MODERN FARRIER. 243 



miles over York in eight minutes, carrying twelve 

 stone. He won more twelve stone, or royal plates, 

 than any other racer. Bay JVIalton ran four miles 

 at York, in I766, with eight stone seven pounds, in 

 seven minutes forty-three seconds and a half. Merry 

 Bachelor, in Jennison Siiaftoe's great match, ran 

 twenty-five miles in one hour. Firetail, beating 

 Pumkin, ran a mile at Newmarket in 1773, with 

 eight stone, in one minute four and a half seconds: 

 but no horse has hitherto been proved capable of 

 running a mile within a minute of time ; nor has it 

 been yet ascertained how many miles a race-horse is 

 capable of running v^dthin the hour. Long and dis- 

 stressing races were formerly in use upon the turf, 

 the discontinuance of which is among the number 

 of modern improvements. Even four mile races, or, 

 as it is styled, running over the course, are not so 

 frequent as formerly. 



The utmost speed of a trotter has hitherto been 

 ascertained, by the stop-watch, to be a mile in a few 

 seconds less than three minutes ; and sixteen miles 

 in one hour, upon the common road, with the 

 weight of twelve stone, seems to be the utmost 

 which has been performed with that weight, unless 

 it be a fact that the same was performed in 1792, in 

 Lincolnshire, with fifteen stone. Thirty miles were 

 trotted in two hours and ten minutes ; and ten miles 

 upon the Epsom road, in November, 1810, by Mr. 

 Fielder's horse, in thirty minutes ten seconds. The 

 greatest performances in harness, and with a light 

 carriage for the purpose, have been two miles in six 

 minutes and a half, without distress ; and fourteen 

 miles and a half in several minutes less than one 

 hour without distress likewise : this last was by a 

 grey gelding, the property of captain Wombwell of 

 the Guards, which had before trotted sixteen miles 

 in one hour, carrying ten stone ; an account of 

 which, with remarks, may be seen in the Sporting 

 Magazine for October, 1816. 



