The Vanderbilt Cup Race was staged over the same course on March 7, and brought out an equally attractive field. Running with the precision and dexterity that brought him home a winner in the Grand Prix, Resta repeated his victory in the Vanderbilt Race, coming home from his journey of three hundred miles ahead of such stars as Burman, Pullen, Wilcox and De Palma. Resta earned the reputation of being one of the most skillful drivers holding the wheel in this or any other country.
For six weeks, from March to May, polo held popular sway at the Exposition. Ten teams competed in a tournament which offered many valuable trophies. The contests were held daily and attracted thousands to a specially prepared turf field near the athletic stadium. The sport furnished thrilling competition throughout its period.
Perhaps the most famous team seen in competition was the noted four from Cooperstown, New York, bearing an international reputation. The Easterners, although weakened by illness in the ranks of their players, proved practically invincible. Another notable organization was the four representing the Midwick Club of Pasadena, California. In addition to the civilian teams, the United States army was represented by some fast fours, who provided thrill after thrill with their reckless but winning form in the saddle. Perhaps the most notable of the military combinations was the Fort Sam Houston four, which went through the tournament with practically an undefeated record. The army teams were granted certain handicaps, however, which gave them a slight edge in some of the contests.
Aviation, a branch of sport which claims a large place in the popular fancy, was not neglected by those who drew up the programme. Two world-famed aviators have performed before hundreds of thousands, though one of these, Lincoln Beachey, became a victim to the elements which he had so often defied. While giving an exhibition flight in a German Taube, Beachey fell to his death on March 14 when his monoplane crumpled at the start of a daring loop.
Nothing daunted by the untimely end of Beachey, a new luminary appeared in Arthur Smith, whose aerial maneuvers exceed in point of recklessness anything attempted by his predecessor. Smith thrills thousands in daily flights and skiey acrobatics, including crazy dips and loops, startling dashes to the earth and illuminated flights through the night air. (See p. 192.) Smith became in a day an attraction outshining, perhaps, any other single performer upon the huge Exposition programme.
Those who loved horse racing and grieved at the decline of the sport in California, were rejoiced at the announcement of some of the biggest harness and running events yet staged in this country. Two meetings were arranged for the Exposition schedule, a summer harness event, June 5th to 19th, and a fall running meeting, October 30th to November 13th. The Panama-Pacific is the first Exposition to make horse racing an outstanding feature of its activities. About $227,000 was set aside to be distributed in handsome purses and stakes for the events. A $20,000 trotting and a $20,000 pacing stake was put up for each meeting, with other sums ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. The four stakes of $20,000 each are the largest ever offered in any light-harness event, and insured entries of the highest class.
The race track is situated near the athletic stadium, and commands an unsurpassed view of the San Francisco Bay, together with the Marin County heights and the entrance to the Golden Gate. The grandstand seats thirty-five thousand spectators. The course, under scientific preparation for several months, was put in fine shape. The length of the lap is one mile.
One of the biggest golf events ever staged in this country was successfully managed by the Exposition. Five weeks of sport on the links around the bay counties, including high-class exhibitions by both men and women, were in the plans of the committee. Events included both professional and amateur contests, and seldom, if ever before, had a community of the size of San Francisco maintained so continuous an interest in the sport. Valuable prizes and trophies were offered for the different events of the programme. Handsome cups and medals were granted amateurs, while professionals were tendered purses of generous proportions.
Perhaps the banner event of the tournament was the amateur championship for men played on the course of the Ingleside Golf and Country Club. Players of international reputation were entered in this event, and as a result, the play offered sensation after sensation. The tournament was won by Harry Davis, of the Presidio Golf Club, after a struggle in which he eliminated such stars as Chick Evans, H. Chandler Egan, Heinrich Schmidt, and Jack Neville. Davis met Schmidt in the finals of the event and won only after a dazzling exhibition of driving and putting such as has seldom been seen on a California course.
In addition to the men's championships, the women were in the limelight for a week. Miss Edith Chesebrough won the finals of the first flight play over Mrs. H. T. Baker. Mixed foursomes, events for professionals, driving, putting, and approaching contests were all included upon the programme, with gratifying results.