The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-05
BOSTON WAS A GREAT RACE HORSE
AND SIRE OF A WONDERFUL SIRE
Progntor of Americas Most Successful Thoroughbred
Would Not Endure to Be Touched Whip Spur
Senator Blackburn Tells of His Peculiarities.
WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC

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sidiary to the sport. and was In the nature
| OF side wagers between owners. Now rae
| Ing has grown to be a game wherein every
one who loves the thoroughbred for what
| he is and what II" can do regrets that he
| has of late years become to a large exten,
! the tool OF The gambler
| Il also think u ray of light however. Is
penetrating the clouds which hang over
Aususs Belmont. s 8. Rowland and nu-
| mercUs others who might be mentioned be-
| core interested IN it, II is not the scrtlid
end Of it that these men seek but the glo-
| ~ of seeing their horses win And | may
add In this connection that the spirit thus
manifested was that which animated our
| fathers and the rock on which they built.
THE OLD FOUR-MILE DAYS
| My father was among the first CT liens
OF Kentucky who bred. trained and raced
horses. 8lackburn's Whip. whose blood
| has blended so kindly with trottcrs and
| thorouShtreds. was his property. Boston.
sire e the immortal Lexington, died In my
| fathers stable. and the great and unbaaten
| Eclipse was in my fathers possession in
| the years 1877 and 1885. These horses were
the champions OF their day. and the great
| est horses of their generation: they were
! not furlong sprlntcrs. but four-mllers
at will hardly he believed in these days
Of palatial stables, that while these valu-
able horses were In my fathers care they
occupied 4 very ordinary log stable
through which the winds whistled on Win
try nights, and through which the snow
drifted on occasions. When Boston and
Eclipse We're brought 10 Kentucky they did
not make the trip IN palace cars. rs do
the costly thoroughbreds uf to-day; walking
was good enough for them, and it was by
walking every inch of the route that they
reached their destination
HOW BOSTON DIED
Boston caught cold on the way 10 Ken
lucky and went blind soon after his arrival
l was small lad at the time. and used to
visit Boston's stable every morning to see
him cared for and walked by the coiored
groom. In the fall of 1S49. then II years
old. he began TO grow decrepit from the
effect OF severe racing and duties in the
stud, and frequently had to be helped to
rise. When on his feet he seemed to be all
right again. and able TO take his morning
exercise. Early one morning in tho year
named 1 slipped out of the house and down
to Eoston's stable. The door was closed
and fastened within.
Il hammered on II and clamored for adj
mittance. The door vas cautiously opened
far enoush TO admit the passage OF my
body. when black hand seized me by the
hand and dragged me inside. 1 was no
sooner In than the groom was out and the
Goor fastened. 1 took the matter good
naturedly until my eyes became accustomed
to the light when / saw something that
curdled the blood in my young veins. Bos-
ton was lying on his side in corner of his
stall lifeIess. and great splas!les of blood
were on the wall. In his dying struggles
he had beaten his head against the logs. 1
screamed Justify for the groom. and. seeing
he had carried the joke far enough, he
came 10 my rescue. My life has been in
danger a score OF times since on battle
fields and elsewhere. but / was never quite
SO badly scared"
BOSTON'S INDIVIDUALITY
Il presume l 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 Benninss. He was bred by.
the la.e eminent jurist John Wickham of |
Richmond Va. foalcd in 1888, and was got |
by Timoleon. by Sir Archy. out of an own |
sister to Tuckahoe. by Balls FrorizeI, a |
horse that during his turf career was never |
touched by whip or spur and was never |
beaten. The MISREPRESENTATION of Bos- |
ton was never fully traced. In his 2-year- |
old form, and while he was unbroken. he /
was sold to Mr.. Nathaniel Rives of Rich |
mond Va. for $500.
"A popularity about him was that he |
could not be safely ridden with a spur. In |
his first race he bolted because his rider |
used a spur on him. and was distanced. |
He was never again ridden with a spur |
until he ran against Fashion In his old age, |
and was beaten. In 1889 he became the |
property of James Long OF this city for |
$1,000 and half the purse. Boston was a |
chestnut horse. with a blaze in his face and |
white stockings behind. He stood fifteen |
hands. three inches under the standard. but |
looked taller account Of his prodigiouS |
size.
He was short-limbed horse with I'M
usually short canon bones. His eye. ear
and nostril were fine. but his head was not
what you could call pretty. His neck came |
oblique. broad and muscular. His depth OF
chest was immense. and his throttle
perfect
Ills bS'h "Ss oui6J VI Stsu6 Us
well as his lons. that ten pounds extra
weight was not felt by him at tho end of a
hard day. The muscular development Of his
arms and thighs was almost unparalleled.
He ran close to the ground and was not
long st.ider. Usually he began race with
out much show Of spirit. running the first
TWO or three miles with his head nearly on
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 |
Then you saw sure-enough race
horse. for TO locomotive on four legs that
ried vas ever able to go the pace with him.
ECLIPSE RELATED TO BOSTON.
Eclipse was also I. chestnut horse and
vas foa!ed nineteen years earlier than Bos-
on or, to be exact. in 1914. Eclipse was by
luroc. by imp. Diomed. the latter being
3ostons great-grandsIre dam Miller's
oamsel. by Messenger. the great-great-
;randsre of Hambletonian ". founder of
he Hambletonian family of trotters He
vas bred by General Nathaniel Coles of
,ons Island. and his training commenced as ,
3-year-old. He %ad star on the fore
ead, and his left hind foot was white some
gainst any boy in his class So it should ,
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