40 THE GENERAL. 



When racing for large or small purses Turner was 

 always opposed to going out for a heat when there 

 was not one chance in a hundred of winning the race. 

 When he cut loose he wanted everything in his favor, 

 his horse ready for a hard race and the field a trifle 

 slower or in a condition to come back to him after 

 going a heat or two. Until such a state of affairs 

 presented itself Turner was willing to wait, laying 

 back far enough in each heat to not, as he termed it, 

 "compromise the Judges." Splan was also for many 

 a day imbued with the same idea. Both of them 

 were disposed to lay up a heat or two and see who 

 was going to do the fighting before they tried. From 

 that moment they differed as the thousands who have 

 seen them in the sulky can testify. Splan's seat was 

 simply perfection. With hands just right and arms 

 in a position to take back or ease away in an instant, 

 he fitted almost any kind of a horse, taking to them 

 with a dash that was characteristic of the man. At 

 no time in his career did he ever drive a better finish 

 than at the Cleveland meeting in 1892 when he chased 

 Elmonarch home second to Robert J. The roan 

 gelding wanted a rest when he passed the distance. 

 The clip was faster than he had been used to, in fact 

 faster than he had ever shown. The wire was still 

 a hundred yards off and the money was there. 

 Gathering him up Splan lifted the gelding through 

 the air in a style which made one think that he was 

 wiggling on the end of a derrick, hit him a couple of 

 cuts with the whip to chase the tired feeling out of 

 his head and shoved him home in second place. All 

 of the flourish, dash and boldness that can be seen in 

 any finish was displayed. There was none of the 



