A SUCCESSFUL SPORTSMAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2803, 4 December 1907, Page 55

A SUCCESSFUL SPORTSMAN.

Britain has been robbed of another sport ing record. Mr James R. Keene, racinf in America, has just brought his aggre gate winnings for the year up to £75,588 thereby eelipsin? the Duke of Portland* , hitherto unapproached t6tal of £73,857 foi the eeason of 1889. In ali the Duke wor 30 races, of an average value exceeding £2400. Donovan alone contributed £38,666 ; I among his races being an £11,000 stake ai 1 Leicester, and he was unlucky not to hay« exceeded the " forties," being beaten foi the Two Thousand by the superior jockey ship of Tom Cannon on Enthusiast. The second highest English aggregate for one 6eason ie Mr Leopold de Rothschild's £46,774 in 1896, and other lar~o totals arc the Duke of Westminster's £43,965 anc i Lord William Beresford's £42,736. both ir 1899; Mr M'Calmont's £37,674 in 1894; and ££9,585 won by the King (then Prin« of Wales) in the year of his first Derby These were gross winnings, and in estimating the pecuniary results of a season'f campaign on the tur* (putting aside ali questions of betting) account must be taker of the original cost of the stud, the ex penses of training and racing, and, in_ tht case of owners racing on "classic" lines I a sum for forfeits often running into thou sands. A romantic life ha 6 been that ol James R. Keene. He was born in Lon don in 1838, his fathei being a merchant The family emigrated to California ir 1652, and Keene started life on a ranche ai the age of 16. In three months he savec sufficient money to buy a raining outfit. I and he spent several years prospecting, freighting, mining, and stock-raising. Aftei a spell as editor of a Western paper he became connected with Senator Felton, anci managed his business on the San Franciscc Stock Exchange for two years. He ultimately boue-ht Felton's eeat, and became in conree of time president of the Exchange. He made over a million sterling by buying and selling the famous Comstock Lode, and ho lost £2,500,000 ih wheat in 1880-1881, but regained the money in other speculations. It is about 25 years since he began stock operating in New York. Mr Keene has many hobbies, the turf seeming to be his favourite. He reckons that he has spent about £20,000 a year for 15 yeare on his breeding fanr in Kentucky. He has raced more or less extensively in England, and made a tremendous hit and heaps of money with the celebrated Foxhall in the "American year" of 1881, whe won both the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire.