Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-27
SAVAGE ONANDAGA
WON. WITH Teeth
GREAT $4,000 MATCH LOST
BY "F0UL"
Unable to outrun saehen, pwyer's
Unruly Brute sinks lts Teeth In
Opponents Neck-No Redress
From Judges

The recent dlsdualihcations Of horses
have drawn renewed attention to the
rules Of racing covering fouls-not
alone by Jockeys, but by horses. For
years the rule that "a leading horse
is entitled to any part Of the course,
provided he does not impede or in
terfere with another horse or horses"
has stood as originally worded, with
no provision for contingencies such as
"savaging" where the result of race
is affected.
III Broomstick had been allowed his
own way when he tried so hard to sink
his teeth In Irish Lads neck during
their crucial finish for the Brighton
handicap of 1904 and by so doing i'm
peded and interfered with his oppon-
,ent, no claim of foul on behalf of Irish
Lad would have been allowed under the
present construction of the rules, al
though If such action by one horse
against another does not constitute a
foul 1t is hard to see what does.
The cause celebre of this nature,
however, took place at the Sheepshead
Bay spring meeting OF 1881, during the
$4,000 match between the Dryers On
andaga and Pierre Lorillard's Sachem,
in which the former colt bit and "saN e
aged the latter and his Jockey George
Barber, causing Sachem to swerve and
lose the race thereby when he had it
virtually won.
Barber naturally claimed a foul, but
1t was not allowed, although 1t changed
the result of the race.
Several years later Juggler, the big
son of Jils Johnson, on more than one
occasion beat horses by 'savaging"
them. At Gravesend in 1889, reaching
over at the post to the jockey next to
him, who happened to be Spider" An
derson, and grabbing him by the leg,
lifted him clear of the saddle and shook
him as big dog would a rat. This
was in full view of the crowded grand
stand.
Onandaga the speedy son Of Lean
ington, and Susan Beane by Lexington,
always was a savage brute from the
days Of his colthood up to his more
mature years at Milton Youngs stud
farm, where after killing one of his at
tendants he was blinded by the needle.
The operation. however, was crudely
performed and the horses eyesight
partially returned no him before his
death.
AS a two-year-old Onandaga was a
good bread winner for the Duyrea red
and blue" Beginning the season at
Jerome park in the spring Of 1881, On
andaga and Pierre Lorillard's colt Ger
aid fairly divided the two-year-old
honors and their struggle for su-
premacy was continued at Sheepshead
Bay.
In discussion as to the merits of the
pair Pierre Lorillard said he had a
maiden colt that had never started
which he would match against Oman
daga at six furlongs. Out of this ban
tering the match was made for $4,000
side, the Coney Island Jockey club
adding $4,000 to the race, winner
take all.
Then @Pisrre Lorillard named as his
representative Sachem, by War pance.
SLY Boots a full brother to Sly Dance,
who had carried the Rancocas colorS
to the front in many hard-fought
struggle. Sachem, while a green colt,
had shown so we'll in his trials that he
was deemed better colt than Gerald,
the stake winner.
When the match was made and the
day set for it's decision the last of the
Coney Island Jockey clubs June meet
ing it was the topic of the hour in turf
circles. For while on the surface most
people looked on Onandaga's task as
an easy one, those who were aware of
Sachem's work with Gerald said that
Pierre Lorillard knew what he was
about when he made the match for the
green colt.
Speculation continued as the colts
were cantering to the post, and the
oldest layers present said they had
never seen such heavy betting on a
match race up to that time. The bulk
of the public money went on Oman
daga, while a majority of the turfrnen
favored the Lorillard colt on his looks
and impressive work.
Over on the backstretch the veteran
starter, James F. Caldwell, was wait
ing for the youngsters. AS they Joined
him Onandaga took the rail with
Sachem on the outside, and the DWyer
colt at once began trying to kick the
other horse and Savage" polo Jim"
the starters assistant, at the same
time. Half the time he was up in the
air, venting his spleen in sonorous
snorts, and James Mclaughlin, his
jockey, had his hands full to manage
him.
But Caldwell finally caught both in
motion and got them away like one
horse, the pair racing up the back
stretch for the first quarter. Oman
daga in the lead, with Sachem at his
saddle skirts under wrap. The first
quarter, in 25 seconds, saw Sachem
close up to Onandaga's shoulder, and
at the woods, on the middle of the far
turn, u mighty oHOuL lIOiIl CIoWQ
proclaimed Sachem's further improve
ment Of his position as he reached his
opponents head.
Rounding for home George Barber
had not yet let go of Sachem's head,
and as he was now on even terms with
Onandaga, on whom Mclaughlin was
already busy, the excited thousands
were worked up into ferment of emo
tion at the exciting struggle.
Right here, however, Onandaga got
in his fine work, just as If he knew
that disabling or defeating an oppon-
ent with his teeth" would not dis
qualify him for foul under the con-
struction of the rules. With almost
human intelligence and brute savagery
combined the vicious brute just
reached over and sunk his teeth in
Sachems neck and then grabbed Bar
ber by the leg.
The whole occurrence could be plain
ly witnessed from the stand as the