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REFLECTIONS by nelson dunstan BELMONT, New York, N. Y., May 16. — One of the many practices that has come into racing during the past 15 years is the naming of events for famous horses. In earlier days races were named in honor of prominent turfmen, but in recent years there has been a change to horses from humans. humans. The The Roseben, Roseben, Salvator, Salvator, humans. humans. The The Roseben, Roseben, Salvator, Salvator, Whirlaway, Equipoise, Grey Lag, Discovery, Sysonby, Peter Pan, Seabiscuit, Gallant Fox and other fixtures had their inaugural runnings during the past 10 or 12 years. Nor have the top fillies and mares been neglected, for today we have events named for Firenze, Top Flight, Vagrancy, Modesty, Myrtlewood, Princess Doreen, Cleopatra, Black Helen and others whose performances left an indelible mark on racing history in this country. Before the present century few horses were thus honored. In fact, it would be possible to count on the fingers of one hand important races named for the champions of early times. The immortal mare, Selima, who swept the colonial turf in 1752 was finally honored by the Laurel officials in 1926, when they introduced the now important Selima Stakes. The Spinaway was first run in 1881 and the Fashion in 1897. But of all the horses of those days who had races named for them, Preakness, winner of the Dinner Party Stakes in 1870, stands out. While there was a long hiatus in its continuity, the Preakness was first run in 1873, two years before Aris-tides won the first Kentucky Derby. AAA Preakness, for whom the famous Baltimore event is named, was bred by R. A. Alexander at Woodburn Farm Top Events Named for Famous Horses In Days of Yore Horsemen Were Honored Dinner Party Stakes Now Is Preakness Preakness Named for Horse Preakness in Kentucky, where the immortal sire, Lexington, stood for many years. It was this member of the Alexander family who some 85 years ago commissioned Tiffany and Company, of New York, to create that masterpiece of the jewelers skill, the Woodlawn Vase, which is now the perpetual trophy for the Preakness. To the owner of the winner each year goes a small copy for permanent possession. R. A. Alexanders younger brother, A. J. Alexander, was the first breeder to send five horses from the farm to the winners circle of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. It was R. A. Alexander who became the first American breeder to inaugurate the custom of selling his yearlings at public auction annually. He adopted this policy before the Civil War, 1861-1865. He held his first big sale in 1868, when he offered 23 colts and 31 fillies. This public sale was conducted at the farm in Woodford County, Ky., and it attracted a large crowd of bidders, with the prices bordering on the sensational. The heaviest buyer of the day was M. H. Sanford, of New York, he being one of the men who were instrumental in the revival of racing in the North after the war. AAA Sanford was a great admirer of Lexington, the sire who was to create a record in this country that has neve» been remotely approached. He paid top prices for a Lexington colt and filly, and in each case it was ,000, then the American auction record for a thoroughbred yearling. In all, he bought six Lexingtons at an average cost of ,313, figures which were sensational in those days. The pick of the colts was a bay by Lexington out of Bay Leaf, by imported Yorkshire, a cross that produced many of the best famous horses of that day. This son of Lexington — Bay Leaf was a big stout bay horse with white hind pasterns. After his purchase he was shipped to the Preakness Hills of New Jersey and it was there that Sanford formed such a high opinion of him that he gave him the name of Preakness. A few years previous to his purchase of Preakness, Sanford had brought over an Englishman named William Hayward and the latter not only trained Preakness but also rode him in almost every race in which the horse competed through a career of no less than six seasons. As a two-year-old, Preakness was considered too big and growthy to start. He was thrown out of training for many weeks and then was brought back with the hope that he could be sent to the post for the greatest event of the season of 1870, the Dinner Party Stakes. AAA The Dinner Party Stakes grew out of a dinner party attended by a group of the leading owners at Saratoga in 1868. Growing enthusiastic over their yearlings, they entered into an agreement to race them as three-year-olds in the fall of 1870 over the new track then to be opened at Pimlico in Maryland. It was to be a race of two miles, with a gross value of 8,500. It was the most valuable event that had been run in America since the Continued on Page Thirty-Four REFLECTIONS By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty -Four Peyton Stakes of 1843. which had a gross value of 5,000. Some 20,000 people were at Pimlico that afternoon to see Preakness, then an unknown quantity and a maiden who was described as being "half-trained and as fat as an ox," sold in the field at approximately 40 to 1. Six horses opposed him but at the finish he was a length in front of the filly, Ecliptic, a daughter of the imported, Eclipse, out of the famous old mare, Nina, by Boston. That was Preakness only effort that season, but he turned in a profit of 5,500 on his purchase price at the Woodburn Sale of 1868. In the spring of 1873, the Maryland Jockey Club offered a new three-year-old stake, and in honor of the winner of the Dinner Party Stakes, they named it the Preakness, which today is the second leg of the American "Triple Crown." Sanford, the owner of Preakness, was a member of the Maryland Jockey Club and a very liberal one, for he endowed other stake events at the new Pimlico course. AAA In 1873, when the Preakness was run for the first time, the horse named Preakness was one of the best racing in this country. His victories included The Jockey Club Handicap, over the two-mile course at Jerome Park; Manhattan Handicap, at the same track, and the Grand National, for the second time in which he defeated such a famous trio as Harry Bassett, Fellow-craft and Galway. When 1874 rolled around Preakness was a five-year-old, but still the same sturdy horse he had been in previous years. He made seven starts that .year to win four and finish second in the others, his greatest triumph being in The Jockey Club Handicap for the second time. The following year he was retired to the Preakness Stud the present Elmendorf, which Sanford had established in Kentucky. But he was brought back to the races as a six-year-old in 1875 to run a dead-heat with Springbok in the Saratoga Cup. Instead of retiring Preakness after that race, Sanford decided that he would send the horse to England, and even at his advanced age, he gave a good account of himself. He was considered so good no horse would start against him and he "walked-over" for the Brighton Cup, at two miles. Later he developed a savage temper and English breeders refused to send their mares to him.
