El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-03-06

rS THE entire history OF the trotting
turf probably no event more disas-
Il trous to its advancement ever hap
pened than the Gold cup race Of Oct IS,
1904 at Billings PARK, In Memphis
Meant 20 be q supreme event in The par
ticipation OF wealthy amateurs in the
promotion Of the standard breed OF
horses. its scandalOus climax not only
eliminated the two most nearly con
ceTned but undoubtedly discouraged the
entry OF others i'm the breeding OF the
American trOtter FOR other than com
merCial reasons
This race has been pointed 20 as the
great black eye" Of harness horse rae
ing. The sport easily has withstood the
scandals attendant upon professional
racing Authenticated cases or wrong
doing among the professionals have
arisen from time 20 time albeit they
have been OF remarkable infrequency-
but this gold cup quarrel between mill
liOnaires is held by many 10 have been
absolutely without excuse and harmful
All Believed They Were Right.
The baneful effect Of the fuss Is not
lessened by the fact that all the parties
right To is possible that no one de-
liberstely misst2ted facts except per-
haps a few stable hands who swore 20
statements Of which they apparently
desire TO play in strong with their en-
ployers led Them to make affidavits
that were much better left unmade- ,
The greatest damage, however was
done By the exhibition OF poor sports
manship which the judgment Of recent
years has come 20 apply 70 both sides
has long been held TO be the saving
grace OF harness racing and many nota-
BILE examples OF il are 70 be found
among the professional
For this reason the exhibition OF q
petty spirit preceded the practical re-
tirement from the trOtuug turf of two
men whose interest promised TO raise Il
TO point never before reached
Ii viii be recalled that the gold cur
was trophy offered for amateur
drivers and was designed TO become
classic- So great was the interest in u
and the Do 3lIc1rE attendant upon lt that
two wealthy Americans c. X. G.. Bill
ingz and E Il. SmGthers began to desire
its possession
Bays Leu Dillon.
Probably 20 this end BlIinEs bought
the Stanley Dillon mare. Lou Dillon. q
nervous but tremendously speedy little Z
trick, and employed Willard sanders to
Selding Major Delmar and shortly after
these animals came into the hands % I
their respective owners a rivalry was .
started which had known no parallel in .
years Sanders carefully nur-ed Lou .
DilloE along and az Boston with the .
aid OF a Windshield was able to rrO- q .
mile under two minutes q record never {
In the meanwhile Major Delmar was 7
winning race after race end in the
early course OF the season Of 1904 these ,
Two trotters came 70 be- in q class by t
themselves Naturally the prospect OF .
q match race arose. fl was discussed r
by journals all over the country llr. D
Billings and Pr SmathCrs were each +
excellent reinsmel and TO each OF them 4
the possession OF the sold cup meant 4
more chan fabulous purses
SO a match race was arranged 90 F.
take place az the annual fal meeting 4
wagon and each owner was TO drive
his own horse partisans OF the two
horses everywhere We're Intensely in-
terested- 10 was predicted that the
event would put harness racing on a
much higher plane than it ever had .
The highest degree q sports
manship was expected
How IL Was Done.
4 recital OF the manner in which
the race was trotted would serve no .
useful purpose AT this time. II will be
recalled that Major Dclmar won the
first heat I'm 2-0l. Lou Dillon started
away like a streak but visibly slowed
down In the last half OF the journey
and the victory Of Major Delmar ap-
peared 10 have been attained in rather
hollow fashion
Vow comes the interesting part OF
the story. When Lou Dillon was led
out for the second heat her attendants Z
reported TO Mr. Billings that she had
q case OF the thumps and it was
Q Questionable whether 10 would be wise
to start her or not The owner exam
.ned her and decided Tor the sake of
the race 20 start her but obviously
made no attempt to win and Major
Delmar took the second heat and The
race i'm 2-lS. Lou Dillon finishing i'm
eisurely fashion
The race was over but the argument
VAS about TO begin. Billings OF course
had quite properly claimed that his
mount was sick and not uD to her
best performance Smathers retaliated
With the statement that the race was
TOn on its merits and claimed that 10 &
proved that Major Delmar was the bet
er trotter.
For weeks the argument continued. 7
becoming bitterer all the time. Major .
Oelmar was given a mark without a
windshield and ON Nov s. following /
he Gold Cup race Sanders drove Lou
Dillon a mile i'm 2-01i in n trial against
line and without a windshield. Smath-
rs claimed that the trial was not timed ,
properly and a few days later sanders .
.rOve the little trick a mile i'm s-0I I
lat and again il was claimed by mon
Who timed the trial for Smathers that o.
little cheating had been done.
Charge Horse ~Doped.~ !
Upon evidence which he undoubtedly
clieved To be accurate AR. Billings en- ] q
cred the charge that Lon Dillon had .
cen "dOped" I'm the Gold Cup race and B .
nat this accounted for her DOOR ner- . q