The Monarch of the Mile
by Lisa Harkema
Maybe the best trotter ever bred in the Hoosier state, Cresceus went from being the best ever seen on the snow in Toledo to the best the world have ever seen. A rather plain trotter with bulldog determinaton, he didn’t take kindly to being mistreated.
Born and bred by George Ketcham on his Ketcham farm, later renamed MacGregor Lane farm, near Toledo, OH, Cresceus saw the light of day in the spring of 1894. A relatively plain youngster, though expected to be a nice race horse nobody thought the colt would turn into the best in the world in a few years. The story of Cresceus, as the colt was named later, could have been over very early. As a yearling he came down with strangles and, according to the book The Story of a Great Horse, “was blistered on the throat; in an effort to relieve his suffering, in some manner he rubbed off the blister over the half door of his stall, and sawed his neck so that his wind pipe was exposed. When discovered he presented a horrible appearance, and Mr Ketcham ordered him killed, but as luck or rather fate would have it, the trainer was too busy or careless and it was put off until morning, when he was found to be so much better that it was decided to give him another chance for life.”
Broken to harness by Tim Murnen, the superintendent of Ketcham Farm, Cresceus didn’t display an extreme early talent, but did show both a very good heat but also the courage and determination which served him so well throughout his career. He was taken slowly and learnt to listen to the voices of Murnen and Ketcham – and never did anybody use a whip on him. In the winter he turned 2, Cresceus was driven quite a bit on the snow and succeeded in beating a few of the best Toledo trotters. “In these brushes on the snow path, Mr Ketcham learned that the youngster possessed extreme speed and supreme courage.” Trained regularly through the winter and spring, Cresceus made two starts at 2, both in October, finishing second at Circleville, OH and then winning a race of half-mile heats at Vienna, MI. George Ketcham was now fully convinced he had a good future race horse and let the horse grow and mature. In the winter he turned three Cresceus continued to impress on the Toledo snow path and soon “got the reputation of being invincible on the snow.”