100 State Board ok AGuicui/rtKE, &c. 



of the road of New \ ork, quite often lie would point out 

 to nie H horse with the remark, '' that has been on the road 

 six yeai-s. that eight years, that ten," and so on, " and can 

 take a. forty clip or better any day in tlie week, and is per- 

 fectly sound in wind and liml)," and would reply almost 

 invariably to the question what blood ( ''OJiI that's a Clay." 

 That rai-e coterie of distinguished horse critics from ]^ew 

 York at our last State Fair at Rutland, Messrs. Charles 

 Backman, David Bonner, Dean 8age, Shepherd Knap}), 

 Colonel Phife, J. B. Alley and L. H. Packer, were unani- 

 mous in their declarations that unquestionably the l>est and 

 most popular cross in breeding, in and around New York 

 to-day, waw the Hambletonian and ('lay; the forward, quick 

 stroke of the Clay balancing and (juickening the tendencv 

 to too long strides and dwelling of the Hami;»letonian. 



Herk Comstock says of Mr. Backman : " The ascendency 

 of his own mind in the formation of his plans is well deiined 

 in the fact that he early adopted strains of blood in great 

 disfavor at that time, but which have since proved signally 

 successful. Noticeably among these we lind the Clay fam- 

 ily, from wdiich, under opposition, lie selected several brood 

 mares, got by his chosen favorite sire of the line, Sayre's 

 Henry Clay. Among them we tind Hattie Wood (dam of 

 Gazelle), Mary Grinbey (dam of Loadstone), and Green 

 Mountain Maid (dam of Storm, Electioneer, Prospero, 

 Dame Trot and Miranda)." Aside from Mr. Packman's 

 success with this once condemned l)ut now fashional)le 

 strain, we have notable instances of its value in Bodine, St. 

 Julien, George M. Patchen, American Girl, Lucy, Orient 

 aTid many others. Hiram Woodi'uif savs of one of them : 



