August Belmont junior

August Belmont junior

August Belmont junior (born February 18, 1853 in New York City , † December 10, 1924 in North Babylon , New York ) was an American banker , horse breeder and owner of a horse racing stable . He was the son of the Alzey banker and politician August Belmont , brother of Oliver Belmont and Perry Belmont .

biography

In 1875 he graduated from Harvard University . After his father's death in 1890, he inherited part of the property and took over the chairmanship of the August Belmont and Company banking house . As president of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), he was instrumental in building the New York subway . Belmont is the only person who ever owned a private subway car; he called it Mineola and used it for sightseeing trips on the route network.

Like his father, August Belmont Jr. also loved. Horse racing for thoroughbred horses. He financed the construction of the Belmont Park racecourse , which opened in 1905 and where the Belmont Stakes are still held today. He was also President of the Jockey Club , Chairman of the New York State Racing Commission, and a founding member of the National Steeplechase Association . Belmont had one of the best horse racing stables for years; five of his own horses won the Belmont Stakes. He also bred polo ponies and played polo himself. Twelve years after the death of his first wife, Elizabeth Hamilton, née Morgan, he married the British actress Eleanor Robson Belmont , née Robson.

After the US entered World War I , Belmont volunteered at the age of 65 and was sent to France by the United States Army to provide organizational support. His second wife named a newborn foal “My Man o 'War” (my man of war) in his honor. After returning at the end of 1918, Belmont decided to sell his racing stable and to leave out the "My" in the name of the horse. Man o 'War became one of the most successful racehorses of all time in the early 1920s.

August Belmont made a major contribution to the completion of the Cape Cod Canal at the narrowest point of the Cape Cod peninsula after several failed attempts. But soon after it opened on July 29, 1914, the sewer company ran into considerable financial difficulties. 14 years later, the canal was acquired by the US government.

In 1924 Belmont died on his 440 acre estate in North Babylon, Long Island . His widow sold most of the property and died in 1979 at the age of 99. After her death, the remaining 63 acre property with the family residence fell into the possession of the state of New York. Under the direction of Robert Moses , the site was expanded back to 184 acres and converted into Belmont Lake State Park .

literature

• Carole Case: The Right Blood - America's Aristocrats in Thoroughbred Racing. Rutgers University Press, Piscataway 2000. ISBN 0-8135-2840-2 .