Hi all,
I am working on a project about Exterminator, and hoping for any leads about him, his trainer Henry McDaniel, or his owner Willis Sharpe Kilmer. I think I’ve covered pretty much everything in books, the Daily Racing Form archive, and the NYT. Does anyone have any further information about “Old Bones” and his handlers? Thanks so much for any and all help, Eliza
You have the book, I presume?
If you really want to do a deep dive you could track down in the library the Binghamton, NY newspapers as Kilmer was based near there (partially in Vestal, NY) and Exterminator lived his last days at the farm there. The New York Times did cover Exterminator but was always the local angle 
Example - Binghamton Press Sept 26, 1945 news of his death (pdf) (note it takes a while to load)
(The newspaper serving the area now Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin was the surviving merged publication from The Evening Press (previously The Binghamton Press, which was owned by Kilmer) and The Sun-Bulletin.)
Willis Braxton did grooming for Exterminator - after he retired - and is still alive or was as of a year ago in a nursing home in Middlesex, VA. In fact his father worked for Kilmer as well:
Braxton’s story starts at sunrise on April 1, 1913, when he was born near Remlik Hall Farm, which was owned by Willis Sharpe Kilmer.
Braxton’s father was a groundskeeper at the beautiful farm on Kilmer’s Point between LaGrange and Robinson creeks, about 3 miles west of Urbanna. The estate had a horse training track.
Visiting Exterminator’s grave is fairly simple to find.
Thanks so much for these responses. I do have the Eva Jolene Boyd book, and the others that feature Exterminator.
Thanks very much for the history of how the Binghamton papers were owned–I have seen just from reading a lot of contemporary NY papers how Kilmer was treated very well in his own paper and not always quite so well. www.fultonhistory.com is a great resource for NY papers. . .
I would love to travel to his grave sometime.
To go a little OTT, the photo caption names the horse as Nedary but I can’t find him listed at Pedigreequery nor at the Kentucky Digital Library. Does anyone know of his pedigree?
[QUOTE=WhiteCamry;5282136]
To go a little OTT, the photo caption names the horse as Nedary but I can’t find him listed at Pedigreequery nor at the Kentucky Digital Library. Does anyone know of his pedigree?[/QUOTE]
I believe it is NEDAYR (Neddie/Sunayr, by Sun Briar).
[QUOTE=WhiteCamry;5282136]
To go a little OTT, the photo caption names the horse as Nedary but I can’t find him listed at Pedigreequery nor at the Kentucky Digital Library. Does anyone know of his pedigree?[/QUOTE]
Looks like it was a typo:
Winners: Arlington Classic - 1938 Nedayr (horse); Wayne D. Wright (jock); William A. Crawford (trainer); Willis Sharpe Kilmer (owner)
Time Magazine Sport: Who Won, Aug. 1, 1938
Among the outstanding nominees, of course, is Stagehand. Winner of this year’s $50,000 Santa Anita Derby and $100,000 Santa Anita Handicap, trained., by the famous Earl Sando and owned by Maxwell Howard; Willis Sharpe Kilmer’s Nedayr, last season’s Pimlico Futurity winner;
[QUOTE=Beaver Breeze;5282222]
I believe it is NEDAYR (Neddie/Sunayr, by Sun Briar).[/QUOTE]
Regarding the filly Sunayr see the New York Times 1923
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y., Aug. 18 – Running through the mud. Willis Sharpe Kilmer’s chestnut filly Sunayr, by Sun Briar-Misty Law, this afternoon beat H.C. Fisher’s Humorette by a head to win the Kentucky Selling Stakes over the five and a half furlong route.
Kilmer in case it wasn’t obvious ran a rather successful racing outfit back in the day All that swamp root money bought some great horses and funded a very serious homebred program, too.
OP, you mentioned visiting Exterminator’s grave, so might I guess that you are in or near New York? If so you might want to contact the historian at the Museum of Racing in Saratoga. His name is Allan Carter and he’s very helpful to people doing research. I spent many a pleasant hour doing some research in the Museum’s library.
I would love to visit upstate NY, and have been in touch with Allan, and you’re right, he is great! But I am based quite a bit farther south, so I spend a lot more time at the NSL here in Middleburg, another great place.
[QUOTE=elizamcgraw;5280857]
I would love to travel to his grave sometime.[/QUOTE]
I took this picture of his grave stone back in 2003 along with COTH user and good friend Mile High. As far as cemeteries go it was ‘ok’ but I suspect the Kilmer family would not be happy that their beloved horse wasn’t some how better protected.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;5283027]
I took this picture of his grave stone back in 2003 along with COTH user and good friend Mile High. As far as cemeteries go it was ‘ok’ but I suspect the Kilmer family would not be happy that their beloved horse wasn’t some how better protected.[/QUOTE]
What do you mean? It seems from the gravestone that this is a remembrance of three horses. Sun Briar, Exterminator (bought to be Sun Briar’s work horse), and another which I cannot read. Is that the case? I was a very early follower of the history of Exterminator and in the last years, his little friend Peanut.
Found info on him at tvg.
http://community.tvg.com/t5/History-and-Photos/EXTERMINATOR-OLD-BONES/m-p/174228
[QUOTE=Calamber;5283285]
What do you mean? It seems from the gravestone that this is a remembrance of three horses. Sun Briar, Exterminator (bought to be Sun Briar’s work horse), and another which I cannot read. Is that the case? I was a very early follower of the history of Exterminator and in the last years, his little friend Peanut.[/QUOTE]
No grave exists marking any of the ponies named Peanut. The 3rd horse marked by the headstone is filly Suntica (1929 - 1947). I think its most fitting that all three Kilmer horses are together on the marker.
My objection was the condition of the pet cemetery. It looked at the time (and maybe things have changed) that it had been for many years disregarded and kept in an overgrown, unregulated condition. Exterminator, Sun Briar, and Suntica are the only horses there from what I could tell. The rest were graves marking dogs, cats, etc.
Well, the trees behind it have been cut, and obviously people are visiting (the stones on the grave–either they figure Suntica, Exterminator, and Sun Briar were Jewish, had a lot of Jewish visitors, or people didn’t bring flowers and borrowed the custom–saw that a lot at Arlington.) The grass doesn’t look out of control in that shot.
Is the place still an active pet cemetery? If it’s not, it might be worth looking into who owns it (if it’s not actively selling plots, it might be ‘a bank’, ‘no one’, etc. meaning there’s no one ot take care of those things.) It’s a lot of upkeep to maintain a cemetery, and the only income is selling plots (unless it’s a national cemetery, or directly associated with a church or dioscese.) If they aren’t “in business” there might not BE anyone to really maintain it. Heck, Congressional Cemetery in DC was a wreck before the Friends of… group and K9 corps took up the issue as it was private property and more or less unmanaged for a long time. If that’s the case for this one, maybe there’d be interest in creating a Friends of Exterminator to look out for it.
I wonder how they were buried–three in a plot (plus likely Peanut) takes up a lot of room. Were they cremated or buried in part?
It was stated above that their remains are, at least in Old Bones case, not there- but it would be interesting to know the truth.
There was a really marvelous WGC American Saddlebred stallion who was also a fabulous sire, whose remains allegedly ended up buried near the opening of the end of the barn- no marker. The property is now a pig farm. It shouldn’t bother me that he is being run around on by piggies, but it does.
However, Seabiscuits final resting place is also a mystery-- he, too, is simply somewhere on the farm where he spent his retirement.
I’m not sure why anyone suggests that Exterminator isn’t buried where he is. As for the multiple companions named Peanuts they all predeceased Old Bones. Honestly there would be no reason to bury any of them near Sun Briar. [No other Kilmer horses but the three are at that cemetery; I’m sure at least one Peanuts died in Virginia before Exterminator was moved to Binghamton.]
Yes there is a common headstone marking the location (when it was made I don’t know) but even the newspaper account of his death and headline states what they did: Binghamton Press Wednesday, Sept 26, 1945: “Exterminator Dies at Sun Briar Court; Derby Winner Buried Beside Old Stablemate”
In fact, he was in [his] thirty-first year when the end came peacefully in his stall at 3:30 a.m. from a heart attack. Dr. M. C. Markham, veterinarian, attended him.
The gallant son of Imp. McGee, affectionately-called “Old Bones” by thousands, was buried today beside his old stablemate, Sun Briar, in LaFrance’s pet cemetery on the Morgan Road.
Exterminator’s death leaves the mare, Suntica, the only thoroughbred
of the late Mr. Kilmer’s string in the possession of Mrs. Kilmer. She bred Commodore K., a two-year old, which is at the Belmont Park racetrack.
LaFrance is today Whispering Pines located a short distance beyond the Ross Park Zoo (which is at 60 Morgan Road). The pet cemetery was still active in 2003 and I can only comment on what I saw at the time. The photo I took was intentional with minimizing the amount of yard waste and debris in proximity.
As for the stacked stones on graves that is a common sight at a wide variety of places as a symbol of someone having been there - and not because the visit was of any particular faith In Hawaiian sacred sites you’ll see it too.
Regarding Peanuts it appears that at Exterminator’s 30th birthday party they were on Peanuts the 3rd. BP May 28 1945
Twenty-seven years have elapsed since Exterminator won the Kentucky Derby. But the greatest of geldings of his era still is a hero to hundreds of Triple Cities children.
They brought gifts to his birthday. Bunches of carrots, packages of oats and sugar. Yes, even sugar, scarce as it is these days. Why, one youngster handed
caretaker Mike Terry a can of lump sugar, proudly saying, “Here’s Exterminator’s birthday present.”
Children alone didn’t go to Sun Briar Court. About half of the 300 who went there to pay tribute to one of the greatest race horses in American history were adults. “Old Bones” will be 30 years old Memorial Day. Because of the nature of that day and since many of the youngsters would be out of the city then, Mrs. Willis Sharpe Kilmer gave Exterminator his party yesterday.
He seemed to enjoy it as much as the children, too. He arched his noble head proudly as Terry and Superintendent Peter H. Curran led him over to the table on which were displayed the many trophies he won in his racing days. You felt as if you could see a smile on his face as people stroked him or handed him a lump of sugar.
And in the paddock he was as frisky as his pony companion, Peanuts III
The fact that many of his back teeth are missing—his age is equivalent to 90 in a person— didn’t stop him from wading in, either, when Mrs. Kilmer fed him the birthday cake.
The cake was of mash and carrots, trimmed in green. That made the green, orange and brown of the colors of the racing stable of the late Mr. Kilmer.
Following Willis Sharpe Kilmers death his surviving wife (Sarah Jane) would remarry in 1949 to Eben Howes Ellison, Jr. and would continue to race horses under her remarried name. Such a horse was Sun Bahram - who was out of the Kilmer mare (buried beside Exterminator) Suntica. Before being remarried she would sell the Riverside Drive mansion and oddly per a 1958 article the mansion was sold to the subsequent buyers with many of the trophies earned by Exterminator, Sun Beau, Sun Brier, etc. included.
She died around 1985.
Another interesting read is the often mentioned “Back the Attack Day” at Belmont Park which Mrs. Kilmer agreed at the request of the track to have Exterminator (at 23) come down from Sun Brier Court for the big day.
Belmont’s plan for Futurity Day calls for an admission price of one $25 War Bond. The "charge for the clubhouse will be a $100 bond.
Exterminator will leave Sun Brier Court In a horse van next Tuesday morning. He should reach Belmont at about 3 p. m. Peanuts, his pony companion— they are inseparable—will go along, too. They will be watched over by Mike Terry, caretaker for 25 years of the country’s outstanding cup horse.
This will be the second time Mrs. Kilmer has permitted Exterminator to go for a trip for a gala racing event. Two years ago he went to Pimlico, M.D. to lead the field in the parade to the post for the Exterminator Handicap, a race named in his honor.
The “Back The Attack” at Belmont was the single largest War Bonds raising event: Life Magazine Oct 22, 1945
[Exterminator being there] is credited with selling $25 million worth of War Bonds.
Another interesting read is the often mentioned “Back the Attack Day” at Belmont Park which Mrs. Kilmer agreed at the request of the track to have Exterminator (at 23) come down from Sun Brier Court for the big day.
The “Back The Attack” at Belmont was the single largest War Bonds raising event: Life Magazine Oct 22, 1945
WOW!
[QUOTE=danceronice;5283828]
Well, the trees behind it have been cut, and obviously people are visiting (the stones on the grave–either they figure Suntica, Exterminator, and Sun Briar were Jewish, had a lot of Jewish visitors, or people didn’t bring flowers and borrowed the custom–saw that a lot at Arlington.) The grass doesn’t look out of control in that shot.
Is the place still an active pet cemetery? If it’s not, it might be worth looking into who owns it (if it’s not actively selling plots, it might be ‘a bank’, ‘no one’, etc. meaning there’s no one ot take care of those things.) It’s a lot of upkeep to maintain a cemetery, and the only income is selling plots (unless it’s a national cemetery, or directly associated with a church or dioscese.) If they aren’t “in business” there might not BE anyone to really maintain it. Heck, Congressional Cemetery in DC was a wreck before the Friends of… group and K9 corps took up the issue as it was private property and more or less unmanaged for a long time. If that’s the case for this one, maybe there’d be interest in creating a Friends of Exterminator to look out for it.
I wonder how they were buried–three in a plot (plus likely Peanut) takes up a lot of room. Were they cremated or buried in part?[/QUOTE]
There was more than one Peanut, the first one died, Exterminator went crazy and they had to find one in a very big hurry according to the one biography. They found a tiny little mite and there is a very sweet drawing of the two of them curled up together. Must have been a big relief to the owners.
I am not sure what you mean about the custom of flowers in the Jewish tradition. It is a tradition in the Christian religion as well, just not allowed in many of the mass cemetaries because of maintenance issues/costs. Same goes for a horse/pet cemetary. Who is going to pay for the upkeep if the estate did not have money left for that purpose?
In Virginia and I am sure all over the country there are graves of humans which are left in disreputable conditions. I lived near one in Virginia that had stones from nearly 250 years ago. The county (Loudoun) had a fund to help but it was a long process to apply and the ground was in dispute as to ownership so I could not do it without the consent of the one cranky, obviously non caring owner. I had always thought that graveyards were non violable, ie sacred. I found that nothing is sacred to speculators and that the ground can indeed be disturbed if enough money changes hands or the “right” persons are involved. I was horrified.
I am saddened by the disregard for the horses but really not as horrified as I was for those graves I found of women, children (babies) and men of over a hundred years that I could not preserve. I wish I could have started the “friends” of the family in Neersville, who founded a very beautiful old settlement in Loudoun Heights in the lovely “Between the Hills” area of Hillsboro and west. That is a good idea though, to get a friends of Exterminator. He is certainly worth remembering.
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