The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-08

White. and It was confidently expected that
he would carry off the honors of the day, a
nope which was doomed to disappointment.
a number OF horses. afterwards shining
lights Of the turf. started on the same day
among the number being Basil Duke and
A;dorf. owned By Benjamin Jayne. On the
same course the celebrated match race be-
tween Doubloon and Emily was run. the
latter winning owing to the efforts Of Gil
sidered one OF the best Jockeys OF the day
The opening OF this course marks a day
worthy to be remembered in the history Of
racing in this city, a. II brought the sport
into u prominence which II had not occupied
heretofore. The class of patrons OF the
new course. the influx OF high-class horses
from Kentucky and Virginia and the fact
that number OF local gentry possessed
studs OF exceptional merit all combined to
arouse the greatest interest I'm the sport
In 1852 the Fair Grounds were opened and
from that time on racing has been on a solid
basis in St Louis. Both running and trot-
ting races were given. but more atten-
ton was paid by the directors to trotting
than TO the thoroughbred branch of tho
f several new courses ,sss mere built In the
sprang into being. the most important hay-
ing J. J. O'Fallon for Its president and be-
ing known as the Laclede Race Track Asso-
ciafion: The racing on this course is well
remembered by the veteran horsemen OF this
locality, as are the speed contests on the
stituted in 1858. with Norman j. Colman as
president and C. W. Clark as treasurer
Both these tracks fiourished for a time and
In 1877 the most famous track OF this part
Of the country at that time was opened.
this being the 81. Louis Jockey Club. at
Cote Brilllante. Il was organized for the
purpose of bringing to this part of the
country the best class Of horses then on the
turf. and the management and direction Of
the new enterprise was in the hands of
some of the best-known citizens of the city
The track was one mile in extent and had
q grand stand with seating capacity of
Goo Among its directors were Julius
Walsh. Ellis Wainwright. Edwin Harrison.
Samuel Ecker J. d. McAully and William
Patrick At this track the last racing Of
the old fashioned variety was seen, whera
three and four mile heats were the feature.
ard when mile dash was considered a
sprint race.
At Old Jockey Club Track.
At this track many horses which became
| famous on the turf afterwards made their
| first public appearance. The St. Louis Der
| by was first instituted on this course and
| on one occasion the horse April Foal who
afterwards became well known on other To-
! passed out of existence on account of the
rapid growth of the value of property in
| the neig hborhood and the lack OF transpor-
tation facilities. which affected the attend
ance.
The beginning of the highest class of
racing which st. Louis has ever seen was
| in 1853. For some time 1t had been recos-
, nized that st; LOUIS needed track more
| conveniently located than the Cate Br!i-
| liante course, and the passing away of the
! latter made IL an opportune time for the
who was at this time an Official Of the Fair
| Association. insisted that a track OF the
| most modern type located In the Fair
/ Grounds would prove not only a money
| number Of other gentlemen who were con-
Jmlius Walsh and L. NJ. Ruinsey. favored
Mr.. Green's idea. but it took considerable