by Bob Fields
Chapter Three
The Horse Swiper
I walked over to Albert and told him how impressed I was with his technique. I told him I never saw a horse trained with ropes attached to its hooves. He said. “ Ol Albert got lots of tricks, boy; you just ain’t lived long enough yet to see em all. By August, when the State Fair rolls around, I’ll have this colt struttin high and proud at all three gaits. With Bobby Williams on him, he’ll be ready to compete with the best.”
I asked him how come he wound up training trotters in Maine if his specialty was training saddle horses in New York. He explained that his current employer was Mr. Daws, a rich guy who owned a several drug stores in New York, had three and five -gaited show horses, and also ran a string of trotters in New England.
Albert leaned forward in his chair and said “Mr. Daws always had me go to Maine for the fall racing season to swipe his better horses.”
“Swipe his horses? You mean steal them?” I asked
He chuckled, showed those teeth that looked like they belonged on a piano keyboard, and said, “I forgot you’re a greenhorn; swipe is just another word for groom. It has to do, I suppose, with using a rag to wipe a horse down after training or rubbing liniment on the legs.”
“That makes sense I guess, so tell me more about swiping in New England.”
“How bout I tell you bout my trip to Maine when I was swiping a horse from Houlton named Jackson Gratten that was in a race against the great pacer, John R Braden from Presque Isle.”
Albert rocked back in his chair, took a slow drag on his pipe and told me his version of the great race his horse ran against the ”Cock of the North.”
Like most great horses, Braden had several nicknames. He was called The Little Iron Horse and also the Iron Horse of Tennessee. The most appropriate title given to him was "Cock of the North" for he had the fighting courage of a game cock and he ruled the roost in his down east bailiwick for several years.
John R Braden was foaled in 1912 in Tennessee. It was customary at the time to name horses with part of the sire’s name and part of the dam’s name. His sire was John R Gentry, a champion pacing stallion. His dam was Braden Girl; hence the name John R Braden.
His first race was at the trotting park in Presque Isle on July fourth 1921. In the following four years of racing he won thirty one of sixty eight races earning more than forty eight thousand dollars.
Albert turned the bowl of the pipe down towards his feet, then slapped it against the heel of his foot─ dumping the ashes to the ground, and began his story.
“Mr. Daws was aware of this horse, and wanted very much to best it in a match race. Realizing none in his string could measure up, Daws became interested in a stallion in Houlton named Jackson Gratten; a very successful pacer on the grand circuit.”
“Had you ever seen the Gratten horse run?”I asked?
“Once at Rutland, he was up against some big time horse from New Brunswick, it was another Gratten horse, Roy Gratten as I recall.”
“Who won?”
“The Houlton Gratten won all three heats, best one in 2:07. Picked up $1400. 00 for the win.”
“Anyhow, Daws contacted Fred Putnam, a business associate of his in Houlton, to learn more about Jackson Gratten and its owners. He was told the horse was recently acquired by a small group of Houlton horsemen named the Houlton Driving Club, who were interested in beating the Cock of the North. The group was rumored to have paid twenty five thousand dollars for Gratten. Fred told Mr. Dawes he would speak with Ralph Berry and two of the other owners, and ask them to sell a share to Daws.”
Which he did, and they did, giving Daws, for five thousand dollars, a ten percent ownership in the horse. Now Albert had a chance to head north to be part of the big race.
