Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1878-10-18
HoPEFuL'S GREAT VICTORY.
The Grande>t Race ever Trotted in the
West The New King Of the Turf.

West The New King of the Turf.
TIE races of the Chicago Trotting and
Jockey Club held last week attracted
wide attention and the attendance Was
immense. a faster lot Of horses pro-
badly never congregated in the north
west. The most noticeable one was
that between Rarus, Hopeful, Al /
Great Eastern, which was trotted on
Thursday. the 10th inst This thrilling
event is thus described The ground in
the vicinity Of the stables, especially
i those i'll which were Rarus, Hopeful.
and Great Eastern, were early thronged
by Il curious crowd; anxious 10 catch Il
glimpse of the three heroes Of the day
In Rarus' stable stood the great horse
himself, covered with costly blankets,
and poking his nose familiarly into the
faces of those near him. Opposite the
horse sat Mr.. II. b. Conklin, his owner
while John Span lounged carelesSly on
Il trunk near by, answering innumem-
bic questions put to him by the crowd
outside the door. Little Jimmy "
Rarus, Scotch terrier, presented to
Splan by Budd Doble, and VINO is the
constant companion Of the horse, lay
in one corner Of the stall, keeping an
eye on everybody and everything.
When tie time for htching up the
horse came. the little fellow supcrin-
tended the entire operation. barking fu-
riously all the time, and making him
self rs conspicuous rs it was possible
for dog to be. But although every
thing Went on rs usual, and the men of
| the stable were apparently unconeem.
ed, those in position to know were
aware that they were doubtful OF the
result. They felt that the horse had
task before him which it would be al
most impossible for him to execute,
and not dollar of their money was in
the pools something that has never
Happened before when Rarus started in
u II race against other horses.
Finally, after the neat in The 2;34
race had been trotted. the bell WAS rung
! for Rarus, Hopeful. and Great Eastern
to appear. The gray horse was the
first on the track, and u ilutter of APP
plause was raised as he went by the
grand stand III his usual peg legged
fashion Mace was not i'll the sulkey,
the warming up Of the horse having
been instructed to one of the stable ut
taches. III Il few moments Great East
em's mammoth form was seen coming
through the draw-gate, and rs the big
horse trotted slowly down the stretch,
with Charley Green in the saddle, Il
buzz Of satisfaction went through the
vast crowd. But it was when Rarus
came in view that the excitement
reached fever heat. As he passed along
the home-streteh, with his long, swing
ing stride, II shout went up that made
the hero of 2;13i step still more proud
! ". John Splan sat i'll the wagon, at
tired i'll drab-colored suit, the coat and
cap being of the finest silk. One hand
grasped the lines, while III the other
was IN elegant gold-mounted whip sent
to him yesterday by gentleman in
Cleveland. As the applause grew
louder John acknowledged it by lifting
his cap and smiling. He was proud,
and Justly so, of the fame which he and
the horse had attained, and felt gratiticd
that the people of Chicago should man
| ifcst their interest in HIM in such com
plimentary manner.
| After the usual preliminary warming
up had been given I'LL the horses, they
legged toward the head of the stretch,
and, when near the distance stand
turned for Il start. Hopeful had the
pole, Great Eastern second place, and
Rarus outside Dan Mace was in the
sulky now, and the veteran driver was
never more determined to win. Green
turned Great Eastern a short distance
ahead Of the others, and they came to
the wire at rafting pace, only to be
called back by the judges bell, us Hope
full was u trle behind. Three
times was this repeated, but at
the fourth attempt they were sent
away to a very fair start. Great Eastern
having trile the best Of it. Hopefuls
great turn of speed was soon made Use
Of by Mace, and he tore around
the first turn at fearful pace. Great
Eastern made a break at this point but
caught quickly, and was soon within a
length of the gray, Rarus being four
lengths in the rear. the quarter pole
was reached in 34l seconds, and us
Mace went flying by he looked around
to see where the others were. Although
the heat seemed safe, he knew that
there would be hot work before the
wire was reached and did not slacken
his horse, going to the half in los,
Rarus at this time being n long ten
lengths behind, and Great Eastern mov-
ing with d hitch and flirting his tail
whenever Green put steel into his sides.
Splan now saw that Eastern could make
no fight for the heat, and called on
Rarus for display Of speed. II was
nobly responded to, and the bay geld
ing fairly flew around the lower turn
into the home-stretch. Hopeful was
coming fast and steady, and it did not
L. 4 l.