History of American Thoroughbred, Daily Racing Form, 1922-12-12

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History of American Thoroughbred Twenty-first Installment. i: PERFORMANCES 01 FASHION, 1810 e Oct. 21 Camden, X. J. Sweepstake. Two- mile heats; won $ 800. s Heating Amelia Iriestman in the mud. Two horses yaid forfeit in this race. c Oct. 27 Trenton, N. J. Sweepstake. Two- t mile heats; won 1,100 c Beating Fleetfoot and Nannie. Two 1 horses paid forfeit in this race. c May 5 Union Course, L. I. Purse. Three- s mile heats; won 500 " Beating Sylphide, Prospect, Fleetfoot rj anil Mcridcn. May 19 Camden, X. J. Purse. Two-mile heats; lost. Beaten by Tyler after winning the sec- ond heat. Trenton won the first and Tyler the third and fourth. Fashion was second in the fourth heat, Teleniachus bting ruled out. Time, 4:05, 3:52, 3:50. t Oct. 7. Union Course, L. I. Purse. Two- j mile heats; won 200 . Heating Trenton in 3:51, 3:466. on a heavy course. Oct 20 Baltimore, Md. Purse. Three-mile heats; won 400 Beating John Blount, Lady Canton and Stockton on a sloppy track. Oct. 28 -Camden, N. J. Purse. Four-mile . heats; won 800 Beating John Blount, which broke down ! in the second heat after distancing Bos- i ton in the first heat, which he won. Time, 7:42, 7:4S. Starting in three trainings seven times and winning six races, one at four and two ; at three-mile heats, winning 3.S0O j We have noticed the fact of her not having been trained in the spring of her third year. In the spring of her fourth year, after a race , at Cam-Jen, she went amiss and was prudently turned out until the fall, when she came out again and won not only at two and i three-mile heats, but at four. Her last race was one of the best, at four-mile heats, run up to the time in the country. HER ONLY DEFEAT. In the only race she ever lost it will be seen that she was beaten by Tyler after win- , ning the second heat. Tyler won the third and fourth heats, in the last of which Fashion was second, having beaten Trenton, which won the first heat, and Telemaehu. From the fact of being turned out after this race and of Fashions having twice beaten John Blount, which easily defeated Tjlcr in a match for ,000, it is fair to concede that on the occasion alluded to she was out of condition. The brilliant reputation the acquired by her last great performances edded to her surpassing speed and extraordinary powers of endurance, render any explanation as to the cause of her having been once defeated quite gratuitous. Fashions pedigree is as follows : 1S37. Fashion, chestnut mare, by English Trustees Bonnets o Blue- own sister to Slender, by Sir Charles ; granddam, to Reality own sister to Vanity and dam to Medley, by Sir Archy ; g. g. dam by English Medley, her dam by English Centinel, English James, English Monkey, English Silver Eye, etc. 129. Trustee, chestnut, a celebrated race horse of the Duke of Cleveland Lord Darlington, was by Catton Emma, by Whisker. There is nothing superior to the pedigree of Trustees maternal ancestry in the early English Stud Book. Catton was a capital performer at all distances and was the winner of twenty-one races at Newmarket, Don-caster and York. Honest Trustee, as he was termed, beat Margrave, the St. Leger winner of 1S32, in a Derby and again as a four-year-old, though beaten by him for the St. Leger. Trustee was sire to Revenue, Reube, the trotter ; Trustee, besides Fashion and others of distinction. Bonnets o Blue and Slender were first-raters at all distances and their half-brother. Medley, by Sir Hal, ran with distinction. 1S16. Sir Charles, chestnut, the best race horse of his year, was by Sir Archy. His dam was by English Citizen, granddam by , Commutation, son of Wildair, etc Sir Charles most distinguished progeny were 1 Wagner. Andrew and Trifle. 177C. Medley, gray, by Gimcrack, was 1 foaled by an own sister to the renowned Sir Peters dam, by Snap. 1758. Centinel was by Blank, son of the Godolphin Arabian. He was foaled by a . Bartletts Childers mare, by Cade. Janus was the son of the Godolphin Arabians son Janus, dam by Fox Bald Galloway, etc. Imported into Virginia in 1752. 1725. Monkey was imported in 1747. He s was by the Lonsdale Bay Arabian Curwens i Bay Barb Byerly Turk, etc. Silver-Eye, by the Cullen Arabian Curwens - Bay Barb, etc., to the old Vinter mare. . EARLY THOROUGHBRED BLOOD. The pedigrees of Boston and Fashion will serve as examples of the best early thoroughbred . blood in the United States. Bostons . and Fashions dams were bred in Virginia . when that section was decidedly our "ra.ee horse region." Their ancestors, Timo-leon . and Reality, nobly contended against . each other as the best two of their year r and among the best as well as the earliest j. of Sir Archys distinguished get Unquestionably the best race run in America up to that time, May 10, 1842, was the great sectional match between the North and the South for a side bet of 520,000, in 1 which Boston and Fashion shared honors, which will never diminish as long as horse 2 racing is indulged in by civilized humanity. Since the memorable contest between I Eclipse and Henry in 1823 no race had excited " so much interest and enthusiasm. It attracted hundreds from the remotest fc sections of the country and for months prior to its running was the main theme of remark and speculation, not only in the sporting circles of the country, but in England, where e the success of the northern champion was s predicted. It was a most thrilling and exciting race one which throws into the shade e the most celebrated of those achievements s which have conferred so much distinction II upon the highly-mettled racers of America up p. to and prior to the time. At an early hour on the morning of the e race the streets were filled with carriages of f all descriptions wending ther way to the e ferries, while thousands upon thousands s crossed over to the cars of the Long Island d Railroad Company. After 11 oclock the railroad I- company found it impossible to convey y to the course the immense crowd which 11 filled and surrounded the cars, though they y continued to sell tickets after they were e fully sensible of that fact. Indeed, from the first, the arrangements of if the Long Island Railroad Company were an n i: e s c t c 1 c s " rj t j . . ! i ; j , i , , 1 1 . s i - . . . . . . r j. 1 2 I " fc e s e s II p. e of f e s d I- y 11 y e of if n imposition. They charged the most extrava- gant price for the transportation of passen- gers and their preparations were in no way 6 equal to the occasion. Above all, they con- c tinued to sell tickets after they knew that jj several thousand more persons had pur- jJ chased them than they could transport. A q train, bearing over two thousand passengers, did not reach the course until after the first heat and hundreds who had purchased tick- S ets, dispairing of reaching the course in cars, 1 started on foot and reached it before them. THOUSANDS AAV AIT ACCOMMODATIONS. 3 At half past eleven oclock there were not si less than five thousand persons waiting a J conveyance by the cars at the Brooklyn ter- jj minus, all of whom had purchased tickets. Under these circumstances it will not be very surprising to hear that, upon the return of the cars after the race, the indignant passengers rolled several of them off the track over t the hill and smashed others, while "a perfect " in smash" was made of the ticket office. h The race was a golden harvest to the hack, c cab and omnibus proprietors. The anxiety c to reach the course was so great that .ten v dollars was offered for a standing up place s in a charcoal cart. A writer in the Courier and Enquirer thus pleasantly describes his 1 own peculiar position : 1 "Finding that our ticket was valueless, we a engaged a deck passage on an omnibus and a a never have we witnessed so curious an ex- s hibition as the road to the course presentetl. c We have neither space nor time to describe it, but the reader may form some idea of the anxiety the thousands who were footing it with railroad, tickets in their pockets, and the immense number in all sorts of vehicles, we overtook a charcoal cart from which the cry of ch-a-r-c-o-a-1 was heard to proceed in full chorus. Upon drawing alongside some v twenty heads were protruded, presenting faces which we readily imagined had once been white, but which were now of the most J perfectly sable hue. They were a set of s clever fellows who deemed themselves fortu- nate to have procured even this mode of 1 conveyance to the course. MULTITUDE THRONGS COURSE. t "Upon reaching the course such a tableau s was presented as we never saw before. The . field inside of the course was thronged with carriages and equestrians, while fences, booths, trees and every prominence were j densely covered, so much so that several ac- t cidents occurred from their breaking down. It is stated that there were no fewer than eight thousand persons in the stands and yet there were nearly as many more who could obtain but a partial view of the race, while many could not see it at all. The total , number of spectators in attendance is vari- j ously estimated at from fifty to seventy thou- , sand. J "At 1 oclock, owing to the want of effi- cient police, and the inability of the crowd , to see the race, more than a thousand persons climbed over the pickets, from the field, j into the enclosed space, while a mob on the outside tore down a length of fence and stove through a door in the stand, swarming s into the cleared space. For a time it seemed i impossible for the match to take place at j all. "A crowd of loafers made a rush up the stairs leading to the club stand, but they were summarily rejected. At length Yankee : Sullivan, Jeroloman, Rynas and several others prominently identified with the squared : circle fraternity of the day, undertook to clear the course, which they accomplished in i an incredibly short space of time. They . organized a party of their friends, who formed a line, with clasped hands, quite . across the space, and marched from one end to the other, thereby driving outside of the i gate everybody without a badge. : Of course, there were among this mob sev- 1 eral ugly customers, but Yankee Sullivan had ! . only to let fly his right or Jeroloman give any of them "a teaser on his smeller" to fix his j business. On the whole the mob conducted themselves well under the circumstances.; i The majority were in good humor and had the proprietors taken the trouble to paint the I j tops of the pickets with a thick coat of tarj and engage a strong body of police, no such disgraceful scene would have occurred. "The race commenced about 2 oclock. For more than a quarter of a mile in front of the stands, the spectators ranged on the sidej j of the course and of the field presented one f dense mass of thousands, through which the! horses ran the gauntlet. The course, owing j j to the rain, was not so -well adapted for. speed. The prospect of the weather in the i , .morning was unfavorable and while a slight j j sprinkling of rain occurred at 10 oclock it soon cleared off. The day was warm and pleasant but with scarce a glimpse of the ! sun. The betting was a shade in Bostons favor. Before the race came off, however, his friends were obliged, in order to put their money up, to lay 100 to CO, and in some cases 2 to 1. We never saw so little money bet on a race 1 here of any importance. Both horses stripped well. Boston was 1 drawn unusually to our eye but his coat looked and felt like satin. Fashions curb, I j though quite prominent, did not seem to af-j feet her a jot. Otherwise she was in condi-! tion to run for a mans life. She was ad- j I mirably trained by Mr. Laird and wellj mounted by his son Joseph. Boston was managed by Colonel Johnson and ridden by Gil Patrick in his usual superb style. Arthur Taylor brought him up to the post in unusu- " ally fine order. Gil Patrick rode the first heat without a spur. The jockeys, having ,i received their orders, mounted and had their girths taken up another hole, brought their r horses up in fine style without any assist-r ance from the trainers, and were off with a t running start for the race. THE FIRST HEAT. First heat. Boston on the inside, went t away with the lead at a rattling pace, the mare lying up within two lengths of him j down the straight run on the backstretch. The half-mile was run in 55 seconds. ThO j same position was maintained to the endj 1, of the mile, run in 1:53, but soon after Fash-i . j ion made play and the pace improved. Both ! made strong running down the backstretch,; over the hill, opposite the half-mile post, and down the slight descent which succeeds. , Though this seemed favorable ground for r Boston, the mare gained on him at this place, in this mile, and placed herself well up. Bos- - ton threw her off on the turn and led, run- - ning this mile in 1:50. The pace seemed too good to last and Bostons - friends, as he led cleverly down the j backstretch, were "snatching and eager" to j take anything offered. Again Boston led 1 t " in h c c v s 1 1 a a a s c v J s 1 t s . j t , j , J , j s i j : : i . . i : 1 ! . j i I j j j j , j j 1 1 I j j I " ,i r t t j j 1, . j ! , r - - - j j 1 through this mile the third which was run 1 :54, Fashion keeping him to the top of ; his rate. The contest was beautiful anel ex- 1 citing beyond description. There was no i clambering, no faltering, no dwelling on the part of either. Each ran with a long, rating i stroke, and at a pace that kills. Soon after commencing the fourth mile Joe 1 Laird shook his whp over her head and gave Fashion an eye-opener or two with the spur, i and Fashion collared and passed him in half dozen strokes at a flight of speed we never 1 saw equaled. When Fashion responded to the call upon her and took the track in such . splendid style the cheers sent up from the i throats of thousands might have been heard for miles. Fashion made her challenge after going through the drawgate and took the lead opposite the quarter-mile post. Boston, however, like the trump that he : was, did not give back an inch, and though it ; was manifest the northern phenomenon had the foot of him he gave her no respite. He lapped her down the backstretch for 300 yarels when Gil Patrick sensibly took a ; strong bracing pull on him and bottled him up for a desperate brush up the hill, where Eclipse passed Sir Henry. Here Gil again let him out, but unfortunately he pulled him inside so near the fence that Boston struck his hip against a post and, hitting a sharp knot or nail, cut through the skin on his quarter for seven or eight inches. He struck hard enough to jar himself and we observed him to falter. He recovered quickly and, though Fashion led him by nearly three lengths, he gradually closed the gap round the turn to within a few feet. At this moment the excited multitude broke through all restraint in their anxiety to witness the termination of the heat and the course was nearly blocked up. On coming out through a narrow gauntlet of thousands of spectators excited to the highest pitch, both horses naturally faltered at the tremendous shouts which made the welkin ring. Up the quarter stretch Gil made another desperate effort to win the race out of the fire. He applied his thong freely while Joe Laird drew his whip on the mare more than once and tapped her claret at the same time. Inside of the gate it was a "hollow thing," though Boston nearly closed the gap at the distance stand. Gil fairly caught Joe by surprise, but the latter, shaking his whip over her head, gave Fashion the spur and she instantly recovered her stride, coming through about a length ahead with apparently speed to spare. The heat was run in 7 :32 1-2, the fastest by all odds ever run in America to that time. The time was kept on the Jockey Club stand by Messrs. Robert L. and James Stevens, and in the judges stand by Senator Barrow of Louisiana, Mr. Botts of Virginia, J. Hamilton Wilkes and the official timers. We took the time of each mile from the Messrs. S., between whom we stood. Mr. Neill, Major Ringgold and other gentlemen of acknowledged accuracy as timers stooel in the same circle and there was but a fraction of difference in the time each declared. Messrs. Stevens made the time 7 :33, but as they kept the time of the half and in some cases of the quarter miles their difference of but half a second from the timers in the judges stand demonstrates the remarkable accuracy of the parties. The result of the heat was the more aston- ishing to a few of Bostons friends, as no one ever supposed Fashion could make this time, though she might beat him. We were prepared to expect the best time on record, not only from the fact that we had been informeel of the result of Fashions private trial, but from a circumstance which we shall be cused, we trust, for alluding to here. After retiring to our room at the Astor House on Monday night, at a late hour, we had the pleasure of a "domiciliary visit" from Mr. Long, the owner of Boston, and several mu-I tual friends. The "party" was attired in cos-i tumes that would be esteemed somewhat unique out of the circle of the Marquis of Waterfords friends, who ride steeplechases in their shirts and drawers. Nevertheless there was no lack of fun or spirit. In the course of an interesting horse talk, Mr. Long gave us several "items," one of which was that Boston would run the first heat "sure" in 7:34. Said Mr. Long: "He will run the first mile in about 1 :53, the sec-;j ond in 1:52, the third in 1:51, and the fourth in 1 :55." After he retired we made a raemo-i randum of the time, as a curiosity after the race. As we refer to it now, although beaten by the northern phenomenon, the gallant Bos-i ton amply sustained all the expectations formed of him from his trials and previous performances. He not only made vastly better time than he ever did before, but better time than ever had heen made time , that quite eclipsed the most wonderful achieve- ments on the American turf of that date. WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE. The vaunted performances of the early southern "cracks" at New Orleans are thrown in the shade by the latter performance, wonderful as they were. Had anyone offered to beat the time of Eclipse and Sir Henry ,!on the Union course 3 to 1 would have been laid against it. Had the friends of Mr. Long been assured that he could run in 7:34 they would have staked a million dollars on Bostons winning the race. For the first two miles Boston, in the opin-J ion of many shrewd judges, had the foot of the marc and it is thought that had he trailed her as he did Charles Carter in an earlier race the result of the first heat might have been different. But what shall be said of the incomparable daughter of Trustee and Bonnets o Blue. Too much cannot be said of her or her jockey. She ran as true as steel and per- formed as game and honest a race as was ever recordeel of a high-merited racer, Both horses cooled out well. Boston had a habit of blowing tremendously, even after a ; 1 i i 1 i 1 . i : ; ; canter, but he seemed little distressed. Neither was Fashion. Her action was su-berb and, as she came through on the fourth mile, it was remarked that she was playing her ears as if taking exercise. She recovered sooner than Boston and, though her friends now offered large odds on her, Bostons supporters were no less confident. After the finish of the first heat the crowd rushed into the inclosed space en masse. An endeavor was matle to clear a portion of the track of the multitude which had now taken possession of it and after great exertions a lane was formed through which the horses came up for the next heat SECOND HEAT. Fashion led off with a moderate stroke and carried on the running down the backstretch with a lead of about three lengths. After making the ascent of the hill Boston challenged, closed the gap and lapped her. A tremendous shout arose on all hands at this rally, but, as it subsided on the part of Bostons friends, it was again more tumultuously caught up by the friends of the mare as she outfooted him before reaching the head of the quarter stretch. She came through, in 1 :59, three or four lengths ahead and kept up her rate down the entire straight on the rear of the course. After going over the hill Boston made a rush, as before, and succeeded in collaring the mare. As before, Fashion again threw him off and led by two or three lengths in 1 :57. To be continued.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1920s/drf1922121201/drf1922121201_11_1
Local Identifier: drf1922121201_11_1
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800