The Topeka state journal., 1905-03-15
Greatest Sire of Trotting Colts
ga $500 Horse
AxwOrthy Went Under the Ham,
mer at Ridiculous Price.
is SPREADING.
His Progeny Led All at Madison
Square Sale.
John I'll. Schults the Man Who
Discovered the Wonder.


out on the Darlington stud farm in
New Jersey there was foaled in 1892
a chestnut colt whose name is likely
to be writ in letters big in the history
of the American turf. The colt was
not much to look at, but he was
royalty bred for he was sired by AK
tell and his dam was Marguerite. 1t
is the fashion in the trotting world to
refer to this mare Marguerite as the
dam of King Darlington (2:16), but
when King Darlington is forgotten the
name of the chestnut colt will still be
fresh in the minds of devOtees at the
shrine of the trotter.
Mr.. Darlington named his chestnut
colt Axworthy. He had reasonable
amount of pride in the youngster and
saw no reason why the colt should
not become one of the stars of the
track. But the colt did not come up
to expectations, at least up to the ex-
pectations a man puts upon a colt
whose sire cost S1O5.0 900, for that was
what AxtelI sold for the day when, as
a 3-year-old, he stablished his record
of 2:12.
When Axworthy was a 2-year-o1d
Mr. Darlington sent him forth to earn
his oats-and a reputation In the
matter of oats the colt just about got
The next year Mr.. Darlington sent
him forth again. This time the colt
again won one raceljust enough to
pay for his keep, but he showed a bit
2:15 " That was at Terre Haute,
Ind. Only a few days after this show
ing the chestnut colt was being logged
along the track when, somehow, ne
broke a bone in one of his legs. From
that day on he was useless as a racer
It is said that Mr.. Darlington looked
upon Axworthy with more favor than
other horses that had shown better.
Possibly this was because the colt had
been unfortunate or because he be-
heved no colt with such good blood
in his veins could turn out badly.
Others about the stud farm did not
share Mr.. Darlington's views. At any
rate when AxWOrthy, after being Grip
pied, was brought home, he did not
get any extra attention, and when sew
eral years later Mr.. Darlington died
and all the horses were sold at auction
no one had a good word to say for the
chestnut.
At that sale was John H. SchuIts, a
man who had spent fortune on trot-
ting horses It had been the ambition
of his life to own the greatest of trot-
ters and to breed the king or the
queen of the turf. In furtherance of
this ambition he has gathered at
Schultshurst, his breeding farm at
Portchester. n. Y, the greatest collec-
ton of trotting mares in the world
They include the mighty Sunol, the
queenly Bellewood, the dashing Nell
Gwyn, the sturdy Town Lady, the
game Kitty Bayard, and the old re-
liable Laurels.
AS Axworthy was led before the
auctioneer's block Mr.. Schults looked
him over. He was a fine type of stall
lion.
What am I bid?" called the auc-
tioneer, after saying lot of things
about Axworthy which he did not be-
Iiave {1,1f which future events proved
to be true.
There was no answer.
what am bid ?" repeated the auc-
"Five hundred said Mr.. schults.
'Sold." said the auctioneer, in
Maybe there were a few. persons
at that sale who did not think Mr..
Schults was "stuck," but, if they only
knew it, he had picked up one of the
greatest bargains of the turf,
Today Axworthy-the $500 horse
is hailed as ''the greatest sire of trot-
ting colts'' His progeny, at the sale
in the Madison Square Garden last
fall, brought a higher average than
his fame is only beginning to spread.
Unless some of the best Judges in
the country are mistaken, 1905 Is to
be AXworthy year. Millard Sanders
trainer of the champion Lou Dillon,
predicts that the gelding Tom Ak
worthy son of the $500 horse, will be
the 2-rninute trotter of 1905. Tom
Axworthy trotted in 2:0S q last year
"a wonderful performance for so
young a horse. Jack Axworthy, a
2-year-old last year, defeated the
$4,000 Bon Voyage in the Lexington
stakes and trotted in 2:15 Il great
work for a baby trotter-
Alta Axworthy. 3-year-old, maze
a record mile of 2:10 u, and then sold
for $4,000 to go to England Great
things are expected this year OF JACK
Axworthy and of Flying AXworthy
There were twenty-nine OF AK
WOrthy's get sold last year Iney
brought a total Of $30145. what the
Axworthys won in stakes and purses
is hard to compute, but It must nave
been a pretty good sum-
Most trotting stations are at thelr
best between the ages of 10 ana %
AxWorthy now is 13. Men VINO STUDY
blood lines would like to see a colt py
Axworthy out of Sunol. The great
mare has been a disappointment.
With one exception all of her foais
have died Broadly speaking, the Dig
sum which Mr. Schults PAID TOR TINS
mare was wasted. But cases OF TINS
sort are not uncommon When RoD-
ert Bonner paid SAL. 900 for SunoI ne
believed she was going to De not only
the greatest of trotters, but the great
est of brood mares. Mr.. Schults paid
$4,000 for Pancoast, but Pancoast
cannot compare with the $oVV AK
worthy Neither can stranger, a son
of Goldsmith Maid, when MI Schuits
also owns.
Mr. Schults is no longer young If
he regrets expenditures OF Dig sums
for horses that did not bring results
he does not say so. He has the salts
faction in his old age of having picked
up a cheap horse that comes close to
and that nroraiseS to bring to fulfill
ment all that he hoped for and
planned for and was ambitious Tor 10
crown his career on the turn
English and Sinlns Matched
Omaha. March 15.-Clarence Eng
lish, the Omaha boxer, and ArJie
Simms of Akron, O., have ben ma ten ten,