The Driving Clubs of Greater Boston 



139 



Clarke maintained his advantage to the half, 

 when Mr. Belledeu, who had been slowly 

 gaining, passed him and held the party the 

 balance of the distance. Mr. Clarke finished 

 second, and Mr. Pritchard, third, a half- 

 dozen lengths away. Mr. Belledeu held a 

 watch and reported that Kentucky Star paced 

 the mile for him in 2:12 1-2. 



Xow came a new driving club in Boston, 

 that was conceived, secured fifty-three mem- 

 bers, and then never happened, the promot- 

 ers giving up the ghost in disgust. 



It was in February, 1901, that some of the 

 leading road drivers of Greater Boston, 

 believing that the near future would 

 see the passing of Beacon Street 

 boulevard for use in snow racing, 

 which would compel the local horsemen to 

 use the Charles River Speedway, began the 

 agitation for a driving club at the speed- 

 way. In the two years since the speedway 

 had been opened little attention had been 

 paid to it, though the Metropolitan Park 

 Commissioners had always been ready to put 

 it in first-class condition for fast work when 

 there was snow. However, the local road 

 drivers had so little use for the speedway 

 that the Commissioners had decided to close 

 it the Winter of 1901. The men at the head 

 of the contemplated organization were : John 

 E. Thayer, A. S. Bigelow, George F. Leonard, 

 Charles H. Belledeu, Louis Robeson, H. O. 



Aldrich, W. D. Hunt, John Shepard and 

 Randolph K. Clarke. The initiation fee was 

 placed at $20, with the annual dues $10. It 

 was named the Metropolitan Driving Club. 



It was thought by the promoters that the 

 drawback to the use of the speedway was 

 the lack of a suitable clubhouse and stables 

 in the near vicinity, which would give the 

 members a chance to rest and cool out their 

 horses after having them in the races. The 

 plans for a very handsome clubhouse and 

 stables were photographed in the club pro- 

 spectus and mailed to every horseman in 

 Greater Boston. Not only this, but one of 

 the Park Commissioners, Edwin U. Curtis, 

 even went so far as to bond land adjacent to 

 the speedway, which he was able to secure 

 below its market value, and on which it was 

 proposed to build the clubhouse and stables. 



W. D. Hunt was elected to be first treas- 

 urer of the money secured from the intend- 

 ing members, and to open a campaign of 

 inducing the horsemen to enroll themselves 

 with the club. Each of the ones named in 

 the enterprise did valiant labor for the cause, 

 but after three months of earnest endeavor, 

 Mr. Hunt was obliged to report that he only 

 received fifty-three paid subscriptions for 

 membership, which caused the promoters of 

 the club to vote it was absolutely useless to 

 exert themselves longer in so fruitless a 

 cause. 



KENTUCKY STAR, 2:08 1-2 (Winning in the Homestretch) 



He Was Famous for Having a Wonderful Burst of Speed the Last Two Furlongs of His Races, and Was 



the First Horse to Step Over the Charles River Speedway. Owned and Driven by C. H. Belledeu 



