236 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



for a purse, premium, priae, stake, or wager, on any course, and 

 in the presence of a judge or judges, constitutes a public race. 

 The time made by the winner is a "record." There is no record 

 unless the horse wins, so a list of records does not tell how fast 

 some of the horses may have trotted; they may have done better 

 than their record, and not winning, get no credit for it. Or a 

 horse may trot never so fast, and if there is no money or prize 

 won that is no record. To illustrate — Dexter made his record of 

 2.17^ at Buffalo, Aug. 14, 1867, by winning. But in June of the 

 same year, with Ethan Allen as a running mate, he was timed a 

 mile in 2.16. This is well authenticated, but is no "record." 

 Again, Edwin Forrest in August, 1878, at Hartford (the day of a 

 great feat by Rarus, and I dare say several of my hearers were 

 present), trotted a mile in 2.14^ There were many thousands of 

 spectators, judges in position, the time as carefully noted as in any 

 race in the world, another horse trotted with him to encourage 

 him, yet his time made was no "record," because there was no 

 "purse, premium, prize, stake, or wager" involved. It was a mere 

 exhibition. Consequently, the story of the trotting horse is much 

 better in fact than can be shown by any table of records. But as 

 these are the only exact and well authenticated data we have, I 

 use them, and because of the uncertainty of many alleged times 

 which are not records, I must ignore all such in this discussion. 



Records only dropped below 2.30 in 1843, in which year 

 Lady Suffolk (and Beppo?) trotted in 2.28, but it had often been 

 claimed to have been made before. It was claimed that Bull Calf 

 did it when six years old (American Turf Register, Jan., 1830, p. 

 257), and several horses had trotted one mile of a longer 

 race, in less than 2.30. Dutchman, in a match against time on 

 the Beacon Course, Aug. 1st, 1839, made the second mile of a 

 three mile race in 2.28. His record of 7.32| for the three miles, 

 under saddle, made at that race, still remains the best of its kind, 

 3 -mile heats under saddle having long since become very rare. 

 But times, even when not records, were valued for driving purposes 

 quite early. A note by the editor of the Am. Turf Register, June, 

 1830, p. 483, says that in New York or Philadelphia a horse 

 is so commonly estimated by his performance at trotting, that " if 

 you ask an ignorant stable boy 'what sort of a horse is that,' he 

 will answer, 'well, I guess he's a three or a three and a half,' 

 meaning so many minutes, and seconds for a mile." The Ameri- 



