The Driving Clubs of Greater Boston 



127 



passed through his hands when young and un- 

 tried the noted Sadie Mae, 2:06 1-4; Todd, 

 2:14 3-4, sold for $30,000 at auction; Early 

 Bird. 2:10, one of the best race horses ever 

 brought to New England; Cochato, 2:11 1-2, 

 winner of 'the $10,000 Charter Oak Futurity; 

 Bob Douglas, 2:04 1-2. winner of the same 

 stake and bred by Mr. Leavitt; Dolly Bid- 

 well, 2:081-2, winner of the $10,000 Roger 

 Williams stake; Guinette, 2:05; Gordon 

 Prince, 2:05 1-2; Will Leyburn, 2:06; Terrill 

 S., 2:08 1-4, etc.. and with one or two excep- 

 tions all picked when in their colthood days. 



Mr. Leavitt has never personally trained 

 horses, still the fact is generally known that 

 he directs the amount of work and care which 

 those under his management are given by his 

 trainer. To a single move he is the "boss" in 

 what shall be done on the track and in the 

 stable. Even is this carried so far by him that 

 so far as possible he dictates to the trainer 

 how he wishes the races driven. How won- 

 derful is his judgment in this sphere of the 

 horse proposition has been proved through 

 his success with a racing stable of his own, 

 under Jere O'Neil, and later in the manage- 

 ment of whatever other horses he has con- 

 trolled when being campaigned. 



As the manager of stallions in service he 

 certainly is king. In the line of a "stud hoss 

 man" his repuation cannot be equaled. There 

 have been Bill Simmons with his George 

 Wilkes. 2 .22. Williams with Allerton, 2 109 1-4, 

 Xelson with his namesake, Nelson, 2 :og, but 

 there has never before been a Leavitt, or his 

 like, in the bringing forward to the limelight 

 of publicity a stallion. 



"< live Leavitt a well-bred stud and he will 

 fill his book in a country where mares are 

 scarce as hen's teeth," is a saying among those 

 who are acquainted with what he has done 

 with the stallions that have been placed under 

 his jurisdiction. 



He was the father of Bingen when in the 

 stud at the Forbes' Farm; he was the father 

 of Todd when in Kentucky and at the John- 

 son Farm, and he fathered Cochato in Ken- 

 tucky and at the Johnson Farm. 



How much Air. Leavitt is appreciated by 

 the Kentucky horsemen is related by An- 

 drew G. Leonard, the prominent Kentucky 

 turf correspondent, as follows : 



"When .Mr. Leavitt purchased Bingen, 

 the colt, while a fast youngster, had attracted 

 practically no attention among the horsemen 

 in Kentucky, in fact he was criticised for 

 what was termed his lack of judgment. After 

 Bingen had trotted in his two-year-old form, 

 in 2:121-2, and had shown his ability to 

 lower the then existing two-vear-old record 



held by Arion, his judgment was applauded, 

 and when in after years this wonderful stal- 

 lion had founded the greatest family in the 

 trotting register, had sired the peerless 

 Uhlan, the greatest of all trotters, and had 

 seen his sons and grandsons famous in the 

 stud, a full realization was had of Air. 

 Leavitt's foresight. He is practically respon- 

 sible for the Bingen tribe, for the probabili- 

 ties are that the colt in other hands would 

 never have become a great race horse, nor 

 would he in all likelihood have found the op- 

 portunities that were given him in his New 

 England home. 



"In developing Todd into a speed marvel 

 in his colthood, and in sending the son of 

 Bingen and Fanella to Kentucky, Mr. 

 Leavitt made it possible for this wonderful 

 horse to become the most phenomenal sire 

 of his age who ever lived. The influence 

 made by Todd on the breeding industry in 

 Kentucky is incalculable, for while this horse 

 died when verv young and made but three 

 seasons in the Blue Grass state, he numbers 

 among the members of his family many 

 champions. Fie himself in the first genera- 

 tion was an extraordinary success, while his 

 sons and grandsons, his daughters and his 

 granddaughters have found places in almost 

 every important breeding establishment in 

 the land. 



"Perhaps the most notable achievement in 

 his career as a horseman was the selection of 

 The Northern Man, which he owns in part- 

 nership with John W. Xash, proprietor of 

 Sledmcre Farm, Lexington, Ky. Here was 

 a horse who, while he was beautifully bred 

 and a speed marvel as a youngster, had 

 through adverse circumstances been practi- 

 cally forgotten. George Leavitt believing 

 firmly in his ability as a sire, purchased a 

 controlling interest in him and immediately 

 set to work to vindicate his judgment. His 

 first step was to give the horse a record, and 

 although suffering from an ailment incurred 

 by injudicious handling in his colthood, the 

 stallion gained a mark of 2:06 1-2 with less 

 work than is usually given a horse in prepar- 

 ing him for a mile in 2 130. After this had 

 been accomplished Air. Leavitt, who is by 

 all odds the shrewdest manager of a trotting 

 stallion wdio ever lived, brought to his horse 

 many of the most noted brood mares in the 

 land, and today there is no more popular sire 

 in Kentucky, or one who has a greater num- 

 ber of richly-bred promising youngsters of 

 individuality and speed. 



"George W. Leavitt is not only a practical 

 horseman, but he has all the theoretical 

 knowledge that is so essential in the success 



