xt70cf9j406d https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70cf9j406d/data/mets.xml Vosburgh, Walter Spencer. 19161969  books b98-54-42679897 English Printed for P. Lorillard, : [New York] : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Lorillard, Pierre, 1833-1901. Horse racing. "Cherry and black"  : the career of Mr. Pierre Lorillard on the turf / by W.S. Vosburgh. text "Cherry and black"  : the career of Mr. Pierre Lorillard on the turf / by W.S. Vosburgh. 1916 2002 true xt70cf9j406d section xt70cf9j406d 














1 CHERRY



AND BLACK"

 This page in the original text is blank.

 







"CHERRY AND BLACK"



      THE CAREER OF
   MR. PIERRE LORILLARD
       ON THE TURF




            BY
      W. S. VOSBURGH



PRINTED FOR PIERRE LORILLARD
        i916

 





























Copyright, i9I6, by

PIERRE LORILLARD

 

              CONTENTS

CHAPTER                                 PAG E

   I THE REVIVAL OF RACING AT JEROME PARK  3

   II RACING, I873-I877.. .   .. . . . 10

   III FHE RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP . . . 20

   IVRACING, I878. .  . .  . .  . .  . . 26

   v THE CAMPAIGN IN ENGLAND, i879-1882  29

   VI WINNING THE DERBY AND ST. LEGER .  40

 VII THE RANCOCAS STUD . . . . . . . 55

 VIII RACING, 1879-I882.. . . . . . . 66

 IX A VISIT TO RANCOCAS. . . . . . . 78

   X "THE MOTHERS OF THE CHERRY JACKET" . 88

   xiRACING, i883. .  . .  . .  . .  . .  97

 XII RACING, I884.. .  . .  . .  . .  . 110

 XIIIRACING, I885. . .  . .  . . .  . . I20
                    [VI

 

                CONTENTS
C(HAPTER                                 PAGE

XIV THE SALES, i886 . . . . . . . . 134

  XV THE RETURN TO RACING, I889-I895 . . 139

  XVI THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IN ENGLAND,
       I896-i901.  . .  . .  . .  . .  . '47

xvii THE RETURN TO AMERICA, 1899-1900  . 152

XVIII CONCLUSION.  .  . .  . .  . .  . . I55



E [rI J

 
                  PREFACE

MOST of the racing stories I have read had more to do
with showing how some otherwise uninteresting person,
who lived upon the precarious product of his cunning,
had performed a great coup in the betting, and often
by methods somewhat irregular, to say the least. The
merits of the great race-horses seem of secondary im-
portance.  The leading turfmen and legislators are
ignored to show the acuteness of some individual whose
only title to distinction is his recklessness with money he
never earned.
  Whoever expects to find this a volume of that de-
scription will be disappointed. Betting will be treated
as an incident of racing-not as its object. The great
races and the great race-horses, the leading owners,
trainers, and jockeys of the past forty years afford
ample material of general interest with which to fill a
volume without going into the details of their betting,
which is a personal matter and concerns them alone.
  The object of this volume is to record the career of
                       Evii]

 
                    PREFACE
the late Mr. Pierre Lorillard as a turfman. His career
was one of the most important in the history of Ameri-
can racing and one for which all devotees of racing
have reason to be thankful, as it was the success of
his stable in England with Parole and Iroquois that
aroused the first real interest of Americans in racing,
an interest that penetrated the country from coast to
coast.
  In dealing with Mr. Lorillard's career, I have been
compelled to maintain a chronological order which is
unfortunate in that it prevented my having a more con-
fidential chat with my readers. I should have preferred
taking the subjects offhand in a gossipy style, as an
enumeration of races won and lost is apt to prove
tedious. The conversations recorded are from memo-
randa made at the time, of which I have more than
enough to fill many volumes.
                                 W. S. VOSBURGH.
January 20, 1915.



E viii  

 














"CHERRY AND BLACK"

 This page in the original text is blank.

 
CHAPTER I



        THE REVIVAL OF RACING AT
                 JEROME PARK

       Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
       Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth.
                           Henry V, Prologue.

W      rITH the revival of racing in the East, following
V   V    the close of the Civil War, Jerome Park be-
came at once the headquarters of sport and the Mecca
of fashion. A race day furnished a brilliant spectacle
as the gay four-in-hands swung through Central Park,
A Brilliantthence to Jerome Avenue, and along the
Gathering lilac-bordered lane to the "Members' Gate"
          in stately procession and magnificence of
equipage which, according to the newspapers of the
time, "illustrated the triumph of civilization."
  At the foot of the Club-house "Bluff" the drags were
"parked," the horses unhitched, and refreshments
served on the drags from which New York's fairest
daughters viewed the racing. There was visiting from
drag to drag, as on an evening at the opera among the
boxes. Then, before the principal race of the day, the
                       [ 3 J

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
ladies and gentlemen would descend from the club-
house, down the hill, through the fir-grove, and across
          the course to the Members' Stand. The
Fashion at first citizens of the metropolis and their
the Races
          families, governors of states, and even ex-
President Fillmore, supported racing by their presence,
and all was gentle and eminently well-bred.
  The grand stand was double-tiered and divided into
three sections, the centre one being for members and
their families. The great gates of the park were of
iron and a pleasant sporting feature were large medal-
lions of horses galloping, with jockeys up, in the colors
of Mr. Belmont, Mr. Jerome, Mr. Cameron, Mr.
Francis Morris, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Sanford, Mr. Lewis
G. Morris and Mr. Watson.
  There were few more agreeable places than the club-
house at Jerome Park. Apart from its architectural
beauty and charming surroundings, there was some-
thing baronial to its interior; and while the fir-crowned
eminence on which it stood was hardly a "heaven-kiss-
ing hill," it was something of an Olympian abode. Its
The Club- saloons, its cheerful halls, its spacious ball-
House     room where melody so often echoed, and
          which, as the door of the south wing opened,
burst upon the view with its great quaint old Louis XIV
fireplace and arm-chairs, casting a grey light of an-
tiquity upon the scene-all these contributed to the
senses of comfort and pleasure.
                       E 4 1

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
  The array of racing "cracks" that looked down from
the walls formed an artistic treat to the racing enthu-
siast and might cause him to paraphrase Mr. Pope's
lines on Mr. Addison's dialogue of "The Medals"-

        Or in fair series laurelled "cracks" be shown-
          A Glencoe here, and there a Lexington.

For Lexington was there-from the brush of Troye;
while Kentucky, American Eclipse, Fashion, Lecompte,
and others of the corps d'Mlite of America found places.
From Sartorious' representation of Eclipse to the last
decade of Derby and St. Leger winners, were grouped
          the most celebrated horses that have won
Gale ryurf  fame over an English race-course. Filho da
          Puta, big and robust, seems thirsting for an-
other shy at Sir Joshua, and Emilius "in flesh" shows
little of the stag-like neck old Ben Marshall gives him
"in condition."  Margrave and the hollow-backed
Glencoe and the dainty Priam are there-magic names
to American horsemen-while Flying Dutchman in the
"tartan," and Voltigeur, whose distended nostrils and
outstretched "flag" tell of "pace-complaint," are also
there to remind us of "The Great Match at York."
Newminster, dainty and deerlike; Stockwell, of the
robust model; West Australian, lengthy and elegant;
Blair Athol's blaze face, Blink Bonny's bobtail, and
Teddington of the calf-knees, were all there to demon-
strate the "character" Harry Hall gave to his pictures.
                       E s I

 
            "CHERRY AND BLACK"
  But none are more attractive than the series entitled
"The British Stud," by Herring, which decorate the
upper hall. Pantaloon, the paragon of beauty, is woo-
ing Languish to the alliance which brought an Oaks
winner in Ghuznee; and Camel of the massive quarters
looks happy in Banter's love, the fruit of which in
          Touchstone has stamped itself upon the
STheBritish brightest pages of the blood-horse peerage.
          Muley Moloch whispers soft nothings to
Rebecca, which blossomed in Alice Hawthorne and
bloomed anew in Thormanby; while in a wooded ravine
through which a crystal stream is sparkling, Touch-
stone's truant nymph, Beeswing, is meeting Sir Hercu-
les' advances from the opposite bank, somewhat as
Helen met those of Paris in the absence of Menelaus,
according to Offenbach's version of the "tale of Troy
divine"-
               Un marz sage est en voyage.

  On all days of the year, a good dinner could be had
at the club-house, and members made it a frequent
lounge. Balls and suppers were given. In the winter
sleighing parties of members (of which there were
fourteen hundred) made it a rendezvous. Each of the
life members (of which there were fifty) had his pri-
vate stable inscribed with his name, where, upon his ar-
rival, his vehicle was housed and his horses cared for.
After the autumn meetings, the members held pigeon
                       E 6 ]

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
shooting contests in the large meadow to the south of
            the course; and there it was that Mr.
Polo, Pigeon-  James Gordon Bennett inaugurated polo
Shooting, and in America. In the winter a chalet was
Skating    built near a large pond half a mile dis-
tant, where skating parties enjoyed their sport.
  Preliminary to a race-meeting, there was a "Match
Day" when the members raced their horses in match
races-in some cases for as much as 5ooo a side.
Match races were also run at various times of the year.
Amateur riding among the members was a feature, not
         only in match races, but in sweepstakes; the
RAatnge  Members' Cup, "horses to be ridden by mem-
         bers of the club," being a fixture of both
spring and autumn meetings and such riders as Mr.
Wetmore, Mr. Hargous, Mr. Hecksher, Mr. Law-
rence, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. De Hauteville rode in such
races. But Mr. Carroll Livingston was the "crack"
gentleman-rider, and it was generally considered that
he could ride with any professional jockey on even
terms.
  Sleeping accommodations were plentiful at the club-
house, and it became the custom for owners of racing
stables to take a party of friends to dinner, stop over-
night, and be up with the early morning to witness the
gallops. When the dew was still on the grass, many a
promising colt has had "a leading question" asked him
before the stable's racing jacket was intrusted to him
                       E 7 :1

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
for the Juvenile or the Nursery. Then a regiment of
             sheeted racers appeared, walking in In-
GTelops     dian file, their "banged" tails swinging
             gracefully from  side to side, and the
morning work was on. Indeed, the "morning gallops"
became almost as popular as the races. There was not
the display of equipage, the crash of the band, or the
crowd, or the betting. Nor was there the glamor of
the silken jackets at the post, looking like a tulip-bed in
its blaze of color, but there was the true spirit of racing
in the people who gathered to watch the preparation of
the candidates for the Belmont and the Juvenile.
  There was a "racing spirit" at Jerome Park-"a
smell of real sport." Horses came to the post with
their tails squared ("banged"), their manes plaited and
tied with ribbons of the stables' colors. They looked
like race-horses, as race-horses should look-like a girl
dressed for a ball. Indeed, all our race-horses' tails
were "banged" up to I 893. Since then, our horses have
        gone to the post with long tails, looking like a
Spirtng lot of coach-horses. There was no such thing
        as stewards perverting their judicial functions
and playing police-detective in order to attract attention
to themselves and gain a reputation for official activity.
There was little of that constant hunting for newspaper
notoriety, and few "press agents."
  In short, there was an atmosphere of real sport at
these Jerome Park gatherings. They had not reached
                       E 8 J

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
the sporting point of referring to days or weeks as
those of a great race, or to years as those of a
great race-horse-there  was no   "Belmont Day,"
or "Kingfisher's year"-they had not got that far
yet. But they were coming to it. Between the races,
gentlemen met on the quarter stretch in earnest and
often intense discussions on the topics of the hour; and
so intense that, sometimes, each would hold the other
by the sleeve, and pound each other's shoulder in dis-
putes over the stamina of the Eclipse colts or the rela-
tive stud merits of Lexington and Leamington.
  It was the influence of such surroundings as these that
attracted, then interested Mr. Pierre Lorillard in rac-
ing, and finally brought him within the fold of Ameri-
can turfmen, among whom for the following thirty
years he was one of the most conspicuous.



E 9 I

 

                     CHAPTER II

                RACING, I873-I877

           The "Silks and the Satins"
             Most famed on the track-
           To wear them all jockeys aspire-
             The jacket of Withers,
           Of shimmering "Black";
             The "Red and Blue" banner of Dwyer;
           The "Maroon with Red Sash,"
             The "White with Blue Spots,"
           Of Belmont and Keene share in glory;
             Haggin's "Orange and Blue,"
           Cassatt's "Tricolor," too,
             Are famous in deed and in story.

           But whatever the hue-
             Orange, green, red, or blue-
           With the lads of the pigskin, so merry,
             There 's no colors named,
           No jacket more famed,
             Than the Lorillard jacket of "Cherry."
                             Racing Song of the "Eighties."


                          I873

SAXON was the colt which had the distinction of
J introducing Mr. Lorillard's colors-and the colors,
by the way, were "scarlet, with blue cap," as the since
                         E io]

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
famous "cherry and black" were not adopted until a year
later. The occasion was at Monmouth Park, N. J.,
July IO, i873, where for the July Stakes for two-year-
olds Saxon ran unplaced to Mr. Belmont's King Ama-
deus. For the August Stakes, July 2I, Saxon was suc-
cessful, beating three others, including Vandalite, a
since famous mare. Then at Jerome Park in October
Saxon ran unplaced to Rutherford for the Nursery
Stakes, and closed the season by finishing second to
Weathercock for the Central Stakes at Baltimore. Mr.
Lorillard had only one other starter that season, a
three-year-old colt called Free Lance, by Kentucky,
which ran unplaced at Jerome Park.


                       I874
SAXON was a whole-colored brown colt bred in England
by Sir Joseph Hawley, whose colors, "cherry jacket with
       black cap," had been carried to the front in
Saxon four Derbys-those of Teddington, Beads-
man, Musjid and Blue Gown. As Mr. Lorillard had
purchased a lot of Sir Joseph's stock, the Lorillard
horses appeared in I874 under the Hawley colors,
"cherry, black cap," to which was added a "gold tas-
sel." At Baltimore, Saxon finished unplaced for the
Preakness Stakes, but for the Belmont Stakes at Jerome
Park he fairly outran himself, running on the outside all
the way and coming with an electric rush at the finish,
                       E I I 3

 

           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
winning by a neck with such colts behind him as Grin-
stead, Aaron Penington, Elkhorn, Brigand, Reform,
Winning   Steel Eyes, and Rutherford. Many said "it
the Belmont was the riding that won," and certainly
          George Barbee that day rode the greatest
finish of his career. Still, Saxon must have been a pretty
good colt, for he ran second to Aaron Penington for
the Jersey Derby, and defeated Rutherford and Re-
form; but one more effort, for the Ocean Stakes, closed
his career.
  George Barbee was the principal jockey and Mr.
Pryor the trainer for the stable that year. Barbee was
born in England in I854, and in i865 was apprenticed
         to Tom Jennings, Sr., trainer for Count La
tBaejockey  Grange. Barbee was exercise lad of the fa-
         mous French horse Gladiateur when he had
a complaining leg, and Barbee's light weight rendered
him available. Barbee came to America in i872 to
ride for Mr. Chamberlain, and rode Brennus for the
Belmont Stakes that year. He soon had a large prac-
tice, and in i874 won i9 out of 58 races. In i875 he
won I2 out of 38, and in i877 he won 28 out of 70
races. At this time Barbee was a perfect man-model
of the smaller type, tremendously muscular, and his
whipping was very severe. Springbok, the Belmont
winner of i873, was so savage that jockeys were afraid
to ride him; but Barbee hit him with the whip and it
tamed him. The whipping he gave Sachem in that
                       E12 J

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
colt's match with Onondaga in i88I was such that
Sachem never forgot it and turned coward. William
Pryor, the trainer, was a son of Mr. J. B. Pryor, who
trained Lexington, but had lived several years in Eu-
rope assisting his father when the latter trained for
Mr. Ten Broeck and later for Baron Shickler in
France.
  To have won the Belmont Stakes in the second year
of his career on the turf was flattering, and Saxon's
early decline did not discourage Mr. Lorillard. Like
       Commodore Perry on Lake Erie, who, when
Attila his flag-ship was disabled, hoisted his flag on an-
other ship, Mr. Lorillard was ready with a new cham-
pion of the "cherry and black" at Saratoga when the
bugle called to the post the candidates for the historic
Travers Stakes.  This was Attila, a rather handsome
              dark bay or brown colt by Australian
Dead Heat for  from  Ultima by Lexington, which he
the Travers: At-
tila and Acrobat purchased of Mr. Charles Lloyd. Attila
              had finished third for the Nursery the
year before, and had won both of his three-year-old
engagements.  It was a great gathering of "cracks"
for the Travers-Acrobat, Steel Eyes, Stampede, Re-
form, Brigand, Rutherford, Grinstead, Aaron Pening-
ton, and others, eleven in all. It resulted in a furious
finish between four-Acrobat, Attila, Brigand and Steel
Eyes.  There was great confusion over the result.
Acrobat and Attila had finished together on the outside
                       E13r

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
rail, while Steel Eyes and Brigand finished on the inside,
and a majority of the people thought Steel Eyes had
          won. But "the Ayes had it," or rather Acro-
the TTavers bat and Attila, for the judges announced it
          a dead-heat between them. Sparling was
blamed for Acrobat's failure to win, and Hayward was
called to ride Acrobat for the "run off," which Attila
won. It was Attila's last race, for, like Saxon, he fell
lame; while Acrobat, despite his unsound feet, became
the colt of the year.
  To have won the Belmont and Travers, the two clas-
sic events of the turf, was glory enough; and so it
proved, for the balance of the Lorillard stable per-
formed indifferently. Mr. Lorillard gave 3300 for
Vaultreas, which never won a race, and 4000 for Vas-
sal, a very fine colt by Vandal-Sadowa which had won
in the West; but Vassal was beaten by Rhadamanthus
in a sweepstakes of iooo each at Saratoga. Mr.
Lorillard had purchased of Mr. Welch for iooo the
colt James A., by Leamington-Maiden, and with this
colt he defeated Mr. George Lorillard's Hyder Ali and
the famous Aristides and others at Jerome Park.
Thus in his second season's racing, Mr. Lorillard was
seventh on the list of "Winning Owners" with  i 8,6oo,
Col. McDaniel leading with 43,445.

                      I 875
FOR the season of i875, Mr. Lorillard had nearly forty
                      [ 141

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
horses in training under William Brown, who had long
trained the horses of Mr. Francis Morris of West-
           chester. He took over all Mr. Morris's
Forty Horses two-year-olds, and in older horses he had
           Stanford and Persuader. The three-year-
olds were James A., Vassal, Vernango, Lotto, Sangara,
Vivian, Springlet, Tomahawk, and Echo. The two-
year-olds included Parole, Shirley, Atlas, Evasive,
Cyril, Faithless, Merciless, Tigress, Bertram, Pera,
Merlin, Barricade, Baronet, Bambino, Lord Carlisle,
Alaric, Durango, Demoiselle, and Malcolm. In the
all-aged and three-year-old classes, the season was un-
productive. Sangara started for the Belmont, but was
unequal'to the task his full brother, Saxon, had accom-
plished the year before. "I cannot understand," said
         Mr. Lorillard, "why Sangara should be so
Relatios" poor a race-horse. You know he is a full
         brother to Saxon." "Oh, that 's nothing,"
returned Mr. Tucker, "even the Vanderbilts have poor
relations." Mr. Lorillard purchased Searcher on the
strength of his brilliant form in the West. He renamed
him Leander and won several races, but they were of
minor importance.
  The Lorillard two-year-olds more than avenged the
failure of their elders in the stable. Faithless, the black
filly by Leamington, purchased of Mr. Morris, began
by winning the Juvenile, Thespian and Flash Stakes.
And now appeared upon the scene the redoubtable
                       [ 5:1

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
Parole, the future hero of two continents, the conqueror
     of Ten Broeck in America, and of Isonomy in
Parole England. Parole won the July Stakes and
August Stakes at Monmouth, and the Saratoga Stakes
and Kentucky Stakes at Saratoga. Cyril won the Cen-
tral Stakes at Baltimore. These, with the other win-
nings of the stable, placed Mr. Lorillard fourth in the
list of "Winning Owners" for i875, with i8,58o;
Mr. H. P. McGrath leading, with 35,030; Col. Mc-
Daniel second, with 23,565; Mr. Belmont third, with
20,0 I5.

                      1876
"THE Centennial year" was born bright with promise
for Mr. Lorillard's "cherry" jacket. Parole's expedi-
tion to Louisville in quest of the Kentucky Derby was a
disastrous beginning; but the brown gelding more than
made amends, winning the Excelsior and Sequel Stakes
at Saratoga and the All-Aged Stakes at Jerome Park,
             in which race he seemed to run faster
Parole Wins the  than we ever saw a horse run. His
             brother, James A., won the Inaugural
Stakes at Philadelphia. Idalia won the Juvenile and
Hopeful; Zoo Zoo won the July, Thespian and Flash
Stakes; Bombast won the Champagne and Central;
Shirley won the Preakness; Merciless won the Ala-
bama; Pera won the Chesapeake, and Barricade won
the Robins Stakes at Monmouth.
                     C I6 ]

 

           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
  Of these, Zoo Zoo was the best, bar Parole. Zoo
Zoo was a bay filly by Australian from Mazurka by
Lexington-the same cross that produced Attila,Spring-
         bok, Wildidle, Rutherford, Fellowcraft and
Zoo Zoo  Spendthrift. She was a filly that would have
been prominent in any year; a deep bay, with good
length below, bust short above, that is from the withers
to the coupling, and with her legs so well under her that
she was enabled to slip away from the post and set a
pace that carried her fields off their feet. The season
of I876 found Mr. Lorillard second on the list of
"Winning Owners," with 34,338, of which Parole
won 8Io3, Zoo Zoo 4650, Merciless 3500, Idalia
36So. the leading owner was Hon. August Belmont,
with 40,800, largely won by the filly Sultana.

                       I877
IT was with an extensive stable that Mr. Lorillard be-
gan the season of i877-nearly fifty horses, fifteen of
which were three-year-olds and twenty-six two-year-
olds.  The stable did nothing great at Baltimore.
Oleaster, a filly which Mr. Lorillard had taken in ex-
change with his brother for Idalia, proved that he had
        made a bad bargain, as she was of little
Bombast class; while Idalia was one of the best of the
Wins the
Withers  year. They did better at Jerome Park, where
        Bombast won the Withers Stakes, and at
Monmouth he won both the Ocean and the Robins
                       E I'7  

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
Stakes. Zoo Zoo had a great season winning the Mary-
land, Sequel, Monmouth Oaks, West End and Harding
Stakes.
  For the Belmont Stakes, a great field came to the
post. Rifle, a colt belonging to Mr. Galway, was
made favorite purely on the strength of phenomenal
trials. Mr. William Astor started Baden Baden (the
Kentucky Derby winner), which he had just purchased.
Mr. Lorillard started Basil, who finished "nowhere,"
but he had met so much interference that he had no
chance. The winner turned up in Mr. Clabaugh's
Cloverbrook, a big lathering chestnut with white face
and legs. He was a son of Vauxhall, and a fine natural
          racer; but had a trick of bolting, as his sire
The Basil,  had before him. The result of the Belmont
Cloverhrook
Match     was not considered a true one, and Mr.
          Lorillard offered to match Basil against the
winner. It was accepted; a match of 5000 a side was
made for a race of a mile and a quarter. Cloverbrook
was favorite, and led for half the distance, then bolted,
as he had a habit of doing, and Basil won by ten lengths.
  Basil was a gigantic gelding by Melbourne, Jr., from
Nellie Grey by Lexington. He had a fiddle head, a
long lean neck, a long back and stood high on the leg-
an awkward customer. But he could gallop; for, al-
though Baden Baden defeated him for the Jersey
Derby and Travers, he won the Kenner, although it
was one of the worst starts in the history of racing,
                      E I 8 ]

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
Baden Baden being left at the post, and broke down in
his heroic efforts to reach the front. Besides the Ken-
ner, Basil won the Jerome and Annual Stakes. Barri-
cade was a useful horse, winning several races, including
the Members' Cup, ridden by Mr. Frank Grey Gris-
wold, one of the best amateur riders of the period.
Parole was the mainstay of the stable, winning the
Woodburn Stakes, 2 Y2 miles; Maturity Stakes, 3 miles;
and the Special Stakes at Baltimore, beating Ten
Broeck and Tom Ochiltree.



E 19J

 

                      CHAPTER III

   THE RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP

At Baltimore 't was, in the autumn late.
"Parole and Ten Broeck" were on every lip,
When the East and the West their issues joined
   In the final race for the championship

'T was Ten Broeck led, three lengths ahead;
   With Ochiltree second, they swept past the stand;
For two miles they speed, Ten Broeck in the lead,
   Parole in the rear, but running in hand.

The pace becomes fast, Tom Ochiltree 's last;
  They straighten for home at the three-quarter pole,
As the stand fairly shook with "Come on, Ten Broeck!"
   Then we hear a shrill cry of "Look at Parole!"

There rises a cheer as he steals from the rear.
   Now he 's closing the gap, as the cheering proceeds,
"Now he 's at Ten Broeck's side"-they race stride for stride
  "Now he 's gaining"-"he 's closing"-"by heaven, he leads!"

  From the head of the stretch, to the field, to the stand,
  'Mid tossing of hats, roll the deafening cheers;
"Ten Broeck 's beaten," they cry, as up goes Walker's whip-
   Parole gallops home gaily pricking his ears.

 Oh, was n't he "cockey," that Lorillard jockey,
   As he rode back to scale, to the judge raised his whip.
"Weight 's correct," said the clerk. "All right," from the stewards.
   Parole wins the race for the championship.
                      Parole, Ten Broeck and Tom Ochiltree.



[20 J

 
"CHERRY AND BLACK"



T     EN BROECK had been proclaimed "the horse of
      the century" during I876 and 1877. As a four-
year-old in i876, he had won all his races except the
one with Aristides, and his reputation became so great
that owners in the West refused to start horses against
          him. He was thereupon given a four-mile
          race against Fellowcraft's time (7.I9Y2 )
and accomplished it in 7.I54j. In I877 he had an-
other career of triumphs in the West, winning all his
races, and races against time, in which he established a
record of 1.39Y4 for a mile, 3.27X2 for two miles, and
5.264 for three miles. All Ten Broeck's races had
been in the West, and now efforts were made to bring
him East. His owner, Mr. Harper, was not an am-
bitious man. He was content to worship his idol for
what he had accomplished, but at last he yielded, and
agreed to send Ten Broeck to the October meeting at
Baltimore, where a valuable premium was promised.
  Learning that Ten Broeck would be at Baltimore,
Mr. Lorillard offered to match Parole against Ten
Broeck to run two miles or two miles and a half for
               5ooo a side. There was no response;
The Race for thethereupon the Club offered a sweep-
Championship  stakes, 5oo each, the club to add
Iooo; two miles and a half. Ten Broeck, Tom
Ochiltree and Parole were named. The race was run
Wednesday, October 24, and aroused a greater interest
                      21 ]

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
throughout the country than any race since the Longfel-
low-Harry Bassett races of i872. It was a sectional
race, the East versus the West-"a race for the cham-
pionship," so people called it, and they came from the
most distant points to witness it. Ten Broeck was an
overwhelming favorite, his great record-breaking feats
having made a powerful impression.
  Tom Ochiltree was the first to appear, ridden by
Barbee. Then came Barrett in the "cherry and black"
on Parole. They were received with applause, but
when Ten Broeck came out with Walker in the saddle,
the applause was greater. He was a magnificent speci-
          men of the thoroughbred, while Parole
" Hole"Sto looked as rough as a bear and as lean as a
          snake.  Amid suppressed excitement the
horses started on their eventful journey, Ten Broeck
leading by three lengths, Ochiltree second, Parole trail-
ing. The half mile was slow, i.oo4. Then Walker
was signalled to "go on," and, as Ochiltree did the same,
the pace sharpened, and the crowd began shouting. At
the end of the mile and a half, they passed the stand
amid cheering that might have been heard in Monu-
ment Square, the Eastern men cheering, the Western
followers of Ten Broeck yelling like demons. It was
cheers answering cheers, like the noise of contending
armies. Suddenly, as they turned toward the last quar-
ter, there arose a cry of "Look at Parole!" Barrett
had loosened his hold on the brown gelding, who shot
                      E22J

 
           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
up like a rocket and closed on the leaders. Then there
was a moment of quiet as the cheering ceased. The
crowd was so deep it was difficult to see the horses, but
the next instant a roar is heard at the head of the
stretch. Nearer and nearer it comes, and is taken up
all along the line to the stand. Then we see the
"cherry" jacket leading, and amid a scene baffling de-
scription, Parole drew away and won by five lengths.
  When Parole galloped past the post, the scene might
have been compared to pandemonium. During the race
there had been a fusillade of cheering. Now a spirit of
            quiet amazement followed. The Ken-
Parole Defeats tuckians said Ten Broeck "could n't have
Ten Broeck , been himself," and pointed to the fact
that he scoured badly at the finish. Yet he came out
three days later and won the Bowie Stakes, four mile
heats. The talent received a fearful blow, many re-
turning home "dead broke." They could not realize
how Ten Broeck could be beaten-and by Parole, who
had been twice beaten by Tom Ochiltree a fortnight
previous at Jerome Park. The fact as to Parole was
that when he was defeated at Jerome Park, Mr. Loril-
lard had Dr. Cattanach examine him and, finding he
had cracked heels, treated them, and the gelding im-
proved immediately. The track was soft and damp
and this favored Parole. But "the time was slow"-
4.37y4-and the Kentuckians claimed Ten Broeck was
"not himself." Mr. Lorillard offered to run the race
                      E23J

 

           "CHERRY AND BLACK"
over again at Jerome Park November 6, and both
horses were brought north. In his trial before the race,
however, Ten Broeck did not please Mr. Harper, who
"scratched" him, and Parole walked over. P