New-York tribune., 1918-06-23
Jotuen sSudden
anne Recalls
Sire S Triumphs
Lucky" Loder's Spcarnint
One of Two to Win Both
Derby and Grand Prix
By !. s. Mitchell


tho English colt owned by Harry Payne
Whitney. illustrates family tradition.
and, incidentally. one more peculiar
coincidence of the running turf. fos
IT was in much the same manner that
his sire, Spearmint, rose to fame in
the Old World and furnished one Of
the most sensational chapters Of Ep-
som Derry racing. It may not be
known that Spearmint, 1906, is one of
Two horses to win the greatest double
events on earth. the Derby and the
Grand Prix de Paris.
Once before. in 1865, q horse per-
formed the feat, and he was the ever
to- be remembered French three-year-
old Gladiateur, and If anything he
might be rated as a shade better than
Spearmint Tor he accounted tor the
Guineas and St. Leger. OF cou. Sc,
the French horses appearance did not
contribute such q thrill, for long be-
tore he appeared for the Derby his
FORM was sort of byword in Eng and,
whiie Spearmint had never figured in
class.c. but the fact that some won-
derfu, speed was shown by him In pri-
Vate shortened the price, and. still more
wonderful. he went to the post a first
choice at 6 to /.
For horse to be made favorite who
mad never shown q scrap of ciassic
form in pub ic had the EPSON crowd
standing on its head. as it were. and
| even the keenest scouts on form were
IN a quandary. Still, few got wind
OF the fact that the stable was stalking
its last penny on the colt. and this had
| the effect Of tightening the odds more
| than anything else
Made Derby Record
AS the horses were being saddled IL
was only natural that the connoisseurs
uocked to get peep at the curiosity.
and those who were able to focus on
hlm saw tremendously muscu ar colt.
biazed bay with four white socks
standing more than 16 hands, and
while not very handsome, possessing
al the points of the first-clasa mover.
1t Is common history that Spearmint
made Derby record of 2:3s45 sec
onds, while it took Gladiateur 2:46 to
complete the route.
Spearmint was owned by the late
Major Eustace Loder. who vas steward
o. the English Jockey Cub. the Irish
iurf Club and who was popularity
known to the more aristocra.ic race
goers as Lucky Loder" nd the owner
OF the famous mare Pretty Polly, an
animal that earned the nice sum Of
SIof,!'o IN stakes in about eighteen
months, among her victories being the
one Thousand Guineas, Oaks and st.
Leger. she was not nominated for the
l9o4 Derby, butit was the general opinion
That had she been she could have given
the EPSON winner, St. Amant. fully fif-
teen pounds and handsome thrash
| ing. Pretty Polly had lot TO 10 with
] the success of Spearmint The same
year that Pretty Poly was showing
her wonderful form Major Loder pur-
chased a yearling at the Sir Tatton
Sykes sale for ST. 500, and he was the
only bidder. Much less money would
have taken the youngster had It not
oeen FOR the breeders fores ght of
nomination in all the big classics. II
was more or less of chance purchase
on the part OF the major, and q little
later the tyro was christened Spear-
mint and subsequently appeared on the
llst OF acceptances. being by the Aus
trallan stallion Carbine out Of Maid Of
the Mint, so that Johren combines the
three great blood lines of Musket. Gle
mence and Minting.
Unfit at Two Years
J In his two year-old season Spearmint
did nothing, as he was sick most of the
time, but he kept growing and develop
49, 'AS Ii'ASS- ycdi-Olu year ne
showed fine streak of health and all
OF sudden an amazing turn of speed.
Neither owner nor trainer could account
for the great change in the colt and at
nrst refused to persuade themselves
that they possessed q real find"
Pretty Polly was ca led in as a trial
horse, and then it was found that
Spearmint was a smasher for fair.
Several times the pair were tried
against each other in the weight for
age handicap. with the colt always able
to hold his own. In the month Of April
Spearmint was quoted at 66 10 | in the
spring betting. but even at that long
price there were few takers.
A couple OF weeks or so before the
Derby Spearmint had a real tryout at
even weights with Pretty Polly over
the mile and a half journey, and ne
threw the stable into spasm of joy
wren he gave the mare q two-length
beating. On that occasion Spearm Mt
was s,eercd by Danny Maher, who sub
sequently rode him to victory in the big
event.
fer the trial Maher said that the
Derby triumph was q certainty, and SO
It turned out to be. A though the re-
suit of the trial was closely guarded, It
leaked out somehow, and the price about
the colt suddenly dropped to 10 to i, but
before it did the stable rad planked
its money on the bay. From start 70
finish Maher had the race we'll in hand.
and finally was content to win by .
length.