106 MEMOIR. 



ton's three-year-old record to 2:19. At this meeting 

 Geers sprung a surprise on the wise men, who think 

 they know a thing or two about pacers, when he literally 

 tramped on the flashy gray gelding, William M. Singerley, 

 and won the 2 125 pace with Hal Pointer, giving him a 

 record of 2:15^4. Fasig and a few others knew what 

 Geers had under cover and profited by their knowledge, 

 but after this meeting it was a difficult matter to find a 

 man that was willing to give odds against the "Pointer 

 Horse," the greatest and gamest of Tom Hal's get. The 

 other races programmed for the Cleveland meeting in 

 1889, were won by Reference, Lady Bullion, Annie H., 

 Jack, Colvina Sprague, Thornless, Veritas, Gean Smith, 

 and Lillian. The thirty-one heats trotted on the five days 

 averaged 2:19%, and the sixteen paced averaged 2:16, 

 making the average time for the meeting 2:18%. The 

 Cleveland Driving Park Company did not give a fall meet- 

 ing in 1889, the racing at Glenville that season closing 

 with the Ohio Breeders' meeting the last week in Septem- 

 ber and the Spirit of the Times Futurity, in which the 

 Director filly, Margaret S., defeated Palo Alto Belle, For- 

 tuna and San Malo in 2:233/2, 2\22]/ 2 , 2:24. The stake 

 was worth $5,340, with a cup valued at $1,000 to the 

 winner. 



While attending the February sale at Lexington in 

 1889, Fasig purchased a bay horse by Victor Bismarck. 

 After a trial he thought well enough of the colt to name 

 him Oakhurst, after the gambler in Bret Hart's story, 

 "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." With his eye ever on the 

 silver lining of the cloud, Fasig also planned to have each 

 of Oakhurst's colts carry the name of a gambler that had 

 made a reputation somewhere between Monte Carlo and 

 'Frisco, but after he had tried his new stock horse on the 



