The Horse of Mystery
by Lisa Harkema
Notoriously lame and struggling with unsoundness in his two seasons on the track, San Francisco was a tremendously talented trotter whose bravery and willingness to run through pain and lameness left a huge impression. In his debut, blood was dripping from his hooves with every step yet the Californian trotter finished faster than anybody else.
Born in 1903, not much is known as San Francisco until he was five. In that period he was back in Santa Ana, California with breeder, owner and trainer PW Hodges, but never entered any races. In July 1908 the colt was one of three taken to Detroit by Hodges, and San Francisco was being steered towards his debut in the M&M Stakes at the end of that month. Despite it being a fairly big race with a purse of $10,000, San Francisco was a complete unknown, and Hodges seemed to prefer it that way. In an article in the Detroit Free Press, it read “PW Hodges of Pleasanton, Cal, is at the state fair grounds with the brown stallion San Francisco, by Zombro. This fellow is in the M & M. That is all anybody knows about him, excepting Mr Hodges and the caretaker. They are as talkative as a pair of mutes when you talk about the horse (…) Mr Hodges was asked about the horse. “I have been right around fifteen with him, but that’s about all I know”, and the source of information had the lid on from that point. However, Mr Hodges had paid $500 to start him, and out west they acknowledge that he knows a thing or two.” In any event it didn’t matter as San Francisco was a late scratch in the M&M Stakes.
Hodges’ attitude had already earned San Francisco a nickname, “It was here that the white-faced stallion was dubbed the “horse of mystery” as little could be learned about him. His prospect for stake honors were not taken seriously by the horsemen at the track, and when he failed to go to the post for the M and M, they smiled to themselves and added another to their list of exploded phenomenon.” The five-year-old then appeared in the starting list for the California Stakes at the Speedway Racetrack on Aug 19, but was again a no-show come race time. By that time, Hodges was preoccupied with a much bigger race anyway, the $50,000 American Trotting Derby at Readville, MA – the richest race in the world at the time – but had a problem. Hodges had unlimited faith in his colt, but limited financial abilities. According to Ken McCarr in his article Founders of the Breeder in Hoof Beats, “Hodges did not have the $500 starting fee and he was up against a dilemma, for horses were to be handicapped shortly before the race and no one wanted to advance money on an untried horse. After seeing the horse trot three quarters in 1:34, JH Brown of Detroit became interested but would not agree until he had seen San Francisco work in 2:08 3/4 / 1.20,0 with the last quarter in 30 seconds. He then produced the entry fee with the agreement that he was to get a percentage of the winnings.”