Governor Hughes Goes the Distance by Bill Orzell

In the upstate town of my youth, a pair of retired thoroughbred race horses were the region’s biggest sports celebrities. This was understandable considering that one was a Kentucky Derby winner, and the other, a classic stakes winner, was as a stallion who is difficult not to find in many pedigrees today. Even decades after they entered their final pasture, this duo remains legendary, and a source of community pride. I had not realized it during my formative years, but race horses moving from the track to a secondary career or retirement was for many years the exception, rather than the rule. Making this happen takes dedicated ownership or commitment by a deeply devoted and faithful support staff. My searches through the popular publications of the past in pursuit of first-hand accounts of racing’s past, has yielded one noteworthy yet long forgotten episode, along this subject line. There was this gentleman named Charlie Ellison, or Charles R. Ellison to be precise, from Chicago. He was involved with the racing game in the late nineteenth century, and as the calendar flipped to 1900, began finding great success. He was famous for his large wagers, and turf writers seemed to revel in detailing his betting successes. His countenance was fair, and as he was towheaded, his very recognizable locks earned him the unique sobriquet, the ‘Blonde Plunger.’ The plunger in his nickname meant a reckless speculator or gambler. A gamble the ‘Blonde Plunger’ made in 1901 paid off in spades, or should I say roses. He purchased the chestnut yearling colt, Judge Himes, from Senator Johnson N. Camden Jr.’s Hartland Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. Charlie Ellison had his entry for the 1903 Kentucky Derby, but no one gave him a chance, leading some to speculate that the ‘Blonde Plunger’ may have seen odds as high as 30-1 on his color bearer. The favorite that year in Louisville was another chestnut colt, named Early, ridden by the African-American Jimmy Winkfield, who had won the Kentucky Derby the two previous runnings, and was looking for a ‘hat- trick.’ The May 3, 1903 New York Times reported, “Within the shadow of the wire, Judge Himes snatched from Early the twenty-ninth Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs today. It was the confidence of the twice-successful Winkfield that lost to the favorite the blue-ribbon event of the Blue Grass State.” Lucky Charlie was a bit of a rascal and consorted with some folks of less than sterling reputations such as Gottfried ‘Dutch Fred’ Walbaum, persona non grata in Saratoga Springs after his management there nearly spoiled racing at the Spa. But Charlie Ellison had the connections and the confidence from his Derby win, and the scratch, to acquire more well-bred bangtails. The Morning Telegraph of January 30, 1906 stated, “It would be well to keep an eye on the Ellison yearlings. The big, light- haired Westerner has shown himself to be a rare judge of young horses.” He began developing a chestnut filly named Lady Navarre who won the Tennessee Derby, and a bay colt that won the Albany Handicap at Saratoga, named James Reddick to honor the Cook County, Illinois Republican Chairman. He frequently ran the filly and the colt as an entry. In the Kentucky Derby won by Sir Huon, the Ellison entry finished second (Lady Navarre) and third (James Reddick), where the May 3, 1906 New York Times stated “the betting was the heaviest ever known,” with the ‘Blonde Plunger’ certainly doing his best, a genuine hero to the habitues of the track. Another fellow advancing his career as the Gay Nineties transitioned into the twentieth century was Scott Hudson of Lexington, Kentucky, who started on the standard bred side of the industry. Mr. Hudson was an exceptional driver of trotters and developed a fine reputation for reliability and integrity before he transitioned to thoroughbreds with his own horses, and training for others. His skills as a horseman earned him a great deal of success, which was enhanced by his compassion for the animal. Scott Hudson owned and drove the blind trotter Rythmic at Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach Race Track. The August 12, 1902 New York Times mentioned that Rythmic, “has won five races straight without a single defeat, and has earned about $30,000. He is an even-gaited and singularly sweet tempered brown horse.” Charlie Ellison continued with his method of purchasing better bred thoroughbreds with his purchase of the filly Yankee Girl, a daughter of the Belmont and Travers Stakes winner Sir Dixon, at the 1906 Runnymede yearling sale in New York. Additionally he purchased a yearling colt who was also the son of Sir Dixon, and out of the Henry of Navarre mare, Sallie of Navarre, from the last crop of the late Charles F. McMeekin's Oakwood Stud. The Buffalo Courier on November 11, 1906 told their readers, “Perhaps a Chicago player ‘Charlie’ Ellison, stands as the best winning plunger of 1906 hereabout. Before he left for Memphis, Tennessee, two weeks ago an independently wealthy man on what he won from the bookmakers this year. . . Ellison not only won a lot of New York money, but he copped out a grand lot of yearling stock offered at the sales . . .” The ‘Blonde Plunger’ would typically winter-over at southern tracks, first at Montgomery Park, and then moving further south to the Fairgrounds. As he traveled by rail from Memphis to New Orleans, he pondered over the name for his newly acquired Sir Dixon colt. We might be able to imagine how good Charlie Ellison felt about his purchase of this colt as he followed the waterfowl while they chimed their annual migration song. He would have known by the time he reached his leased abode on Esplanade Avenue in the Crescent City that his colt’s dam had thrown the winner of the Montauk Stakes, the Brighton Junior Stakes, and the Winged Foot Handicap at Brighton Beach. This gelding named Salvidere, went on after that to win the Adirondack Handicap and Saratoga Special, nicely rounding out his 2 year old season. The name for his new colt would have to be selected to represent the rarefied level he hoped the young chestnut would achieve. I feel it can be argued that the political history of New York State, from its days as a Dutch and then English Colony to the pandemic of 2020, has as complicated a narration as any state in our national union. The Empire State, the epicenter for in America, has also always been a hotbed for fervent politics, and individuals with lofty political ambitions and ideals. The gubernatorial election of 1906 pitted lawyer Charles Evans Hughes against newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. It was widely known that Mr. Hughes, who hailed from Glens Falls just north of the Saratoga Race Track, planned to usher in an era of government-decreed morality. A prospective ‘Governor Hughes’ would be no friend to racing because of his oft stated strong anti-gambling sentiments. The reforming son of a Baptist minister becoming New York Governor caused Scott Hudson to sell all his horses, and those of owners he trained for, less than a month before the election, which was reported by the Daily Racing Form in their October 11, 1906 issue. Realizing the negative impact on racing, Scott Hudson turned his interest into becoming a type of equine merchant with operations in Lexington and Atlanta. He also handled the breeding and sale of mules at a time when those animals were very much in demand. Charlie Ellison may have also feared the prospect of a reforming Governor Hughes; however he chose to deal with it in a different and distinctive way. He filed papers with the Jockey Club requesting to name his new colt Governor Hughes. Charlie Ellison was quoted by the Daily Racing Form in their October 25, 1906 issue, “I have always had good luck with the horses I have named after politicians.” When questioned about the possibility of Charles Evans Hughes not being elected, the ‘Blonde Plunger’s’ reply was, “Oh, I am not supposing that he will not. I am betting that he will.” Indeed, he would have collected on what wagers he made, as Charles Evans Hughes became the Empire State’s 36th Governor. The New York Evening Telegram of December 12, 1906 recounted these events with, “This colt Ellison has named Governor Hughes, after the Governor elect of this State, and his owner has said that with such a name he should prove a winner. The colt is the best one he has among his candidates for two-year- old races in the East and will be raced here throughout the season.” This article continues to say that Governor Hughes was entered in the Coney Island Futurity Stakes, the Matron Stakes and the National Stallion Stakes at for the upcoming 1907 season. It did not take long for the new order in the Executive Mansion in Albany to exert itself. The January 31 issue of Daily Racing Form reported, “C.R. Ellison has been advised by the Registrar of the Jockey Club that he will have to select another name than Governor Hughes for his Sir Dixon — Sallie of Navarre colt. . . several weeks before the election of Mr. Hughes as , he put in a claim for the name. A few days after the election he was notified that it had been registered and in the Racing Calendar of December 20 it was so published. According to the story from Memphis, no reason was given for the order to change.” This was the opening salvo of a pitched battle between the Governor and the racing establishment, which continued through his entire administration. This culminated in a period of two years (1911-1912) when racing did not occur in New York, and those with equine interests were driven from the state, until what had become a complicated legal issue could be settled. The new laws created in the interest of reform impugned the track directors, and made them responsible when wagering occurred. The unexpected heroes in racing’s return in New York were the United Hunts Racing Association’s amateur jumpers, who persevered during the blackout, using an auxiliary turf track near the railroad depot across Hempstead Turnpike from the main Belmont track, known as Belmont Park Terminal Course. The secretary of the United Hunts Racing Association, Harry A. Buck, insisted on being arrested while wagering, forcing a test case to come to trial in 1912, which removed the track directors from responsibility. This legal precedent allowed racing to return in the Empire State in 1913, but many breeders, horsemen and track operators had relocated, and were not part of the rebirth, which was further stymied by the developing desperate situation in central Europe. Certainly Charles Evans Hughes moving on from Governor to the Federal Supreme Court bench removed much of the contention. Decades later, George F.T. Ryall, the long time turf writer for the New Yorker magazine, related that the hirsute Governor Hughes, who always wore a full beard and moustache, was referred to by frustrated horseman as “that animated feather duster.” The expression had been coined by William Randolph Hearst during the heated campaign and the most unlikely of protest symbols, the feather duster, was many times derisively shaken in the direction of the Chief Executive at numerous locations across the state. Charlie Ellison was forced by official decree to tempt fate, and invite the catastrophe feared by the superstitious by changing a race horse’s name. The Daily Racing Form of February 19, 1907 reported, “Sir Navarre is the name that has been given to C. R. Ellison’s Sir Dixon - Sallie of Navarre two year old. Ellison, it will be remembered, claimed, and was awarded and subsequently denied the name Governor Hughes for this brother in blood to Salvidere.” The New York Evening World, with a bit more vitriol, stated that Charlie Ellison’s “promising yearling which he named Governor Hughes during the latter's campaign for the executive seal. .. . Official objection was made to the name Governor Hughes, presumably by the Governor himself, and the colt was renamed Sir Navarre.” The feared jinx drew even with Sir Navarre, and he contracted ‘shipping fever’ while in route by rail from Memphis to New York in the late spring of 1907. This malady, sometimes called pleuropneumonia, is a dreaded respiratory tract infection, most often caused by virulent bacteria that blitz the pulmonary defense mechanisms. With fractions of a second being the fine differential in many contests, a race horse with damaged lungs cannot compete. Charlie Ellison gave Sir Navarre time to recover at the New York tracks and later Saratoga, but he never started there. Charlie Ellison had returned to his native Chicago in November, and began planning his next season. The Daily Racing Form of November 2, 1907 wrote, “Mr. Ellison says he had thought of racing in California this winter, but had changed his mind on account of the long distance to ship. He said Sir Navarre was so badly injured when he was shipped east last spring that he did not race during the summer and he does not want to take any chances in shipping the colt a long distance again.” The Los Angeles Herald of November 10, 1907 quoted the ‘Blonde Plunger’ on his misfortune, “Attempt was made during the gubernatorial campaign to name the colt after Governor Hughes of New York State, but, in deference to the wishes of that individual and respecting the roundabout request made by the Jockey Club officials, another name was chosen and Sir Navarre was, according to Ellison, hoodooed on the spot . . .” By the time that Charlie Ellison returned to Memphis, he was reckoning that Sir Navarre was unable to be competitive. The Daily Racing Form of November 10, 1907 mentioned, “There has been a match race made here to be run at Montgomery Park tomorrow between C. R. Ellison’s Sir Navarre and M. J. Shannon’s Brimmer, for the ‘Lemon Championship’ of Montgomery Park. The name of the race is derived from the fact that Ellison’s $9,000 colt has been a keen disappointment to him, and Brimmer in his races has proved a high-priced counterfeit. Much money is being wagered on the race by local sports, and a big crowd will go out to the track to see the colts run.” Scott Hudson began collecting stock that no longer had a place at the track. There was a need in Europe for horses that perhaps were not successful runners, but were familiar with being saddled and rode, the farriers rasp, were sound in wind and sight and through training understood and were comfortable in the activity of a competition environment. The January 23, 1908 Daily Racing Form wrote, “Twenty thoroughbred mares and geldings purchased for export in and around this city [Lexington] during the past seven or eight days by Scott Hudson, of Atlanta, acting for foreign parties, were shipped yesterday to New York. From there they will be sent to England and then be distributed to other European points. The mares are either barren or have never been bred. It is understood that they are to be used as hunters, for there is not one of them under fifteen and one-half hands, and they are all built to carry weight. Nearly all of them have raced in this country, but few have won. They are not the sort that are fancied here either for racing or riding purposes, and they were bought at an average of less than $200. Mr. Hudson has an order to supply about 200 more of the same kind if he can procure them. . .” The Daily Racing Form of February 20, 1908 detailed more of the same, “Scott Hudson, the well-known trotting horse driver, who arrived yesterday [Fairgrounds, New Orleans], is buying a number of the poorer class of horses for the purpose of shipping them to Atlanta to Georgia farmers. Yesterday he concluded negotiations with W. Gerst for the transfer of ten head, including Weberfields. He also purchased the jumper, Wool Dealer, from E. Corrigan.” Rumors abounded about the disposition of Sir Navarre, the most persistent was that he was shipped to Cuba to race, but ended up pulling an ash cart. The Daily Racing Form of February 20, 1908 mentioned Scott Hudson obtaining him, “Just before leaving here for Atlanta Thursday, Scott Hudson received advice of the arrival in London of thirty-eight thoroughbreds bought by him at New Orleans and exported for sale to huntsmen in England and on the Continent. These horses are all at or about sixteen hands and are robust in appearance, though not necessarily sound. The prices paid for them ranged from to $50 to $300. In ages they range from three to seven years. For further racing purposes in this country they were practically worthless and since the greatest number are geldings they, of course, have no value as breeding stock. It can be truly said that Mr. Hudson is doing much for the good of the sport of racing in getting such as the following off the turf . . . Sir Navarre is the brother in blood to Salvidere. . . incidentally he is the colt for which Ellison wanted to claim the name Governor Hughes. The Jockey Club, for reasons of its own, advised Mr. Ellison that the name was not obtainable and Sir Navarre was taken as a substitute. ln his work at Memphis in the spring of 1907 Sir Navarre acquitted himself so creditably that he was heralded as a world-beater, but he went wrong and Ellison was never able to get him to the post. What a narrow escape for the distinguished chief executive of the State of New York, who is now exerting his every effort to put the greatest of outdoor sports under the ban.” The final Daily Racing Form article on this subject appeared May 5, 1908, “The story that Sir Navarre the three year old half-brother to Salvidere is pulling a yam wagon at Tampa, Florida is romance. Sir Navarre on the authority of Scott Hudson who bought the son of Sir Dixon - Sallie of Navarre from Charles Ellison at New Orleans several weeks ago is now in Belgium. I shipped him to England said Hudson in the lobby of the Phoenix Hotel Thursday night and from there he was sold into Belgium.” That is the end of this tale. I hope it was a happy ending for a re-purposed thoroughbred.

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