Posts Tagged ‘American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine’
Posted on November 18, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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 of the woods where turkeys have been frequently observed to roost, and are constructed in the following manner.
Posted on October 21, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
The Great Match Race — Part I., Napoleon Challenges the North
Today the Turf Times brings its readers Part I of a four-part series on this celebrated match race of 1823 — the story continues each Friday!
“The way in which either party managed to improve their horses was kept as much a secret as the mysteries of Isis.” — Niles’ Weekly Register
American Eclipse, by Edward Troye
The Year: 1823. The American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine called it the “annus marabilis in racing annals” – the “year of wonders.”
The Challenge: To produce the fleetest thoroughbred to compete in the race for the ages over the Union Course on Long Island – one with such exceptional fortitude to match the prowess and mettle of nine-year-old American Eclipse, lauded as “the greatest horse for bottom and speed in America” by the New York Post.
An unusual turn of events would later be blamed for the outcome of this highly anticipated sectional contest, which drew 60,000 spectators from across the county to witness the grueling four-mile test of endurance. So how in the world did a pre-race dinner spell ruin for a crack nag in the Great Match Race between the North and South?
Posted on October 14, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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, and was bred by Col. Archibald Randolph and Col. John Tayloe, as their joint property. (more…)
Posted on September 30, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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.
Plan of a Race Course; see larger diagram at bottom
Through the middle of the intended course, lengthwise, indicate the dotted line a b, and place on it blocks, or flat stones, firmly secured; the tops level with the surface of the ground, at O O; distant from each other, centre to centre, four hundred and forty yards, (a quarter of a mile,) exactly measured (more…)
Posted on September 16, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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 the racers – and marriage the goal,
And Cupid the jockey to ride us!
Posted on September 16, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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.
Polish General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Father of American Artillery Tactics, American Revolutionary War Hero, and Civil Rights Advocate (1746-1817)
General Kosciuszko’s Horse
The celebrated Polish general, Kosciuszko, once wished to send some bottles of good wine to a clergyman at Solothurn [Switzerland]; and, as he hesitated to send them by his servant, lest he should smuggle a part, he gave the commission to a young man of the name of Zeltuer, and desired him to take the horse which he himself usually rode.
Posted on September 9, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
Ode to a Swift Nag: Day Four, New Orleans Jockey Club 1837 Spring Races [Part III. - 1837 Races]
Thy name, swift nag, shall be enroll’d
On every sporting ground.
– New Orleans Picayune, 21 March 1837
Monday, Day Four of the New Orleans Jockey Club’s inaugural spring races over Captain Oliver’s new Eclipse Course might as well have been promoted as Ladies’ Day at the track.
Posted on August 26, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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 co-proprietor of the race track at Liberty, Virginia. By 1833, he was serving as treasurer of the newly formed Jockey Club and proprietor of the course at Lynchberg. And the next year Oliver was in Washington, reviving the city’s track.
Posted on August 19, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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;
Posted on August 19, 2011 - by Annie Johnson
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 hope, some profit, the “instructions for training race horses,” given by “A Virginian,” in the 10th No. of your Magazine; but I am very anxious to learn the best mode of treating, feeding, and exercising a horse, the day previous to, and also on the day of the race.
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About the Turf Times
Antebellum Turf Times is a weekly publication dedicated to America's first national pastime—specifically the history of thoroughbred racing in America prior to the Civil War.
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