The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-01-18
RINGER OF OLDEN DAYS.
STORY OF THE FAMOUS TR or
 TER SMALL HOPES.


 Dollars Had Been Won on Him, Was
 Finally Caught-A Race in Which
 There were Three Ringers-End of
 Small Hopes
 The latest wrinkle in ringing har- ness horses, as discovered by the Ma tional Trotting association, is to take pacing stallion with a record of 2:08 1-2, make gelding of the animal, report him dead, and then start out with promising candidate for the three minute classes at the smaller meetings.
 The paeer originally known as Dick Wilson, later as Dry Monopole, and finally as Tasberg, is the nag thus handled, but as usual the conspirators came to grief in spite of their elaborate precautions. But when it comes to a real ringing tour, writes Harry Ten Eyck White in the Milwaukee Sentinel, one that got all the money there was In sight, the final detection of the horse occurring only because he started in race where there were two other ring CTS, the phenomenal speed of the trio in a three minute race late in the fall causing the judges to grab all hands for identification, the career of the trotter Small Hopes and what was done with him thirty years ago this fall has Ibeen a pattern for all subse- quent outlaws.
 To start with, Small Hopes was high ly bred, being by Rysdyk's Hambleto- nian, and he was known to be a fast trotter, but owing to some turf trouble in which the men who controlled him became involved he was out of busi- ness.
 Umbrella Bill" McGuigan, who af- terward became mildly famous on the running turf, later becoming a member of the Arkansas legislature, was the driver of Small Hopes. He and the horses owner and an all round sport named Charlie Perkins, who hailed from Rochester, N. Y, started out with Small Hopes for a campaign of piracy pure and unadulterated. From Michi- gan the horse was shipped west, land- ing at Dubuque, Iowa, September 6.
 Dubuque was good betting town, and in the three minute race at that meeting there were some local horses that the Iowa sports believed unbeata- ble in their class. Judge of their an- guish when, after backing their own horses to the limit, a modest looking brown gelding took down the money in straight heats, never giving the home plungers "a chance to get out The best mile was 2:40 3-4, and as the unassum- ing brown horse could trot bad half mile track in 2:25 and was q match for most Of the free to all trotters of that day, 1t did not take hard prying to get the money away from the natives. The next day Lothair (for such was the first false name given Small Hopes) took down another purse; then he was shipped to Omaha.
 Here was a chance for a big "kill- ing" The first race, September 23, was slow class affair. and itapparently- took Lothair's life to win at the end of five heats, the fastest mile being 2S3 3-4. The horse was entered the following day in free to all trot in which Pilot Temple and Randall champions of the west in those days, were also named. It was not supposed for a minute that the stranger would start, but he did, and he could be bought for five dollars in pools of one ! hundred dollars. When the starter said "go" for the first heat Lothair, that had been schabbling hard to win in 2:33 the day before, slipped away from those free to all nags as if they were tied, and over the slowest sort of track he stepped three winning heats in 2:2S IA, 2:26 1-2 and 2:3S.
 That was the last of Lothair, but at ' the Wilkesbarre, Pa, meeting in Octo- Der there appeared a brown gelding called Lapland. Not a horseman but had heard of the coup effected out west with Lothair but Lapland did not fill the description of the mysterious stranger that carried the corn cror money away from Iowa and Nebraska It took Lapland six heats to win his first slow class race at Wilkesbarre and so well was the affair managed that no one suspected him as ringer The best heat was 2:33
 Then Lapland journeyed to Washing ton, D. O., and this time seven heats were required before he could (appa- | rently) win. Best mile, 2:S0. LaplanC was Lothair all right, but some of the smartest horsemen of those days that had entries in the Washington ract never suspected the fact. The day af. ter the race, however, when the matter was talked over, they became suspi. cious, but when they looked in Lap. lands stall he was gone, and so were the men that managed him.
 By this time the newspapers were full of the exploits of Lothair and Lap. land. Pen pictures of Mcclellan" wht seemed to be the owner of the horse and certainly was the driver, were sen all over the land. So Lapland disap' peared, the horse being shipped to { small town near Boston, where some alterations in his markings were made There was a meeting at Mystic Parl track, Boston, about that time, and i was decided to enter the brown geldine ronce more under false colors, as it was known that the betting would be good and it was a cinch he could win an! three minute race ever programmed.
 The night before the entries closed NToN,,igap apd hiS 1,onrrxr man yue1sa cit ting in the reading room of suburban hotel. McGuigan was improving hi mind by reading a Boston paper. Int man who had charge of entering tht horse was trying to think of 8 nev