Show GALLING OH A KING A Photographic Interview With a Monarch of the Turf SALTATOR PRETENDER TENNY 1It1enB Famous Horce < Thinks He Could Distance Blaine and Cleveland for 4 the Presidential Stakes NEW YORK Sept 231S90 Special correspondence cor-respondence of THE RERuDlt is not easy to approach the supreme head of tOe American turf When King Salvator is in his stable casual visitors arc expected to pay their respects from a respectful distance dis-tance Without proper credentials callers are regarded with suspicion The cion archs most immediate attendant is a colored col-ored boy named Brandon There isnt a stable lad in America who wouldnt give up all claims upon watermelons for the balance of his life if ho could have the honor which Brandon enjoys and this It will bo conceded is saying agood deal When the Haggin horses are out for an airing the king is invariably at the head of the procession The fitness of things finds further illustration in the fact that I next in lino comes the queen of the track Firenre whose claims to royal honors have been vindicated on so many hardfought fields Successes have not turned the head of Salvator greatness sits as easily upon him as his exercise blanket A more tracta ble animal was never foaled Ho is apt to bo a trifle sluggish in the early spring when it becomes essential t that about fifty pounds of his super fluous tissue should be worked off I It is quite probable that you still have a good tlcal to learn about close finishes Your > lnnocenee is not unnatural From my Cottiftooc up I havo given them a good deal ofattention and I must confess that even to me they still in exceptional cases pos stess a few elements of mystery That any body should be deceived however about I that particular closefinish after what hap pened atMonmoutti is scarcely credible Will you please explain I prefer not As another sprig of royalty roy-alty once remarkedI allude of course to the sire of the Ielancholy DaneI could a tale unfold Do you mean your own i This illtimed levity came near bringing the interview to an abrupt termination After profuse anologiea the atmosphere I cleared up somewhat and Brandons pot I was induced proceed I t J j f f fiCLL SPEED A SPIX AVOUSI > THE BEX1 1 t f Place not your faith in close finishes I P am not in a position todi close the secrets I of my profession but if I were 1 could tell l you a story which would make interesting reading I d 1 lV Itl t I BALVATOU AND MK BTRXES EARLY MOUSING High living and little exercise however do not make him inordinately fat and ho takes kindly the rather disagreeable business busi-ness of getting down to his running weight of about a thousand pounds His royal highness is a chestut baldfaced and white legged below the knees It would be easy to mistake him for an English horse with his remarkable muscular development and unusual length A thousand pounds is not above the average weight neither is his height unusual but the shoulders stand up in more than proportion to his altitude and account in some degree for his phenomenal propelling power He handsome horse but not remarkably so Senorita has per haps greater beauty to the square ounce of tissue than Salvator has to the square pound but he is a superb looking beast notwithstanding Senorita Se-norita is a perfect model of equine daintiness and finish Salvators liht barrel bar-rel and magnificent quarters tell a story of speed and strength All his lines are consistent con-sistent with his astonishing achievements To see Salvator in his stable and to see him under a jockeV is to look at two different quadrupeds When ho is being exercised at a slow walk his head is carried low and his motions dye little promise of his possibilities pos-sibilities when he is fighting for his head and leaving his field behind his stride long easy smooth and natural is perhaps as pure a gait as ever adorned the turf For entertaining the opinion that take him all in all we shall see Salvators like no more Trainer Matthew Byrnes may readily be pardoned The racing at Sheepsbead Bay was not over for the day when he intro duced me to the monarch I 5 = ron TKKsn AIR AND sryatnur Why > didnt you wait and see the last racerun Mr Byrnes I asked I would rather come hero to seo Sal vator walk than to see other horses going at full speed was the replj Salvator received me condescending graciousness You aro perfectly welcome said the ailqblo autocrat on the track to any information in-formation I can Rivet but I have a natural reluctance to entering upon anything in the nature of a personal discussion Koth login my judgment can be so unbecoming as the habit Pardon me I interrupted there are the highest precedents for it The Emperor Empe-ror William for instance discussed himself him-self constantly with the least reserve Asa As-a matter of common justice it is duo you somemisapprebeneiou concerning yonr relations with Pretender Teuny should be cleared up This audacious attempt to siezdyour throne for insta I beg that you will make no allusion to BO trivial a matter broke in the monarch with much stateliness At the risk of seeming to be discourteous I must decline to talk about Tenny There are some topics which can be tolerated only at a loss of selfrespect and that is one of them I rust you will not regard me as unduly icnsitive about my personal dignity but venwere tbat not at stake I could not but look upon his pretension as too ridiculous lor consideration Still it must be confussed that in his match race with you ho was dangerously near your throat latch at the Imish I I Something more than remotely resembling resembl-ing a horse laugh followed this remark rVVhen this flash of equine merriment sub Hided the king jocosely observed to Can t you give jttomo in confidence This question for some inexplicable reason rea-son seemed to completely upset Salvators gravity He laughed most immoderately The idea of telling anything to an interviewer inter-viewer conlidcnco Now seejoungman let me give you a tip Dont shudder I dont mean a tip in the racing sense of the word I trust Im too well bred for that You can look at pedigree if you dont S n r Jj4 SALVATOU AXD JOCCET believe me What I meantto say was Let I me pivoyou J a hint know an interviewer the minute U seo him I doafkuQW howl I 1 iffl l r J J 1 t came to talk to you at all You come and catch me when I have a lucid interval and I see how reticent Ill be Well its too late to regret it nov1 hI know it but theres one thing I want totell you and people can make the most of it The fact is that up to the time of that affair at Sheepshead Bay Tenny and I had an undeistanding He didnt keep faith with me and so I gave him licking at Monmouth teat hi > wont forget in a hurryVhnt Vhnt was the understanding I Well you see Mr Haggin told Byrnes in my presence that if I held my supremacy I until the end of the season hed retire meI putthe matter to Tenny in this way He could have a clear tield next year if he wouldnt bother me this season Tcnnv l agreed and you know how he tried to steal a march on me at Sheepshead Well the game didnt work and I made a show of him Monmouth You would have done the same thing in my place ivculdntyouJ That was rather underhanded 1 Wasntit Since then Tenny has been trying to bring about a reconciliation but it wontwork You astonish me I suppose dolUt you doubt my word ask Fircnze shell tell you the same thing Tenny tried to get her to persuade TUO to letup let-up onhim I dont doubt your word but I dont see where the necessity is for making any bargain bar-gain with Teeny if you can beat him so easily I does look a little strange doesnt it But I think I know what Im about YOU I see Tenny isnt like any other horse Sometimes he can give a streak of lightning I light-ning a good start and beat it andat other times lies no better than a selling plaster You never know where to find him Now that weve fallen out f have to keep keyed up to the top notch to be sure ho dont getaway get-away frem me All Im afraid of is that some day hell catch me ivhcnPin not feel leg well If he does hell como nesr doing the trick in spite of mo if its one of his good days But lets change the subject I dont like unpleasant topics What on earth do you of all other horses want to retire from the turf for 1 Now if you were an old plug bringing up the it rear all tbe time I could understand Well you go into training during the hot weather and youll find out To say nothing of the hard work I cant take a drink when I feel like it Then theres that fellow Brandon I used to like him at first but Ive got bravely over it Ho watches me like a cat and haunts me like a ghost How would you like It I Ive been tempted to kick his whole bead off many time Haggins a good fellow but I dont see much of him Thats the worst of being owned by millionaire Of course I could have an easy time if I wanted to but Id have to pay for it in the end Hows that 1 Well I could get beaten half a dozen times and theyd take me off the track but after that they wouldnt think much of meat me-at the stock farm whero Im going to I I ffIir 1 tr 1 I 4q 11 I p 7 4y i EXERCISING AFTEK A any spend tho balance of my days and I I wbuldnt be treated with the deference I am accustomed to Thats what Im work ing so hard for Will you excuse mo if i I ask you a rather pointed question Dontmake it too pointed its my first experience at this kind of thing npll be as delicate as possible You have said nothing which 1 us titles the conclusion that races aro run on their merits Are horses in the habit of coming to what you call an understanding with each other Why my dear boy your guilelessness is norfcctlyrcfreshing Cant you seb that wo are the real protectors of the public Everybody knows that owners combine that races tare faxed in advance that in other words ttic trusting public has no show unlessvo take the matter in hand Wo arcconstantly trying to preserve the purity of tho turf Yotiy heard of a lead pipe cinch I Well if you havent its time you did I could tell you of a dozen cases il1 which either owners jockoys have put up a job aud in which their calculations were upset When you hear of another sure thing zone wrong you can make up your mind that nothing but an honestbors broke the combination You didnt know I suppose that I am the presidoit of our crookedness society < Well Ive heard of a good raanv pretty little schemes coming to crief but had no idea thattbe horses tookany hand in defeating de-feating them 11 want to tell you just one thing more Its a mystery to me why as a class racers do their level best to beat each other They usually have in the saddle I dither a little brute or an imbecile who draws blood nd uses the whip just at thor tho-r moment when ho should be sitting still and I giving his mount a chance They think that is riding We know better We will do more in response to a touch oran intal ligent fellow like McLaughlin than we will for all tho punishment that the troop of little scamps who weigh in atthe races can Inflict Some of them have bad tempers and many of them are vicious enough to bo a human being I know horses on the track who have no more business to be there han an elephant has to be on a bicycle but they are driven harried butchered and I worried and the marvel is that they dont display greater infirmities of character However this discussion is taking a somewhat some-what serious turn which I am sure was not my design At this moment Brandon thrust his head through the halt opan door surveyed his majesty for an instant and withdrew There he is again said Salvator I shouldnt be surprised if hes been listening listen-ing to every word weve said Now you begin to have some idea of unfortunate position of a horse in training I cant hold a confidential conversation with a visitor without fear of interruption Theres one ling I want to ask you before you go I understand Im to be photographed in a variety of attitudes and that toe photographs photo-graphs arc likely to ho printed Now Ill leave that to you if that isnt a fine thing the king of the turf masquerading about in front of a photographer What indignity illByrnes want to affront me with next Do you regard it as an indignity I Well any selfrespectmg animal Wouldnt all I have to say is that you neednt go far to find a precedent Dont you rcmembsr that a celebrated Brooklyn divine was recently photo pbel in every conceivable posture except perhaps per-haps that of standing upside down You dont tell me I hadnt heard of itWho Who do you suppose it was Oh you neednt tell me It must have been Talmage But heres Brandon com ngngain Youll have to hurry off By Wewa In fr ii word hnfnrrt yen ire F wish youU maIm a little announcement for me Why certainly What is it I something in the papers about a Presidential race What are the stakes About fifty thousand dollars Why that isnt much It isnt as much as the Futurity but still its worth win ning Arathero many entries I Quite a number When is it to be run Not until fa02 That shuts me out Ill be off the turf b y that time Thank heaven but Id like to give them a run for it Who are the avorites 1 Well theres Blaine on one side and Cleveland on the other Blaine aged and Clevelands n six earold Are they in training Yes but Cleveland hasnt got down to eight yet What are their performances Cleveland won it once and was once beaten by a head for it Blaine has b neaten n-eaten for it too Ho lost it by a nose Close finishes oh Well you can tell them both that if Haggin enters me they wont be in it With a coquettish flourish of his tail tho king of the turf dipped his nose fastidiously fastidi-ously in a pail of water while Brandon larmonionsly whistled Oh dat watermelon water-melon GEORGE DOBSON |