How Major Delmar Won the Massa- 

 chusetts Stake 



(By Charles M. Jewett) 



Secretary of Readville track through its best 

 years of racing and counted the peer of all secre- 

 taries in the country. Mr. Jewett is an expert 

 amateur driver, as, at the opening of the club- 

 house at Readville he drove Charles Whitte- 

 more's trotter. Timbrel, to wagon in 2:11 3-4. the 

 third heat of a winning race, which was at the 

 time the world's amateur trotting record to 

 wagon. In his official position Mr. Jewett had 

 "inside" information of many turf events not 

 mailable for the lay public. He entertainingly 

 writes of some prominent Readville track races. 



iPhoto from Boston Herald; 



T 



started, 

 favorite. 



HE biggest betting race that oc- 

 curred at Readville was in the 

 race for the "Massachusetts" of 

 1902. The purse that year was 

 $15,000, and eighteen horses 

 with The Roman a pronounced 

 This race was won by Major 

 Delmar in straight heats, and it will be seen 

 that the betting had to be fast and furious to 

 reach such a magnitude. Frank Herdic told 

 me that this was the greatest betting race 

 that ever occurred at a trotting track, and to 

 me the fact that only a few more than three 

 hundred individuals participated in the great 

 volume of speculation has always been a 

 matter of surprise. I took the pains, the fol- 

 iowing Winter, to tabulate the pool-sellers' 

 book, and found that less than three per cent 

 of those who paid admission at the gate that 

 dav purchased pools on the event. 



The race that year was a nomination event, 

 horses to he eligible at closing time and 

 named shortly before the race. The late 

 George Van Dyke, of Boston, had taken a 

 nonrnation for Kwanon, 2:12 1-2, then 

 owned by him. The horse did not train well, 

 and Mr. Van Dyke was anxious for me to 

 secure a starter for him. I had attended the 

 meeting at Detroit and Cleveland and saw 

 Major Delmar win a purse race at both those 

 towns. 



The horse had not been staked, which 

 makes it apparent that he had not, the previ- 

 ous year, shown the class that the Readville 

 race later proved he possessed, but I was 

 strongly impressed by the horse in his race 



?.t Detroit, and tried to sell to the late Alta P. 

 McDonald (who had him) Mr. Van Dyke's 

 nomination in the Massachusetts, but with- 

 out success. Again, at Cleveland, I felt sure 

 that the horse was of .Massachusetts calibre, 

 but Alta said he was not "good enough." 

 From Cleveland I returned to Readville for a 

 dav or two, leaving the following Sunday for 

 Buffalo, at which meeting my entries closed 

 on Monday. 



Sunday Mr. Van Dyke came out to the 

 track and asked me if I had secured a horse 

 for his nomination. I told him 1 had not, 

 but that there were three possibilities not 

 already engaged in the event : two of these 

 were in the stable of Ed. Benyon, Walnut 

 Hall (afterward the sire of the Harvester! 

 and Ozalma, the third and the one that I 

 liked best was a bay gelding called Major 

 Delmar, in. the stable of Alta McDonald, but 

 that McDonald did not think him good 

 enough for such a race. 1 then grew en- 

 thusiastic in my description o^ the horse, and 

 Mr. Van Dyke said : 



"You see Alta in Buffalo tomorrow and 

 tell him that I will name the horse on my 

 nomination in the 'Massachusetts.' If he 

 wins anything, I'll take the entrance money 

 out and he can have the rest." 



Air. Van Dvke was taking a dying chance 

 of saving his $750. I told Mr. Van Dyke 

 that McDonald was not engaged at Ruffalo, 

 hut would be at Poughkeepsie that week. 

 "(Jet him on the telephone there and have 

 him start the horse." 



The following morning, at Ruffalo, I 



