The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1868-10-18
THE TURF.
Opening or Prospect Park Fair Grounds, Long
Island-Amateur Trotting Matches.

ornamental features OF modern civilization II has its
Prospect Park-proudy proclaimed the rising rival OF
our ParA-and 1t is about to have, at a distance
OF nine or ten miles from here, near Grayesend,
fashionable race course which will vie IN beauty OF
detail and finish with Jerome Park and in some re-
spects win eclipse that noted resort OF the New
York aristocracy. II Is called the Prospect Park
Fair Grounds, and viii be entirely completed by
next June. Yesterday afternoon 1t was Informally
opened with a couple OF trotting matches between
road teams.
Everything except the main entrance and the
track itself wore an unfinished look, but all around
lay evidences OF the busy and beautiyng hand OF art
fashionng the rude and primitive soil into surface
upon which the emerald grass shall take the place OF
the arid wiry weeds, and glittering above every p
bright, white walls OF large piazzaed club mouse
Will occupy what might have been the site OF .
lowy and fororn shanty. 1t will be trim ana gai.
liant course when the grand opening day arrives. IL
lacks the natural beauty OF Jerome PARK;
OF '' high pitched wood es and sloplng glade,
but there Ia a splendid sweep OF carriage ground,
ro & ha Tha ghs he called
| round and not quite nat 1t has o few depressions
that lend rather feature Of attraction to It's appear
ance. IL Is skirted by woods that make horizon 10
the view and leave the impression that the course Is
on sort OF plateau sinking away at every
| at the back, OF the spectator viewing the race
| Here the glimpse OF rural scenery is exquisite
| u
stand lin such an attitude OF indifference to-
| wards 1t. There are small plots OF landscape
beauty III this quarter with background In the
far distance OF the low purple ridges OF Staten Island
that Is truly pastoral and lovely Farm houses are
dispersed over q beautiful checker board Of EARTH
| and thin shadowy lines OF trees connect charming
little groves and orchards and all interviewer, give
to fresh green face OF nature the appearance OF
| smiling through hutterlng ven OF brown ana
saffron foliage.
The attendance on the grounds yesterday, in spite
OF the nipping eager air was greater than greeted
|
show OF carriages was alarmingly large ior
sooEn the can 40 Of a ae ng on opepna
| and an amateur race, what will be the consequences
IN the and dusty futureP Why, that the road TO
the fair grounds will come nearer 10 q Derby repre-
sentation than was ever attempted in this country be-
fore. 1t will be crush and crowd, pleasant acct
exharation all On the first balcony oil the club
house, which, in Its unfinished condition, looks ike
Ing ladies' huddled together and did their best to
look CHEEKY and animated under the trying
circumstances Of the occasion the breeze
but nobody seemed to see it. II was late before the
racing began. There was great deal OF time lost
getting the teams to together in trotting order
at the starting point. or course being all roadsters
allowance might be made for this, but those who
trembled in the cold. especially on the judges stand
| felt sometimes a little wrathy.
The horses were almost all splendid animals fun
Of life and mettle, and harnessed to handsome
wagons.
For the first race there were three entries OF
teams-Ge0rge Hall, George Woodward, and !. T.
Whltehouse; mile heats, best three IN I'VE, for q
silver pitcher worth $3.50. In the trst heat 'a
the lead winning easily Woodward, . whtehouse
g. Time, PAT. In the second heat Hall was irst
broke into run, as did also woodward's, who came
up tagging. Time, 2;4e In the third heat iiall was
finally victorious, to the accompaniment OF lond
and breezy cheers Time, 2:4s.
SECOND RACE
Entries Of teams, second class horses $. I. Pier
son, Thomas Jones' Edward Dodge for second sill
! yer pitcher. First heat won by Dodge time. 3:O6;
second heat by Jones, 1902; third neat
the series by Dodge, 8 minutes. Before the
close Of the race the rush home out OF the cold
were quickly set in motion, and the road soon
swarmed with rafting crowd OF vehicles For an
informal opening in such November air 1t was
great success indeed.
The Horse Fair nnd Races AZ White Plains.
The horse fair White Plains closed yester
day. In consequence Of the GOODNESS or the weather
the attendance was not so good AZ might otherwise
be expected.
| The first race u trot, free TO all horses thai
had never beaten 2:45 prior TO September l, mile
heats, best three in five in harness, 800 to the
first and $50 TO the second horse J. Vincent
entered black horse Billy Wallace; y. Daniels entered
heats in $50 2:I7, 2:58.
The mule race was abandoned as only one came to
time.
The next contest was between PAGERS, mile heats
best three In Ave. IN harness, s75 10 irst and S25 to
! Mountain Rover, VIM II. Heustis entered gray pony
Mr. McElroy entered brown horse Bill-the latter
was distanced In the first neat The first and third
heats were won by Mountain Rover in $40 ana $685.
the second, fourth and nth heats were won by the
gray pony in 256, 80 and 1907. First premium TO
gray pony second TO Mountain Rover.
The last race was open to all horses, mile heats,
pest ,dree avs h hrd s1 70 nrs gu 70 .ad
bay horse Needle Gun and Ben Daniels entered bay
v wawcs gs scon Tt n head T was won BY
! won by WARWICK IN 2.39, 23s and 2.3s.
Mr.. Weston was to have performed one or his feats
! but the day was too far gone to allow II.
Trotting nj Waverley Park, ". J.
Thursdays observation-disclosures owing to that
days threatening aspect, from weather point Of
view-was trotted at Waverley Park yesterday. The
attendance was even poorer than that OF the pre-
ceding day, doubtless in consequence OF the breezy
chilly nature OF the atmosphere. The few that did
muster courage TO attend, and these included not
small sprnkiing of ladies, had the satisfaction Of
| witnessing two very fne trots The first was for
s ppei $50 TO third and ,ao to 40 our 10
mile heats, best three In nve In harness, free
| To all horses owned In the state that had never
| beaten three minutes. There were ten entries but
only six put In an appearance. There Hero,
II. ). yernam, Elizabeth; Kate, W. Smith, Newark;
| Register, d. ;. Qulnton, Trenton; Brown Mare,
owner, Freehold; Rosa. Isaac Paving, Hoboken;
Black Crook. owner, Newark. on the nrst heat the
horses passed the judges stand I'm the order named,
with the exception OF the bay geldIng Black Crook
| which disanced at the commencement. The
two first horses Kept pretty wen together through
out the heat. Hero, the winning horse, made tue
mile in 2:45Is. In the second heat Hero won again
| in 249A. The positions OF the other horses were
| however, altered. Register came second, Kate
| third, Rosa fourth and Brown Mare hfth The next
heat, and the one that ended the trot, Hero
again FIRST, Brown Mare second, Kate third Register
| fourth and Rosa hitn. Hero time was 2:s5. From
/ these particulars will be how close was the
/ trottng between the horses other than Hero. The
latter horse a similar trot the preceding day
making the mile I'm the second heat In 2:3g To the
/ high wind may be attributed the falling on In this
I purt rar atxaa cha
terized by some equally good trottng. IL was for
$3.50, IN premiums-$l25 To first, $50 to second,
$40 TO third SIS to fourth, free for all
horses owned IN the State that had never
beaten 2:4O The other conditions were like those Of
the first trot. There were ak entries "a foows:--
Rosa Lee b. Guerin, Morrstown; Careless, j. Col
Inns, Morristown McPherson f. De Camp, Newark;
brown mare, owner, Freehold; General Lyon, ID. 3.
Qunton, Trenton: IA. j. Clark, James Ludlow Ho
bokcn. All showed up at the start but the last