Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-26
0LD-T|ME TURF KINGS
Senator Blackburn Talks Of
Famous Race Horses.
DAYS OF FOUR MIXERS
PECULIARITIES OF BOSTON, THE
SIRE OF LEXINGTON.
Great Contest Between Eclipse and
Henry-Henry Clay's Visit-Experi-
ment Of Importing Arabians.

ment Of Importing Arabians.
Race track devotees nowadays want
quick action for their money" said SEN
-ator Blackburn of Kentucky to a reporter
of The Star this forenoon. when l was a
young man the betting proposition was
subsidiary to the sport and was in the
| nature Of side wagers between owners.
| Now racing has grown to be game
| wherein every one is trying to get the best
| of the bookmakers. I think every one
who loves the thoroughbred for what he
| is and what he can do regrets that he
has Of late years become to large ex-
| tent tool of the gamblers. I also think
a ray Of light, however, is penetrating
| the clouds which hang over racing when
men like William c. Whitney, August Bel
| ment, S. s. Rowland and numerous others
| who might be mentioned become interested
| in it. 1t is not the sordid end of 1t that
| these men seek, but the glory OF seeing
| their horses win. And I may add in this
connection that the spirit thus manifested
| was that which animated our fathers and
| the rock on which they built.
The Days Of Four-Milers.
my father was among the first citizens
| Of Kentucky who bred, trained and raced
horses. Blackburn's Whip. whose blood
has blended SO kindly with trotters and
| thoroughbreds, was his property. Boston,
sire of the immortal Lexington. died IN
| my fathers stable, and the great and
| unbeaten Eclipse was in my fathers pos
session in the years 1887 and 1888 These
| horses were the champions OF their day
and the greatest horses Of their genera
| ton; they were not furlong sprinters, but
| four-milers. 1t will hardly be believed IN
| these days of palatial stables that While
these valuable horses were In my fathers
| care they occupied a very ordinary log
stable through which the winds whis-
tied on wintry nights, and through which
the snow drifted on occasions When Bos-
| ton and Eclipse were brought to Kentucky
| they did not make the trip in palace cars,
as do the costly thoroughbreds Of today:
walking was good enough for them and
| it was by walking every inch Of the route
that they reached their destination.
Death Of an Old Racer:
Boston caught cold on, the way to Ken
lucky and went blind soon after his ar
rival. I was a small lad at the time, and
used to visit Boston's stable every morn
ing to see him cared for and walked by
the colored groom. In the fall Of 1S49, then
| seventeen years old, he began to grow de-
| crepit from the effect Of severe racing and
| duties in the stud, and frequently had to
| be helped to rise. When on his feet ne
| seemed to be all right again and able to
| take his morning exercise. Early one
morning. in the year named, slipped out
| of the house and down to Boston's stable.
| The door was closed and fastened within.
| 1 hammered on it and clamored for admit
/ lance The door was cautiously opened
far enough to admit the passage Of my
body, when black hand seized me by the
arm and dragged me inside I was no
sooner in than the groom was out and the
| %%&r
naturally until my eyes became aecus-
toned to the light, when l saw something
that curdled the blood in my young veins.
Boston was lying his side in a corner
of his stall, lifeless, and great splashes OF
blood were on the wall. In his dying strug
gle he had beaten his head against the
logs. I screamed Justify for the groom,
and, seeing he had carried the joke far
enough he came to my rescue. My life has
been in danger a score Of times since on
battlefields and elsewhere, but I was never
quite SO badly scared.
Boston's Peculiarities.
''I presume 1 am among the very few
men living who ever saw Boston. He was
the greatest race horse and race horse sire
of his day, and his descendants are even
now racing at Benning. He was bred by
the late eminent jurist. John Wickham of
Richmond, Va, foaled in 1888, and was
got by Timoleon, by Sir Archy. out OF an
own sister to Tuckahoe, by Balls Florizel.
a horse that during his turf career was
never touched by whip or spur and was
never beaten. The MISREPRESENTATION
of Boston was never fully traced. In his
two-year-old form, and while he was I'M
broken, he was sold to Mr.. Nathaniel
Reeves of Richmond, Va. for $780, A pc
culiarity about him was that he could not
be safely ridden with spur. In his first
race he bolted because his rider used a
spur on him, and was distanced. He was
{v vf16 yrytfh q IN ia
ran against Fashion, In his old age, and
was beaten In 1889 he became the prop
erty Of James Long of this city for 1900
and half the purse. Boston was chestnut
horse, with a blaze in his face and white
stockings behind. He stood fifteen hands.
three inches under the standard but looked
taller on account of his prodigious size.
He was short-limbed horse. with unusu-
ally short canon bones. His eye, ear and
nostril were fine, but his head was not
what you would call pretty His neck
came out we'll from his shoulders, the lat
ter being oblique. broad and muscular.
His depth Of chest was immense and his
throttle perfect.
His back was the prodigy of strength
as we'll as his loins. so that ten pounds
extra weight was not felt by him at the
end of hard day. The muscular develop
ment of his arms and thighs was almost
unparalleled He ran close to the ground
and was not long strider. Usually he
began race without much show of spirit
running the first two three miles with
his head nearly on a level with his back
When he began to get warm and Interested
in the running his head was gradually
elevated, and when he drew it up he set
| at work in earnest Then you saw sure
| enough race horse, for no locomotive on
| four legs that tried was; ever able to go
| the pace with him. 80 "
The Great Eclipse.
ECLIPSE was also a chestnut horse, and
| was foaled nineteen years earlier than Bos-
ton. or to be exact, In 1874. Eclipse was
| by Duroc by imported Doomed. the latter
being Bostons great grand sire; dam, Mil
lers Damsel by Messenger the great-great
grand sire of Hambletonian x, founder of
the Hambletonian family of trotters. He
was bred by Gen. Nathaniel Coles Of Long
| Island, and his training commenced as
| three-year-ofd He had a star on the fore
head and his left hind foot was white some