Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-20
OLD MAN GEERS is
STILL OUT TO WIN
SAYS soNoMA GIRL MUST BE IN
GOOD SHAPE
Has Hopes Of Rounding Highball Back
Into Form and Defeating
Girl from Golden
West

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 19.-Most of the
best harness racers were camped Tor the
week at the Hudson River Driving park,
Poughkeepsie. With them the full bri-
gade of clever reinsmen, and at the head
of these knights of the sulky the famous
Tennesseean, Edward F. Geers.
The "silent man." as he is familiarly
known was seen at the Nelson house
Yesterday where he is-as all over the
line of the grand circuit-always In the
center of a group of admirers. To the
casual observer the dean of trotting
horse drivers looks but little older than
when he first came north and started
in with the procession at cleveland
about thirty years ago.
His weather-beaten face, with its lnno-
cent, kindly smile, may have taken Oh
few rinkles in the hard canipaisms p.t,,ise lee
owner has weathered, but otherwise
there Is little to indicate that this modest,
reserved man stands at the head OF ms
profession. and has made more hlstory
than all the rest of his contemporaries
put together. -,an+,s
His training work is veritable gialt .
task. for he does the bulk OF the acIual a,us'a
preparation himself and averages oioSI
to a hundred miles day the yea, -,
either in the seat of sulky OF Joes-Ne
cart" b,d
Ip tho mast few seasons Geers has hao
IN u,
no record breakers in his charge, nor III u
fact excepting Dan Patch, have any VI
the world beaters been in active serV.oe' s,t
His most famous pupil was Inc Atti,, A :,
who dethroned AliX for the trol''e
seven years ago, when ne
did the mile in 2:03A. .oo,
Very few of the top-notchers haVe 49,
trained from colthood by the man VIZ
erollv landed them in the first place, ou9
On1
b,t also with Hal Pointer, who heio tne
nacine honors in 1892, the year the presen.
a.hilxe'' sull<y first came into use As q
money winner the veteran has neaueu 'nt
LIST many times, and though ms pi
stahIe has not fulfilled its early expecta
tions he closed the week just passed, a'
Ruffalo. a close second. j. D. oprilis ,t go
his Younger rival has gathereu III %Alov
in purses so far, chiefly WIN llis has
pupil, Sonoma Girl, and Geers VIZ
won several more races than the wess ~,
or has nIaced 81, ,275 to the credit OIL his
string.
Same Old Luck
.rrhere is the same old luck to the rae
inc game remarked Geers YESTERDAY,
"and horses will go wrong just wheii .r,eS @
seem to be on the edge. When got Inc
Abbot ready in 1902, he seemed pe.'ei
than ever during the winter training at
Memphis There were no engageIheh,ss
for him until we got to Brighton psaSa,, sa,,
where a purse of $4,000 was onereu lot
a match with Lord Derby. Before we got
to New York the horse developed lame
ness that all my efforts could not cure.
This season 1 expect good thlnes irori ~
tbe trotter Highball, owned by Frank "
Jones of Memphis. He came nortn III
fine shane. and early in July took Sonoma
Girls measure at Libertyville. III. taking
a record of 2:06h Then, with the eranu
c;rcuit and bigger purses in sight, the
gelding threw out curb, and both Mr.
Jones and myself decided to give the
horse a rest. He is too valuable ana
promising to risk breaking him down,
and | am in hopes that a good rest will
bring him around.
eff So" continued the famous reins-
man, with a sudden flash OF his Keen
ewes that lit up his countenance, we
will give any of the boys a race, and
even Sonoma Girl will have to look out
for her laurels."