Posted on April 20, 2012 - by

The Second Coming: The Times Returns in 2012 (again)!

Sporting Epistle

Dear Readers:

Contrary to popular belief, the Antebellum Turf Times has not prematurely ended its coverage of America’s first national pastime, for our long absence between publications has been due to the recent relocation of the Times’ offices.

Your Editor, as well as the Times’ loyal racing correspondent, had dedicated weeks to the painstaking task of packing up two centuries’ worth of turf archives—and now we are embroiled in the remarkable undertaking of unpacking two centuries’ worth of turf archives.

Yet no one longs more for reliving the tales of racing history than we do! As this year’s Triple Crown is upon us, we look forward to providing new material for our readers in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Editor, Antebellum Turf Times

Posted on February 24, 2012 - by

Rules of the Adams County Jockey Club Unearthed!

Racing Extras and Embellishments

Dear Readers:

The Times is pleased the share from the Constitution of the Adams County, Mississippi, Jockey Club (1845) the following selections on rules governing the antebellum turf.

Our racing correspondent discovered this preserved document among the possessions of Natchez turfman William J. Minor, whose papers are currently archived in the Special Collections at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge; both Minor and Colonel Adam L. Bingaman were members of this club [read more about the horses of Minor (Pt. III.) and Bingaman (Parts I.–V.) in the Times' New Orleans Jockey Club 1837 Spring Meeting series].

The excerpts included here are rules on foul riding and “poling.” While the club’s rules were stringent with respect to foul riding, it’s interesting to see some leniency with regard to “poling”—this during a time in racing that predated the railed track.

(more…)

Posted on January 20, 2012 - by

The Second Great Match Race Between the North and South: Post Boy V. John Bascombe

Poetry of the Turf

While the Times’ loyal correspondent was combing the archives in the search for more tales of the turf, the following untitled poem was unearthed—which recounts the Second Great Match Race between the North and South, held over the Union Course on Long Island in 1836 [please see Part IV.—the Aftermath from the Great Match Race series for more details on this historic contest].

The poem below was written by Isaac Michael Dyckman, whose antebellum family farm was located in what is now the Northern Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood. Although he was a local New Yorker, it remains a mystery if Dyckman had made the journey to Long Island to see the race firsthand. Not only has this poem been preserved but the family’s eighteenth-century home also remains today as the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum!

We express our thanks to Mr. Cole Thompson for sharing the transcription of this poem, the original copy of which is located in the holdings of the New York Historical Society.

 

On the thirtieth day of May,
A race was run for money they say
Between two horses of great speed
And down in excellent time indeed

The people, they collected around
The Union Course of Jamaica town
The wind did blow, the dust did fly
And there collected in every one’s eye

‘Tis true it rained the day before
No matter for that the rain was o’er
Across the water people did glide
To see the speedy horses tried

About One O’clock of that day
The horses appeared in splendid array
Walking proudly across the turf
Both steeds of equal birth

Post-Boy was the Northern horse
Trained upon the Union Course
His large and gallant opponent indeed
Named John Bascomb the Southern steed

The two great steeds were led up and down
No doubt, saw the people standing round
Their heads well up, eyes wide open
No doubt saw the people’s motion

Horses then to show their pride
Walked down with keepers at their side
John Bascomb a sorel [sic] light
Post-Boy was a sorel bright

The keepers then threw off the dress
Well they knew the race to test
The drum was sounded by the judge
Pompously went up both the studs

The riders then mounted the word go
Away went like an arrow from a bow
They, appeared as, they went around
As if they never touched the ground

Bascomb won the first and second heat
Enough to prove Post-Boy’s defeat
Taking in the knowing Northerners
By the witty minded Southerners

Seven forty-nine the first heat won
Bascomb won the second also in fifty-one
The two greatest horses ever run
Excepting Old Eclipse and Henry Young

Posted on January 6, 2012 - by

On a Race Ground: The Noise of Their Hoofs Increases; the Breathless Moment of Suspense is at Hand!

Racing Extras and Embellishments

Antebellum Turf Times begins the new year with the following homage to the races; we wish we could take credit for this piece, but nonetheless we are pleased to be able to share it with our readers. 

This excerpt is from The South Carolina Jockey Club, published in 1857, and written by John B. Irving, the Club’s secretary. We disagree, however, with Irving’s humble assessment that no writer can adequately capture the thrill of the races, when he himself has so eloquently done so here.

 

From The South Carolina Jockey Club

We cannot catch a wave, nor Daguerreotype its grace and rocket-like velocity. To do this perfectly is beyond the power of man.

So, like-wise, they who essay to convey, by description, the various features:  the scenes, the moments of eager and tumultuous joy; the moving figures; the phantasmagoria of life, such as are continually presented and occurring on a Race Ground, will, also, fail in conveying aught but a cold, inanimate picture to the mind of the reader!

(more…)

Posted on December 2, 2011 - by

Antebellum Turf Times Returns in 2012!

Sporting Epistle

Dear Readers,

Our faithful correspondent, whose staunch reporting has enabled us to bring you coverage of historic racing in New Orleans and on Long Island, has single-handedly brought new meaning to the concept of participatory sportswriting; having recently endured a series of misadventures and the wrath of the “feathered tribe” while employing a wild turkey trap over the holidays [see November 18 issue, How to Catch a Wild Turkey, Circa 1831], our correspondent is now taking some necessary time to recuperate.  We hope for a speedy recovery in the new year and are certain our reports will resume in 2012.

In the meantime, catch up on our two racing series here:

New Orleans Jockey Club 1837 Spring Races — Begins with Part I., Captain Oliver’s Triumph: Opening Day at the Eclipse Course, March 17, 1837

The Great Match Race Between the North and South — Begins with Part I., Napoleon Challenges the North

Sincerely,

Editor, Antebellum Turf Times

 

Posted on November 11, 2011 - by

The Great Match Race, Part IV. — The Aftermath

The Great Match Race Between the North and South

“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 the Virginia Times from Long Island on 28 May 1823, the day following the race between the South’s Sir Henry and the North’s American Eclipse. (more…)

The Great Match Race, Part III. — See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes!
by on November 4, 2011
The Great Match Race, Part II. — Which Hero of Napoleon’s Southern Army Will Face Eclipse?
by on October 28, 2011
A Toast to Bumper, the Best Winded, the Fleetest Horse of All [Part II. - 1837 Races]
by on August 12, 2011
Captain Oliver’s Triumph: Opening Day at the Eclipse Course, March 17, 1837 [Part I. - 1837 Races]
by on August 26, 2011
Going to the Races? Good Luck Finding a Seat on the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad
by on August 26, 2011
Ode to a Swift Nag: Day Four, New Orleans Jockey Club 1837 Spring Races [Part III. - 1837 Races]
by on September 9, 2011
No Rest for the Weary: Day Five’s One-Miler Tests the Mettle of Three Returning Racers [Part IV. - 1837 Races]
by on September 23, 2011
Song to the Silver Tea Service of the Louisiana Jockey Club [Part V. - 1837 Races]
by on October 7, 2011
The Great Match Race — Part I., Napoleon Challenges the North
by on October 21, 2011
Meditation on a Pumpkin.
by on November 24, 2011
How to Catch a Wild Turkey, Circa 1831
by on November 18, 2011
« Older Entries
From the Archives -- American Turf Register

How to Catch a Wild Turkey, Circa 1831

In preparation for next week’s Thanksgiving holiday, the Turf Times shares the following informative article on obtaining the family dinner — selected from the archives of the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine.   Wild Turkey. But the most common method of procuring wild turkeys, is by means of pens.  These are placed in parts [...]

From the Archives -- American Turf Register

Rules for Laying Out a Race Course

Coverage of closing day for the 1837 New Orleans Jockey Club Spring Races concludes next week!  For this week’s issue, the Times shares the following resource for track building, circa 1833: Rules for Laying Out a Race Course. Through the middle of the intended course, lengthwise, indicate the dotted line a b, and place on [...]

From the Archives -- American Turf Register

General Kosciuszko’s Horse — As Noble as the Man Himself

Dear Readers of the Turf Times:  Our correspondent’s coverage of the New Orleans Jockey Club’s 1837 Inaugural Spring Races will resume in next week’s issue!  In the meantime, here’s a brief tale of true chivalry, culled from the archives of the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine. General Kosciuszko’s Horse The celebrated Polish general, Kosciuszko, [...]

From the Archives -- American Turf Register

On the Treatment of the Race Horse, Immediately Preceding and on the Day of the Race

Mr. Editor:                                                                                                                                Natchez, Nov. 22, 1830 I have seen with pleasure, and I [...]

From the Archives -- American Turf Register

“Could Nature More Clearly Sanction the Sports of the Turf?”

From an 1831 issue of the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine, here’s an amusing anecdote about a pair of highly trained thoroughbreds, who ran their race without having to be asked – just like the plucky Virginia colt who crossed the finish line first in “A Toast to Bumper, the Best Winded, the Fleetest [...]

Poetry of the Turf

The Second Great Match Race Between the North and South: Post Boy V. John Bascombe

While the Times’ loyal correspondent was combing the archives in the search for more tales of the turf, the following untitled poem was unearthed—which recounts the Second Great Match Race between the North and South, held over the Union Course on Long Island in 1836 [please see Part IV.—the Aftermath from the Great Match Race [...]

Poetry of the Turf

Stanzas By a Sporting Bachelor

The ideas expressed by the following poem in its entirety may or may not reflect the opinions of the Antebellum Turf Times – ATT Editor]   Stanzas by a Sporting Bachelor – author unknown Love is just like a race-ground – it is, by my soul, Where losses or gains may betide us; We men are [...]

Poetry of the Turf

A Race

Strike aloud the signal drum, to call Each well trained racer from his stall; Drive back the anxious crowd from where Rider and steed would both prepare, For warm contention in the race;

Sporting Epistle

The Second Coming: The Times Returns in 2012 (again)!

Dear Readers: Contrary to popular belief, the Antebellum Turf Times has not prematurely ended its coverage of America’s first national pastime, for our long absence between publications has been due to the recent relocation of the Times’ offices. Your Editor, as well as the Times’ loyal racing correspondent, had dedicated weeks to the painstaking task [...]

Sporting Epistle

Antebellum Turf Times Returns in 2012!

Dear Readers, Our faithful correspondent, whose staunch reporting has enabled us to bring you coverage of historic racing in New Orleans and on Long Island, has single-handedly brought new meaning to the concept of participatory sportswriting; having recently endured a series of misadventures and the wrath of the “feathered tribe” while employing a wild turkey [...]

Sporting Epistle

Meditation on a Pumpkin.

We at the Antebellum Turf Times wish our readers the most blessed of Thanksgiving holidays.   We are thankful for the wealth of thoroughbred racing tales that keep our publication in existence — and eternally grateful to our predecessors at the local newspapers and turf journals, who painstakingly recorded these histories for posterity. Thank you, [...]

Turf Pedigree Vault

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 the spring of 1805, on James River, in Virginia, [...]

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