vere preparation for his real objective of the year, i. e., the "Triple Crown." He had already won both the Two Thousand Guineas and the Derby, and later he completed his task by winning the St. Leger — all in impressive style. Both Ard Patrick and Sceptre were specially prepared for the race, and went to the post not only fit but fresh, which Rock Sand did not. He won the St. Leger his next time out, but in his last start of the season was beaten by Sceptre in the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket, his performance on this occasion showing that he was far from his best form. EFFECT OF SINGLE DEFEAT. It is curious hew one defeat may prejudice a horses reputation, irrespective of other things. Rock Sand went to the post favorite for the Eclipse Stakes and both Ard Patrick and Sceptre beat him. "If he had never met them," remarked Mr. Coussell in his article to which I have previously referred, "he would have been re-| garded as a remarkably high-class colt," I and this is the criticism which almost in-I variably k: passed upon him. But if Rock Sand was not a remarkably high-class colt, one-is tempted to inquire. What must a colt be to gain that distinction? Only one colt ever won not only the "Triple Crown," but the Eclipse Stakes as well, all in one season, that having been Flying Fox. Now, unless history is wrong. Flying Fox was much more than a "remarkably high-class colt" — he was a nonpareil, a phenomenal race horse. The critic also discovers that when Flying Fox won the Eclipse Stakes the placed horses were those two ordinary ones. Frontier and Ninus, whoce names will never "thunder down the corridors of time." Had Rock Sand chanced to meet nothing more formidable when he essayed for it, undoubtedly he would have duplicated Flying Foxs feat. As a matter of fact, the "batting average" of Rock Sand surpasses that of either of the horses that finished in front of him that great day at Sandown. He raced twenty j times and won sixteen, competing almost exclusively in the best company and the principal fixed events of the turf. He was never unplaced. Sceptre was the only runner that ever beat him more than once, and Sceptres record is: Twenty-five starts, of which she won thirteen, was five times second, three times third and four times unplaced. However. Sceptre, unlike Rock Sand, is never judged by any of her numerous losing but on her most brilliant winning performances. She almost never is mentioned by a British turf writer except in terms of the mest profound admiration. Of course "there are reasons for this. In the first place, Bhe was by the Kings horse. Per-Bimmcn, was one of his first crop of foals and as the whole body of English turfmen had been QOitO daft over Persimmon, from excess of nationlism, a lot of this sentiment carried en over to his daughter when she mi nee. upon her debut, disclosed the greatness that undeniably she powwed. There were many other incidents connected with the carter of Sceptre, of an unusual, not to Bay romantic nature, that combined to render her what is commonly known as a "turf idol." Xone of these circumstances marked the history of Rock Sand, which went much more quietly and modestly upon his way, such reclame as pursued him being due strictly to his inherent merits, without emo tional or spectacular • adjuncts. Popular idolatry of great race horses is, however, something not of rigid critical analysis — and. often enough, so is "expert opinion." In these maters, as in other "affairs of the heart." the old axiom that "kissing goes by favor" will always rule. Jetting back, however, to Ard Patrick, it remains to be said that his race for the Eclipse of 1903 was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant performances in all turf history. No serious expectation was entertained of his winning, and he started at 4 to 1, Rock Sand being 11 to 8 and Sceptre at 2 to 1. The victory which he achieved was magnificent, the more so in view of the burden which he carried, 142 pounds. He was written of as not an easy horse to train and he did not always run up to his best form, but at his best it seems probable that he was the greatest runner of the second generation of the St. Simons. Curiously enough. Ard Patrick does not appear in the list of English "leading money-winning horses" in the American Racing Manual, although he won 33,105, according to Mr. Coussells figures. I have seen a slightly different amount cited elsewhere. CLOSE RIVALS IN WINNINGS. It is curious how close the figures are on Ard Patricks half-brothers winnings and his own, Galtee More having been credited with 35,095. Both colts won the Derby and both left England immediately on the close of their turf careers, Ard Patrick for Germany and Galtee More for Russia. When I was in Russia several years befcrc the world war I saw some of the get of Galtee More racing there, though the horse himself had already, under a misapprehension that he was not a good sire, been sold to the Germans, who wanted him because of the great success that Ard Patrick had made with then. Their dam, Morganette, by Springfield, was not the only mare to produce two Derby winners, but was, I believe, the first to foal to two different sires. In another way she was a rarity. The average great matron is of medium, if not of small stature, but Morganette is said to have been slightly over sixteen hands. The picture I have of her was taken in her old age. and shows a rather wasted though admirable form, "but her head was somewhat coarse and was marked by a broad and curiously ragged white blaze that was not an adornment. NO AMERICAN EQUIVALENTS. Here in America we have had no exact equivalents to those two historic "three-cornered" battles of which I have written above, the Ormonde-Minting-Bendigo race of 1SS7 and the Ard Patrick-Sceptre-Rock Sand race of 1903. The nearest approach, perhaps, was the "three-cornered" special at ?.:orris Park in 1S94, in which Henry of Navarre defeated Clifford and Domino. That offers a close parallel, save that the weights were not so high, nor wa3 the distance so far. But if we take the class of the three horses, I the desperation of the struggle and the at-| tendant excitement, there was probably never I anything of the kind more worthy to be j mentioned, on this side of the water, with the two great English events. Another race that might dispute precedence with it, however, was the Second Special, run at Gravesend in 1900. in which, over a mile and a half of ground. Imp defeated Kinley Mack and Ethelbert. But that day Imp won too handily for the result to produce the extreme excitement or leave the memorable impression of the Navarre-Clifford-Dcmino affair. During the seasons of 1903_ and 1904 also, a series of struggles were fought out by Broomstick, Hermis, Irish Lad and Water Boy that can never be forgotten, the starters varying, as did the results. On this account no one of these contests stands out in high relief like those which form the text for these paragraphs. SUCH HORSES ARE RARE. Of later years both America and England have failed to provide anything which would cause the historic r the sensational quality of those races of what now seems the long I ago to pale. Fcr this condition two factors are above all responsible. One is the fact that horses cf such titanic character seldom appear. The other, the decline of the ■porting and the obtrusion of the commercial angle in racing. Could Man o War, Sir Barton and Extern j minattr have met under such circumstances I as marked the meetings of Ormonde, Minting and Bendigo, or Ard Patrick, Sceptre and Rock Sand, we might have had some-ting to provide turf writers with material upon which to exercise their pens for many a year to come. -Put the effort to bring them together was a purely commercial "proposi- I tion" ; it failed of its object in that one of the trio refused to participate ; and the other two indulged in something which was a foregone conclusion and, despite the vociferous publicity which attended it, of little or no moment historically speaking. Many turfmen, especially those of extended experience, are load of citing what they regard as the greatest field of horses that have ever met. Opinions on that point, as upon everything else in racing, differ widely. But when we come to enumerate classic events in which three horses of supreme rank, carrying weight for age. or practically that, have fought out the finish by themselves and in so doing really "made history," it is always the last analysis, those such as I have written of here, that must come spon- 1 taneously to mind. « •
