The Washington herald., 1907-10-27

" NNANiiJ AASAA'O 81
Work to Spare Torture.
thought him fit for racing yet after
Leigh's treatment and training he was
able to come in first in one Of the most
important of French racing events.
Leigh has a few horses Of his own and
some of them have shown pretty good
form He will continue to race mOder-
ately IN the future as he mas raced in the
past but he has no intention of establish
ing a big stable and going into capture
the great prizes of the French turf with
his own horses, at least not in the near
future
Leigh'S Career In America,
Eugene Leigh is forty-seven. His boy
hood was passed IN Illinois,. and he got
into racing right early in life.
Il was "a jockey when only little lad.
he said at Maisons- LafHtte to the writer
''That is rode horses on race tracks by
the time I was knee high to a grass
hopper, but / had to serve stin ap-
premiership around the stables before l
was able 10 ride a race. I followed the
horses from one small track TO another
county fair tracks, some of them-in
Illinois and Michigan. 'Bushwhacking
We called it then, and I 'bushwhacSed
as far West as Nebraska and as far
South as Texas. Those were the good old
/ days of quarter horses. After a while
I got a breeding farm in Kentucky, near
/ LeXingtou-La Belle, I called it-and did
b.,f far
and horses, all but some yearIings. which
/ L kept in New Jersey.
"One day ! thought I'd come over TO
this side of the water for a six weeks
vacation and to see the sights. ] have
never been back. That is my story
Leigh got his name well before the en-
tire French people-uot merely the racing
| public. but all classes-soon after his ar
rival IN France by the humanitarian
/ movement which he started. although he
/ hadn't the slightest idea of putting him
/ self to the front by the course he pur-
sued. But early in his stay he noticed
/ that the jockeys on the French tracks
wore very long spurs. which they used
| zoo freely. as well as the whip There
I had been reform in the use OF the whip
/ and spur i'm America before this, and. rs
/ Leigh had observed. the horses ran just
/ as Wen when not too severely spurred
/ and whipped. while. beyond q doubt.
/ the comfort of the animals was Increased
/ greatly by the reform.
Reforms Horses Treatment.
So in one way and another he set about
to introduce gentler treatment of the
/ French race horses and to-day although
/ spurs are still used. they are well filed.
I and DO not cut and tear the horses as Of
old, while the whip is welded with much
/ greater moderation than formerly Three
. years ago his work was recognized by a
gold medal. which he wears on his watch
guard and which is about the only piece
/ Of yellow metal that he ever displays
/ The medal bears this inscription:
. PRIX DU CONSUL A MR.. LEIGH -.
lEUGENE).
Societe Protectrice Animaux a Paris. .
Eugene Leigh is "a typical American
/ h0rseman, with ruddy cheeks. stocky
but active figure, and hair and mustache
that are getting gray. His home is not
far from his training stables at MaiSous-
Lafiitte, but he visits Paris nearly every
day-not by train nor I'm horse-drawu rig
/ but I'm "a motor car of course He likes
/ France and the part be is playing in its
/ racing life, but he's "a good American for
( all that. He speaks French well enough
I % make himself understood clearly. but
with "a decided Illinois accent. and all his
help" speak English while his headquar-
/ ters In Paris are at hotel where ENGLISH
is as easy as French TO most of the cm-
ployes In one particular he differs rad
ically from nearly everybody he meets
here-he never drilks anything alcoholic,
not even red wine.
He has helped a good many of the
themselves in France. At one time and
another he has employed several Of those
who are now very well known on the
French tracks.
other Maisons-Luhitte Trainers.
Wallace Davis trains the -racehorses
owned by Eugene Fischof. one OF the
best-known American owners on the
French turf whose important stable
is at Maisons-Laffitte. Fischof is a big
factor in obstacle racing in France, and
last year his stick-jumping nags led all
4 French horses Of their class. Davis train
ed Flying Star, who won the French Oaks
in 1906, and Pamphile. who won the first
race at Longchamps this year While
theyShave not won as many RACES as
those trained by Leigh, the Davis trained
horses have captured more important