“On arriving, we found an assembly which was simply overpowering; it was estimated that there were over one hundred thousand persons upon the ground.” -- Josiah Quincy, Jr. The Contenders Colonel Johnson rallied the resources of the South in the months leading up to …
The Great Match Race, Part III. — See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes!
“As he took the lead what a roar of excitement went up! Tens of thousands of dollars were in suspense, and although I had not a cent depending, I lost my breath, and felt as if a sword had passed through me.” -- Josiah Quincy, Jr. The Great Match Race: The First …
[Read more...] about The Great Match Race, Part III. — See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes!
The Great Match Race, Part IV. — The Aftermath
“It was a supper of lobsters, not Eclipse, that beat us.” -- Honorable John Randolph of Roanoke We Have Lost the Battle, But Are Not Vanquished “I now embrace the earliest opportunity to inform you of the result of the Great Match,” wrote Colonel William Ransom Johnson to …
[Read more...] about The Great Match Race, Part IV. — The Aftermath
Memoir of Sir Archy/Archie, the Godolphin Arabian of America
This week kicks off the Times' Turf Pedigree section -- from the vault we have selected the following piece on the renowned stallion from the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine's December 1829 issue. Memoir of Sir Archy. -- This justly celebrated horse was foaled in …
[Read more...] about Memoir of Sir Archy/Archie, the Godolphin Arabian of America
Captain Oliver’s Triumph: Opening Day at the Eclipse Course, March 17, 1837 [Part I. – 1837 Races]
“Many persons determined to see the race, were compelled to walk, as they did, under a burning sun, four miles and a half.” -- Spirit of the Times, 8 April 1837 At the same time that he was Postmaster of Big Lick in 1831, twenty-one-year-old Yelverton N. Oliver was …