Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-01-09
The sx-cHAMpIoN 1Ro1reRs.
They Seldom Get the Care TO which
Their Work Entities Them

InCI SELDOM Oet the OAre 70 nnlCn
Their Work Entities Them
What becomes of the geldings that are
prominenton the trotting turf, after they
become too old for road use? is the ques-
ton that is frequently asked, which few
can answer. Many of the faster ones
are for time easily traced, but they
soon drop out of sight and finally disap-
pear. Such is the case of st. Julien,
2:11t, who is now passing his declining
years in comfortable paddock at Peta-
luna, CAL, under the sky where he first
showed the bursts of speed that ultimate
" made him king of the turf. Rarus,
2:13t, the horse he deposed, stands in his
box stall in Robert Bonner's New York
stable, in West Fifty-fifth street, await
ing death.
For three years he has not felt the
pavement beneath his hoofs, and as the
champion that swept away all records
at Buffalo eleven years ago turns his
head to look at visitor feeling of sad
ness passes through those who knew him
in the morning of his career and when
his name supplanted that of Goldsmith
Maid in the affections of the public.
With Hopeful, 2:139, another phase of
equine life is found. He was in his day
as celebrated as Rarus or even st. Julien,
was magnificent race horse for harness
or wagon, and an ideal road trotter.
When bis racing days were over the
gallant little gray began to drift about
the country, eventually pulling up at
Sing Sing prison in New York state,
where he was kept and owned by
prominent detective. OF late, however,
he has passed into the hands of Mary
land gentleman, who considers it an
honor to own the trotter that has the
fastest heats to wagon among his achieve
ments.
Few if any of the horses campaigned
by Dan Mace were as popular as Darby,
2:16i. Darby was good racehorse,
and trotted twice to his record. Ten
years ago he defeated Dick Swiveler,
Hannis and Driver at Utica, making his
record in the third heat, and the follow
ing year disposed of Hopeful and Great
Eastern at Rochester, after the former
had won two heats in 2:15a and 2:164.
The time was fast, but Darby was equal
to the emergency. AS old age crept on
the brown gelding he, like many another
that had been prominent, struck down
grade and was sold little over a year
ago in New York for $265. The gray
gelding Charlie Ford, 2:16f, who is now
in his 10th year, was more fortunate, as,
after his eventful track career, during
which he won thirty eight races, he was
treated like child by Jerry Monroe.
Nothing was too good for Charley until
few years ago, when Monroe sold him
to popular Chicago judge, who treats
the old champion with the kindness he
deserves after his struggle for fame on
all kinds of tracks, from the country
fair ring to grand circuit course.
Many of the old time champion geld
ings have passed away, Dexter, 2:174,
being the most prominent to die during
the last few years. Great Eastern, 2:19,
disappeared almost as soon as he left the
grand circuit tracks, while Judge Fuller
ton, 2:18, had a more checkered career
after Humphreys sold him. He met his
fate at Boston, where he was being ex-
hibited in a clothing store, and would
have been presented, had he lived, to the
purchaser that guessed nearest his
weight. While being exercised, how
ever, he fell on railroad track, and was
injured SO seriously that he was de-
stroyed. Red Cloud, 2:18, if still alive,
is 23 years old, and Cal Lewis, 2:19a, is
now 10. Midnight, 2:184, is II, and still
has great flight of speed, being one of
John D. Rockefeller's favorite pair of
blacks.
OF the other old timers that were per-
forming in the '70s, Gomez, 2:19a; Iron
Age, 2:194; Troubadour, 2:194; Camors,
2:194, are dead, while Deck Wright,
2:194 Bodine, 2:194; Driver, 2:19i, and
possibly Moose, 2:19t; Thomas L. Young,
2:194; Capt. Emmons, 2:19t, and Albe-
marie, 2:19, are still alive. Many of the
names are new to the present generation
of race goers, but all of them were stars
during the heydey of their careers, and
not few of them retired with enviable
regulations. Time, however, does not
respect the fast any more than the slow,
and eventually gathers them all into his
embrace.-Chicago Tribune.