The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-14
MEN WHO HOLD THa>REINs.
The Crack Drivers OF America and
Some of Their Exploits.

1
From the Brooklyn Eagle
| The revived interest in trotting and the
constant increase in the numbsr of those
who whirl down the road" behind their
own flyers, prompted one Of the bsst known
horsemsn in America, E. c. Walker, to
say:
II have always been fond of road driving
and had been considered a very good driver
on the boulsvards. but had never thought
of driving on the tracks. / was first drawn
into 1t oy seeing that hoi sss whose training
had supervised, and which knew to be
/ capable Of great speed. often came in last
in the race. because they were not pro p
erly handled. Then l said to myself: We'll,
l have never driven for money, but am
sure l can drive better than that So one
| day climbed into the sulky and started in
a race. will admit that felt considerable
trepidation at first, but | determined in
stantly to concentrate my thoughts on the
business in hand. So l dismissed ali uneasi-
ness and thought of nothing but the best
way to get all the speed possible out of the
| horse. l succeeded 50 well, that from that
| time | have driven my own horses, or those
| of my friends whenever occasion offered.
| You have probably heard of my friend j.
| F. Dingee's fast mare, Miss Alices Well, /
/ z t her last spring a 5-years-old, who had
| never been in a trainers hands or on the
| track. / took hold Of her, made a study of
her gait, her disposition and
other peculiarlties and then taught
| her to race. This summer she
has started in nine stakes and purse
races and has won four of them, beside
| taking large share Of the purse money in
| most of the others She made record of
2:201% in the fourth heat of the fourth race
| she ever trotted. There is an old saying
that "Good horses make good drivers" but
| | think it ought to be Good driv-
ers; others like good horses;
achieve distinction by persistent efforts and
others literally have distinction thrust upon
| them bv reason of their success with some
particular horse. For example, w. W.
| Blair was never prominentas a driver until
| he took hold of MaudS. He accustomed him.
| self to her ways and she to his and it
was he who gave her the unparalleled re-
| cord of 2:0S%. the most notable instance
of inherited talent with the reins that l
| know of is that of the Vanderbilt family.
| The old commodore was fearless and IN
| deed almost reckless driver and gained a
reputation on Harlem lane and the up
| town avenues, which people talk about to
| this day. He was master mind and i'm
pressed his individuality on his horses as
| " ell as the men with whom he was brought
| in contact. His son, William H.,
| Inherited that as he did other paternal
| Qualities in a conservative way, and
| as up to the day of his death remarka-
bly, good driver. He was particularly fond
| of driving two horses, which is an art far
more difficult than that of driving one. 1t
| was he who beat the record of 2:153I. made
| by Maxy Cobb and Meta Medium, to a
skeleton wagon driven by the expert, John
| Murphy. Mr.. Vanderbilt drove Maud s..
and Aldine to top wagon, with his own
| weight added, in 2:l512 at Fleetwo Park.
1t is, in my Judgment, an achievement
| that will stand un0eaten for many a
year. Now there are plenty of men in
| New York who own fast teams, but
there are very few of them who possess
| the Vanderbilt t 4lent for driving them, and
| in order to get the best work out of them,
| they have always had to hire drivers such
as Mace and Hickok. One Of the chief
reasons for Mr.. Vanderbilts success was
| that he always studied the disposition of
his horses and let their powers have full
| play. He allowed them to exercise their
natural rivalry to get ahead of one
another. In short, William II. Vanderbilt
| was q born hOrSeman, and not merely a
man who happened to be rich enough &c
own fast animals. He would unbend
more readily with a man who could talk
horse we'll than he would with any one else
III remember his saying to me once
There's very little use in trying to drive 9
| msmated pair of horses. They are like
other ill assorted couples. The sooner they
separate the better. That's the reason
bought Small Hopes, Leander, Lysander,
Early Rose, Aldine, and others, and tried
them all in pairs until found two who
agreed we'll together. There
want to be bothered by her matt
in starting off, and soon found that Aldin'
was always ready to go off with her, and i
was that that made them such good team.
All the present generation of Vanderbilt
are fond of horses, but Frederick Wander
bilt is the light harness man of the family
1t was he who Inherited Early Rose ant
Aldine and all the rest of his fathers flyers
Maud S., as you will PROBABLY remember
was sold to Mr.. Robert Bonner for a yer.
much smaller price than had beel
Vanderbilt did that because he wishe
the animal to fall into good hands and di,
not want her hippodromed around tn
country. That shows how Mr.. Wander
bilt regarded Mr.. Bonner as lover c
the trotting horse and his Judgment wa
not misplaced. Roberts brother David is
, great authority on breeding and all mat
| USIS T6IdGluR 10 IIODcIO LID
made life study of horses from the foe
up and Maud s. lowered her record twic
) during his ownership of her. He has nc
come before the public as reinsman, bu
he has driven his horses at hi
, private track in Tarrytown in wor
derfully fast time on many OCCASION
So also have his sons Alley and Frederick
The latter drove Lucy Cuyler at Fleetwood
, to road wagon half a mile i'll los AL
, other illustration of the gift for drivin
l that some men possess, even if they ar
? rich, was given by John Shepard, the well
: known Boston merchant, who drove hi
f team Mill Boy and Blondine in 2:22, th
fastest mile ever travelled by team in Ne
q England Like Commodore Vanderbilt,
is we'll known as tearles
and even reckless driver.
fact, men of discriminate
are the only ones who drive well. :
! timid man should not attempt to drive
> pair of horses fast, nor be caught in hot con
! PAW with single one. c. j. Hamlin Q
Buffalo, is another man of nerve and d.
termination who excels in the gentlemanl
sport of driving teams. He makes sp
: cialty of breeding trotting horses of til
highest class at his village farm and the
trotting them in public to prove the
merits. He enjoys the distinction of bein
the only man who has driven pal
n of horses of his own breeding an
j, training in 2:1s. a feat which /