The New York herald., 1922-08-27
CAN FIND NO RIVAL
FOR THE CHAMPION
Secretary of National Trotting
Association Tries to Ar
range Contest.
ARI0N GUY DECLINES
Media, 1859 IA, Too Nervous
to Start Against Another
Horse, Trainer Says.
ARIoN GUY DECLINES
ny GURNEY c. CUE.


citation, writes: Il note your inquiry
why not a horse race between 2: 100
trotters% Hartford tried to arrange
one but failed. Early in July Thomas
w Murphy wrote me in regard to an
engagement for Peter Manning at Hart
ford. I replied that the Connecticut
Fair would, no doubt, be pleased 10 put
on race between Peter Manning and
Arion Guy il one of them was trans
ferred to another stable ten days prior
TO the race. 4 took UP the Arion Guy
end of it with II. X. Devereux. who is
managing that horse for Mrs. Devereux,
who owns him. Mr.. Devereux stated
that they had nothing to gain and all
TO lose by such race. After Media
beat :00 wrote to w. y. Dickerman in
regard to a race between her and Peter
Manning, even suggesting dash OF one
mile. the object being to reduce the race
record that has been held by Hamburg
Belle since 1909. While in Philadelphia
a week ago / also took up the matter
with Harry Fleming, the trainer of
Media He said that he and Mr..
Dickerman had talked over the tele-
phone the preceding night. They de-
cided to let up on Media for a couple
of weeks in order to freshen her UP
tride and then prepare her for trip
against her record over the track at
Syracuse during the New York State
Fair Harry told me 1t would not be
right to ask another horse to race with
her, as 1t was very doubtful if they
could get her away. He said that when
she made her record of :59A at Toledo
they had 20 take all the horses off the
track while she was going. Murphy is
willing TO start Peter Manning against
any horse that wears harness, no differ
ence whether he IS a trotter or a PAGER.
Unfortunately there Is no horse in sight
to make race for him."
Mr.. Gocher deserves the thanks of all
horsemen for his efforts to arrange
race between the 200 trotters. Not since
Uhlan, :5S, and Hamburg Belle, . :01H
met at Cleveland and Boston. thirteen
years ago. have the pins beep set for
such a contest as the Hartford secre-
tary tried to bring about. Mr.. Deve-
reux's declination in behalf OF Arion
Guy reflects the old aversion to getting
a stallion beaten in, a race. In the days
when champion could go TO the stud
and command q fee of 1900 or more
before he had been tried as n sire the
owners of prospective kings of the trot-
ting turf were so sensitive about rislSinG
defeat that they usually relied on press
agents and performances against time
to make the regulations of their stall
lions without pitting them against dan
KerOu9 flNdiS LOT llc hiiiohc- DtN 80
these days, when horse breeding Is 80
restricted that even the greatest of tried
sires rarely have their books full, and
when racing capacity is more sought
after than extreme speed alone, IL looks
as if Arion Guy could well afford TO
take a chance with Peter Manning Tor
IL he could make the champion trot
mile in eco or better in actual contest
It might improve rather than impair his
reputation.
Nedda's extreme nervousness in COM
pany proba bly, explains the fact That she
made her record OF / :594 without
prompter. Some OF the fastest trotters
and runners the American turf mas seen
were practically useless for racing be-
cause of this temperament Alice Car
neal the dam OF the great Lexington,
was one OF them. She could work fast
enough to win everything. but the mo-
ment she went to the post TO start with
other horses she began 10 tremble ike
a leaf and broke out In perspiration IN
a way that literally prostrated her Mr.
Gocher once owned trotter OF Inuch
the same kind The black gelding Guy,
2.i0s,. could fairly fly in his work, and
was one OF the sweetest OF road horses.
hut mt him In a race with other trot-
ters and he had no rival in his day as
n bad actor AS for Media. she has
trotted some great races IN company
and II remains TO be seen whether she
would not go away with single COM
netitor like Peter Manning. so driven as
not TO annoy her Anyhow, Il could do
no harm to either horse 70 try the ex-
periment when they are ready 10 so
against time at Syracuse.
Peter Manning's mile in 1894 at Hud-
son River Driving Park on Wednesday
must be ciassed among the best per-
formances Of his career. At its best the
old course Is one OF the slowest In the
Grand Circuit. as shown by the TACT
that while the fastest OF tro.ters and
nacers have been hammering away at
the track record for thirty years ana
more none OF them could ever set II
below 2.00a4, and It took PAGER with
a mark OF 1854 to do that. To appre-
ciate the full meaning Of Peter Man
ning's performance Il must be remem-
bered that II was his first start in
public in 1922 and that last year at this
time he had not yet shown mile IN
200. also that he trotted the last half
at Poughkeepsie in 0:59, 1:5S clip.
EVERYTHING seems TO indicate that he Is
faster this year than last and II no
mishap befalls him he should have a
splendid chance to make good Muir
phys ambition TO give him record
DCiOW l1dI OF any ndIhtSS &C NhRs"
mark was made without the aid OF
windshield This means 1854 pr better.
the fastest legitimate harness record
being the 1:56A OF the WestcAester
county PAGER, Directum l., bret by
James Butler at East View Farm, near
Tarrytown, and driven by Murphy, in
1915. III Peter Manning should beat this
mark II would be the first time In thirty
years that the best record for trotters
has been faster than the best record for
PAGERS. At Terre Haute. Ind. on Sep
tember 2S 1892, Budd Doble drove Nancy
Hanks TO a trotting record OF 2:0i.
which then was the fastest ever made
ry "a harness horse, but It was euualed
the very next year by the PAGER Mascot,
driven by w. J. Andrews, and since
then the PAGERS have always Kept a
little ahead OF the trotters.
Brandywine, winner OF the $4,000 race
Tor two-year-olds at PoughSeepsie on
Wednesday IN 2:12h and 2:i1h, Is
apparently n much greater fillv than her
present record indicates. When Jane
Revere won at Toledo few weeks ago,
setting the seasons record at 2:0Sh
for irotters of her age, Brandywlne was
beaten only n length and was separately
timed In 2.0Sia Her strong finish
forced Ben White TO shake up Jane
Revere In earnest to stall off her home
stretch rush. Her race at Toledo was