New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-11
THE TURF IN AMERICA.
OF TWO-YEAR-oLD RACiN"
4 BLIGHT.
..,,, nvc,rxr FROM THE DAYS OF FOuE-MuE
nEATs-THE SPORT BEFORE THE WAR An"
IT'S RENAISSANCE IN THE slNTIEs
MEN WHO DID MUCH FOR THOR
oUGHBRED CONTESTS

oUGHsRED CONTESTS
c,,o., ,r. tho changes which have taken place on
he American tur. within the last haf-centOry.
Before the Civil War there was no one supreme
sentre Of running contests. Southern ""he'S o'
plantations had displayed lively interest," IN ule
breeding and development OF thoroughor'" '"''9
and nllies and had imported from time 20 time
from England stations and mares whose DlooG en-
rlchcd the finest strains In he United States ana
whose sons and daughters and descendants reject
cd lus,re on their lineage. Racing was carr'eo Oh
az various times in widely separated oou'I'ci"
cities not only In New-Orlcans, IN HlchmoNo' III
Charleston in Nashville and in Louisville. Dut alSo
IN Mobile IN Natchez in NcHsburg' in MemphiS
and in many other towns scattered FAR apart
Famous matches and meetings Of renoWn loon
place IN the North bdt before the ConfeGeracy was
formed there twaS no one celebrated raceN"CN
above the latitude Of Philadelphia which surpdssen
in reputation and distinction all other courses III
the vicinity OF The Atlantic Coast line. in those
years there was no thoroughbred racing OF any i'm
portance in the Western States
NORTHERN HORSES AGAINST SOUTHERN.
New-Jersey and Ions Island were preferred
above most Of the Northern divisions OF the coun-
try for the battles Of tho thorOughbreds. and at
several places IN the Middle States. at courses IN
the region between Montauk Point and the ONO
River, the neetest runners in tho North met the
chosen representatives. OF the South, and the re-
years after the issues had been decided. In that
period contests among two-y ear-olds were almost
unknown 1t was the practice then. as 1t had been
the practice Cor generations In England 10 test Inc
merits OF horses Of the modest ancestry by their
STAYING power rather than their ability 70 cover
short spaces at GREATNESS speed. So much has
been written and so well written over and over
again IN regard 10 the historical four-me heats OF
Lexington OF I.ecompte Of Boston. of Henry and
OF Fashion that II Is not advisable to call up the
memories Of those on-hearted long-distance cham
plons OF long ago The recollcctons OF their
achievements belong 20 past era an era wh'ch
will never be revived.
But the transition from the fourmile heats OF the
half-century which was closed with the beginning
% the Secession conflict to the excessive racing
Of two-year-olds. to the inordinae and nexcusaole
multiplication OF meetings. 70 the breeding or
horses whose value depends too much upon their
capacity TO scamper thousand yards or TWO
thousand yards in wonderfully quick time has been
without measure reason. Those days In which
horses and mares trained 10 run twenty
miles in single afternoon, when the heats at -FOUR
miles each mixed up and confused before the
days sport was over. were not ideal On the other
hand these times in which bantlinGs Of the turf
are forced forward as II they were dollhouse pine
apples open TO objection. Broad-minded
thoughtful and unselfsh turfmen have been for
years deporng the reckless craze in Great Brit
Elm for the running of colts and nes young
that no improvement or the Dreed OF hoTses Couu
be expected from their rivalries
CONDITIONS IN FRANCE.
Anglo Saxons and Teutons and other races be-
tween the North Pole and the South Pole have
looked askance now and then at Frenchmen, and
have censured the people OF Paris as hot-headed.
mercurial and hasty. but France and Paris in turf
affairs are in a sounder and more wholesome con
di:ion than Great Britain America. In France
the true purpose and hope Of the turf. the i'm
provement Of the breed Of horses, has been kept
constantly in view. In modern Gaui the number
of long-distance still maintained In oompari-
,on with the number of short distance races may
well crafty the Jealous friends Of the promotion
OF endurance and courage among the blooded
stock. whose performance set up a standard of
genuine supremacy in horsefesh Two-year-od
racing in France is kept under rigid restraint The
English turf and the American turf both limp
ing along far behind the French turf IN the
ful restrictions which thrown about the racing
Of undeveloped Youngsters Moreover. in the
French Republic horses studied more scentih-
cally and carefully far as their possibilities are
concerned than among the people Of other lands.
Frenchmen believe in steeplechasing and in hurdle
racing OF the choicest kind The dominant
,horities in France unwilling 10 sacrifice what
IS valuable. useful and noble the turf TO the
greed for immediate gain. The passion for early
and immoderate profits is serious afiicton of the
turf in England and America to-day
The Civil War in this country destroyed long
lis, Of turf establishments in the Southern States
which up the time Of the firing OF the first gun
at Charleston had been managed with sincere
desire 10 foster everything that truly worthy
Of encouragement While the North and the South
at the turf in the Southern States was
in condition OF collapse. From the Potomac 10
the Rio Grande. from Cape Fear TO the Western
border Of Missouri the South was harried by the
Federal troops. and Southern gentlemen had little
thought concerning the exploits Of thoroug hbreds
while every horse Of spirit and mettlc in the South
taken for use in the Confederate Army. In
the North turf contests under cloud FOR
several years after the first fight at Manassas but
In 1864 Saratoga sufficiently prosperous 20
maintain race meeting OF small proportions and
running horses were brought together that de
liRhtful summer resort while the cannon were
still booming in Dixie. Before The surrender at
Appomattox. amid the ,hunders and tho lightninss
OF that struggle. the turf had new birth IN the
North at the renowned watering place in the En-
pire State.
Racing IN Saratoga in 1874 and for years after
ward modest scale In 1867 the American
Jockey Club had IFS opening day at Jerome Park
There were giants on the turf in those days Among
them Leonard w Jerome whose name was
given TO Jerome Park. y. d. Withers William r.
Travers. August Belmont Milton Sanford Oden
Bowie and the Lorards. Jerome Park was es-
tablished with admirable motives and without any
plan of profit. At Jerome Park. while Leonard W.
Jerome =. y. Wi;hers August Belmont. William
r.. Travers and their associates were I'm control
the sport conducted IN manner similar to the
management OF the most honored and distin-
Ruished OF the British courses In the early years
OF Jerome Park, and I'm fact, for many a year
turfmen Of high character and Of generous am
h.tions met at Fordham with the single purpose OF
maintaining this side Of the Atlantic thorough
bred racing pralseworthy and meritorious as
that which IN progress in England and IN
France Never was the American turf more Illus
trious and more free from reproach than IL at
Jerome Park In the later sixties and In the seven
ties. Those golden for racing in the
United States
NOTABLE PATRONS OF TIE TIRE