The Driving Clubs of Greater Boston 



131 



Archie B. selling choice at $IOO, Pilot for $50, 

 and the field at half that sum, Carpenter and 

 his party played Pilot. 



While a pair of four-ounce sinkers had been 

 placed on Archie B., it was considered that in 

 the case of putting up another driver it might 

 not prove enough to be any cinch of his los- 

 ing. Two heats Pilot had gathered to his 

 credit, and there was bother brewing in the 

 air. Before the third heat Carpenter had the 

 groom take off the wheels on the high-wheel 

 sulky and slip some washers on the axle next 

 to the shoulder. Then the nuts were tightened 

 so the wheels could barely turn with Carpen- 

 ter's weight on the sulky, and out they marched 

 for the verdict. 



It came, in Charley Drew, the starting judge, 

 requesting Carpenter to turn his gelding over 

 to "Uncle Jock" Bowen. For one turn of the 

 track Archie B. and Pilot raced head and head. 

 Then the "fixings" told its story and the for- 

 mer began tiring so that at the three-quarters 

 he was absolutely out of the race. A big 

 hustle was then made to have ail the pools 

 declared off. Those on the inside expected 

 the judges would give them the usual heads 

 I win, tails you lose, two-headed cent decision, 

 but the suckers had been bitten so often at 

 that play it certainly looked like serious trou- 

 ble if the Pilot's tickets were not paid in full. 

 After sizing the temper of the crowd the offi- 

 cials in the stand announced the heat and race, 

 and "cashing in" was in order. It was the 

 first time that tightening sulky wheels with 

 washers had been tried. The following week 

 Archie B. was a close second to Martha Wilkes 

 in 2:iS, which caused "Uncle jock" to de- 

 clare that Carpenter had forgotten to washer 

 his wheels. 



At another time, however, Carpenter got 

 whip-sawed in a lively fashion. He had a rare 

 good green trotter that had shown so fast it 

 was thought best to slip off to a section where 

 he was not known by the speculators. To the 

 Oil Circuit was the game. In the opening 

 betting the Providence gelding went for little, 

 but the steady flow of money by the few be- 

 hind him gradually advanced his price till he 

 sold favorite against the whole field. Among 

 the starters was a little poke of a mare ; a 

 sorry-looking plug. Her sulky was a home- 

 made affair, with straight axle and wobbly 

 wheels, and the harness cheap, she was not 

 even figured in the betting, but was the butt 

 of jokes from the grooms and the race-track 

 regulars. When the word "go" was given, 

 though, off slipped the rube to the front with 

 his despised trotter, and was never headed in 

 the race, taking a record of 2 -.29 3-4. The 

 Providence delegation tried to settle with rube 



before the conclusion of the race, but he plain- 

 ly informed them that he stood to win about 

 every cent in the pool box. The following day 

 this same little mare was started in the 2 128 

 class, and won, reducing her record to 2:23 1-4. 

 The Carpenter crowd returned home much 

 dejected and declaring that they had run 

 against a ringer. It turned out everything 

 was all right, as the mare was Justine, by 

 Benediction. 



CHAPTER IV 



History of the Old-Time Race 

 Tracks in Greater Boston 



WHILE must of the horsemen of 

 today are familiar with the his- . 

 tory of Readville and Com- 

 bination Parks, yet it is well, as 

 a matter of record, to give the 

 story of each in the account of the race tracks 

 that have been constructed in the Metropolitan 

 District of Boston. From the time of the 

 opening of the South End Driving Park to the 

 present period, there have been many changes 

 brought about, as the following article amply 

 attests : 



Old Saugus race track was for years known 

 as Franklin Park. It is one of the oldest race 

 courses in the country. In the Fall of 1857 

 the park was finished, and Dr. Timothy H. 

 Smith, the proprietor, held a fair upon the 

 grounds ; John Sherman of "old-time memory" 

 managed it the next season ; Samuel Emerson 

 had it in 1859, and Hitchcock & Emerson in 

 i860. 



In 1861 Lyme Hitchcock had it alone, and 

 these were tip-top races, and the season was 

 a successful one, but the horse fair in the Fall 

 was, pecuniarily speaking, a failure. In 1862 

 Dan Robbins & Co. leased it and made other 

 additions and improvements in the way of 

 building extra box stalls, stands and sheds, for 

 which there was an increasing demand ; in en- 

 larging the necessary accommodation of the 

 house, and filling up and grading the track and 

 embanking the back-stretch and lower turn, 

 to prevent its being flooded when the tide ran 

 high. 



From this time until 1884 Old Saugus track 

 had a varied experience, for many years there 

 being no racing there at all, the property fall- 

 ing back to its original owner, Dr. Smith, who 

 lived in the residence, later destroyed by fire, 

 that was in the corner to the entrance of the 

 track coming from the direction of Cliftondale. 

 In the Fall of 1883, C. C. Mayberry. in com- 

 pany with three other men, bought Saugus 

 race course from the estate of Dr. Smith, then 

 deceased, and in the following year rebuilt 



