The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-01-23

~
Corrigan is just another page torn
from the history of the turf, just an
other story that tells OF meteoric
rise from obscurity to fame and riches
and then of a descent even more
rapid.
Twelve and fifteen years ago Corri-
gan was one Of the richest and most
famous racing men in the world. He
owned a wonderful stud farm in Ken
lucky: he owned the great Hawthorne
track in Chicago, the Ingleside course
in San Francisco and an interest In
half dozen other big tracks
| Along in 1902 and 1903 Corrigan's
| fortune was estimated at around 3d.
| 600. 0o0--and money was raining upon
him every day. II seemed that every
thing he touched turned to gold. He
/ bought horses that didn't look fast
| enough to pull a dray, put those
! horses in race--and they ran away
| from the field.
Fortune withdraw smile,
! And then. just when everyone was
wondering whether Corrigan would
give John D., race for the honor
! OF being the richest man in the world.
! fortune ceased to smile upon him. she
! frowned once everything broke right
/ for Georgian; now they began to break
wrong.
"a
drew from the Western Jockey Club III
1903. He started a rival organization
and drew into his association many OF
the clubs that formerly had been as
! ISOLATED with the Western Jockey Cluo.
| The fight between the Western Jockey
/ Club and Corrigan's outlaw assocla-
ton was fercely contested. 1t lasted
through 1903 and 1904.
Just when 1t looked as II Corrigan
would win out in his battle--crush the
Western Jockey Club and be the SUI
/ preme figure in the Western racing
world--an unexpected and terrible
blow his Corrigan and sent him tumb-
ling gradually into racing oblivion.
! The fight between the rival racing
factions had disguised the public at
large Appeals had been made to the
Legislators to abolish racing and the
/ law makers granted the plea,
! Wealth Swept Away.
Almost with the suddenness of a
! lightning bolt. laws were made killing
! the racing game in six States where It
had fourished Illinois Missouri,
Ohio, Tennessee, Louisiana and Indi-
ana.
The bulk of Corrigan's fortune was
tied up in tracks in those States. and
in his stud farms. Overnight his In
vestment of millions in race tracks
dwindled to hundreds OF thousands
Just the mere value of the race courses
as suburban real estate. With racing
abolished in six States, the demand
for horses almost ceased. -,
/ When the legislators dealt death
blow to the game in those six states
Corrigan owned horses worth $3.50,
600. Their value as race horses then
ceased. Corrigan had to sell them as
saddle horses at prices ridiculously
low.
And so in a year, Corrigan's fortune
of millions dwindled to few hundred
thousand Once the owner of the
greatest stable In the West: once the
owner or part owner of most of the
big tracks; tnce the King Of the
Turf" Corrigan dropped to a point
where he was able to operate only a
small stable. Even upon this venture
fickel fortune turned her sneer and
within a few years after the break
CorriRan's once unlimited baRkroN
was reduced to Il ptttance.
job Hunter mt seventh
Corrigan at seventy, Is n job hunt
err He seeks clerkship because he
needs the few dollars. the job pays to
! sustain him; TO provide him with the
necessaries of life. In the. hey-dey OF
his career he sometimes used To spend
$40 900 In q day-~and make sac, 200
to $4,000 the next day. Now he Is
seeking a job that will pay him in O
year only what ne used TO make in ~,
hour or two in the old days.
Corrigan was "A unique figure. Ag-
| gressivc almost to the point of rough
9 ness. quick-tempered, and with a sar-
, castle tongue, he made many enemies
I but more frieHdss He loved horses
: and he loved the racing game. Ana
, more than anything eIse, he loved tc
win
{ During the height OF his career hi
? raced his own horses on his owr
2 tracks--and won with them. Thu
e soured some of the other owners. They
{ thought Forrigan should either refuse
TO campaign his own horses on hi'
own track or have them pulled once