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v to t v S n I ■ J , t 1 a t " !l a , f j j t I -1 , • . i i I 1 , j I i I . . I [ ■ : i ■ l f 1 r BARGAIN YEARLINGS OF OTHER DAYS. ] i Something about bargains in horse flesh picked j np in years gone as related by a veteran of the turf, who tells of a mare racing at New Orleans, which was saved from an untimely death and lived produce a filly that proved a sensation on the ■ turf, is here told in the eld turfmans own words: "The first and only time that I ever saw her j was at the old Fair Grounds truck at New Orleans. J She was a starter in a sprint at three quarters of a mile one January afternoon and, while running in a prominent position, she was carried into the fence and her shoulder was torn fearfully. As she stood -trembling and bleeding, unable to walk, l.cr owner ; with tears in his eyes, removed the saddle and bridle , and was about to shoot the mare when a young , •nan stepped up and begged for her life. "Ill put her in slings. he said, and I thing I , can save her. Dont kill her. "The Kentuckian who owned the mare wished the young fellow good luck and walked away. The best veterinarian in the Crescent City was consulted and a temporary house was made out of boards , inly a hundred feet away from where the accident . occurred and for two months the mare hung sus- pended in slings. She could finally walk, but was , also very lame. "She was so well bred that she was valuable as broodmare, and her young owner, whose father was an official of the track, was on the lookout j for a chance to mate her with some of the fashionable sires of the thoroughbred region of Tennessee or Kentucky. One day a man who owned a good son of the English horse, St. Simon, came to the course and while in conversation with the father of the young man who owned the mare the , youngster plucked up courage enough to say that the blood lines of his mare would match those of the premier stallion of the Tcnnessecan. Granddaughter of Hermit. "A few questions developed the fact that the n are was a granddaughter of the great English bone, Hermit, and an invitation was extended to send the crippled mare to Tennessee. A year later vi ry handsome chestnut filly walked by the matrons side. She was perfect in contour and was ii nsidered one of the choicest weanlings on the place. "When the foal was about six weeks old a magnate of the turf whose name is known wherever thoroughbreds have raced in this country for the last thirty years came to New Orleans on a yearly pilgrimage. The young chap obtained an introduction to this man and told him about the mare and foal he had in Tennessee. Would he see them? A few minutes conversation brought an offer of ,000 for the pair provided the millionaires stud groom approved of them. "A wire was sent to Lexington that afternoon and two days later word came from Nashville that the mare and foal were as represented and the youngster felt mighty proud when he pocketed the .1 cek for ,000 which closed the deal. "YOU all know that the Astoria Stakes at Oraves-end is one of the sportiest events of the year. It is a special stake lor two-year-old fillies and lie-sides the money value there is a handsome piece of plate for the owner of the winner, who gives a dinner . to the other subscribers and some frit nils. It is modeled on the lin"s of the famous Ghncrach Stakes at York, and I think there is scarcely a man who i has ever won it who doesnt consider the honor of • being host on the occasion of much more moment than the mere winning of the plate or BSOUey. Astoria Stakes at Her Mercy. "This was especially true of the millionaire who i bought the crippled granddaughter of Hermit and i her filly. The season at Gravesend was yet young I hat season when it was rumored that the race lor the Astoria Stakes was at the mercy of a certain Chestnut filly in the stable of a western owner, and when the day on which the race was to be decided canto around, tin- westerner was on hand in his private car. accompanied by a party of friends, among whom was the fair-haired girl after whom the Astoria candidate had been named. It was only a gallop for the handsome youngsti r. whose mothers life had been saved by the Louisiana boy. and she weal right along oil king sp other stake races until in the autumn upward of 0,000 had been placed to her credit. "She broke down before she was a three year old and was sent to tin- Kentucky stud of her owner. win re she remained until his death. He willed li r to his brother, wh in turn tired of racing and I d 1 lur to another rich man. whose property she now is. This strapping fine colt is her best produce to date, but she is a ynmg man- yet and gnat things are in store for her. no doubt." "far tune plays sonic funny pranks in racing." interjected another racing man. "There arc cases f.-vy year of turfmen with large breeding establish Stents selling yearlings from their farms which give sound beatings to the best that arc retained. "The instances of supposedly unfashionable bred youngsters that have sold cheaply turning out world-beaters is long. Tak- the case of the crack filly. Pound the World. She cost an even hundred dollars a little mor" than a year ago and she has won upward of 5,000 in -takes and purses. Hundred -Dollar Yearling. "Morello was a hundred-dollar yearling that became ;: champion, and I doubt if the American turf ever saw a better race hoise than this big son of Bolus. He was a raw-boned, rakish fellow when he was led into the sales ring as :t yearling, and the fact that he was bred in Virginia was probably the reason young Doswell of that state bid on the colt. "Nobody apparently wanted the lumbering year. ling, and when the young Virginian, who was a neighbor of the Hancocks, Who bred him. found pluck enough to offer some persona laughed behind their hands. The colt had a big curb and was generally unprepossessing; but this ugly duckling became a swan all right, and when he appeared the following spring at Washington he was in a class by himself and won his first two races with such ease that the attention of the smartest horse- men at the track w is challenged. "The late William M. Singeriy. a Philadelphia newspaper man. was told about the son of Bolus by Frank Van Ness, than whom there was not a more shrewd observer on the running or -trotting turf. The late John E. McDonald was another smart turfmen who regarded MoreUo as a potential champion, and it was a race between them to see who should buy him. McDonald sent a man p pay the asked price, ,500, but he found that Van Ness had forestalled him by a few minutes. "It was a big turn for young DoSWeU. He had won two goo! raeis with a colt that COSl him 00 only ten months before and had then disposed of him for ,500. Nan Ness was not afraid of the eui by hocks Which bl-inished MoreUo. Sliced marks be called them, and he straightaway prepared ItoreUo for what was ;1 most sensational career. ] i j ■ j J ; , , , , . , j , . i • i i Most Remarkable Race. "Those who saw the big bay colt win the Fu-tuiitv have always referred to it as the most remarkable race they ever saw. The colt had Iwen suffering from distemper and ten days before the race it was a dollar to a doughnut that he could not be prepared for the big race, wortli upward of 0,000 to the winner. Van N.-ss. when racing trotters, had done some remarkable things, .-. few of which were not according to Iloyle. and when he sent Morello to the post for the Futurity with the youngster showing plainly that he was then Buffering from the ravages of distemper, the smart fellows shook their heads and prophesied that lloreUg would choke and perhaps fall before the race w»4f half over. "Jimmy Bawd, who started the race, said that the colt coughed a dozen times while at the post, and Billy llayward. the veteran Jockey who had the mount, after said before his death that he expected to have to null the youngster up before half the distance wvs over. That sick giant, however, was good enough to toy with one of the best lields of tWO-year-Otds out that year and. although many of i,s had bets on other candidates, we threw up our hats and cheered madly when the gallant colt marched to the front in the last furlong. "It was the most remarkable achievement I have ever seen, for it must not be forgotten that there was an Impost of 13 pounds in the saddle. Morello must have been steel and whalebone, for lie got no let-up that winter, but was raced at New Orleans and then on through the west, winding up the following winter in California." "Uaceland was another hundred dollar yearling." broke in a listener. "Joe lllnian. who is almost a memory now as a nlungor. was the lucky purchaser of the big angular gelding by Billet, and if Joe had kept Baceland during his entire racing career and bet on him exclusively, he wouldnt have died broken financially, as rumor has it. Old Bor.es His Nickname. "Like Morello. Uaceland had a curb, and like MoreUo he was rejected because of it. Old Bones was his nfci name, and he gained fame in the colors of lllman. the elder August Belmont and finally with Dwyer. for whom he won a fortune in stakes and purses, besides an untold sum in wagers, for the unhandsome gelding was as true as steel and would run as straight as a string under punishment; in fact, he was as nearly a piece of machinery as you could find in the thoroughbred raifks." "Price cuts no great figure for an untried per -former." remarked a bystander. "The Dwyers used io pay tremendous figures for the brothers and sis ten of their great horses, but tlu-y got tired of it. when on one occasion they gave more than 0,000 for a batch of yearlings and out of the lot got not a single stake candidate; in fact. I think they won a few selling races with some of their gold bricks, high among which was Joe Blackburn, a brother to the famous Luke. Joe was the worst I ever saw. and McLaughlin wore out half a dozen good whips trying to make him run. "One of the first lemons in the thoroughbred line ever secured by anybody was Khijj Thomas, tiie big brother to Pan Fox. for which the late Senator Hearst paid 0. 000. King Thomas could run about fast enough to beat Albert Coopers buggy horse an I when he shuffled around Sheepshead Bay in the mornings, old Albert would shake his head and mumble something about foolish people with more money than horse sense. About all that King Thomas had to recommend him at any time was bulk, and you can have too much of that when it comes to carrying it a mile and a quarter, or even ia some of the great three-year-old prizes like the Realization Stakes." Proctor Knott Overlooked. "You all overlooked a pretty good hundred -dollar boss when you didnt mention Proctor Knott. -pok--up a Kentuckian. "I remembah the day Sam Bryant made you all sick with him at Bhecpshcad Bay. You all were some sick when old Sam jumped the white-faced gelding out in the Junior Champion Stakes at Monmouth Park, but the Futurity was •That the Frenchmen would call the coop de grace for you New Yorker-;, who thought Salvator was the classiest boss out that yeah. "Yea, suh. tii.it gamecock on the back of Sams jacket was flappin i.is wings when Pikey Barnes, the liest little niggah ridah in Kentucky, put it on Salvator and Isaac Murphy. Murphy, of eohse. was a Kalntncky niggah. too. but while he was a finished ridah and a great judge of pace he couldnt finish like Pikey. and we all got the money. "It made Sam Bryant spruce up. an perhaps he wasnt some class fob some time itiund Lexington! Poah old Sam. be was fond of bosses an he was game to the last, going to the race track to see the colors when the doctors told him he might die on the way." There was a light in the Kentuckians eyes as ho finished which meant much. It told more rlnnjirntrj gffs than words that in his opinion Bryant had risked his life in a good cause and that there are few better tilings than a struggle between thoroughbreds trained to the hour when they meet in a fair field with no favor. — New York Sun.
