that stood in the record book for years — disputed many times but never really proven untrue.

I have heard my mother tell many times of the day she was seated in the grandstand in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, considered at one time to be the largest shipping point for western cattle. When Sway Dick was brought out on the track, the spectators hooted, razzed and yelled "Get the plow!" Mother said that she was ready to leave the grandstand. But after the race, people flocked to the stable quarters to see the sway back horse and take pictures.

Dad had a rider he called Kid Willis, and my father said that to make things better or worse, depending on which way you looked at it, the Kid was perfect for the set up. He just looked like a naive farmer boy and wore bib overalls, but he knew his onions about riding a race horse. Sway Dick, with his peculiar build was actually a freak. When he came down the stretch, you could not see the Kid crouched on his back.

The Horse's pedigree was unknown, though it was known that he came from down Texas or Oklahoma way. A real good look at him revealed that he had fine muscling and many good features, so evidently his speed was no accident.

Dad never had Sway Dick defeated, but as the horse was getting some years on him (although his exact age was not known), he sold him. Bill Anderson was a horseman; that was his business. He was not a horse lover, in a sense, and when

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