The Driving Clubs of Greater Boston 



123 



with a view of enabling him to carry his 

 speed. 



Going into the breeding of Uhlan, it is found 

 that his dam, Blonde, was bred by Dr. Harry 

 L. Alderman, of Lexington, Mass., who owned 

 Brunette, the dam of Blonde, which he pur- 

 chased from his father. Dr. Alderman says 

 that Blonde had plenty of spirit and a will of 

 her own. It would never do to flash a whip 

 on her. She had a lot of natural speed, and 

 would have been a very fast trotter had she 

 not met with an accident when she was a 

 two-year-old and injured one of her hind 

 legs, which proved permanent in its nature. 

 He tried to train her, but after she got to a 

 certain point in her training this trouble al- 

 ways developed, and he gave it up in disgust. 

 At that, right out of his road wagon, hitched 

 to a sulky, Jere O'Neil drove her a quarter 

 in 35 seconds. 



Uhlan inherited his tremendous speed, as is 

 shown, not only from his sire and dam, but 

 his grand-dam. Brunette, as well. Trainer 

 John Trout, for a number of years manager 

 of the Club stables at Charles River Speed- 

 way, drove Brunette in all her races, and 

 gave her a record of 2:30 1-4. 



In speaking of Brunette, Mr. Trout gave 

 her career, while in his hands, as follows : 



"Brunette was a black mare, standing I 

 should say, over 15 hands, well proportioned, 

 and carried plenty of flesh upon her ribs, 

 good all over till you got down to her hocks, 

 which were pretty bad, and she gave me a 

 good deal of trouble to keep her in racing 

 form, in fact, I had to cocaine her very freely 

 in order to get her to race at all. It was her 

 weakness here that was the ultimate cause 

 of her break-down. She was sent to me the 

 Spring of 1887, when I and my son, Allie, 

 were located at Mystic Park. She was then 

 owned by Dan Beckler. I had seen the mare 

 before she came to me, at Beacon Park, where 

 she impressed me favorably. I started her for 

 the first time in a 2:50 class, at a one-day 

 meeting, held over the old half-mile track 

 then called Norfolk Park, Readville, Mass. 

 This was on June 17th, and she won very 

 handily in straight heats. I started her eight 

 times that year and she won six races for me. 

 One race at Haverhill she was off, and I had 

 to draw her after she had gone four or five 

 heats. The other race was the one in which 

 she broke down in the first heat, and never 

 afterwards started. 



"She was trained some the following 

 Spring by Jock Bowen at Mystic Park, but 

 she could not stand the prep. She was a game, 

 level-headed mare, and as pleasant a driver as 

 I ever had to do with. She never made a 



break, was absolutely dependable under all 

 circumstances and conditions, and I could 

 place her wherever I liked, race her in behind 

 other horses, or lay her along beside them, 

 and whenever I got ready to move, a cluck 

 and a touch of the whip on the shoulder was 

 all sufficient. She knew what was wanted of 

 her, and she was always there with the goods 

 to deliver. 



"As a matter of fact, she was a much faster 

 mare than her record would indicate, for I 

 drove her a mile in a work-out over the Tilton 

 (N. H.) half-mile track in 2:19 1-2, timed by 

 at least two outside parties, and when you re- 

 call that those were high-wheel sulky days, 

 you will appreciate that was going some. 



"Brunette carried her head quite low, with 

 her ears pricked forward, as if she had her at- 

 tention fixed on something ahead of her. She 

 was a good, clean-gaited trotter, but carried her 

 hind feet a little to the outside in passing by 

 her front feet. She had fairly good action, 

 but not excessive. She was always a good 

 doer, never missed a feed. I think I can see 

 some of her gait in her wonderful grand-son, 

 Uhlan, though she never had the high action 

 in front that he has. 



"Brunette was brought from Kentucky with 

 another mare by W. C. France, and the pair 

 was traded to Dick McGlue of Lynn, who 

 drove them to pole. I think he sold her to a 

 man who resided near Beacon Park. In any 

 event, I used to see the mare over there be- 

 fore she came into the possession of Dan 

 Beckler. Mr. France, I believe, tried to trace 

 the breeding of Brunette, and he told me that 

 he learned that she was sired by a saddle horse, 

 and that her dam was trotting bred. This is 

 about all that I know regarding her breeding, 

 but I do know that she was a wonderful trot- 

 ter for those days." 



Arthur H. PARKER-Breeder of Uhlan 



Since his advent in the breeding of the 

 light harness horse, Mr. Parker has made a 

 name for himself with the topmost breeders 

 of this country. At Shawsheen River Farm, 

 Bedford, where Uhlan was bred, is one of 

 the best locations in the vicinity of Boston 

 for the rearing and developing of young 

 horses. It is situated on an elevation that 

 permits of one to look for miles up the 

 valley of the Shawsheen River. 



On the farm are three mansions, as, besides 

 Mr. Parker, his two brothers reside in 

 homes erected and furnished with the ele- 

 gance of wealth. Good, commodious barns 

 contain every comfort for their inmates, as, 

 besides the horses, are kept a herd of cows, 

 the milk supply being sent to Boston. The 



