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Longfellow
- The University Press of Kentucky
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LONGFELLOW KINGOF THE TURF he was called. "Beyond question the most celebrated horse of the 1870s was Longfellow," declared historian Walter S. Vosburgh. "No horse of his day was a greater object ofpublic notice. His entire career was sensational; people seemed to regard him as a superhorse ." Uncle John Harper was as old as the century when he sent his grand race mare, Nantura, two miles down the pike to General Abe Buford's Bosque Bonita Stud to be bred to "that English horse Buford's so high on," Leamington . Result of this mating was a big brown colt with a Roman nose accented by a wide blaze that ran over his nose. He was foaled at Harper's 2,400-acre Nantura Stud in Woodford County, Kentucky, on May 10, 1867, and in Uncle John's many years of raising and racing blooded horses, this one was his best. He grew rapidly into one of the biggest colts in Kentucky , almost seventeen hands, so ungainly that no attempt was made to race him at two. During the peak ofhis fame in the East, a writer for the Spirit of the Times attempted to attach some literary significance to the King of the Turf and inquired of his owner if the colt were named after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. "Never heared much ofthat feller," Uncle John remarked vague74 ly, "but that colt ofmine's got the longest legs ofany feller I ever seen." Uncle John brought out Longfellow for the first time in Lexington in the spring of his three-year-old year for the Phoenix Hotel Stakes. He could not get out of his own way. General Buford also had a nice three-year-old from Leamington's first American crop by the name of Enquirer . In the first heat, Enquirer won easily in 1:44 3/4, with W. F. Stanhope's filly Catina finishing second and Longfellow third. In the second heat, Enquirer cantered home in 1:44 112 and Longfellow could not even beat the distance flag. Enquirer raced on unbeaten that season and was declared the champion three-year-old of 1870 after his victory in the Kenner Stakes at Saratoga. Uncle John took his big, green colt home to Nantura, turned him out to pasture, and when he brought him up in the fall, Longfellow was a different horse. On September 16 at the Kentucky Association track in Lexington, Longfellow won the Produce Stakes, twomile heats in 3:43 1/4 and 3:55 112, defeating John R. Viley's Twinkle and distancing H. T. Duncan's unnamed filly by Lexington-Ella D. Shipped to Cincinnati two weeks later, Longfellow won the Ohio Stakes in easy fashion, two-mile heats in 3:37 112 and 3:55 112, from Pilgrim, by Lexington, owned by Uncle John's neighbor, Dan Swigert, who had resigned the year before as manager of A. J. Alexander's Woodburn Stud. Shipped to Nashville on October 12, Longfellow started in the Citizens' Stakes, two-mile heats, and lost the first heat to Lee Paul's Morgan Scout in 3:41 3/4, but came back in the second heat and distanced Morgan Scout and two other rivals. Two weeks later in Memphis, Longfellow closed out his three-year-old season with his fourth consecutive victory, winning the Post Stakes, twomile heats in 3:40 114 and 3:40, defeating Defender (which he was to meet later), Morgan Scout, Mollie James, and Irene Sheppard. 75 [44.222.104.49] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 09:58 GMT) Longfellow's autumn performances in the Midwest moved him up considerably in the opinion of many and he was considered to be among the ten best three-yearolds of the year, along with Enquirer, Kingfisher, Preakness , Telegram, Maggie B. B. (later to produce Iroquois), Remorseless, Lynchburg, Foster, and Kildare. At four, Longfellow emerged as the best horse of the year. On May 24 in Lexington, nothing would oppose him and he was permitted to walk over for a $400 purse. He did not start again until July 5, when Uncle John shipped him east to old Monmouth Park for the second running of the Monmouth Cup at 2 112 miles. Helmbold, owned by William R. Babcock of Rhode Island, had won the inaugural Monmouth Cup and had been counted the champion handicapper the previous season. In addition to Helmbold, Milt Sanford's four-year-old Preakness and D. J. Crouse's four-year-old filly...