THE great Arkle used to receive post addressed to ‘Arkle, Ireland’. The late Tom Foley’s fairytale horse Danoli was ‘‘The People’s Champion’. Red Rum carried the fiver of thousands of housewives each year when the Grand National came around.

Yet all those household names did not achieve the fame of the world champion Standardbred who reigned at the turn of the 20th century and was based in Minnesota, USA. The horse was named Dan Patch.

Obviously, there is so much competition for the leisure dollar nowadays that no horse, not even Secretariat, Seattle Slew nor American Pharoah, will ever command any more than sidebar status on the sports pages of national newspapers or magazines.

In his day, Dan Patch was headline news. He raced or showed before crowds of 50,000 frequently and more than 90,000 at least twice.

President Dwight Eisenhower queued up as a boy to see the horse, while a young Harry Truman once wrote him a fan letter.

Rich history

The United States Totting Association (USTA) sometimes markets harness racing as ‘the original American sport’. The claim rings true when we consider that the roots of the Standardbred, the Morgan horse and other breeds can be traced to the early settlers racing home from church in their horse-drawn buggies on a Sunday.

Things had moved on from the family carriage horse by 1896 when the nearly black colt was born in Oxford, Indiana. By the time Dan Patch reached his racing prime, harness racing was drawing massive crowds. The Grand Circuit (the nationwide tour of the leading tracks by the top colts and filles) captured the imagination of the public.

A perfect storm of his dominance on the track and a wider population who understood horses and had nothing faster to follow meant that the stallion became a nationwide star. He was a true celebrity.

In today’s digital age all news is both instant and worldwide as soon as a milestone is reached. In 1900s America if you wanted to see an event you had to travel and pay in. If you missed the excitement, telegraphs carried the news and newspapers relayed the drama.

Publications from that era remain and the grand language of the old reporters have only magnified the Dan Patch legend.

He paced a fantastic 1m 55sec mile in 1906, a world record which stood for 54 years. He lowered his personal best many times and held a total of nine world records although, in those non-digital days, race times were often disputed.

Dan Patch was by Joe Patchen out of a mare named Zelica, who went lame after her only start. The foal’s legs were so crooked he needed help to suckle his mother. Throughout his life he coped with an imperfect hock on his near hind which entailed special shoeing and a wider than normal sulky. He stood 16hh at maturity which is slightly above average for a modern pacer.

He changed hands at least three times in his lifetime, having shown ability beyond his humble roots. He began with a dry goods merchant named Messner, and was later sold to a dubious character, a gambler named Sturgis.

Interestingly, the star of the early century raced without the aid of hobbles (the jargon is ‘free legged’) and has this in common with fellow world record holders Billy Direct (1938) and Steady Star (1971).

Exhibitionist

In 1902, at the age of six, the horse was sold by Sturgis to his long-term owner Mr M.W. (Marion Willis) Savage, a feed mill owner who used Dan Patch’s prowess on the track to promote his range of meal.

M.W. Savage was a relentless marketeer and, in a vain way, inordinately proud of ‘The King of the Track’ which was one of many nicknames the horse picked up. Again, the advertising and endorsement of various products has helped the legend to endure.

In those days races were often decided by a series of three or four heats on the same afternoon. Over approximately four seasons at the races Dan Patch was undefeated in actual races although he did lose an occasional heat. He proved so superior on the track that, for the latter half of his career, it was decided to confine him to exhibitions and time trials.

Time trials have all but disappeared in the modern sport but were once a popular way of hanging a fast time on a stallion before he retired. Companion horses, known as ‘prompters’, were used to run alongside the horse trying to set a new mark. Indeed thoroughbreds were often used for this task.

Savage showed his pride and joy far and wide across the vast continent. The wealthy showman designed a special railway carriage to carry horse and entourage from town to town, complete with gaudy circus-style signage.

Savage bought up some other younger stallions to show alongside Dan Patch. The tycoon set up The International Stock Feed Farm (named after his business), complete with a four-furlong covered training track, difficult to value in 2022 money.

Dan Patch’s usual driver was Harry Hersey.

Endorsements

The standardbred’s familiar outline was used to sell whiskey, drinking glasses, billiard cues and sheet music. A folk dance was devised - The Dan Patch Two Step - and some 30 after his death the film The Great Dan Patch, starring Dennis O’Keefe and Gail Russell, was released by United Artists.

Dan Patch died on July 11th, 1916, at the age of 20 following complications after colic. In true Hollywood style M.W. Savage died the very next day.

On a local note, the Scott family who once ran Antrim Stadium are proud owners of a wonderful oil painting of the famous horse by Minister and horseman Rev W.J. Watson of Cullybackey.

Nowadays the United States Harness Writers Awards for leading horses are known as The Dan Patch Awards.

No apparent heir

History has shown that M.W. Savage may have been wiser to assemble a better band of mares for the court of his beloved champion. His best son was Dazzle Patch who died young and left very few foals.

The most famous modern animal to trace back to Dan Patch was Jate Lobell (won $2.2 million and paced 1m 51.2secs), a superb racehorse who was not a standout stallion. The Wallaces of Newtown Stud in Cloghran briefly stood Starkrazy, a son of Jate Lobell, but the pedigree has more or less died out.

On the other hand, if you are offered a bottle of Dan Patch whiskey, buy it at all costs.