8o 



The Driving Clubs of Greater Boston 



ence in every way in having the club grow 

 stronger in numbers and finance, but he used 

 his check book in increasing the quality of the 

 horses in the matinees. One venture of his 

 was the purchase of the trotting mare, Kath- 

 erine R., 2:11 3-4, from Trainer Harry Jones, 

 Rushville, Ind. This naturally led other in- 



HARRY C. THAYER 

 President 1913 



fluential members of the club to dig into their 

 pockets for racing material that would be ca- 

 pable of giving President Thayer's new pur- 

 chase a real horse race. 



In the Winter was held another banquet in 

 Ouincy, and the after-dinner speaking was a 

 revelation to many present. G. Pray Smith, 

 of the Metropolitan Club, expiated on the 

 good accomplished by any driving club that 

 prohibited the use of the hopples, and said 

 that during the coming season there would be 

 interclub meetings between the Metropolitan 

 and the Old Colony, as the only two clubs in 

 Greater Boston that barred the straps. 



There was a big delegation present from 

 the Dorchester Club, the feelings between the 

 Old Colony and that club always having been 

 of the very best. Somehow the remarks about 

 the hopples did not sit very easily on their 

 nerves, and, among others, President R. G. 



Crosby spoke right out in the meeting and 

 said that his club, the Dorchesters, was will- 

 ing to meet any and all clubs in Greater Bos- 

 ton, and it was the sentiment of its members 

 that they were fully as strong in racing ma- 

 terial as any of the driving clubs. He, further- 

 more, said that the Dorchesters were not 

 bound down to using hopples on their horses, 

 but they did so because in the beginning it 

 was popular with all horsemen to use the 

 straps on pacers when the occasion required. 

 In this way many members of the Dor- 

 chester Club had purchased pacers that, in 

 order to race their best, had to wear hopples, 

 and it would be a big injustice to these mem- 

 bers in preventing their use. It was wholly 

 on account of justice that the club still con- 

 tinued upholding the hopples. 



President Thayer gave a very interesting 

 talk, saying that he hoped that the coming 

 months would see a lot of friendly rivalry be- 

 tween the driving clubs, and that the Old Col- 

 ony Club intended being a participant in many 

 of the interclub events. He knew the senti- 

 ment of the club was favorable to going out 

 and meeting other clubs, and it was his opin- 

 ion that when it came to interclub racing, the 

 Old Colony was fully as well fortified in fast 

 trotters and fast pacers as any club in not 

 only Greater Boston, but in New England. In 

 the interclub- meets of 1910, the Metropolitan 

 had won the prize cup, the emblem of the 

 championship of Xew England. He hoped 

 that ere the season of 1913 had closed, the 

 Old Colony and the Metropolitan would have 

 met, and the supremacy of the two organiza- 

 tions be firmly decided. 



Among other speakers were Col. A. C. 

 Drinkwater, first-president of the Old Colony 

 and the breeder of the noted stallion. Cochato 

 (3), 2:11 1-2; S. Walter Wales, past presi- 

 dent of the Dorchesters ; Harry C. Briggs, 

 past president of the Brockton Club ; Fred 

 Beachev, publisher of the American Horse 

 Breeder; J. O. Reay, the owner of many valu- 

 able racing horses in the present and past. 

 and Edward E. Cogswell. 



With the counting up of the awards at the 

 close of the season, it was found that Presi- 

 dent Thayer had bought wisely in securing 

 Katherine R., as she had not only captured 

 the point prize, but on August 16, in a race 

 against Van Dyke, she equaled the track rec- 

 ord of 1 :o", which Altro L. had held for five 

 years. 



The pacers, too, had demonstrated a lot of 

 speed, as on two occasions during the season 

 the record had been lowered. On June 2S, 

 Miss Winifred, the property of H. W. 

 Waite, and driven by John Daley, won the 



