Turf Affairs of California 351 



called Thad Stevens. He had defeated every- 

 thing in his own land, and the Californians had 

 an idea that he was the best horse in America at 

 going the old-time distances. The result of the 

 thought was the offering of a great purse to be 

 run on the Ocean Course at San Francisco. 



The great four-mile heat race for the $20,000 

 purse given by the Pacific Jockey Club took 

 place at the Ocean View Park, on November 15, 

 1873. It had been looked forward to by the 

 turfmen of both the East and West as the 

 great event of the year, and the interest ex- 

 hibited as to the result was not confined to 

 any section of the country. But it turned out a 

 comparatively poor affair after all. So far as 

 the attendance was concerned, the efforts of the 

 Jockey Club were rewarded with a grand success ; 

 for never before did so many people come to- 

 gether to witness any race on the Pacific coast 

 as congregated at the Ocean View, the attendance 

 far exceeding in point of numbers and respecta- 

 bility the great contests between Norfolk and 

 Lodi in 1865. 



The entries were four in number — Thad 

 Stevens, aged, by Langford out of Mary Chilton, 

 114 pounds; True Blue, four years, by Lexing- 



