THE RACE-HORSE. 



427 



down to the middle of the last century, were powerful animals ; the 

 course was usually four miles, and the race was run in heats. The object 

 of all breeders of race-horses being to win, they did their best to gain 

 speed, and very soon stoutness became a secondary consideration ; horses 

 soon showed that they could not run the distances their ancestors per- 

 formed, heats became unfashionable, the length of the course was dimin- 

 ished, and younger horses entered. At present, the length of the " Derby" 

 course is a mile and a half; that of the "St. Leger" nearly two miles. 

 With young horses and short courses, the result of a race depends in a 

 very great degree on the riders, if the animals are at all fairly matched, 

 and hence has arisen the system of betting on "mounts." 



The English Race-horse (Plate XXXII) is the result of long-contin- 

 ued efforts to obtain the maximum of speed, and it is to the English Race- 

 horse that other nations turn, when they desire to improve their native 

 stock. B}' numerous crossings with English thorough-breds, the Prussians 

 have produced the Trakehner, a powerful and useful animal, and the 

 French have employed it with advantage in improving their Norman stock. 



English horses of pure blood were introduced into the colonies at a 

 very early date, and race-horses were kept and trained, especially in 

 those States which had not been settled by the Puritans. Virginia and 

 Maryland took a decided lead in this pursuit. Spark, grandson of the 

 Darley Arabian, a stallion presented by Frederick, Prince of Wales, to 

 Lord Baltimore, was one of the earliest importations, and in 1750 he was 

 followed by SeUma, a daughter of the Godolphin Arabian. From Vir- 

 ginia the love for racing spread to the CaroHnas, and northward to New 

 York, where Colonel Delancey of King's Bridge imported Wildair and 

 Lath. Within thirty years of the close of the Revolutionary War, Bed- 

 ford, Citizen, Diomed, Messenger, Saltram, Shark, Sir Harry, Spread 

 Eagle, and many other sires of fame were brought over, and the good 

 breed thus introduced was continued by the importation of such horses 

 as Priam, Barefoot, Margrave, Rowton, St. Giles, Squirrel, — six Derby 

 and St. Leger winners — Glencoe, Riddlesworth, Monarch, Sovereign, 

 Leamington, and others. American-bred horses are now entered in the 

 English races. Mr. Ten Brock led the way, and his example has been 

 followed in the last two years by Mr. Sanford, Mr. Lorillard, and Mr. J. 

 Keene. Mr. Lorillard's Parole especially distinguished itself, winning 

 both the Metropolitan and City and Suburban stakes at Epsom, while 

 Keene's Don Fulano gained a brilliant victory at Newmarket. 



