The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1909-10-08
NEW TRACK
RECORD 2.1o IA
Made in Big Free-for-All
Last Friday.
TITLE is HELD JOINTLY
BY Asa Wilkes and Gallagher-Greatest
Racing Ever Seen Here-Last Days
Crowd Rather Light but Total At
tendance Little Behind Last Year.

Crowd Rather Light but Total A,
tendance Little Behind Last Year.
Closing with an afternoon of the mos
exciting harness racing ever seen in thi
part of New England, the Oath annua
Valley fair truly ended in blaze of glor
that more than offset the gloom an
fully 5000 people saw the tracks rae
mark Of 2.llA, made in 1906 by the trot
ter Advancer, 60 by the board in tn
very first heat OF the big $1,000 free-for-al
when Asa Wilkes, a son of the great Roar
Wilkes, set the record at 2lOA. This was
equalled in the third heat of this race by
Gallagher, the eventual winner. The sec
ond heat was paced in 2.10k, so that
there is no doubt about the accuracy Of
the widely made prophecy concerning the
breaking of the track record this year
While the free-for-all was the event about
which the greatest interest centered il
was by no means the only race worth
watching Every one of the four events
furnished plenty of excitement and the
crowd hung on until the last announce
ment was made.
The attendance Friday was in the neigh
borhood of 5000, and would doubtless
have been considerably larger had the
morning dawned clear instead of dark and
forbidding., The fairs total paid attend
ance for the three days was 1857. The
total paid attendance for 1908 was 2O,l02,
management feels sure that had the
weather permitted holding the fair ON its
original dates this years attendance
would have surpassed that of last year
by several thousand Treasurer F. G.
Adams's attendance figures follow:
Wednesday Including few tickets sold
Tuesday and exchanged for return checks,
Thursday, 6,435 at so cts, IA at Is cts,
total, 7,l79; Friday, 1856 at 50 cts, 1917
at 25 cts, total, 2,793.
The program of track events began Fri
day morning at 10 o'clock when the un-
finished 2.30 stake trot was finished as
reported in last weeks Reformer This
was followed by the opening heat of the
be one Of the best races of the fair. Dena,
a Canadian mare, won the first two heats
and apparently had the event tucked
away in her hopples, But in the third
heat Stanford won out by a driving fin
ish and managed to repeat his success in
the fourth and fifth, The 2,l4 stake pace
went to Lady Isle in straight heats al
their best to defeat the entry from the |
Newport Stock farm and made the daugh- |
ter of Island Wilkes ir- take a mark Of |
2.l2h. In the first heat Bessie Patchen |
pushed the Newport mare to within a |
few feet of the wire but couldn't gather; !
speed enough to win, Bon View. Sir AL |
cander and Silver Heels trailing In the
order named. In the second heat bessie
Patchen again made Lady Isle do her
best and might have won had she not
broken at.the Last turn. As. it was Silver
Heels came 'up strongly and kept the1
Newport mare moving to the wire at a
~ clip. The third heat went to Lady
between Silver Heels and Bessie Patchen
for second place.
When the free-for-all was called next
a murmur of excitement came from grand
stand and trackside. Starter Pike an
that Fred d., one of the entries,
out the day before and that therefore
only four horses would start: Asa Wilkes, |
a handsome chestnut stallion with a mark
of zoe; Jerry B., long, lanky, camel
nosed chestnut gelding whose grand cir
cuit record is 2.03A; Jennie W., mite
of bay mare with mark Of 2.04A, and
Gallagher, dark bay gelding with a
Wilkes drew the pole with Jerry B., next
third and the mare on the out
side, and after scoring five times the quar-
let got under way From the start it
was a go between Wilkes and Jennie W,
The latter taking the lead at the half and {
holding it to within 200 feet of the wire, {
where, tired out by such pace over so
soft a track, the little mare simply had
% stop, letting the chestnut stallion win |
mid thunderous applause The time to 2
he quarter was 81 seconds, the half 104,
he threequarters l37A the mile, 2 l0A. i
IN this heat Gallagher broke badly in the S
irst quarter. and to save his distance t
stepped from quarter pole to quarter pole G
n the phenomenal time of I.021h. Even
hen there seemed to be doubt among | 4
many of the spectators as to whether the d
Brooklyn horse got within the red flag. a
The second heat saw Gallagher in far O
ifferent condition. He did no bad acting t.
t the outset and took the lead as soon as
he word was given. The Wilkes horse t.
egained it. however and kept ahead until il
he three-duarter mark where again Gal t
agher stepped to the front. From there e
O the wire it was neck and neck between | {
he TIVE. Bardwell using the whip freely "A
N Asa Wilkes but to no avail. Gala e
her finished ahead by barely foot, with il
ennie w. a moor third and Jerry B some e
istance behind her Up to this time v
here had been no great evidence of 81
ombination to beat the Connecticut en- I
nv although it was freely rumored that n
uch a combination existed. But in the "
bird heat things began to happen. The lie
tart was a poor one for Asa Wilkes and Il
hen the four horses passed the stand on Sc
he first time around it looked very much | j.
5 if Jennie W.. in second place. was A
1