xt7n2z12nx9t https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7n2z12nx9t/data/mets.xml Vosburgh, Walter Spencer. 1922  books b98-56-42680008 English Priv. print., the Jockey Club, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Horse racing United States. Horses. Racing in America, 1866-1921  / written for the Jockey Club, by W.S. Vosburgh. text Racing in America, 1866-1921  / written for the Jockey Club, by W.S. Vosburgh. 1922 2002 true xt7n2z12nx9t section xt7n2z12nx9t 













RACING IN AMERIWA
     i866 - 192I

  







RACING IN AMERICA


           I866 I 92I


       WRITTEN FOR THE JOCKEY CLUB
               BY
          W S VOSBURGH



















          PRIVATELY PRINTED         R
          THE JOC KEY CLUB            4
             NEW YORK               Q

 








































COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY

THIE JOCKEY CLUB



THE SCRIBNER PRESS
    NEW YORK

 











                          PREFACE


o[ PURPOSE to write a history of racing in the United States from the period
   of its revival following the close of the Civil War down to the time of writ-
   ing-i921. I shall show that, owing to want of popular support, racing
had fallen so low, and so infrequent, as to excite little or no interest. I shall
recount how, under the auspices of the leading citizens of New York City, the
American Jockey Club revived it at Jerome Park, from which date, having the
respect and confidence of the public, it rose to a high degree of popularity which
spread throughout the adjoining States and penetrated the West and South until
it had attained a growth that rendered it of national interest.
  That I should have omitted the racing prior to the Civil War is due to several
reasons. In the first place, it would have been a mere compilation of matters
of which I had no personal knowledge, but only that derived from reading;
hence second-hand information. Moreover, that period had already been treated
by other and abler hands. But with racing since its revival at Jerome Park I
had a considerable degree of familiarity, having been in constant attendance
at race-meetings, and for more than forty years an active participant, thirty-
two years of which as a racing official.
  In the first part of the book I have endeavored to give a condensed record
of the different racing clubs and their officials and also of the gradual building
of racing government. In the second part I have essayed the careers of the
most noted race-horses of their respective periods, the figures placed under the
name of each indicating the year in which it was foaled.
                                                        NV. S. VOSBURGH.
NEW YORK,
   January 17, 1922.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 











                     CONTENTS

                                                               PAGE
PREFACE                                                           V

THE REVIVAL OF RACING

   THE REVIVAL OF RACING                                          3

   T.IE MORNING GALLOPS AT JEROME PARK                          14

   JEROME PARK IN I921                                          17

   RACING AT SARATOGA                                           21

   MONMOUTII PARK                                               24

   SIIEEPSHEAD BAY                                              26

   BRIGHTON BEACH                                               29

   GRAVESEND                                                    30

   NIORRIS PARK                                                32

   BELMONT PARK                                                 34

   AQUEDUCT                                                      3

   JAMAICA                                                      38

   YONKERS                                                      39

THE GOVERNMENT OF RACING

   THE BOARD OF CONTROL-TIIE JOCKEY CLUB                        43

   TIlE "STUD-BOOK"                                             46

   THE "RACING-CALENDAR"                                        48

RACING THROUGHOUT AMERICA

   RACING IN MARYLAND

       TIlE MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUB                                51

       HAVRE DE GRACE                                           53

       LAUREL PARK                                              53

       PRINCE GEORGE PARK (BOWIE)                               54
                                N-'1

 


                          CONTENTS


   RACING IN KENTUCKY
                                                                   PAGE
       LOUISVILLE                                                   55
       LATONIA                                                      57
       LEXINGTON                                                    57

   RACING IN ILLINOIS                                               59
   RACING IN OHIO                                                   6o
   RACING IN MISSOURI                                               61
   RACING IN LOUISIANA                                              62
   RACING IN CALIFORNIA                                             63
   RACING IN CANADA.                                                65

CELEBRATED RACE-HORSES
   "CRACKS" OF THE "SIXTIES," 1865-1870                             69
   "CRACKS" OF THE "SEVENTIES," 1870-1880.     .                    85
   "CRACKS  OF THE "EIGHTIES," 1880-1890                           115
   "CRACKS" OF THE "NINETIES," 1890-1900                           147
   "CRACKS" OF THE CENTURY, 1900-1910   .81
   "CRACKS" OF THE CENTURY, 1910-1921                              211

INDEX    .                                                         241

INDEX TO HORSES                                                    246



viIi

 
















PLATES



Jerome Park
The Club-House Lawn at Jerome Park
Kentucky-i86i
Norfolk-i86i
Longfellow-1867
Harry Bassett-i868
Ten Broeck-1872
Parole-1873
Spendthrift-1876
Luke Blackburn-1877
Hindoo-1878
Iroquois-1878-Fred Archer up
George Kinney-i88o
Troubadour-i882
Hanover-1884
Kingston-i 884
Firenzi-i884
Raceland-1884
Salvator-x886
Yorkville Belle 1889
Sir Walter-i89o
Ramapo-18go-Winner of the Suburban of 1894
Domino-i89i-The Unbeaten Two-year-old
Henry of Navarre-iSg8
Hastings-1893
                                   Ix



. Frontispiece
  FACING PAGE
    4
    70
         72
         86
         88
         100
         102
         io8
         i6
         u8
         122
         124

         134
         136
         I38
         140
         142
         148
         152
         158
         160
         62
         164
         i66

 




PLA4TES



Imp-1894
Plaudit-1895

Ethelbert-i896
Sysonby-1902

Commando-1898
Hermis-0goo

Irish Lad-Igoo

Beldame-igo
Broomstick-i go

Hamburg Belle-igo     
Artful-1902

Ballot- 19o4-Notter up
Fair Play-igog-Notter up
Colin-igo5-Notter up

Olambala-igo6
Sweep-1907-Notter up

Man o' War-19I7--Clarence Kummer up
Roamer-191 i-Schuttinger up
Pennant-1 9 i i-Notter up

Hourless-1914-Butwell up
Regret-1912-Notter up

Omar Khayyam-1914-Butwell up

Whisk Broom 11-1907
Sir Barton-1916

Friar Rock-1913-Haynes up
Exterminator-1i95
Sunbriar-1915-Knapp up
Purchase-1916-Sande up
Grey Lag-ig98-Sande up
Black Servant-igi8-L. Lyke up
Morvich-igig-Johnson up



    FACING PAGE
         170

 .   .  172

 .      '74
        x8i
.   ,   I82

     . . 84
 .   .   1i86
         1i88
         190

      .  192

 .      ' 194
 .   .   196
 .   .  198

 .   .  200
 .   .  202
 .   .  204
 .   .  211
         212
 .   .  214
 .   .  216
        218

        220
        222

 .   .  224
         226
 .   .  228

 .   .  230
 .   .  232
       234

 .   .  236
 .   .  238



x

 












TIHE REVIVAL OF RACING

 This page in the original text is blank.

 













THE REVIVAL OF RACING



T      ACHE outbreak of the Civil War in i86t was followed by a general suspension
       of racing in the Southern States, and many owners of racing stables
       brought their horses North to places of safety. Occasional meetings
were given at Lexington and Louisville in Kentucky. In the North there were
occasional meetings at the old Fashion course, the Union and the Centerville
courses, on Long Island; at Jamesburg in New Jersey, and Suffolk Park, Boston.
The race-meetings at Paterson, N. J., began in i863, and the same year Mr.
John Hunter and Mr. W. R. Travers inaugurated a meeting at Saratoga Springs,
N. Y., over the old "Horse Haven" track among the pines, a meeting of four
days' duration, two races each day.
  Racing revived at St. Louis, Mo., in 1864 with a meeting over the Laclede
course, and the spring meeting at Paterson, N. J., the same year, was sufficiently
successful to encourage the management. The Jersey Derby, won by Norfolk
(who was sold for i5,001) defeating Tipperary, Eagle, Kentucky, and a field
of eleven, attracted attention throughout the country. The same year there was
a meeting at the Centerville course on Long Island, while Saratoga opened its
new course with the Travers Stakes and Saratoga Cup; Paterson followed with
an autumn meeting, but, while there were some enthusiasts, the general public
had not awakened to an interest in racing.
  It was at this period that Mr. Leonard W. Jerome conceived the plan of
building a race-course in the suburbs of the city of New York, and the organi-
zation of a jockey club similar, in some respects, to that of Newmarket, in Eng-
land. Accordingly, in i865, he purchased the old Bathgate estate, located at
Fordham, then in Westchester County, but in 1873 annexed by New York City.
The property had been in possession of the Bathgate family for more than half
a century, and already was noted for its racing traditions. It was here that in
1829 the celebrated race-horse Medoc was foaled. It was here that Barefoot,
winner of the Doncaster St. Leger of 1823, held his court. Mango, the St. Leger
winner of 1837, also made several seasons here, as did Lapidist by Touchstone.
Trustee also made it his home after his importation, and it was here he sired
the renowned mare Fashion who defeated Boston, but that was before he sired
Levity, from whom Luke Blackburn, The Bard, Monarchist, Leonatus, Long-
street, etc., descended.
                                    3



Conditions at
the Close of
the Civil War








Racing
Awakens








The American
Jockey Club

 







                                "ACING IN zHMERICA

Jerome Park     The race-course since known as Jerome Park was completed in i866. It was
               unique in shape owing to a great hill, since known as "The Bluff," upon which
               stood the club-house, and which can best be shown by the following diagram:













                                                    C      I               G

               A. CLUB-HOUSE. B. GRAND STAND. C. STEWARDS' AND JUDGES' STAND. D. TIMER'S STAND.
                 F. STARTING-POST-I!4 MILES. F. STARTING-POST-3 MILE. G. BETTING ENCLOSURE.

TIhe Jerome     The club-house, located on the hill called "The Bluff," overlooked the course,
Park Club-    which was reached by descending a wooded path. It was equipped with spacious
fouse         dining-rooms ornamented by a gallery of pictures of all the famous English
               and American race-horses of celebrity. Adjoining them was a magnificent ball-
               room, and a club ball after the races was a frequent feature. The club-house was
               open the year round, and an experienced chef was in occupation. It soon became
               a favorite society rendezvous. Driving and sleighing parties, trap-shooting,
               skating, and, at a later period, polo-playing rendered it a favorite tryst. Sleep-
               ing accommodations were plenty, and it became quite the thing for an owner to
               take a party of friends to dinner, stop overnight, and be up betimes to witness
               the morning gallops. To the south of the club-house was a stand where on race
               days the Fort Hamilton band furnished music-generally Offenbach, as at that
               period "Orphhe aux Enfer," "La Grande Duchesse," and "Genevieve de Bra-
               bant" were the rage in Manhattan.
Thic Grand      The grand stand was double-tiered and divided into three sections, the middle
. land       section being reserved for club members. Coaching was in great vogue at the
              time, and on race days the stately four-in-hands rolled gracefully through the
              members' gate to the level below the club-house, where the drags were "parked,"
              the horses unhitched, and refreshments served, while Manhattan's fairest
              daughters viewed the racing in a display of costume that caused old-fashioned
              people to stare at this exhibit of the "wealth of nations," visiting, as at the opera,
                                                   4

 





























LU




LLU
I

z


LU
ar:

coI


C1:
0D


I

 This page in the original text is blank.

 






THE REVIJVL OF JCING



among the boxes. Then, for the great race of the day, the ladies and their escorts
would descend the hill to the members' stand, and all was eminently gentle and
well bred.
  The city quarters of the club were located at No. 920 Broadway, but later
were removed to the southwest corner of Madison Avenue and Twenty-seventh
Street. Here were opened the "Subscription Rooms," well furnished, hand-
somely decorated with pictures, and supplied with newspapers and sporting
books, forming an agreeable resort for subscribers. The subscription was io.oo
a year. While under the control of the club, the rooms were a separate organi-
zation. It was a place at which members met to learn the latest news of racing
and to make bets. All bets were play or pay, unless stipulated to the con-
trary. Payment was made within twenty-four hours, under pain of expul-
sion. Disputes were settled by a committee composed of Mr. Francis Morris,
Mr. M. H. Sanford, Mr. W. Constable, Mr. Jerome, and Mr. Geo. Dennison.
Previous to i868 the city office of the club had been at No. 46 Exchange
Place.
  The club consisted of 1,300 members, 1,250 of which were "Annual Sub-
scribers," while the 5o "Life Members" were: R. Aitcheson Alexander, S. L. M.
Barlow, Chas. W. Bathgate, James A. Bayard, August Belmont, James Gordon
Bennett. Jr., R. W. Cameron, J. W. Clendenin, E. Boudinot Colt, David Craw-
ford, Jr., Wm. P. Douglas, Henry Duncan, W. Butler Duncan, Wm. J. Emmett,
W. A. Fitzhugh, Paul S. Forbes, John R. Garland, W. H. Gibbons, George
Griswold Gray, H. W. Gray, Gardner G. Hammond, John Hoey, Gardner G.
Howland, John Hunter, Lawrence R. Jerome, Leonard W. Jerome, Alexander S.
Macomb, Adolphe Mailliard, Manton Marble, Wm. H. McVickar, W. J. Minor,
A. C. Monson, Francis Morris, Lewis G. Morris, Edward Pearsall, Jr., John F.
Purdy, Henry J. Raymond, Wm. Redmond, A. K. Richards, Elisha Riggs, A.
Robeson, M. H. Sanford, Francis Skiddy, Henry A. Stone, R. Taylor, William
R. Travers, Wm. H. Vanderbilt, Craig W. Wadsworth, D. D. Withers, and Isaac
l\I. Wright.
  The fifty "Life Members" were invested with the entire power of legislation.
There were, from this body, ten directors in whom the active work of the organi-
zation was vested, and two-thirds of this body had power to forfeit the member-
ship of any member of the club. The club derived no benefit from gate-moneys.
After expenses of a race-meeting were paid, the balance went to the owners
of the property. Honorable August Belmont was elected president, and Doctor
John B. Irving was appointed secretary. The important position of clerk of the
course was intrusted to Mr. Charles Wheatley, Mr. John F. Purdy was handi-
capper, and the stewards were W. Butler Duncan, P. S. Forbes, J. F. Purdy,
E. Boudinot Colt, and A. K. Richards.
                                   5



Tbe Subscrip-
tion Rooms












Thje Club














Organization

 







qR;jCIJNG IN dHME RICA



Club Officials,
August
Belmont














Returns to
Racing




Doctor Irring,
Secreta r-
















AIr. Leonard
11'. Jero.e



  The late Honorable August Belmont was president of the Jockey Club, chosen
from his leading social and business prominence, and he began immediately
to select a stable of racers worthy of representing his "maroon, with red sash
and cap." He purchased of Mr. R. W. Cameron the filly Maid of Honor and also
the yearling Glenelg, destined to play a leading part in racing. He also bought
the mare Spiletta with her colt Fenian. The Earls of Derby have for years es-
sayed to win the great Epsom race bearing their title, but Mr. Belmont won the
Belmont Stakes in its third renewal (i869), running first and second with Fenian
and Glenelg. In i868 and i869 Attraction, Finesse, Nellie James, and Telegram
won him many races, and in 1870 he led the "Winning Owners." He began a
breeding stud and imported Fleur des Champs, Fluke, and others. He never
stopped at price when he wanted a horse. Kingfisher became his for 15,000
after winning the Travers Stakes, and Grey Planet for i o,ooo after the Cham-
pagne Stakes of '71. He purchased The III Used in England, and when Mr.
Hunter retired in 1875 he purchased of him the black flier Rhadamanthus for
7,ooo and Sultana and Olitipa coupled for io,ooo. Mr. Belmont retired in
i88i but " he'll be back soon," they said, and so it proved, for in i 888 the " maroon
and red " jacket reappeared and St. Blaise, the Epsom Derby winner, was brought
over the ocean. Raceland was purchased and then began a revival of the glory
of the "maroon jacket" of the Nursery (as he called his stud) with Prince Royal,
La Tosca, Fides, St. Carlo, Potomac, and Peeress.
  Doctor John B. Irving, the first secretary of the club, was a selection quite
in keeping with its tone. He was one of those ante-bellum South Carolinians who
shone in politics, literature, or diplomacy during the first half of the last century.
He was a man of exceeding culture and elevated character; to a becoming mod-
esty he joined an elegance of manner, graceful and insinuating. To a brilliant
wit he joined a delicacy of taste that enabled him to apply the ablest authors to
the most commonplace affairs of life and rendered him one of the most charm-
ing and instructive of men. Educated in England, he had "chummed" with Lord
Macaulay as a classmate at Cambridge, hobnobbed with nobility, witnessed the
riding of Buckle Chifney, Robinson, and all the "crack" jockeys of the Georgian
era. He had never missed a "Guineas" or a Derby while abroad, and had beheld
Blacklock and Doctor Syntax in their salad days. While at Cambridge he had
ridden in the university races. His racing lore was as profound as his classics.
He had long been secretary of the South Carolina Jockey Club, and, transferred
to New York, he presided in a similar capacity with native dignity and unpre-
tending grace.
  Mr. Leonard W. Jerome, who was the master spirit of the club, began col-
lecting a stable of racers with characteristic dash. He purchased Kentucky
shortly after that famous horse won the Inauguration Stakes, paying 40,000,
                                    6

 






             THE RqEVI"VL OF RqjCING

and built an elegantly appointed stable west of Jerome Park, where Kentucky
was installed and a select stud of mares was also acquired. But Mr. Jerome will
be remembered more as a promoter than as an owner. Fleetwing came to his
stable late in life, and with brittle hoofs; Clara Clarita was only fair; Redwing,
quite moderate; and De Courcy was about the best of the racers under the
"blue and white stripes." It was Mr. Jerome who led to the formation of the
Coney Island Jockey Club and the building of Sheepshead Bay race-course,
where he resumed racing with Irish King, One Dime, and Onondaga. When
Jerome Park's existence was threatened, he was alert to provide it a successor,
and, interesting the late Mr. John A. Morris, he set about to build another.
Van Courtlandt Park was selected, but the city wanted it, and finally Morris
Park was built, and Mr. Jerome was once president of both the Coney Island
and New York Jockey clubs.
  Mr. Charles Wheatly was clerk of the course when Jerome Park opened, and  Mr. Cbas.
joined to vast experience an unbending habit of application which at one period  Wbeatly
enabled him to compass the duties of secretary of three race-courses-Jerome
Park, Saratoga, and Monmouth Park. In 1870 he succeeded Doctor Irving as
secretary of the American Jockey Club. Mr. Wheatly was a printer by trade, an
editor by profession, and acted as secretary to Vice-President John C. Brecken-
ridge. Political honors would have been his had he not been under the Iealous
and absorbing spell of the more congenial study of racing. He had early collected
the scattered records of the old American pedigrees, and before the publica-
tion of the Stud Book he was the leading authority in thoroughbred genealogy.
  Mr. John F. Purdy was one of the early stewards of the club. He also filled the  Mr. Jobn F.
position of handicapper, for which he was well fitted by experience and tempera- Purdi
ment. His mind was clear, comprehensive, and correct, with a keen faculty of
discrimination. He was "bred to the turf"; one of his immediate relations, a
great gentleman jockey, Mr. Samuel Purdy, had ridden American Eclipse in
the match with Henry in 1823. Mr. Purdy raced in partnership with Mr. D. D.
Withers and with success, for they won the Ladies' Stakes of 1869 with Tasmania
and the same year Vespucius carried their "black, pink sleeves" when he won
the rich Annual Sweepstakes, beating the mighty Glenelg, who was the "crack"
of the year.
  Mr. Milton H. Sanford was one of the most noted of that coterie of turfmen  Mr. fit. H.
that came into racing with the birth of Jerome Park and the American Jockey  Sanford
Club. Few made racing a deeper study, and none could approach this Talleyrand
of racing in bringing off a great coup. Far back in the Preakness hills of New
Jersey he purchased a farm, and there built a private training-ground where
profane eyes could not witness his trials nor hear of them until he appeared in
the "Subscription Room" on Madison Avenue the night before a race, and bet
                                    7

 






A CINJG INl MMERICA4



them to a standstill. Handicaps were his chief delight, and in six seasons the
Grand National fell to him five times. He was an extensive buyer of Lexington's
colts, and for Hotspur, a brother to Asteroid, he paid the highest price then paid
for a yearling. He brought William Hayward over from England to ride, and
with that jockey up won the Westchester Cup of '67 with Loadstone. La Polka's
Grand National of '69 was one of his greatest coups, but for once the "fine
Italian hand" could not conceal Madame Dudley's merit in the Champagne of
'70. It was mainly Mr. Sanford's effort that led to the great Dinner Party Stakes
at the inaugural meeting at Baltimore in i870, and he won it with Preakness, a
colt, which up to that time had never started and was "as big as a bull." Mon-
archist, however, was the favorite of all Mr. Sanford's long list of racing heroes.
He was beaten for the Belmont, but a few months later the "dark-blue" jacket
found in him the weapon it had pined to wield and turn the flank of the all-
conquering McDaniel Confederacy and its redoubtable Harry Bassett. In I877
Mr. Sanford sent his stable to England, but lack of success and ill health soon
brought his "invasion" to a close.
  Perhaps of all the leading spirits in the "revival of racing" at Jerome Park
none was destined to play a more conspicuous part than Mr. David D. Withers.
A residence at New Orleans during the piping days of Lexington and Lecompte
at the old Metarie track had given him a taste for racing which a subsequent
sojourn in France, during the days when Napoleon III and the Compte de Morny
were diverting the mind of the grande nation from politics to racing, served to
strengthen. His partnership with Mr. Purdy was dissolved in 1870, when Mr.
Withers became ambitious of racing on a larger scale, and thus began the career
of his " all-black " jacket with Elsie and Mimi. Then he gave Weatherby a stand-
ing order, and each season yearling colts and fillies came over the ocean. But
a cruel fate seemed to follow this most deserving of owners. King Ernest was
tried good enough to win the Belmont, only to develop navicular trouble; Stone-
henge could not stay a mile; Macaroon was only moderate; Cyclone was as
"mad as a March hare"; and Eothen was foundered on shipboard.
  Mr. Withers's close attention soon made him a steward, for which he was emi-
nently fitted. His mind was judicial and his familiarity with "adjudged cases"
seldom denied him a precedent, and thus by degrees he became the authority
on questions involving "racing law and usage." He was the master spirit of the
great Monmouth Park racing revival (1880-189o). As an owner his most success-
ful year was 1889, when he started eleven two-year-olds, ten of which were winners.
He established a stud at the Brookdale farm near Red Bank, N. J., to which Mr.
Keene and, later, Mr. Whitney added fame. But he did not become a breeder
from choice-" I drifted into it," he said one day when we were in Uncas's box.
He had an undue fondness for English-bred horses, and fate, with its usual
                                    8



Mkonarcbist,
Champion of
tbe " dark
blue "



AMr. D). D.
lI'ithers













AMr. 11'ithers
Bccw7oms a
Stei r(rd

 








77HE REVI"AL OF R"CING



irony, ordained that Mimi, largely of native blood, should prove his best brood
mare. A man more devoted to racing never existed, nor a better loser. His for-
feits, during the twenty years he raced, amounted to a fortune. Yet, his com-
posure was such that even an occasional success could not disturb him, unless
we except the day when his home-bred Laggard defeated Hanover and Firenzi
for the Omnibus Stakes.
  When Jerome Park was opened Mr. John Hunter was still a young man, with
the racing experience of an old one. The old Westchester families, the Bath-
gates, Booths, Morrises, Hunters, and Delanceys (one of whom imported "the Cub
mare" to which many of our best race-horses trace), had always kept race-horses.
Mr. Hunter's "orange-and-red" jacket appeared as soon as he attained his ma-
jority, and the gelding Nicholas the First soon made it famous. He purchased
Kentucky as a three-year-old, and to the end of his career Kentucky was cham-
pion of the East. Mr. Hunter kept a racing stable until i875, Buckden, Ulricca,
Arcola, Nemesis, Olitipa, Sultana, and Rhadamanthus sporting his colors. He
also bred at his Annieswood Stud, in Westchester, the famous Alarm, who also
raced under the orange jacket. Late in "the eighties" Mr. Hunter returned
with Dagonet, Lovelace, and others. He succeeded the elder Mr. Belmont as
president of the American Jockey Club in i888; in 1892 he succeeded Mr. Withers
as chairman of the Board of Control, and was the first chairman of the Jockey
Club upon its organization in i894.
  Mr. Francis Morris, of Throgg's Neck, and his son, the late John A. Morris,
had raced for years before Jerome Park opened. But his "all scarlet" now be-
came famous for its home-breds bred in Westchester, largely the progeny of
Eclipse and the imported mare Barbarity, among which were Ruthless, Relent-
less, Remorseless, and Merciless, of which Ruthless was the best, she winning
the Nursery and at three the inaugural Belmont Stakes, the Travers, and Sequel.
In fact, from i866 to 1871 Mr. Morris's fillies dominated the great stakes for two
and three year olds. His son, Mr. John A. Morris, accompanied Mr. Ten Broeck
to England, and saw several seasons' racing. He was a familiar figure in the early
days of Jerome Park, but withdrew to "make his fortune," and kept his promise,
returning to the turf in "the eighties," building Morris Park and reviving the
glories of the "all scarlet" which his son, Mr. Alfred H. Morris, now sustains.
  Mr. Lewis G. Morris, of Fordham, was "no relation but the best of friends"
to Mr. Francis Morris. He had years before owned the noted mare "Fashion,"
and upon the opening of Jerome Park formed a racing stable with a small breed-
ing stud at Scarsdale. But Mr. Morris's heart was ever for Shorthorn cattle and
Dorking fowls. He raced a short time, and then created a furor by paying 40,000
for Eighth Duchess of Geneva, a seven-year-old Shorthorn cow at Sheldon's
sale in 1873. He had bred her grandam Duchess 7Ist by Duke of Gloster and
                                   9



Mir. Jobn
Hunter














Mlr. Francis
A Morris











Mr. Lewis C.
A Iorri-s

 












Leading
Spirits













TI1e Inaugural
. 'liS a1 i, I8 46










A Greut Array
of Beauutt and
Fasbioll



                 91i&CING IN IL4MERICCA

Oxford 5th to which she traced; he had bought at Lord Dacie's sale in 1853-
the first importation of "the Duchess tribe" into the States. Three calves of
this famous cow had sold for 564,ooo and he had a standing offer of io,ooo for
her next, which was not to be, however, as she died a few months later.
  These were the leading spirits in the formation of the American Jockey Club,
but there were many others who, while not all owners, were conspicuous in its
management. Mr. W. R. Travers was president of the Saratoga Association, a
racing partner of Mr. Hunter, and in time became principal owner of the Jerome
Park property. Mr. William Constable always had a few horses (including Glen-
garry) and was very efficient as a steward. Sir Roderick Cameron was one of the
enthusiasts-he imported liberally, among others the renowned Leamington,
also Warminster, Glengarry, Inverness, and Invercauld, as well as Glenelg
(imported in utero). Judge Monson sported racing colors occasionally, as did the
late Mr. George Peabody Wetmore, Mr. P. A. Hargons, and Mr. C. W. Bathgate.
The Lorillards, Pierre and George, did not come upon the scene until i873,
and Mr. James R. Keene until i879, when Spendthrift introduced his spotted
jacket, destined to become famous. Mr. A. J. Cassatt and Mr. W. L. Scott came
later, also.
  The inaugural meeting at Jerome Park was held beginning September 25,
3866, Mr. R. A. Alexander's brown colt Bayswater winning the opening race
iY4 miles-from Local, Jim Tisdale, Ripley, Delegate, and Tom Woolfolk; time
2.17. Then followed the Inaugural Stakes, 4-mile heats, which was won by
Mr. John Hunter's bay horse Kentucky, five years, defeating FIeetwing, Onward,
and Idlewild; time 7.35-7.47Y2. The meeting was of four days' duration, during
which Mr. Morris's filly Ruthless won the Nursery for two-year-olds, Watson
won the Jerome Stakes for three-year-olds, Kentucky won the Grand National
Handicap, 234 miles with i24 pounds, beating Aldebaran, Nannie Butler, On-
ward, and Luther. Such was the success of the meeting that an extra day's
racing was given November 8.
  Previous to the opening of Jerome Park it had not been the custom in the
Northern States for ladies to attend races in large numbers. The old Puritan
spirit had held it as improper. But the inaugural day at Jerome Park was marked
by a display of the beauty, wealth, and fashion of the Metropolis that amazed
the country. People talked of it, editors wrote columns on it, and some in cen-
sure "that ladies of New York's leading families should be seen at a horse-race."
But after the shock had passed they realized that different times had different
manners, and soon special writers were engaged to describe the toilets of the
ladies, and the magnificence of the equipages. Society had pronounced in favor
of racing and Jerome Park became the Mecca of fashion.
  From the outset there was a tone to racing at Jerome Park that dignified and
                                   I0

 







I7HE tEYIVAL OF R94CING



elevated it. It had the atmosphere of pure sport, as distinguished from a mere A Gentleman's
scramble for stake money and betting. Owners of the leading stables started their Sport
horses without regard to whether they could win, but from that fine sporting
spirit to see their colors represented in the leading stakes and contribute to the
success of the meetings. The horses came out with their manes plaited and tied
with ribbons of each stable's colors, the "flag" of each horse was "banged," as
a race-horse's tail should be, instead of as in recent years, when they come to
the post with long tails, looking like a lot of coach horses. The "maroon and red"
of Belmont, the "dark blue" of Sanford, the "green