colonel elisha a. buck
Colonel Elisha A. Buck was influential to harness racing in many ways. He owned trotters, managed a major race track, covered the sport in print, and was an original founder of the Grand Circuit.
Born in Pomfret, Connecticut in 1840, Buck left home at an early age. He found his way to western New York and by the age of 22 had become a railroad contractor overseeing 500 men who built the Buffalo and Niagara Falls branch of the Erie Railway.
Buck loved horses passionately, especially trotters. He owned Harry Harley in 1870 and won the very first $20,000 stake ever held in the U.S.
Buck was vice president of the Buffalo Trotting Park, a venture spearheaded by Hall of Fame Immortal C. J. Hamlin. The track put on meets unrivaled among other racing venues of the time. The Buffalo Trotting Park was the site of world-record performances by horses like Goldsmith Maid, Dexter and Rarus.
Trotting was flourishing on the East Coast during that time, but inland tracks had problems with transportation that forced owners to keep their horses near metropolitan areas. In an effort to lure top owners and horses, particularly to Buffalo and Cleveland, it was decided that increased purses would accomplish that. In 1871 Colonel William Edwards of the Cleveland Driving Park floated the idea to Buck along with L. J. Powers, chairman of the Springfield, Massachusetts Driving Club and John Tod, president of the Cleveland Driving Club. They all liked the idea but postponed it for a year because it was felt that at least one more track was needed.
In 1873 Buck held a meeting at his house in Buffalo where plans were made to start the association with a fourth member, the Utica Driving Club. They called it the Quadrilateral Trotting Combination, a name eventually changed to Grand Circuit as more tracks were added.
The first meet in Buffalo was held at Hamlin and Buck's trotting park from August 5-8 that same year, under the guidance of Buck.
In October 1875 Buck purchased a fifty percent interest in The Spirit of the Times from George Wilkes and became the new editor and publisher of the “American Gentleman’s Newspaper.” It was a weekly sports newspaper that began in New York City in 1831. The paper had several owners and reincarnations through the years but Buck took over during a time when harness racing was king. Buck gained full control of the publication in 1879 and ran the paper until his death.
The paper provided statistical information that others did not and in many ways helped to standardize harness racing by suggesting betting practices and offering efficient track management techniques. As a harness racing enthusiast, Buck provided more coverage of trotters in that publication after taking over and making several key hires to the paper with regards to promoting harness racing.
Buck hired Walter T. Chester as the trotting turf editor. Chester was an experienced journalist who was published in many outlets and was recognized as an authority on harness racing. As his takeover occurred at a time before newspapers carried photographs, on the recommendation of August Belmont, Buck also hired artist Henry Stull to make equine illustrations at various tracks around the country to bring life to the paper’s stories. Stull would eventually become one of the country’s premier and best known equine artists.
Buck’s paper was also famous for running ads that led to the first Longines chronograph watches sold in America, which were marketed to horse trainers in The Spirit in 1880. The watch featured the Lugrin Patent, where the timer beat fifths of seconds, which is the standard in harness racing to this day.
Buck also had many international horse connections as he was an importer of stallions from France and a member of the Executive Council for the 1887 American Exposition in London that featured the first appearance of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in Europe.
Elisha Buck was killed in 1893 at age 53 when the train he was riding from Brooklyn’s Manhattan Beach to Long Island was rear-ended by another train, killing 13 people and injuring 35 more. Buck was returning home from a day of racing at Sheepshead Bay with his son, Harry. Buck died immediately and his son survived.