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► M. A. BUXTON — Selected as vice-president of the New Jersey division of the-Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association. Peaches Morton Is Familiar Figure at Chicago! and Tracks Has Amazing Recollection of Turf Events Although Blind; Knows Horsemen by Voice By TEDDY COX WASHINGTON PARK, Cicero, 111., May 18.— Fourteen years ago the world blanked out for Delmar Charles "Peaches" Morton. An automobile accident not only left him totally blind, but threatened his life. For i a man who had led an interesting and active turf life the stark realization that j hed never see another Equipoise or any ■ other great horses left a void that defied ! description. Strange to relate, though, Peaches to-i day is probably the happiest man on the : race track, even though his vision is gone and virtually all hope has been abandoned for its restoration. He earns a good living for his wife and three children passing out "overnight" entries at the local , racing secretarys office. He knows every horseman on the grounds and his memory , is phenomenal. Horsemen dont bother to look into the records when they are : doubtful about various phases of the sport. They simply ask Peaches and they get ; the "official" answer. Because there has never been a shadow of doubt cast on his integrity, he is the "horsemens choice" to pull the entries for post positions after the entries close. Once they are mimeographed, he sets up : his "office" in a chair next to the paddock, and there turf fans and horsemen obtain . the overnights, usually compensating him ; for the service. [ Awarded Concession at Tracks The tracks in the Chicago area awarded him this "concession" many years ago, : and he works in a similar capacity at , Tropical Park in Florida and at Oaklawn i Park at Hot Springs, Ark. He began earning his livelihood in this manner at the old Aurora thoroughbred track, now converted into a harness course. ; "I was around and couldnt find much to do in those days," says Peaches. "Dick , to do in those days," says "Peaches." Dick ; gave me the job. It was his contention that by having one person pass out the over-, nights it avoided congestion in the racing : secretarys office. Then, too, he said that often all of the overnights would disappear before horsemen, who were entitled to them, arrived. "Anyway, Ive been doing the work ever since and can sincerely say Ive enjoyed every minute," he went on. "I get to meet almost every person connected with racing, and I dont believe youll find a better group of people in the world." Peaches is another conspicuous example of the fact that racing takes care of its own. Before his accident, he was a groom. Later he became a trainer and at times enjoyed a fair degree of success. He was born at Brownstown, in southern Illinois, and as a youngster worked with trotting horses at county fairs. He joined the Navy in his youth and sported bell bottom trousers for some six years. He then resumed work around the race tracks and, but for the period of convalescence and three years of visiting one eye doctor after another hes never since been away from horses. Voice an Index to Character The best horses he ever "rubbed" or trained were Cog-Air, a stake winner back in the late 20s and Uluniu, a Hawaiian-bred who won a number of races during his career. "But Equipoise was the best horse Ive ever seen," he says. Peaches claims he never really knew people until he lost his sight. "It was easy to be fooled in judgment by flashy dress and money," he states. "Now it is necessary for me to know people by their voices, and Ive found that I can judge a mans character by his voice better than anything else. "Guess I know more than a thousand race trackers by their voice," he adds, "and I think I can separate the good from the bad. Most of them are good." One of Peaches favorite demonstrations of memory is to have a horseman read off the* overnights in post position order. Immediately after, he can name every horse entered, their post positions, breeding, owner, trainer and what have you. Often trainers entering their horses will come to him for information on their own charges past performances to determine if they are eligible for certain races in the condition book. "I dont know what some of the horsemen would do if Peaches were not around," one well-known trainer told the writer. "Many of them cant seem to remember the performances of their horses from one race to the other, but Peaches tells them where and when to enter them."
