The Driving^ Clubs of Greater Boston 



159 



opinion that somehow a mistake was made 

 and that Charley Herr won that heat and was 

 entitled to the race. "Uncle" Davy Cahill, 

 of course, will go to his grave believing that 

 his horse won it. Only the other day, in 

 speaking of the event, J. L. Tarleton, of Lex- 

 ington, Ky., said to me that John Kelley (the 

 driver of Charley Herr) died believing he 

 won that heat. 



I think there is some mistake about this, as 

 Mr. Kelley told me — not at the time of the 

 race, but a year or two afterwards — that he 

 did not win it. But, at that, in heats as 

 close and as fiercely contested as was that 

 one, the opinion of a driver of a contesting 

 horse is of little value. Certainly, Mr. Kelley 

 was too busy, too much occupied at the 

 moment to be in a position to say whether the 

 horse he drove, or Ketcham's mount, won 

 that heat. 



To return to the stallion race, I remember 

 as if it were yesterday of going into a meet- 

 ing of the directors to suggest a stallion race. 

 The signs and conditions for a feature event 

 seemed most auspicious. Neither before, nor 

 since, have there been so many stallions of 

 the first flight, or horses seemingly so evenly 

 matched, in training. 



Moreover, Mr. Forbes, vice-president, and 

 a potent factor in the councils of the associa- 

 tion, had, in Bingen, Peter the Great and 

 Arion, three strings to his bow for such an 

 event, and as Mr. Thayer always welcomed a 

 chance to make reputation for the associa- 

 tion (of which he was the head), provided it 

 appeared to have a fair chance of success, I 

 felt pretty certain that the stallion race would 

 be added to the program of the Breeders' 

 meeting that year. 



I suggested to the directors the giving of 

 such an event, but had not stated the size of 

 the purse that seemed best, when Mr. Forbes 

 suddenly turned to me and said: "Mr. Jewett, 

 how many stallions do you think would be 

 entered in such a race for a purse of 



$20,0C0 ?" 



The size of the purse suggested brought 

 all at once to attention, and I replied, "seven," 

 naming six and taking it as a matter of 

 course that Mr, Forbes would name one or 

 more of his three. 



"And how many people would pay to see 

 such a race?" and my reply was from eight 

 thousand upward, and added that I thought 

 such an event would increase the betting 

 revenues of the meeting by $1,000. 



I had suggested that the entrance fee 

 should be, as usual at that time, five per cent 

 to enter and five per cent additional from 

 winners, which, with a minimum of four en- 



tries, would make the net cost of the race 

 $l6,000. 



As the receipts from entrance fee and 

 gate receipts seemed likely to cover this 

 amount, when Mr. Forbes said, "I move, Mr. 

 President, we give this race for a purse of 

 $20,0C0." all the directors were enthu- 

 siastic and the race was on. 



The success of this, the greatest of all stal- 

 lion races, is a matter of history. Twelve 

 stallions were named and more than 8,000 

 people paid to see it. Seven horses started, 

 two of which had not been named originally, 

 a provision of the conditions allowing such 

 substitution on payment of a certain per cent 

 of the purse. Arion started for Mr. Forbes, 

 in place of Peter the Great, who did not 

 train well that season, having trouble with 

 his feet, and Jupe was substituted for Poin- 

 dexter by Mr. Lawsoti. A "near-starter" 

 was Dare Devil, afterward owned by Mr. 

 Lawson. Mr. Hamlin finally figured his 

 horse would lose more in reputation than any 

 cash equivalent that would accrue to him 

 from the race would offset, and the hand- 

 some one stayed in the stable. 



I had hoped to get this horse to start in 

 place of Monterey, who had been nominated 

 by Col. Thayer under unusual conditions. 

 This horse, owned in California, had taken a 

 record of 2:091-4 the previous season and 

 shown great flights of speed, but his un- 

 steadiness indicated a lack of class. His 

 owner thoroughly believed in him, however, 

 and wrote me most eloquently as to his 

 merits ; but, alas, his finances would not ad- 

 mit of engaging his horse. "Barring acci- 

 dents," his engagement was equivalent to 

 winning, so his owner stated, and I have 

 never doubted that he believed all he claimed 

 for his horse. 



I showed this letter to Col. Thayer one 

 dav, remarking that it was the hardest con- 

 ditional entrv to decline of my experience. 

 He read the letter, and its eloquence had its 

 effect on him, as Mr. Thayer had regretted 

 much that he had been unable to help the 

 fortunes of the race by an entry from his own 

 stable. He instructed me to write the owner 

 that he would name the horse in the race, 

 pay the entrance and, in case the horse won 

 any part of the purse, the entrance money 

 was to be refunded, the balance he could 

 have for himself. 



With everything to win and nothing to 

 lose, that inevitable "accident" turned up 

 and the owner was unable to avail himself 

 of the proffered opportunity, and I am of 

 the impression that the horse never came 

 East that season. 



When the entries to the race closed, it 



