The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-23
Much Interest Shown
in the Cases of Hal
Il. and Fred w.
BOTH HORSES ARE PROTESTED.
Owners of Each Claim They
Can Show a Clear Bill
in Each Case.

With the trotting races of this season
fast coming to a close the local horse
men and followers of the trotting horses
are looking forward with good deal Of
anticipation to the outcome of the pro-
tests that have been filed on two horses
that are well known here. The horses
that have been protested are Hal B,
the protesting party claiming that the
horse is a ringer, and Fred w, whom
the same party has protested, claiming
that the horse IS Doc Sperry or the same
animal known under the name of Rob-
erts Boy.
The owners of both horses are loud in
| their protestations that their horses are
all right and at present it looks ex-
tremely probable that the owners Of
Hal B. will prove that his record is all
right, though as regards Fred W., the
local horsemen are slightly dubious and
shake their heads when questioned
about him.
| Hal B. was protested at Barre by S.
D. Houghton of this city, who has driv-
en- Paddy d. this season. Hal B. is now
owned by one of the squarest followers
| of the horse racing game Walter Rip
ley of North Grafton. He was unaware
of the fast horse he had when he came
! into his possession of Hal B., and until
Jake Stone of Fall River was given care
of the horse and no one else was allowed
| to drive him did the horse show up as
he should The owners of the horse
| laughed to scorn the claim that Hal B.
! had mark some four years ago of 2:19.
1t would be impossible, they say. that
such a thing could occur, as Hal B. is
but six years old today
They can prove clean bill of Hal B.,
and say that the horse was born and
reared in MurfreesboTo, :. For two
years the horse never Tennessee.
! The horse was then owned by farmer
of that place and he sold the horse for
| $50 to S. H. Turner of 1905 South High
street, Columbus, o.
| Later, William B. Robbs of Beacon
Park obtained possession of the horse,
and later Eugene Brown of Westboro
! brought the horse to that place 1t was
Mr.. Brown who gave the horse the
name of Hal B., naming him after his
son Hal. The horse was never raced by
| Mr. Brown, but was used as a driving
| horse.
! When the horse was sold to Walter
Ripley, it was not supposed he was able
| to go along at all. Walter Ripley, when
he got the horse, tried him out, and
| found that he was able to work out a
mile at a fast clip and make time that
would land him inside the money often
enough to make it a winning game to
spend a few dollars on the horse and
track him.
| The veteran horse trainer and driver,
Jake Stone, was engaged to take charge
of him Before that time it was a well
known fact among the horsemen here
abouts that Ripley fairly hated the
horse before Stone took charge of him.
| Up to that time the horse would be
worked out and made to cover the mile
well under 2:20. When it came to a
crucical moment just before the race,
| the horse would strike and go lame.
Ripley would be just about to bank on
his horse when the animal was out of
the race for fair and was in no condi-
| ton to go at all.
When Stone took hold of the horse he
soon found what the trouble was, and
| found that the horse was improperly
booted or not at all. When the boot was
put on properly the horse would not
strike or interfere at all, and would go
out in his race and do even better than
in the workout This naturally pleased
Mr. Ripley and he raced his horse at
every opportunity. He was rather put out
when the horse was protested at the
Barre fair and the money hung up. 1t
did not bother Mr. Ripley very much
and he is prepared to knock all charges
in heap when the board of appeals of
the National Trotting association con-
venes in December in New York city.
Jake Stone, who has driven Hal b.
with such great success the past sea-
son, and practically made the horse a
winner, will undoubtedly secure quar-
tiers at the new agricultural grounds
at Greendale, and have a string Of
horses at the new track that will make
the local horses open their eyes with
wonderment. Hal B. has won six out
of the seven races he has participated
in this season, and Alandro won one
out of his two races, both being driven
by the master hand of Jake Stone.
In regard to the other protest, many
of the local horsemen are inclined to
the opinion that Fred W., Doc Sperry
and Roberts Boy are all identical. Fred
w. is owned by George H. Draper, and
he says that he intends to make things
hot for those who claim that his bay
gelding is a ringer. His horse was
protested at Spencer, and was first
placed under suspicion at the Clinton
fair The horse was seen at Clinton
by one of the former owners of Doc
Sperry or, as he was known then, as
Robert Boy.
He did not make any charges at the
falr, put inquired ana IOund tnat the
horse was to go at Spencer. He wrote
to Secretary Gocher of the National
Trotting Association, and said that
Fred w. was none other than Doc Sper-
ry, and was to race at Spencer. He
advised the secretary of the associa-
tion to go to Spencer and see the horse
The secretary did so, and Vic Roberts
was also on hand. The horse was
held up, and Draper and his gelding
were expelled from the association.
Draper says that he will make things
hot for the men that were instrumental
in getting him and his horse expelled
He says that he can prove a clean bill
for his horse. and tell all about him.
The horse, it is said. originally came
from Cavanaugh's of Boston, where one
Burns of Newburyport purchased him
for $125. He was later sold to George
Jones of Enfield Mass, where Ora
per purchased him.
1t is further stated that Doc Sperry
has not raced this season, but that is
where the local knowing ones wink
their eye. 1t is claimed that e. M.
Low, mayor of Brockton, has had Doc
Sperry in his possession for more than
a year, and that he has not been raced
at all The MAYOR of Brockton knew