Evening star., 1907-08-18

vocalie, Pampero, sandoval, Tacoma, 81
mour. Economy and John X, although
Vocalie and Pampero had shown fair form.
And interest centered mainly In the favor
ties, as the general public did not follow the
stable commissioner on Rataplan, especially
as the colt had up an inexperienced jockey
Sheridan.
But that same lad executed bit Of sharp
practice in the race that showed he was no
greershorn and which helped him to dispose
of his principal opponent, the Gebhard colt
St. Saviour. From the fall of the flag Blast
set the pace. closely followed by st. sa-
Rataplan took the lead, Tapped by ST. Sa-
vious, but rounding the home stretch turn,
near which was the Gebhard stable. Sher-
idan, on the rails, took Rataplan trif1e
wide, carrying st. Saviour with him. Here
the pair was three lengths in front Of Blast,
who led the others.
A Jockeys Headwork.
AS expected by Sheridan, St. Saviour
started to bolt toward his own stable as he
was carried out. and it was all Jockey
Donohue could do to keep the Gebhard colt
Strengthened out for home. This enabled
Rataplan to gain a couple OF lengths, and
keeping to his work the Kittson colt won
the great race cleverly by two lengths. with
st. Saviour second and Blast third, the bal
ance Of the big field close up.
AS the carrying out Oh 81. saviour Dy
Rataplan was very slight, the former 9
jockey, Donohue, did not even claim a foul.
The hard luck Of the occurrence to Geb-
hard and his friends was for 1t to happen
near their colts stable, precipitating just
what keen master Sheridan looked fora
bolt toward the stable quarters, a bit Of
headword by comparatively green Jockey
as rare as it was successful. At that,
Rataplan would probably have won any
way
But st. Saviour, a flrst-class colt, was de-
cidedly an unlucky one ever since his
scriptural name was saddled on him by the
carelessness of an entry clerk Fred Geb-
hard named him St. Sauveur after the is-
land where Lille Langtry was born, but
by error the colt was programmed as St.
Saviour and raced under that name which
stuck" to the great annoyance Of his
owner. And a couple of years later the
horse was killed in the railway accident at
Carrs Rock on the Erie road. which killed
a number Of other horses and nearly killed
Matt Storms. the trainer.
Rataplan's victory netted the Kittsons
father and son, close to $4,000. Some Of
the bookmakers, like Burton, being hard
hit over the coup. That was one Of Bur-
tons bad days, and friend who had the
room next to him at the Manhattan Beach
Hotel said that the Tennessee bookmaker
walked the floor half that night, every
little while buttins his head against the
wall as he berated himself for numskull
After the Emporium l.ataplan was
pointed for Saratoga, where he was en-
gagged in the Travers, Iroquois and other
valuable stakes. The colt had three weeks
time to prepare for the Travers, on the
opening day, and as his race at Sheepshead
Bay had done him q lot Of good, he i'm
proved in his training to a gratifying de-
gree And his owner, Commodore Kittson,
was enthusiastic over the outlook for his
future career.
The Travers that year had seventy-seven
entries the largest in its history, including
the flower of the western and eastern turf,
and was one of the magnets of attraction
that drew racegoers to Saratoga Springs
In July from all parts OF the states and
Canada as we'll.
Rataplan's Saratoga Victory.
The night before the Travers stake auo.
ton pools were sold at the club subscrip-
ton rooms. on Congress street, near the
park. and several hundred people gave
Auctioneer Cathcart plenty to do on the
events of the following day. While the field
for the Travers was small. only four start
ing speculation was heavy between Rata.
plan, Blast and Representative William L.
Scott's Greystone. The last named, gray
colt of some class. had won the Coney
Island Derby, a mile and half, while Blast
had also won two good races since his de-
feat by Rataplan in the Emporium.
The Travers. at mile and three-quarters
gave all three of these colts chance te