St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-25

last Tuesday for the Omnibus stakes,
worth S,045, between Tournment and
Chaos, the representatives of the mill
ionaire turfmen, Senator George Hearst,
of California, and Congressman W. l..
Scott, of Pennsylvania, recalls former
battles for this, next to the Realization,
the richest prize raced for by three
year-oldS in this country. Its history
dates back says the turf writer of the
New York Tribune, to 1882, when Hairy
Gilmore captured it from Wyoming and
three other opponents in a lively finish.
William Donohue rode Harry. He
had not been bruised and broken
to auy serious extent, and hustled
his mounts along without fear or
trembling. Nor had he laid by so
comfortable store OF worldly goods as
he now possesses. His livelihood de-
pended on his daily labor, which kept
him in practice and in winning form.
Donohue is a rich man to-day, and rides
only for amusement-his own amuse-
ment. of course, not the amusement OF
admiration for him is greatly enlarged
when he stands down and leaves the sad
die to younger and lustier men. One of
his delights these days is to ride Vardee
and get beaten. Donohue rode another
Omnibus winner in 1884. That. it will
be remembered, was Mikado's year.
Drake Carter, with Spellman up, was
the successful contestant in 1883, and in
1885 Mclaughlin plotted Richmond to
victory. In the Omnibus of 1886 was
formed that famous combination of Hay
ward and The Bard, which continued
all-conquering and invincible for the re-
mqinder of the season, and carried
nearly everything except FirenZi be-
fore it in the two succeeding years. 1t
was the Omnibus of 1856 that placed
The Bard in the front rank of Ameri-
can thoroughbreds. Then for the first
time he lowered over the flying Dew
drop, who had previously held her own
against him on all tracks. in all wealth
ers and at all weights and distances. 1t
was Hayward's first mount on The
Bard. Mr.. Cassatt'S mighty son of Long
fellow and Bradamante had been sadly
messed about four months, losing and
winning in most uncertain and uneX-
pected way, with Fisher in the saddle.
Hayward was then Appleby & john
sons jockey, and was younger than he
is now. Mclaughlin and Dewdrop
were more than match for Fisher and
The Bard. but the Dwyer pair dropped
out of sight when Hayward took
Fishers place. The beating that The
Bard gave Dewdrop in the Omnibus
sent the little tilly to an early grave.
She ran four races afterward, winning
one, in which she had only the cart
horse Ben Ali to beat, and on Sept. II
died. The Omnibus of 1887 will linger
long in the memories of all who had the
good fortune to see that heart-swelling,
soul-moying struggle between Laggard,
Firenzi and Hanover. There were in
all five starters, but two of them, King
ston and Esquimau, had no business at
the post, Kingston because the track
was fetlock-deep in mud; Esquimau
because he was hopelessly outclassed.
Hayward rode Laggard. Garrison was
on FirenZi, and Mclaughlin had the
mount on Hanover. The weights were:
Laggard, 118 pounds; Firenzi, 100; Han
over, 1875. FirenZi waited on the others,
who raced kead and head for over
d mile. In the stretch she moved
up in her own graceful, insinuatlng
way aud joined them. On dry track
Laggard would have been done then
and there. but mud being his hold, he
kept on and made the gamest fight ever
fought by a scion of Brookdale. For
100 yards the noses of the three were
only inches apart. The horses were the
best three-year-oldS in training, and the
foremost jockeys of the day were in
their saddles. No wonder the spectacle
moved the grand stand to unWonted
demonstrations, no wonder the heavens
shook with the great outburSt of laryn-
geal and dlaphragmatic artillery.
Through the voice-charged air was
heard the cry: "Firenzi winsw 1t
was even so. The post was but ten
strides away, and the filly's brown
muzzle was four inches in front.
Garrison was astride of her neck,
lifting her along. Laggard spurted,
regaining the four inches he had lost,
and Hanover was at his throatlatch.
The supreme moment had arrived. Gar
rison felt Firenzi falling under him.
and raised his whip for one sharp cut.
But the blow fell not. The whip
dropped to the ground, and Firenzi lost
the race by an eyelash. Hanover's
breath was in her nostrils as she crossed
the line. 1t was Mr.. Withers' first Om-
nibus. Garrison had an ugly bone
felon on his thumb that day, and it was
the pain of it that caused him to drop
his whip. Hayward rode his third Om-
nibuS winner in 1883, Taragon being the
victor that year. In 1889 Garrison won
the prize with the eccentric Longstreet.
who galloped away from Proctor Knott
and Salvador. Not for years will turf
men recover from the surprise and
shock of that amazing exhibition. On
Tuesday Hayward for the fourth time
rode to victory in the Omnibus, when
Tournament finally defeated Chaos
after running dead heat.