Evening journal., 1914-07-29
ARE THE RECORDS
MOSTLY fakes? ?
Performances Heralded as
Worlds Records" Cause
Confusion Against HOrSemen
WINDSHIELD
TIME QUESTIONED

NEW 1OHk, July IA lelleI from
Fred Dietz inquiring about the legiti-
mate records and the windshield rec
ords of several prominent trotters and
PAGERS is a reminder that many per-
formances nowadays cited as records
are more or less questionable. Ever
since the advent of the windshield as
sort of get rich quick" method of cut
ting down the records there has been
increasing confusion as to what are
the champion records for harness
horses. and 1t is not strange that var
ious authorities now recognize var
ious performances as constituting the
best time on record for trotters and
PAGERS.
And as illegitimate records" have
increased in numbers public interest
in the making of worlds records
has steadily declined. Few races be-
tween harness horses ever excited so
much interest and enthusiasm as the
performance of Flora Temple against
! time when she set the trotting record
at 219 IA at Kalamazoo, Mich, in
| 1859, and this wide interest in the re-
/ duction of the record continued until
! the long looked for two-minute trot-
ter appeared. But when the public
/ learned that the two-minute rec
ord" had been made with artificial aid
! by a horse that had never beaten
! 2.O3 "a under normal conditions, it
/ began to believe the harsh words of
/ the New York World that "trotting
records are mostly fakes" and today
! legitimate attempt to beat the worlds
record excites only passing interest.
In view of the Worlds sweeping de-
nunciRtion of harness racing records
il is rather surprising that the usually
accurate World Almanac heads its
tables of Worlds Trotting Records
and Worlds Pacing Records with
performances which are illegitmate.
The trotting record credited to Uhlan
is 1.54 1-2 This, as all we'll informed
horsemen know, is the time made by
Uhlan, 1.5S, at Lexington, KY, last
fall. when his trainer, Charles Tan
ner, hooked him up in double harness.
with a runner to pull the load and
pull the trottcr, too, if need be, by
means of the breeching. Such per
formances have never been recognized
! as lfElAlUldAt ltNOluos II 10 nv
strange. however, that the perform
ance of Uhlan was accredited as leg
itimate when the Associated Press
sent out from Lexington last fall tbs
following despatch:-
Lexington, KY. October 9.--Uhlan,
driven by Charles Tanner and paced
by a running mate, trotted mile here
today in 154 l-2, a new worlds rec
ord The former record was LBS, held
by Uhlan.
In the Worlds table OF Worlds
Pacing Records Dan Patch is placed
at the top and is credited with rec
ord of 155. made at St Paul, Mimi,
on September s, 1906 The facts about
Dan Patch are that after he had tried
for years, and always failed, to beat
the legitimate record of Star Pointer.
1853 IA, his owner put a windshield
i'm front of him to push hole in the
air. through which the wabbling gat-
ed PAGER trailed at tremendously ac-
celebrated speed.
Excepting the trotter Crescent
Route no other harness horse was
ever benefited so much by the wind
shield as was Dan Patch. Here was a
horse that had never beaten 2.04 Ia
in an actual race. and that never de-
feated a first-class horse in really
fast time in his entire career With
the aid of a windshield he should 60
almost five seconds faster than under
normal conditions, but the World AL
manac is perhaps the only authority
which gives him credit for a record
of 1855. The Horse Reviews Harness
Racing Guide. which makes no dis
tinction between legitimate records
and windshield performances though
the latter are now discredited by the
! rules of the National Trotting Asso-
citation, places Dan Patch's record
at 1.55 IA But the horse never came
anywhere near that mark without ar
tificial aid.