One of the more enjoyable rides I
take several times a year is through Jobstown, N. J., on my
way to Cream Ridge. The highlight of the trip is always seeing Helis Stock Farm
off to the left, the ornate gate and buildings of what used to be historic
Rancocas Stud.
Many articles have been written about
Pierre Lorillard’s once majestic thoroughbred nursery, but recently I stumbled
across a buried treasure thanks to the newly-opened vault called the Digital
Public Library of America. There, I found the entire text of the book “Cherry and Black: The Career of Mr. Pierre
Lorillard on the Turf,” by W. S. Vosburgh. The frontspiece of the book states
that it was “Printed for Pierre Lorillard” in 1916.
That the farm still exists today,
though not for thoroughbred racing and breeding purposes, is nothing short of a
miracle, given the rate that the surrounding land in Burlington County has been
bulldozed for development.
Back in the late 1800’s, Rancocas
Stud was established by Lorillard, a Gilded Age tobacco millionaire, and named
after the Rancocas Creek, which runs through the property. Its 1,500 acres was home to an indoor training
barn and outdoor training track, a manor house, multiple barns and homes for
workers, and an iron front gate with winged Mercury emblazoned upon it (see
photo, below) that he brought from the Bowery Bank in New York. Many of these structures still stand today. It reportedly
cost Lorillard more than $1 million to build the farm.
Here’s an excerpt from “Cherry and
Black” that describes Rancocas from a visitor’s point of view circa 1890:
We
had kept late hours, and the sun was shining when we awoke. All was astir as we peeped from
our window and viewed the spreading acres of the estate, which sank with the
horizon, in the golden mist of the October morning.
Men
were coming and going and the roll of wagons told that the day's work had
begun. Presently we see a string of eight horses trotting on the training
track. They are yearlings. The sight is too much for a racing enthusiast; we
dress hastily … The track covers three quarters of a mile, with easy turns, and
here it was that Saxon and Attila learned their lessons, and Parole and Iroquois
were first put through their paces.
A
big brown two-year-old is leading as "schoolmaster" to a lot of yearlings,
and Endymion brings up the rear. But the gentlemen are on the veranda, and we
are reminded that breakfast
is served.
One
can form little idea of the magnitude of Rancocas by a casual glance. The farm
covers 1500 acres, mostly meadow land. It is slightly undulating, on a somewhat
sandy stratum, which insures
good drainage. Of its stock operations it need only be stated that it consumes
20,000 bushels
of oats per annum, and 7,000 bushels of carrots. The stud consists of eighty
broodmares, eight stallions, forty-eight horses in training, including
yearlings, and forty-four weanlings, not to speak of a large number of
half-breds and horses for general use.
The
cattle are exceptionally fine, and the sheep and Berkshire pigs are strong in
numbers.
But
it is not in live stock alone that Rancocas can boast its productions. The
nurseries are among the finest in the land. Strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes,
and melons are to be had ripe and juicy in and out of season; while the cellar,
constructed for the production of mushrooms, is quite a model of its kind. The
floral productions comprise roses of varied shade and perfume, and water-lilies
of delicate hue peep out from their hiding-places, while rare exotics from
distant points of the Orient and the Occident grow side by side in profusion.
The
training stable is circular in shape, and within is a walking ring for winter
work on the straw-bed, and well sheltered by the boxes surrounding it.
The
horses are out, and old Parole leads, looking rough and ready as he rolls his eye at us.
Herbert follows, "a plain horse but a good doer"; Barrett lays back
his ears in sullen disdain, as though he overheard some remarks from the
company of his being “a Derby disappointment."
Pizarro,
"the Lincolnshire beauty," dances gaily in the sunlight as he passes,
looking
more robust than
when he last bore the "cherry" jacket. Gonfalon, a burly brown, and
little Nimrod jog along demurely. Spartacus we hardly fancy, but Amazon, a
lovely filly, prances and dances with excess of spirits. Venetia follows, and
then Disdain. Inconstant, Breeze and Battledore come along in Indian file,
quite a corps d'elite, comprising winners of the Atlantic, August, Red Bank, Optional,
Breeders, and Champagne Stakes. Hiawasse is enjoying the "rest cure"
in her box, round as a ball, and few would recognize the winner of the Monmouth Oaks, Ladies,
and Mermaid Stakes but for her familiar Vandal head and long ears.
To
be continued …
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