THE TWO MINUTE ^ M^^^. o 3 9090 013 401 506 Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicim Cummincjs Schooi of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University THE TWO-MINUTE HORSE Lou Dillon 1:58M»—Millard Sanders THE TWO-MINUTE HORSE A History of the six Two-Minute Trotters AND THE FOURTEEN TwO-MlNUTE PaCERS TO THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1921 Published by MILLARD SANDERS Copyright 1922 First Edition Printed March 1922 Press of The Judson Company cleveland, ohio Millard Sanders—1902 CONTENTS Page Arion Guy 1:59U (Thos. W. Murphy) _. ..- 87 Audubon Boy l:59Vi (J. Y. Gatcomb, R. S-ott Hudson) 127 Dan Patch 1:55^4 (Harry Hersey, M. E. McHenry ) 115 Directu:m I l:56-'4 (Thos. W. Murphy, Raymond Snedeker t 155 Frank Bogash, Jr. 1:5914 (Thos. W. Murphy) - 141 Lee Axworthy 1:58^4 <Ben F. White. W. J. Andrews) 61 Lou Dillon 1:581/> (Millard F. Sanders) 13 Louie Grattan 2:00 (Victor Flemins) -. 195 Major Delmar 1:59')4 (Alta McDonald) 31 Minor Heir 1:59 (Harry Hersey, Chas. Dean) 133 Miss Harris M. 1:5814 (Thos. W. Murphy, Alonzo McDonald) ... 179 Napoleon Direct 1:59';4 (E. F. Geers 1 173 Peter M-\nning 1:57% (Thos. W. Murphy, Harry Putnam) 73 Prince Alert 1:59^ o (Mart Demarest) 109 Prince Loree 2:00 ( M. McDevitt) _ 187 Sanardo 1:59% (Thos. W. Murphy) 201 Single G 1:59 (Ed. Allen, Fred Jamison, Curt Gosnell ) 161 Star Pointer 1:59^4 (D. J. McClary) 103 Uhlan 1:58 (Chas. Tanner, Robert Proctor)... 39 William 1:5814 (William W. Marvin) 147 Billings, Mr. C. K. G 209 Final Mile, The (Walter Palmar i 8 World's Champion Two-Minute Horse Tr.\de 213 THE FINAL MILE Mighty Monarchs of the Equine Race, Just when will come the zenith of your flight? What voice will guide your flying feet apace, And prompt you in your crowning trial aright? What deft and clever wizard of the reins Will urge you onward with uncanny hand? What blood will course within your royal veins, And who will view your triumphs from the stand? What of the track and where the test? When will you reach the dizzy heights sublime? What starting judge will find you at your best, And where will stop the second hand of time? This much I know, your freedom's near From toil and hardship that has long been yours. And to supplant them there will soon appear The rare devotion that so long endures. And you, divorced from baser parts. From war, and strife, and greed and pelf, Will be enshrined within the hearts That love you for yourself. And when that roseate dav shall fall And all is ready for the final mile, 1 know the Great Presiding Judge of all Will look down from those pearly gates and smile. —Walter Palmer. SCORING FOR THE WORD N preparing this volume the object in view was, largely, to put in lasting form something in the way of a brief history not so much of the public career of the trotters and pacers that have taken records of two minutes or better (though that has not been slighted) as of the "making" of them. Of these trotters and pacers there are (January, 1922) an even score, of which six are trotters. The period covered by this list of twenty is a quarter of a century— it was in 1897 that Star Pointer, driven by Dave McCleary, started the two-minute list by pacing a mile in 1:591/4 at Readville, Mass., over the same track on which, six years later, Lou Dillon, driven by Millard Sanders, with a mile in "even time" instituted the two-minute list of trotters. During that quarter of a century, either by developing the horses or carrying them on and driving them to their records, a notable array of trainers have shone in their chosen calling, and written their names indelibly on th«^ scroll of fame in the world of the light-harness horse. To these men, as well as to the breeders and owners of the two-minute horses, this book is dedicated and it is meant to be a tribute of respect no less than a chronicle of the deeds of men and horses and a story of how these great performers were trained and conditioned. No attempt has been made to go too deeply into details, this work concerning itself more particularly with the two- minute portion of the history of each horse. That the work lO THE TWO-MINUTE TROTTERS has its defects need not be denied but they are minor and that the volume contains much of great value is equally true. It is the hope of him who conceived it that it may present much that the young trainer, perhaps the older one as well, may find of value to him in his chosen profession for it is a certainty that while the ambition of every trainer is, pri- marily, to develop race winners, his ever abiding hope is that some day he may have the high honor of taking before the public a two-minute horse. In conclusion it is fitting that every one who has assisted in getting together the data for this volume be given heart- felt thanks. Without that kind assistance the work could not have been done at all. And the hope is indulged that the reception of the volume by the public will be as hearty as was the response of those who were asked to furnish some of the material. THE TWO-MINUTE TROTTERS LOU DILLON MAJOR DELMAR UHLAN LEE AXWORTHY PETER MANNING ARION GUY — But my chestnut mare was of blood so rare That she showed them all the way. — Walter Thornhury. LOU DILLON World's Champion Trotting Mare Record 1:58^ RANK TURNER, of the Santa Rosa Stock Farm, l)ridle-broke the great mare Lou Dillon when she =^ was trying out baby trots at her mother's side and Millard Sanders was her maestro, and he was more to his noble pupil. He passed down into the springs of her being and there awoke a latent thing called life; he flexed her growing muscles and taught them their lightning play over the surface of her supple limbs. He found a soul. He calmed her when she was impatient, he ruled her when she w^as wayward and with the infinite tenderness of love he lifted her out of the crudities of youth and attuned her to action faultless and marvelous. He became a part of her an elemental blending of man and horse— a new creation vibrant in its dual unity; and in that grand harmony of mind and matter she trod the chords arising to a symphony of wondrous theme and tone, and the rhythm of her hoof-beats was heard around the world." This rhapsody, born of the enthusiasm of the moment, Tom Gregory, of California contributed to the Santa Rosa (Cal.) Republican at the time Lou Dillon became the world's first two-minute trotter. And more recently "Markey" said of her: ''Lou Dillon was the airiest, most buoyant thing of flesh and blood that has ever appeared among the trotting genus. Her action, poise and carriage suggested flying rather than trotting. There was about her a dash and spirit which no trotter, not even the superb Uhlan, could hope to rival. She 14 THE TWO-MINUTE TROTTERS trotted with the ease and facility with which a thoroughbred runs. I doubt if any other trotter ever gave to both unin- itiated and initiated observers such thrills as did the little chestnut mare." The following story of Lou Dillon was prepared recently by Millard Sanders, who, as perhaps everybody knows, taught her from colthood and made her the first two-minute trotter: "Before beginning the story of Lou Dillon it may, per- haps, be well to go back to the few years prior to her advent and note what the opinion was as to the probability of ever seeing a mile trotted in two minutes. There may have been some among the many thousands of horse enthusiasts who believed such a thing to be among the future possibilities. But as I recollect it they were very few and scattering. As a matter of fact I do not recall a single one among my wide acquaintance who even allowed himself to dream that there ever would be a trotted mile in two minutes. True, in 1897, Star Pointer had paced a mile in 1:591/4 but the general belief was that the pacer had four or five seconds more speed than the trotter—that is, the pacing gait was that much the speedier. I believe it had been 'scientifically' figured out that the trotter would never reach the two-minute mark. "Those who were not active in the field of the trotter cannot begin to imagine the furore Lou Dillon created all over the land, all over the world, in fact, when she trotted in two minutes at Readville. The target at that time was the 2:021/4 world's record of Cresceus and almost any owner would have been delighted to have his horse trot a mile in 2:02 for that would have given him the championship. My faith in the coming of the so-called impossible made me the subject of many good-natured jibes. But the two-minute trotter arrived and she took her championship honors, not by a small part of a second but by two and a quarter seconds.