Harness racing is a staple at county and state fairs across the American landscape.
In the 1800s, gray harness racing Standardbreds were considered outlandish, their color, wrong.
While gray was not a desirable color for Standardbreds back in the day, grays raced because they were, after all, just as good on the track as their mates of other colors.
Gray Nokota horses pose in a pasture, compliments of Francois Marchal and wikimedia.com. Grays can be dark, light, or splotched, and their manes can be varied in whites and grays.
Famous Standardbred Lady Suffolk raced outstanding miles under saddle and in harness, respectively, setting records in several categories. In 1845, she blitzed the mile in 2:29-1/2, achieving harness racing’s first 2:30 standard mile. Under saddle, she ran the mile in a blazing 2:26.
Until her death in 1855 in Bridgeport, Vermont, Lady Suffolk was well known as the “queen of the turf”, having established records pulling wagons and high-wheeled sulkies alike. Few in the time were her equal, but it was her color itself that earned her the nickname The Old Gray Mare.
Horses, big and small, have been man’s racing and working companions for hundreds of years. Courtesy of arjechan and flickr.com.
Gelded as a yearling because his “unacceptable” color automatically reduced his value as a breeder, the gray Standardbred named Greyhound later set his owners straight on the track. Greyhound appealed to a buyer named E.J. Baker of Illinois at an Indianapolis, Indiana auction in 1933. Baker paid $900 for Greyhound and handed him over to driver-trainer Sep Palin.
Quickly, Greyhound’s winning races began to earn back his owner’s payout, plus much more.
Owain Davies worked out this composition of the parts of a horse using a 2010 photo of the English Trakehner gelding Sybari, using various anatomy sources. Compliments of wikimedia.com.
At two years old, Greyhound recorded a mile in 2:04-3/4, a record for two-year-old geldings. In 1935, the speedy trotter reeled in a win in the trotter’s elite Hambletonian Stakes (named for William Rysdyk’s champion, Hambletonian) held at Goshen, New York’s Good Time Park.
With eight consecutive wins in 1935, Greyhound closed his season undefeated. His best time was a new record for the mile, two minutes flat (2:00).
Fourteen world titles were secured under the trotter’s gray hoof beats. He went 23 times under the wire in two minutes, or less; that accomplishment being seven less times than the unstoppable Dan Patch had recorded.
Ever watchful of their human partners, horses may live as long as 30, or more, years. This click of the eye of an Andalusian horse is compliments of Waugsberg at wikimedi.com.
As M.W. Savage never let go of Dan Patch, Baker never parted with Greyhound, his “Gray Ghost”. The golden gray trotter raced from 1934 through 1940, winning 71 heats out of 82 and establishing a world record time for the mile at 1:55-1/4 in 1938 at Lexington, Kentucky.
Greyhound got a very full measure of life. He died at Maple Park, Illinois, in 1965, at the age of 33.
Sometimes, it seems, despite wanting to run, society is rather slow in grasping realities. And so it was left to these two superb Standardbreds, Lady Suffolk and Greyhound, to help break the prejudicial color barrier in harness racing.
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All images appear with credits in their captions. Search “horse” at http://www.wikimedia.com .
According to the Internet’s Wikipedia, G. A. Dentzel established a carousel building company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1867, the former cabinet maker had moved his carousel invention into a full time master carver business. He advertised himself as “G. A. Dentzel, Steam and Horesepower Carousell Builder”. Yes, he used two “L’s” in the word carousel.
A mini Carousel of low-slung horses is anchored to the ground in a park in Napoleon, Ohio.
It is estimated that 150 operating carousel units of Dentzel origin existed in 2017, including the Kiddy Kingdom Carrousel at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio. Yes, it’s spelled with two “R’s”. Dentzel’s son William took over the business in 1909 upon his father’s death and advertised himself as William H. Dentzel Mastercrafter of Carrousels and Organs (at) 3641 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia.
Gustav Dentzel had immigrated to Philadelphia from Germany.
A Carousel at the 2014 Henry County Fair.
William Dentzel didn’t stick with the carousel building business. He dropped the reins in 1928, and, later, after his death, a former Dentzel master carver employee, Daniel Muller, decided to open his own wood-carving shop.
Muller sold the Dentzel stock and equipment to the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in favor of opening his own business in carousel creations.
Toronto, Canada’s Centerville Amusement Park sold a Dentzel 1907 model carousel to the city fathers of Carmel, Indiana, recently. The purchase was proposed as an attraction to be included in Carmel’s extensive downtown revitalization project. The selling price was $2.25 million in US dollars.
ABOVE are two Floral Hall “Antiques” competition entries in the 2017 Henry County Fair.
In 2015, I entered the following two photos BELOW in the county fair’s Photography competition in Scenery, Color Snapshots, 4X6, ages 16 and Over, and in Color Prints, 5X7 to 8X10, ages 16 and Over:
At Raleigh, North Carolina, in Pullen Park, is the only carousel in the USA that bears the original Dentzel’s name — Gustave A. Dentzel Carousel. Yes, Gustav is spelled with an “E” on the end!
The name “Dentzel Carousel” can be found on merry-go-rounds in California, Maryland, and Mississippi.
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Photos from the personal and copyrighted collection of Barbara Anne Helberg
NEVER WAS A PACER LIKE DAN PATCH
When he had thrashed all comers on the county fair tracks of the nation, Dad Patch was forced to race what amounted to exhibitions against his own speed records.
Born in humble surroundings in Indiana, pacer Dan Patch was purchased by the enterprising Minnesotan M.W. Savage, who made Dan Patch a star on the Standardbred circuit. In the 1900s, arguably the best pacer ever earned world renown in his time, hitting world record times that were unapproachable for years.
One hundred twenty-one years ago, the fastest pacer in history was born near Oxford, Indiana. His was named Dan Patch. His owner was Daniel Messner, Jr., a small farm harness racing die-hard.
Before Dan Patch came along, Messner, Jr. bought a mare named Zelica and began to train her for the track. Good Standardbreds then, in a time when harness racing was a wildly popular rising sport, could cost more than $300, which is what Messner, Jr. paid in cash for Zelica. The purchase included the trade of one of Messner, Jr.’s horses.
Zelica was Messner, Jr.’s great hope for a record-winning pacer. But the mare met with great misfortune, instead. A racing accident ended her career in her first heat. A badly torn tendon put Zelica on the harness racing sidelines.
ZELICA AND JOE PATCHEN
Messner, Jr. used most of the money he possessed to send Zelica to Illinois to be mated with Joe Patchen, one of the fastest pacers on record at the time. Zelica and Joe Patchen begat Dan Patch at Thistle Ridge Stock Farms in 1895.
Always looking for a winner, Messner, Jr. elected to sell his great pacer before Dan Patch fully achieved his greatest fame. But the small time trainer/racer had named Dan Patch for himself and the pacer’s sire, so Dan Patch took Messner, Jr. along in heritage and in name into the winner’s circle.
At the age of three, when he became eligible to run with the big boys, Dan Patch was swift. He was freaky fast; very fast and willing to train without being asked. Dan patch spent a year racing the local fairgrounds circuit before graduating to the country-wide Grand Circuit. Messner, Jr. then accepted an offer of $20,000 to sell Dan Patch to M.E. Sturgis, a sports enthusiast from Buffalo, New York.
So began in earnest the legend called Dan Patch.
NO TAKERS TO RUN AGAINST HIM
Dan Patch broke his sire’s record for a one mile pace in 2:01-1/4 with a trip of 1:59-3/4. He later shattered the world record time for a mile, 1:59-1/4. On the Grand Circuit of Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Memphis, Lexington, and others, he became unbeatable, running faster and faster times until other harness racing drivers and owners began to scratch their pacers rather than be embarrassed by Dan Patch, or to not drive them onto a track that scheduled Dan Patch in a race.
The time of 1:55 behind Dan Patch’s name represents the fastest standard mile he ever paced. Standardbreds are always identified in this manner.
Since no one would compete with Dan Patch, it was suggested to race officials that, in order not to disappoint the large crowds that came to see Dan Patch run, the pacer be allowed to run alone, against the stopwatch and his own times. Track stewards readily agreed to such appearances to save their tracks’ incoming revenues.
Dan Patch never disappointed a crowd. He ran many races against his own time in faster pace, frequently setting new records. Between 1900 and 1902, the pacer improved his own time in mini-second increments, while taking on other runners.
THE PURCHASE OFFER
Dan Patch’s fame grew, until in 1902, Sturgis received an offer from a Minnesotan Standardbred owner named M.W. Savage. The brief message from Savage offered Sturgis $60,000 for Dan Patch.
The purchase offer was accepted, and in Savage’s rich and connected hands, Dan Patch became an American household name.
WORLD WIDE FAME
In faster and faster times, Dan Patch paced the mile, traveling in Savage’s privately owned train car, stopping in all the Grand Circuit cities, racing at every available state fair, from 1902 to 1906. His well-to-do owner, of the International Stock Food Company, raced Dan Patch and promoted him far and wide, sealing the pair’s place in history.
Dan Patch Day tickets for his state fair races gnerated millions of dollars in sales. This income, combined with Dan Patch’s stud fees, was said to earn as much as $3,000,000 for the enterprising and cordial Savage.
A Pacer exits the track at the Henry County Fair
Steadily, Dan Patch lowered his pacing time for the mile. In exhibitions across the country, he scooted from 1:59-3/4 to 1:59 flat, to 1:57-1/4, to 1:56 flat, all phenomenal times for Standardbred contests of his era.
By this time, Dan Patch, to offer maximum competition, spent most of his appearances pacing after two, or more, running horses pulling Standardbred carts. Dan Patch paced faster than running horses!
The pacer’s name was emblazoned on cigar boxes, horse feed bags, playing cards, cups, mugs, and rugs, sleds and buggies. Old horse shoes supposedly worn by the champion pacer were sold in quick fashion.
LAST RACE AT AGE ELEVEN
Retirement finds every individual. And so it found the great Dan Patch. His generous Minnesotan owner presented the pacer to his public in Minneapolis for a last pace against his own time. Minnesotans had adopted the Indiana-bred horse as their own in his years of pacing and traveling fame.
Against runners pulling carts, once again, Dan Patch shone in his final performance. At the age of eleven, he rounded the track to the cheers of thousands, and put the runners to shame. He took a full second off his fastest previous time, a world record mile pace in 1:56 flat, hitting the wire in 1:55 flat, an unofficial pacing record because runners had been allowed in the race against him.
The name Dan Patch is forever revered in harness racing circles. In his long career, Dan Patch never lost a single race. He was beaten just twice in individual heats, but rebounded to win both those contests.
When fully retired in 1909, Dan Patch owned nine world records. He died on July 11, 1916. The entire nation mourned him. The next day, Savage, who mourned the great Standardbred above all others, also passed on, keeping the great pacing team forever in tandem.
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Photos of Dan Patch courtesy of http://www.wikimedia.com
Bottom Photo from the personal and copyrighted collection of Barbara Anne Helberg
My County Fair Exhibit 