RACEALONG 307 



Thorp 



When the Alcander horses were dominating the 

 New England and New York state tracks, Homer 

 Brewster purchased a gelding named Thorp from 

 H. C. Thorp of Charlotte, Vt. He could! pace a two- 

 minute gait straight-away but he could not race 

 around the turns of a track without pounding his 

 knees. This made him worthless as a racing tool. 

 Brewster decided that he could make him go clear. 

 He bought him and Thorp's breeder was delighted 

 to pass him along. 



The following spring H. C. Thorp received many 

 favorable reports from the Brewster training camp. 

 The Alcander gelding stood the preparation and was 

 soon in trim to go to the races. All he wore for pro- 

 tection was a light pair of felt boots. Brewster's skill 

 as a trainer was above par at Charlotte. 



When the racing season opened Brewster won 

 regularly with Thorp. Many hinted that the gelding 

 was other than as represented. Finally during the 

 meeting at Malone, N. Y., Brewster sent for H. C. 

 Thorp. He arrived while the horse was being raced 

 and told racing officials that he bred and sold Thorp 

 to Homer Brewster and that there was noi question 

 in regard to the identity of the horse and that he 

 was sired by Alcander. 



This statement cleared the air until one winter 

 evening when Brewster's wife was entertaining a 

 few friends in a Burlington hotel. The partitions 

 were rather thin and a man in an adjoining room 

 heard her tell how clever her husband was in racing 



