training. According to one ringside observer, Heenan had the better of the first three rounds but then started to tire. By the 11th and final round, Heenan was unable to defend himself and Morrissey struck a knockout blow, thereby retaining his title. Heenan claimed the title on Morrissey's retirement from boxing in 1859. Although this was Morrissey's last fight, he did not lose interest in prizefighting, and in the spring of 1860, he crossed the Atlantic to witness the fight between Heenan and English champion Tom Sayers. Arriving in England on March 26, 1860, Morrissey visited the offices of the sporting newspaper, Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle. He not only placed a £600 wager on Sayers to win the fight, he also visited Sayers at his training quarters where he was said to have given the Englishman "valuable advice". On his return to the United States towards the end of April 1860, Morrissey was able to spend a few hours at Queenstown, County Cork, waiting to go aboard the steamship. Here he attracted a "large circle of admirers" and was presented with a "handsome blackthorne stick, grown on the soil of Tipperary". Involvement in gambling and the Saratoga Race Course After his retirement from boxing, Morrissey focused his attention on gambling establishments, allegedly owning stakes in 16 casinos at one point. In August 1860, it was estimated that he was worth $200,000, "all of which he had gained at hazard". In 1862, a police raid on one of his gambling establishments in New York revealed that the house had made over $2000 in December 1861. After establishing a successful gaming house in Saratoga Springs, New York, Morrissey created the Saratoga Race Course with the help of William R. Travers, John R. Hunter, and Leonard Jerome. The first races were held in August 1863. He also established "The Club House", a casino in Saratoga that attracted such notable guests as Chester A. Arthur, Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, and Mark Twain. Politics In 1866, Morrissey ran for Congress with the backing of Tammany Hall. Despite his political rivals pointing out his numerous indictments and some convictions for various crimes, he became a Congressman and served two terms (1867–1871) in the House, in the 40th and 41st United States Congress. As a Congressman, he always looked out for the interests of the Irish, and