Now that the Dan Patch FFA Pace is history, how about some history about Dan Patch?
The grand standardbred champion Dan Patch was not only the greatest harness racing horse on his day, but he was also a major celebrity across the land—so dominant that, eventually, other owners refused to enter their horses against him.
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Dan Patch was described as a “mahogany bay” stallion bred by Dan Messier, Jr., a merchant of dry goods from Oxford, Indiana.
Messner had purchased the three-year-old filly named Zelda for $255 and she went lame in her only start and proclaimed to be worth under $100 after that issue surfaced.
So Messner paid a $150 stud fee to breed her to Joe Patchen, a successful racehorse but unproven as a sire.
The resulting foal was a colt born April 29, 1896—a colt that was said to have such crooked legs that he could not stand on his own to nurse.
Nicknamed “Messner’s Folly,” the young colt finally started to come along and developed a great personality and seemed to be quite intelligent.
Zelda continued to be used as a buggy horse with her son running around following mama until he was weaned.
In 1897, Messner applied to the American Trotting Association to name the colt Dan Patchen—but the name was already taken so the ATA assigned a similar name—Dan Patch.
“He was friendly and cute,” said Messier, with the colt’s future probably confined to pulling a delivery wagon.
But John Wattles, a friend of Messner’s, saw some hope and trained Dan Patch, who made his first start as a four-year-old in 1900.
In 1901, Dan Patch was successful to a point where he won a “Class 2:16” pace in three straight heats—the fastest in 2:07 1/2.
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In a start at New York City’s Brighton Beach track (known as a gambling hotbed), his odds in the first heat went up from 3:5 to 5:4, attracting what was described as a “mad scramble” from bettors looking to cash in, but Dan Patch finished a disappointing fourth causing a near riot and a delay in the start of the second heat.
Dan Patch did win that next heat in 2:04 1/2, a career best, but the delay prevented the completion of that race until the next day where Dan Patch won the remaining two heats.
Continuing on, Dan Patch won at several tracks, winding up with 12 wins.
He returned home and, on November 14, the first “Dan Patch Day” was held to the tune of the “Dan Patch Two Step.”
Things progressed to the point where Dan Patch, now trained by Myron McHenry, was sold to Manley Sturges in early 1902 for $20,000—he had been after him for some time—and, in late 1902, sold Dan Patch to Marion Savage for $60,000, this after his wins were so dominant at Windsor, Grosse Pointe and Cleveland during their Grand Circuit that he could find no willing competitors and with tracks not allowing wagering.
Thus, the only thing left was to have Dan Patch compete in exhibition events against the clock.
His first public time trial was August 2 in Columbus and paced his mile in 2:00 3/4.
Over the summer, as crowds blossomed as Dan Patch fever began to take hold, he lowered his mark to 2:00 1/2, then 1:59 1/2.
Finally, on September 29, Dan Patch paced in 1:59 1/4, tying the 1897 mark of Star Pointer, the first 2:00 pacer in history.
It was shortly after that Savage was able to buy Dan Patch.
Savage owned the International Stock Feed Company and used Dan Patch to advertise his company.
With heat racing the trend in those days, Dan Patch proved his superiority by towering over his competition to the point where he could find no competition.
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While Dan Patch now raced against the clock, the savvy Savage, instead of charging an exhibition fee, received a percentage of the gate receipts…and with crowds of 50,000 or more, it turned out to be a very lucrative innovation.
In 1903, Dan Patch became the champion harness horse of the world and set numerous speed records, eventually drawing crowds over 100,000 while achieving a mark of 1:55 1/4—a time that would not be eclipsed for decades.
In 1904, Harry Hersey became the trainer of Dan Patch and traveled some 10,000 miles in a custom-made railroad car gratifying huge crowds and pacing miles as fast as 1:56—a world record—that achievement in Memphis with the aid off a thoroughbred prompter.
The year 1905—Dan Patch now a nine-year-old—made his first appearance at The Minnesota State Fair with 98,000 in attendance, followed by a crowd of 100,000 at Allentown as Dan Patch Fever continued.
Traveling to Lexington, he tied his mark of 1:56 surrounded by a cloud of dust with the New York Times calling him the “Black Whirlwind.” Two days after, Dan Patch paced in the world record time of 1:55 1/4—a time that would not be eclipsed for decades.
Savage was so dedicated to Dan Patch that he built the horse a half mile indoor training track that featured 8,400 windows.
In 1906, the National Trotting Association banned the use of wind shields, and, in September of that year, Dan Patch did pace a mile in 1:55 with a wind shield—unrecognized in the record books.
In protest, Savage renamed his company to International 1:55 Stock Feed Company.
The achievements of Dan Patch made him a celebrity—some say the most famous until Babe Ruth came along.
At the pinnacle of his fame, he earned over $1,000,000 for his owner with sheet music, cigars, chewing tobacco, coffee and whiskey bottles among the items named after Dan Patch.
Dan Patch died on July 11, 1916. Owner Savage died the next day.
by John Berry, for Harnesslink
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHO
