The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-05-19
RACErRAcK STORIES.

"A morse tnaL rails asleep OuIluS dL
important race must surely have few
equals of its kind. Yet this is what
Happy Bird did when running al
Gatwick a year or so ago. She was
ridden by Birch, the jockey, and be-
longed to Mr.. Pritchard. She com
peted in a two mile race, was left
well behind and was walking slowly
toward the paddock when bystander
called her riders attention to the
fact that the horse was fast asleep.
Happy Bird did not win the race,
but there is on record still more ex-
traordinary case of where dead
horse actually did win a race, says
London AnSwers. This absolut ely
unique event occurred so far back as
1872 and was in race from Wood S
Gate, four miles beyond Tonbridge,
to Kent street, in the borough and
back, a total length of some eighty
hssls. It was arranged that there
was to be no batting" during the
contest, and that, as the great strug-
gle might we'll be expected to kill the
winner at the end, the ''first horse in,
dead Or alive" should be declared
the winner.
Oneof the two horses fell and died,
owingto the exertion, after having
gone Only fifteen miles, and the other
was thoroughly pumped" too, by
that tine. The hackers Of the dead
animal therefore obtained an old fat
cart, placed the deceased horse on it,
with the jockey on its back, and soon
outdistanced the rival steed, which
was scarcely even able to walk. The
latter's supporters then tried the
same dodge, but were unable to get
a fiat cart for their steed !; and so the
dead horse came in easily first at
Woods Gate, and was awarded the
stakes of $50 guineas. And that is,
almost certainly, the only time on re-
cord when dead horse really won an
important race.
1t is not generally known that the
rules of the National Hunt provide
that when jockey is thrown in a
steeplechase any bystander may
mount the rideless horse, if possible,
aud may win the race on it if he can.
This has caused quite dramatic
scene on a great race course before to-
day and much astonishment among
people who did not know the curious
rule. For only few years ago, at
Kempton Park, a horse running in a
steeplechase by accident threw his
rider, who was unable to mount
again. On this the horses trainer,
Escott, who by good luck chanced to
be near the scene of the accident, at
once jumped on the horses back, and,
riding him strongly, actually won the
race.
Has winning horse ever died as il
passed the post? There is no record
of such, or it would almost have ex-
celled the noted Woods Gate to Bor-
.ough event as curiousity. But there
is case where racer did die on
passing the post, though it was not
a winner. This was when Counter
pane, descendant of Hermit, ran
for the Stockbridge Cup in 1886 and
fell down just as it reached the
judges box. 1t never rose again and
was taken away dead to be buried at
Danebury.
A most unusual thing, too. it must
be to find race horse drowned dur
ing the running of a great race. Yet
this is what happened to Ballyshan-
non at Totnes four or FIVE years back.
The horse was engaged in the Totnes
handicap hurdle race, and the River
Dart runs close by. the side of the
track. From some cause which was
never quite clear, Ballyshannon went
to pieces during the race, collapsed
badly and, rolling over, fell into the
river, where it was drowned before il
could be rescued.
There has within the last few years
been more than one case where two
horses have run dead heat a second
time, after having done SO in their orig
inal race, but we have to go very
long way back to find this unusua
thing happening third time, in fact
perhaps the only recorded instance
was in 1920, when Handel and Tara
gon, at the races at Newcastle-under
Lyme, tried three times to decide
which was the better horse and eacl
time ran dead heat. What excite
ment there must have been on tha
course