1 8/ I MEETING. 13 



In addition to racing under the rules of The National 

 Trotting Association, the Cleveland Club was also a mem- 

 ber of that organization, which was then located at Provi- 

 dence, R. L, and doing business as the National Associa- 

 tion for the Promotion of the Interests of the American 

 Trotting Turf. The engineer's certificate, filed by the 

 Club, also shows that the track measured 5,280 feet one 

 inch, three feet from the pole. Those figures remained 

 unchanged until 1883 when, after a few alterations the 

 track was re-measured and found to be 5,280 feet eight 

 inches in circumference three feet from the pole. 



A short time after the programme for the meeting was 

 announced, the Cleveland Club employed John Denman 

 to take charge of the track and grounds. At this writ- 

 ing (1902) he is still there, and is known from the Atlan- 

 tic to the Pacific, and as Adams the blacksmith might 

 remark, several places in Canada, as "Race Track Jack," 

 whose only hobby is that fast strip of clay which is re- 

 ferred to by racing men as the "golden oval at Glenville." 



The first heat and race decided over the Cleveland 

 Driving Park was won by the gray gelding Silversides, 

 and this race was also the first in which that horse won 

 a heat. Before coming to Cleveland Silversides was de- 

 feated at Alliance and Zanesville by a horse called 

 Brown Tom, who retired from the turf with a record of 

 2:45^/2, while the gallant gray, who was, by the way, a 

 product of Columbiana County, trained on to a record of 

 2 '.22, and proved one of the best race horses of his day. 

 The following is the official summary of the race, which 

 will be of interest to those who are fond of locating early 

 events : 



