CHAPTER VL 

 How I Became a Turfman* 



Perhaps the story of how I came to be a turfman and to 

 spend the best days of my life as a rider, trainer and owner 

 may not be uninteresting at this juncture, for it will illus- 

 trate clearly to young men who contemplate embarking in 

 the business the trials through which they must pass. 



I was born in the city of Lexington, at the corner of 

 Short and Cheapside, June 5, 1827. One evening when I 

 was about ten years of age I formed the acquaintance of 

 Stephen Welsh. We were playing hide and seek in the old 

 market house and were having a royal time. Welsh and I 

 were soon fast friends, and he gained such an ascendency 

 over me that on the following morning he persuaded me to 

 run away and become a jockey. I wrapped up a few of my 

 belongings in a piece of paper, met Welsh, and we tramped 

 down the old Frankfort road to Robert Burbage's stock farm 

 and training stables near the Forks of Elkhorn. 



I told Mr. Burbage that my parents had sent me out to 

 secure work and make a living. At first he was disinclined 

 to credit my story, but I clung to my statement and could 

 not be shaken in the recital. Mr. Burbage saw I was of 

 small stature and that there was some promise in me as a 

 jockey, concluded to give me a chance to show what was in 

 me, and that in the meantime he would investigate the truth- 

 fulness of my story. 



To test my courage, the next day he put me to walking 

 a horse called Whipster around the ring with the other 

 boys. The animal began jumping and plunging, but I was 

 not abashed and laughed and held to him. A negro groom 

 called Harry Lewis, who afterward became distinguished as 

 the trainer of Lexington, told Mrs. Burbage at dinner 

 that day that he felt sure the stable had obtained a jewel. 

 He said I was a natural born rider, and even then he was 

 convinced I was the best boy in the stable. Welsh, who 

 induced me to run away from home, rode Gray Eagle in his 

 races with Wagner and became a famous jockey. 



