EVERY MAN HIS OWN TRAINER. lOI 



After Turner won the fourth heat with Button he became 

 quite a favorite, and my winning this heat with Kitefoot was 

 another disappointment to the people. But it did not change 

 the betting, as the time was slow. I did not feel like putting 

 much money on Kitefoot, as I did not consider her in condi- 

 tion to stay up and trot a bruising race. I have many times 

 seen horses knocked off for a whole year by giving them a 

 hard race early in the season, especially if it was the first one. 

 But we got a little at loggerheads and both wanted to win, 

 and when I looked over matters I found it made a difference 

 in my favor of between three and four hundred dollars, if I 

 won the race, so I decided to go out and fight for it to 

 the bitter end, and it looked asthough Turner felt the same 

 way, for he drove as I have always seen him drive when he is 

 out for the money. But I won the heat by a length in 2:24|-. 

 When we came out for the seventh heat I overheard Turner 

 say, " God, how I would like to win this next heat and keep 

 them guessing a little longer," and if you ever saw a man put 

 on the war paint and spit on his hands it was Turner driving 

 Button in that seventh heat. He lifted, hurrahed, pumped, 

 pushed and crowded Button every inch of the road, and as 

 both horses were good actors and it was getting nearly dark, 

 they both indulged in many a jump and neither of us tried to 

 break the lines, when they broke ; in fact, it was a sort of a 

 go-as-you-please heat, but I won it by a short neck in 2:23|, 

 and as we came back to the stand and got out I spoke and 

 said, " I am glad this is over.'' The General replied, " So am 

 I, and you bet these horses are, too." 



I have neglected to say in the first part of this race for 

 three heats I was laying up, just barely getting inside the dis- 

 tance flag. Consequently this race did not injure my mare 

 much, as she was only driven the last three heats and they 

 were slow. In my judgment it is the pace that kills and in 

 this race I believe that one heat in 2:20 would have done her 

 more harm than the three slow heats I gave her. The next 

 morning after the race she was bright as a dollar, not seeming 



