The Driving Clubs of Greater Boston 



125 



Reed, 2:19 1-4: Blackwood, 2:21 1-2; Acco- 

 lon, 2:101-4: Joe [dleman, 2-.22\-2\ Holly 

 Tree n). 2:25 1-4: Thomas Aquinas (3), 

 2:21 1-4; and Cochato Brave, 2:21, 1-4. 



Mr. Parker served on the board of direc- 

 tors of the New England Trotting" Horse 

 Breeders' Association, and became a member 

 0/ the .Metropolitan Driving Club in 1906. 

 lie is also a member of the Gentlemen's 

 Driving Club of Boston. Frequently he- 

 slips over to the Charles River Speedway 

 with one of his speedy trotters, a two or 

 three-year-old, and captures a few blue rib- 

 bons from the aged trotters. 



Uhlan's first season to sleigh will be re- 

 membered by those who saw him at the 

 speedway. Other victories with the young- 

 sters Mr. Parker owned and drove there were 

 with Aconite, Gun Metal, The Alderman, etc. 

 Mr. Parker resides at the Shawsheen River 

 Farm, Bedford, Mass. 



Robert C. Proctor- -Trainer of Uhlan 



Much could be written of Robert C. Proc- 

 tor, the man who took Uhlan the Fall he 

 was a three-year-old, and .developed and 

 raced him up to the time he was sold to Mr. 

 Billings, as he has spent his entire life with 

 horses. 



He was born in Lexington, Ky., in 1857, 

 and received his education in the local 

 schools of his native city. When still a mere 

 youth he engaged with H. P. McGrath, of 

 Lexington, Ky., to ride running horses. He 

 then trained colts on the leading stock farms 

 in Kentucky until 1893, when he came North, 

 becoming head trainer for Frank Jones at 

 Portsmouth, N. H., and he developed and 

 drove in races while there Tom Boy, 

 2:10 1-2; Mickey, 2:20: Vendetta, 2:20 1-2; 

 Forrester, 2:22 1-4; Light Moon, with which 

 he was second in 2:11, etc. 



In 1897 he opened a public training stable 

 at Readville track, where he is still located. 

 Among the best ones he developed and cam- 

 paigned at Readville, to the close of 1914, 

 can be named The Leading Lady, which he 

 gave a world's three-year-old record of 2 :o7 ; 

 Sir Todd, 2:10 3-4: Nellie Temple, 2:05 1-4: 

 Albia, 2:083-4: Bergen (3), 2:101-2; Bethel, 

 2:161-4; Miss Pratt, 2:171-4; Newton, 

 2:17 1-4 ; The Minute Man, 2:21 1-4; Bismya. 

 2:09 I_ 4. winner of five races in 1813; Bon 

 Vivant (3), 2:10 1-4; High Private (3), 

 2-.2J, 3-4, etc. Mr. Proctor resides at Read- 

 ville, Mass. 



CHAPTER II 



Incidents in the Life of George W. 

 Leavitt, the Noted Horseman 



GEORGE W. LEAVITT, New 

 England's foremost horseman, 

 was born in Pembroke, Me. He 

 left home when twenty-one years 

 of age and went to Readville, 

 where he worked in an iron foundry for four 

 years. Then he returned to Pembroke for a 

 year, came back to Boston and got a job 

 as conductor on the horse cars that, at the 

 time, ran on Shawmut Avenue. After this he 

 sold lubricating oils on the road. Dogs got to 

 be his stronghold for a while. He owned the 

 .champion of them all, the Irish setter Elcho, 

 Jr., and his full sister, Norine, 2d. Elcho was 

 exhibited all over the country, winning blues, 

 until finally Mr. Leavitt sold him to Dr. Jar- 

 vis, of Claremont, N. H., for $1,775. 



From his first years of understanding he 

 was passionately fond of a good horse ; in 

 fact, when in his boyhood days, the only way 

 that his father could get him to do any work 

 was by bringing a horse into the occa- 

 sion. Whenever the senior Mr. Leavitt could 

 spot a wood pile a long way from home, he 

 would buy, with the object of having George 

 kept busy and out of mischief in hauling it. 

 Then when selling oils, he became more and 

 more identified with horses, till finally he gave 

 up the road and devoted his entire time to 

 his fancy. 



In his chosen vocation Mr. Leavitt met 

 with pronounced success, not only for him- 

 self, but for those who used his keen horse 

 judgment in obtaining stallions and brood 

 mares for stock farms, or racing material with 

 the object of capturing rich stakes on the turf. 

 It was through his judgment that Col. John 

 E. Thayer bought Ralph Wilkes, 2 :o6 3-4, 

 that held, with Bingen, 2:06 1-4, the world's 

 trotting record for five-year-old stallions of 

 2 :o6 3-4, and later he induced Colonel Thayer 

 to purchase Baron Wilkes, 2:18, acting as his 

 agent in securing the two famous stallions. It 

 was Mr. Leavitt who prevailed on J. Malcolm 

 Forbes to buy Bingen, who got Charles Whit- 

 temore to bring May King, 2 :2o, from Ken- 

 tucky, who bought and managed successfully 

 a racing stable for A. S. Bigelow, and who 

 was entirely responsible for the purchase of 

 Peter the Great, 2:07 1-4, by his present 

 owner. 



These are a few examples of his keenness 

 in picking the wheat from the chaff when 

 buying weanlings, yearlings and two-year- 

 olds, as the majority of his purchases have 

 been. Just to resume for a moment, there 



