| August Belmont, Jr. | |
|---|---|
August Belmont, Jr. c. 1890 |
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| Born | February 18, 1853 New York, New York United States |
| Died | December 10, 1924 (aged 71) Manhattan, New York |
| Resting place | Island Cemetery Newport, Rhode Island |
| Residence | Manhattan, New York & North Babylon, New York |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Occupation | Businessman Racehorse owner/breeder |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Religion | Episcopal Church |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Hamilton Morgan (1862-1898) Eleanor Robson (1879-1979) (m. 1910–1924) |
| Children | August Belmont III (1882-1919) Raymond Belmont(b.c.1888) Morgan Belmont(1892-1953) |
| Parents | August Belmont & Caroline Slidell Perry |
August Belmont, Jr. (February 18, 1853 – December 10, 1924) was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.
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Born in New York City, he was the son of the wealthy banker, August Belmont. He was an 1875 graduate of Harvard University, where, as a sprinter, he introduced spiked track shoes to the United States.
Upon his father's death, he inherited a position as head of the Belmont banking house, August Belmon & Co., and served as a director of the National Park Bank. He was chairman of the board of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.[1]
August Belmont, Jr. founded the Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1902 to help finance the construction of and operate New York City's first underground rapid transit line. He served as president, and, in 1907, chairman of the company.[2] Belmont holds the distinction of owning the world's only purpose built private subway car. Named Mineola, she was used by Belmont to give tours of the IRT.
Following the United States' entry into World War I, August Belmont, Jr., at age 65, volunteered to assist and was sent to France by the United States Army. He received a commission as major in the United States Army Air Service. His wife, Eleanor, also devoted much time to raising funds in aid of Belgian relief efforts and for the Red Cross, she made a number of trans-Atlantic trips as an inspector of United States Army camps.[3]
August Belmont was instrumental in making the Cape Cod Canal a reality. The grand opening of the Cape Cod Canal took place on July 29, 1914, and it was soon plagued with troubles. Belmont's canal was expensive for mariners, costing as much as $16.00 for a trip by schooner, a considerable sum in those days. The narrow 140-foot (43 m) width and shallow 25-foot (7.6 m) depth of the canal made navigation difficult, and tidal flows created dangerous currents, so many mariners continued to use the routes around the cape. As a result, tolls did not live up to expectations and the Cape Cod Canal became a losing proposition. As a result, the Canal was purchased by the U.S. Government on March 30, 1928.
Like his father, August Belmont, Jr, was an avid thoroughbred racing fan. According to his TIME magazine obituary, August Belmont, Jr. "is credited with having saved thoroughbred racing when it was at its lowest ebb in the East, after the repeal of the racing law in New York State."
August Belmont, Jr. served as the first president of The Jockey Club and was chairman of the New York State Racing Commission. In 1895 he was one of the nine founding members of the National Steeplechase Association.
August Belmont, Jr. inherited Nursery Stud, a Thoroughbred breeding operation established in 1867 by his father at his 1,100-acre (4.5 km2) Babylon, New York estate. There, Belmont, Jr. raised polo ponies and played on a polo team with Harry Payne Whitney. It was here he stood the Hall of Fame stallion Kentucky. In the early 1880s, Belmont, Sr. leased a farm property in Kentucky, located about three miles outside Lexington. After transferring all of the breeding business there, August Belmont, Jr. developed a very important stud farm whose influences are still felt today. Given the same name as the New York operation, at the Kentucky Nursery Stud he bred 129 American Stakes winners. The greatest of the horses he bred was Man o' War, born while he was serving overseas in World War I. In his absence, his wife Eleanor named the new foal "My Man o' War" in honor of her husband but because of his age and the uncertainty as to the war's end, August Belmont, Jr. decided to disband the stable and with the "My" dropped from the name, Man o' War was sold to Glen Riddle Farm in Maryland.
August Belmont, Jr. organized the Westchester Racing Association in 1895. In 1905 he built Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, on Long Island which operates to this day as the largest thoroughbred racing facility in the state. In the year of its opening, the prestigious Belmont Stakes, inaugurated in 1867 and named in his father's honor, was transferred from the financially troubled Morris Park Racecourse. Three times, horses from August Belmont, Jr.'s stable won the Belmont Stakes, the first coming in 1902 followed by back-to-back wins in 1916 and 1917.
Belmont, Jr. also had horses competing in England and in 1908 his American-bred colt Norman III won a British Classic Race, the 2,000 Guineas. In addition to his Kentucky horse farm, in 1908 Belmont established Haras de Villers, a breeding operation near Foucarmont in Upper Normandy, France. Following the cessation of racing in New York State as a result of the Hart-Agnew Law banning parimutuel betting, Belmont, Jr. stood American stallions at Haras de Villers such as Flint Rock, Ethelbert, and the sire of Norman III, Octagon. At his French farm, he bred notable horses such as Prix de Diane winner Qu'elle est Belle as well as Vulcain, one of the best three-year-olds of his generation in France.[4]
August Belmont, Jr. operated the Kentucky farm until his death in 1924 after which the business was broken up and its bloodstock sold. According to Thoroughbred Heritage, today the property is home to a condominium development. Its horse cemetery, which became part of Hurstland Farm then the Nuckols Farm, is now occupied by the Rood and Riddle Veterinary Clinic.
His son, Raymond, owned Belray Farm near Middleburg, Virginia where the Hall of Fame horse Colin lived out his final years, dying there in 1932 at the age of 27.
In 1888, August Belmont, Jr. became the American Kennel Club's fourth President.
In 1881, August Belmont, Jr. married childhood sweetheart and next-door neighbor, Elizabeth Hamilton Morgan. She died at age thirty-six while visiting Paris, France in 1898. He planned to marry Alice De Giocouria, but she became ill with typhoid.[5] A widower for twelve years, on February 26, 1910 he married actress Eleanor Robson.[6]
He spent his last years on his 1,100-acre (4.5 km2) estate in North Babylon, New York. He died on December 10, 1924 at his apartment at 550 Park Avenue.[7] He was buried in the Belmont family plot at Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island. After his death, his widow, Eleanor, sold most of the estate to a property developer. Eleanor Belmont outlived her husband by fifty-five years, dying just shy of her 100th birthday in 1979. The remaining 158 acres (0.64 km2), including the family mansion, lake, and main farm buildings, was taken by New York State. Under the control of planner Robert Moses, the estate was enlarged back to 459 acres (1.86 km2) and turned into Belmont Lake State Park. The mansion served as headquarters for the Long Island State Park Commission until 1935 when it was leveled to make way for the current building.