310 RACEALONG 



expelled. The clue came through a business card 

 which his backer handed a chance acquaintance 

 while at Salisbury. After the penalty had been in 

 force for several years, the governing board decided 

 to give Oatman another chance to make good. In the 

 interval he had located at Fond du Lac, Wis., and 

 soon appeared with the good horse Dan Hedgewood. 



Kewanee Ruth 



Early in 1918 Oatman met Thomas Graham of 

 Chicago in Fond du Lac. Graham was connected with 

 a film company and showed an interest in horses. 

 Oatman told him that if he purchased a couple of 

 horses for him, they could make a ton of money. 

 Graham fell in with it. Their first selection was made 

 at a Chicago sale, where Oatman bid off Lucille R. 

 for $160. She had no record but had shown a few 

 miles below 2:20 in races. The next move was to 

 purchase Kewanee Ruth, 2:06l^, for $2,500. 



A few days later an application was made to insure 

 Lucille R. with a live stock company for $2,500. The 

 policy was accepted but when the company made a 

 move to place a portion of the policy with an organi- 

 zation of the same kind, an up to date agent, who was 

 in touch with the auction sale reports, turned it down 

 and reported what Lucille R. sold for. The policy 

 was cancelled and the premium returned. 



Both mares were shipped to Logansport, Ind., and 

 placed in training. A few days after their arrival, 

 Oatman wrote his wife and a man named Rogers, 

 living in northern Wisconsin, that Kewanee Ruth had 



