Stephen Farrell (track and Field) - Circus Performer

Circus Performer

After gaining fame as the winner of the Sheffield Handicap, Farrell returned to the United States and signed up to race a horse at the Barnum & Bailey Circus in New York's Hippodrome. The "Horse vs. Man" race had become a regular feature of the Barnum & Bailey show, with the man being given a handicap in a footrace against a horse. Farrell announced that he would race against the horse with no handicap, and the widely publicized event drew 10,000 paying customers. Farrell defeated the horse and was put on the circus payroll. Farrell repeated the act on a regular basis, racing the horse twice around the sawdust arena. Farrell proudly noted that, in several years of racing horses with the circus, "he was beaten only half a dozen times by the horse."

Farrell often told another story about his circus work. He was once part of a parade with the entire circus troupe through the worst part of the Bowery in New York when they were met with "a shower of over-ripe eggs, tomatoes, bricks and deceased cats." Farrell was thrown from his horse and "for once made excellent use of his excellent pair of legs" in running from the scene. Despite his speed, Farrell noted he was covered with eggs and full-grown tomatoes before he reached the first corner.