St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-05
FINE HARNESS RACES.
The Summer Meeting at Min
nehaha Driving Park
Under Way.
Everything Conspired to
Make the Opening Day
q Fine One.
Robin and S. B. Win the TrOtS
and John Smoker the
Pace.
A Good Card Offered for the
Second Day Of the
Meet.

A perfect day, good track, big
crowd. good, honest racing admirably
conducted-that tells the story of the
first day of the trotting meeting at Min
nehaha.
Never did more beautiful Fourth of
July dawn. The sun shone as bright as
the face OF happy child. Not cloud
appeared that could presage aught but
fair weather. just few of them fiecking
the azure dome, their snowy whiteness
setting off the blue of the sky. There
might have been just little more life
in the air for the benefit of the horses,
but the warmth without sultriness made
1T an excellent day for trotting. A gen.
tie breeze played through the tree tops
and waited the scent of new mown hay
i over the PLAIN. Down by Minnehaha
falls the spirits of Hiawatha and his
dusky darling were early astir. eager to
see the four-foOted beings that were to
travel over the earth at a speed that
would put to shame the perform
ances of Hiawatha in his enchanted
boots. They were astir no earlier than
Secretary r. F. Jones. He WAS down
at the track directing the movements of
corps of men at work OIL the track and
reducing it from mud hole to dry
path. The recent heavy rains made it
impossible to offer fast track for the
first days racing, but the track was in
good condition, dry and smooth. 1t
took hard work to put it into that shape,
| but it was done.
The people began to arrive at the
track before o'clock, and from that
hour until after 2 they flowed in through
the gates in steady stream. 1t was
| the biggest crowd ever seen on the
| Minnehaha track, and fell in numbers
| but few short OF 5000. 1t was GER
tainly the most orderly crowd that ever
assembled there. Not an unpleasant
incident marred tile day.
There WAS But One Policeman
at the track. practically; yet so we'll did
the crowd behave that that one could
well have been dispensed with. The
good behavior of the crowd was due as
much to the admirable manner in which
the sport OF the day was conducted as
anything else. Too much credit cannot
he given Secretary Jones for the perfect
arrangements. There was not a single
hitch throughout the day, and not a sign
of displeasure OH the part OF any one.
The work of the judges was eminently
satisfactory, and the starter, although
novice at that sort of work. did his part
so well that both spectators and drivers
had nothing but praise for him. The
Minnehaha track, one of the best in the
country, has evidently fallen into the
right hands at last.
The ladies were out in force. They
crowded the men out of the grand
stand. SO many of them were there
And they enjoyed the racing. too, APP
plauding the close finishes with all the
| energy of enthusiasm. But they espe-
| cially enjoyed the music The manage
ment of the meeting deserves the thanks
| of the public for the excellent quality
of music furnished. The Fort Smelling
band. under the capable management of
| Director GreaYeS, rendered pro-
! gramme that was worthy of being called
high class concert. There is no better
band in the Northwest, and it never
| played better.
The races were all good and manifest
ly fair and honest. The drivers drove
to win and they were accorded the best
of treatment by the Judges. In the pac-
ing race they allowed Lena Willetts to
score for nearly ali hour. but the crowd
| enjoyed it. This mare gave an exhibit
| ton OF breaking as is seldom seen.
| she oke worse than heavy sea on a
rocky coast. She would bound down to
the Wire like rubber ball in the hands
OF small boy, fairly lifting the sulky
Off the ground, and then run half way
around the track. She tired out Lon
! Hawkins. but his sIx-fuot brother John
| took hold of her and held her down.
She is undeniabiy fast, but she got eX-
cited. q gave wonderful exhibition
| OF trotting, considering that he has
An Artificial Vvtndpipe,
! his own having been cut out lust n lit
| tie while ago. He can run, pace or
| trot. Going easy or standing he resem-
| bles saw horse, but in motion he
moves as smoothly as crack Yacht.
| By the way, his work shows what run
| ming blood can do in trotters, as he is
| three-fourths thoroughbred. Odessa
was the cleanest trotting beast on the
track. She is game mare that works
steadily under the whip. She should
have taken the third neat. but was
pumped out Oh the back stretch. The
magnanimity of the judges in allowing
First Call aud Jerry l. to have a share
of the money after having been practi-
cally distanced twice should be men
toned; also the fairness of the other
drivers in not insisting that they be
shut out. Fairness was displayed on
every hand.
II. w. Phelps. D. w. Woodmansee
| and E. G. Long were the judges. Col.
W. S. King was to have been the
starter. but he could not attend, so Fl.
W. Phelps discharged the duties of that
position. Cal G. Goodrich and Charles
Morton held the watches.
A noticeable feature of the day was
the good positions which Twin City
horses took. Robin, winner in the $50
class, is owned by V. l.. Shuler, of Min
neapolis; Alice Dawn. second money.
by B. }. Sawyer. All the horses in the
2:2o race were owned by Minneapolis
and st. Paul men. Henry Seeley's & B
won. and j. G. Oswald's GreenIeaf was
second. Johnny Smoker, winner of the
pacing race, is owned by ]. D: Martin,
of Minneapolis. Bonnie Wilkes. as
pretty little animal as ever looked
through a collar, is also Minneapolis
horse, owned by Samuel Simpson.
The First Race.
Promptly at 2 o'clock as advertised
the bell rang for the lining up and Lady
Ensign drew the pole, jim second,
Robin third. DR.. Mount fourth. Where
fore fifth, Alice Dawn sixth, and
Odessa OH the outside. This was the
trot for horses in $50 class. Four times
The horses scored before getting away.
Around the turn they were punched.
DR.. Mount went off his feet and out of
the race. jim. speedy trotter of I'M
known breeding. took the lead down
the back stretch. followed by Odessa,
Alice Dawn, Robin and the others i'm a
line. So they went to the lower turn.
Odessa went up on the turn bnt caught
quickly. Jim, the gallant gray, was
still leading by a length. Alice
Dawn and Robin heightened out.
into the stretch, Robin on the outside.
Jim went up 100 yards from the start
and lost the race. Odessa drew out and
made the race with Robin, vino sneaked
up on the outside and lost the heat in a
cracking finish by only a head from
Alice Dawn. Odessa was third, Lady
Ensign fourth, Wherefore fifth, Jim
sixth, DR.. Mount seventh. Time, 2:S5.
Robin sold even against the field for