Rarus
date: label: Date made
content: 1878
name: label: maker
content: Homer Lee & Co.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Black and white print of a trotting horse standing in a grassy meadow. This is an advertisement for Vacuum Oil Company of Rochester,N.Y.
label: Description
content: A black and white print of a trotting stallion standing in a grassy meadow. He has a white diamond-shaped marking on his forehead and white stockings on his hind-legs, otherwise he is black. Two store houses with shed roves are in the distance among trees. This is an advertisement for Vacuum Oil Company of Rochester, N.Y.
label: Description
content: Rarus was bred by R.B. Conklin upon his retirement in New York in the early 1800s. His dam was called Nancy Awful because she had terrible tantrums, but Conklin bred her to Rysdyk’s Hambletonian to produce a stunning bay trotting prospect. Rarus was marked as a future champion from birth, and Conklin gave him an over-abundance of attention compared to the other horses on the farm. In his first practice race at age three, Rarus trotted the mile in three minutes. Rarus won his first scrub race at age six under the training of James Meade on August 21, 1874 in Long Island, winning a purse of $800. He was then transferred to Brooklyn to train under James Page and lowered his record to 2:28 ½ in one season. His early rival, Kansas Chief, was a former cowpony, and the two went back and forth in winnings for two seasons before Conklin changed Rarus’ driver to John Splan. Rarus was then entered in the Grand Circuit, where he won continuously for two years. Conklin continually turned down offers for the horse up to $45,000 because he believed the same amount of money could be won in purses. Rarus was hailed as “King of the Turf” for a short time after beating Goldsmith Maid’s on August 3, 1878 in Buffalo. His time, 2:13 1/4, was promoted as the “Greatest Achievement on Record.” Z.E. Simmons finally purchased Rarus for $36,000, but the sale was poorly timed. Because it was to take place before an exhibition, track officials were furious and banned both Rarus and Conklin from all tracks forever. With no choice, Simmons sent Rarus to Robert Bonner’s farm. Rarus was eventually inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1978 as an “Immortal.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Architecture, Domestic Buildings
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1870-1879
label: Subject
content: Horses
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content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Advertising
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Horses
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3592
label: catalog number
content: 60.3592
objectType: label: Object Name
content: engraving
label: Object Type
content: Engraving
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 15 1/4 in x 20 1/2 in; 38.735 cm x 52.07 cm