294 The Trotting and the Pacing Horse 



Sentiment without a particle of commercialism 

 brought together the men who sat around the 

 board each year. To them a race was a contest 

 for which they were willing to pay, should the 

 association which they represented and in a few 

 instances managed come out at the small end of 

 the horn when the last heat was trotted. This 

 happened two or three times in Springfield, there 

 being one season when seven of us were called 

 on to chip in #1000 apiece to balance accounts. 

 Then there were years when the balance was the 

 other way. In the old days the commercial 

 spirit of the turf was left to those who entered 

 and drove horses and the general public. The 

 financial ventures of those who managed meet- 

 ings were foreign to the race track. Grand Cir- 

 cuit week was their holiday, and they took as 

 much pride in keeping up the standard as the 

 New York Yacht Club has in retaining the 

 America Cup. It was the good old spirit for 

 genuine sport that called Colonel Edwards to the 

 front in Cleveland ; and it is with regret that I see 

 this spirit on the decline, the tendency to-day 

 being toward shorter races and increased specu- 

 lation. Such a course, especially the latter, is 

 beset with danger, for without a big grain of 



