Saratoga Springs is second racing museum hit by thieves
By Ginny Privitar
GOSHEN — Janet Terhune recalls the day last December when she found broken glass and lost treasure at the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in Goshen.
“It really hits you in the stomach," said Terhune, the museum director. "They were such special treasures, won by important horses for important accomplishments, and it’s troubling. They circumvented the security systems. They were in and out so quickly.”
Now, the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs has been hit. Authorities believe the two thefts are connected.
In January, Terhune called the museum director in Saratoga Springs, Christopher Dragone, to inform him of the theft in Goshen and to suggest he have the museum’s security system evaluated. This was done — but the apparently professional thieves disabled the system, as they did in Goshen. Terhune contacted Dragone again last week to say how devastated she was the thieves had struck again.
The burglar (or burglars) who broke into the Goshen museum the night of Dec. 17-18, 2012, stole a sterling silver Fabergé soup tureen and ladle, the Memphis Gold Challenge Cup, the gold Weaver Loving Cup, and a Tiffany basket-shaped bowl inscribed “Worthy Chief.” Nine additional trophies were also stolen.
The Goshen trophies are all inscribed. The Fabergé trophy is inscribed in Cyrillic and is especially important. It was a gift from Czar Nicholas II to C.K.G. Billings, thanking him for bringing harness racing to Russia. Information leading to the return of tureen and the challenge cup each come with a $10,000 reward.
On the night of Sept. 12, historic racing trophies were taken from the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs, including a silver Tiffany trophy awarded to the 1903 Belmont Stakes winner, the 1903 Brighton Cup, the 1905 Saratoga Special Trophy, the 1914 Brook Cup Handicap Steeplechase, and the 1923 Grand National Steeplechase trophy. Police in Saratoga believe this loot was stolen by the same thief or thieves who stole the trophies from Goshen.
The Starnet Insurance Company is offering a reward of $20,000 for information leading to an arrest, recovery, and conviction in the Saratoga Springs case.
The vulnerability of small museums
Without provenance and title, the items would be impossible to sell legally. Terhune hopes the trophies were not melted down for their metal — a mere fraction of the worth of the intact trophies. She hopes they were targeted by a collector and remain intact.
“Our best shot of recovering them is if someone has the items on display in a private collection,” she said.
Terhune said she is “absolutely hopeful that the Saratoga case will lead to the successful recovery of the items” stolen from both museums. She noted Saratoga’s greater fame, and said, “With the prominence of the Saratoga museum, I’m hoping that interest in the Goshen museum’s case will be rekindled and ultimately, the thieves will be identified and the stolen objects recovered.”
Other locations, in New Jersey, have also been targeted for sporting trophies. In May 2012, some undisclosed items were taken from the U.S. Golf Association Museum and trophies from the Somerset Hills Country Club in New Jersey.
The Harness Racing Museum has upgraded its security. To increase awareness, Terhune said, “we’re planning to have a meeting of small museums in the area. If they have anything of true value, they should secure it. ”
Small museums with limited staff may be an especially attractive target.
“You have an open public facility where (prospective thieves) can come in and walk around any number of times to case the items and the security," she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Ryan Rich of the Goshen Village Police at 845-294-7988.