Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-25
HOW DAN MAKES
MINUTE MILES
HERSEY TELLS STORY OF
PAGERS SUCCESS
WIND, TRACK AND PACE MAKERS
IMPORTANT
Chances for Breaking 1855 Worlds
Record at Lexington Spoiled by
Faulty Pace Maker-Inches
Count Seconds
by HARRY @. HERsEY.
lTralner of Dan Patoh.)

seen human muscle and energy anu
nerve taxed to their utmost. and you
have seenaa human being moving at TOP
speed.
IL you were fortunate enough to see
high-class sprinters, you saw the dis
tance covered in less thatn IL seconds
and when winded and throbbing from
the effort the winner was blanketed,
and the time hung out was 10 seconds
fiat or better, then indeed was new
hero crowned. ,
This supreme human effort resulted
in a speed of thirty feet a second.
Think, then, of a speed of 1851 feet
second, sustained not for 100 yards put
for one mile.
Few people realize what one of those
terrific miles means. l know better
than | can tell, but | am going to DO
my best to give you a conception OF 1t.
In previous article / have attempted
to detail the care and training that
have prepared Dan Patch, and believe
will prepare Minor Heir, for new world
championship.
Now the horse Is ready. He is legged
up and absolutely on edge for the effort
of his life. 1t has taken months of un-
ceaslng work and worry and care, but
his condition is perfect. The uniniti-
ated may think the work is done, that
all that is necessary Is to hitch MIN,
warm him up, and at the word turn him
loose for a mile In 1:55.
Track Conditions important
First comes the track. It must not
be too hard, and yet firm enough not TO
cup. 1t must be level, smooth, ana
worked clear to the pole. A track just
right for Dan to do a record mile on is
one OF the hardest things in the world
to get Too hard a surface is apt TO
injure him, while the terrific force OF
his 29-foot stride, aided by the steel
grabs he wears on his five-ounce shoes,
will Gun any but the f1rmest of tracks.
Only the proper soil and then lots or
water and work make such course as
Dan needs for 1:55 work.
Strange thing, this track business!
1t all depends on the viewpoint l used
10 be quietly worrying about the condi-
tion of track on which / was expected
TO break a worlds record with Dan,
when Charlie Dean, who was to drive
the runner, would appear and bubble
over with enthusiasm about the glori-
Gus day and the magnificent condition
OF the course.
Last year the boot was on the other
leg. Dean was driving an exhibition
horse-Minor Heir. At Hamline, at
Milwaukee, at Columbus, and even at
Lexington Dean appeared with a long
face and complained bitterly about the
track. / laughed, but understood.
OF the most important conditions that
enter into the making of wonderfully
fast mile is the condition of the track
next to the pole. The mile of $3.50 feet
is measured three feet from the pole,
fence. If the track is not free from
grass and perfectly smooth clear up to
the fence we are handicapped, because
IN order to have the horse step just a
mile the left-hand sulkey wheel must
run within two inches of the fence.
The hubs of Dams sulkey and that of
his pacemaker are rounded and pol
ished so that they can literally slide
around the hub board on the fence.
This is not theory but practice, and in
all of his fastest miles the hub of Dams
sullxey wheel is touching this board
fully half the circuit. The least soft
ness or rcughness makes me pull out,
and seconds are lost.
Inches Mean Seconds
circle three feet from the fence
measures $3.50 feet; a circle four feet
from the fence measures 5359.55 feet or
79lh feet more. If have to drive Dan
Patch one foot wide of the fence 1
would have to travel 791s feet more
than mile. If he was stepping this
wide mile at a 1855 clip or 45.91 feet
per second he would get a record OF
only 1:56h. From that you can figure
out what it means whenever have to
pull out for soft or rough place in
the track.
A second is short space of time
Fhen imagine how long quarter of a
second is. In order to go a mile in
world record time a horse must cover
liz feet every quarter Of a second for
AGO consecutive quarter seconds. Is 1t
q wonder that the track must be per-
feet, that every inch pulled out and
every slightest rise in the surface of
81 H. 4sOIt0hnaaa NJ nah
BILE makes a difference? When think
we have a chance for a new record
personally examine every foot of the
course and with the proper help from
track managers can usually materially
improve even the best of tracks. So
much for the track problem.
With the hcrse ready and the track
as nearly perfect as 1t Is possible to
make it my attention is turned to the
= weather. From early morning until
after the trial the atmosphere, wind
and temperature are objects of un-
ceasing interest. Fast miles in wind
are impossible. The atmosphere can't
be too humid nor too dry and dusty.
Dan Patch will always go a great
mile even on bad track and against
heart breaking winds, but 1t, is abso-
lutely impossible to make 1855 miles
on anything but a still, warm after
noon.
WCdbUCI SOBOietSuo
Unfortunately we don't have as
much pull with the weather man as we
do even with track managers. If we
did we would have more world rec
ords. When we arrive at 1870 p. m.
on exhibition days with our champion
fit, the track high-class and the
weather favorable we have a rare
combination of good fortune. Then
the work begins.
Hitched to his specially made cham
pionship thirty-two-p pound sullxy in his
seven-pound harness Dan Patch is
taken out and walked a mile by his
care-taker, Charles Plummer. Then,
dressed in my holiday attire of white
and blue I take the champion for q
log. The band plays, the people ap-
plaud and everyone is happy. Even
Dan bows to the admiring thousands,
who never fail to recognize the great
est of all horses even when he passes
the stands at lazy and anything but
a graceful jog.
They all seem happy and care-free
but T. 1 don't have time. / don't even
see my friends who call to me from
the fence. If hear them their greet
ings only irritate me. This is espe-
cially true il am expected to break
n record and conditions are such thar
think I have q chance. / am watch
ing the champions every move, the
play of every muscle, the clouds, the
wind, the track, a hundred things
little and big--and am attempting to
dope out the best way to r-'-s shA