734 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



2:19, placing the three heats on the average at 2:18^ each, the result being all the more 

 remarkable when we remember that she was badly spavined in one leg. 



In 1875 she won only one race, when she beat Lula and Nettie, her remarkable career 

 closing at Elmira, New York, October 2d, where she dropped dead at the quarter-pole in the 

 first heat. She had been ailing with epizootic, and, as the post-mortem showed, ought not 

 to have been put upon the race-course in that condition. 



Goldsmith Maid was foaled in 1857. Her sire was the son of Hambletonian, known 

 in Kentucky as Alexander s Abdallah, Her dam was by the original Abdallah, son of 

 Mambrino (Americus) and sire of Hambletonian. She is said to have been &quot; the smallest 

 of her dam s products, and was by no means exempt from temper and accidents.&quot; She was 

 noted for jumping fences, asd when put to the harrow, was entirely unmanageable, as she 

 would rear up and fall over; when hitched to a wagon, she would kick herself loose and run 

 away. She was regarded as so very ungovernable as to be practically useless, and her owner, 

 Mr. J. B. Decker, of Sussex County, New York, accordingly sold her for the sum of $350. 

 In taking the animal home, the purchaser was offered $400 for her, which he accepted. 

 Three months later the last purchaser sold her for $650 and a buggy to Mr. Alden Gold 

 smith, one of the most sagacious, kind, and patient of horsemen. She was at that time very 

 wild, timid, and unruly, although she possessed nothing of what might be termed a malicious 

 disposition. By patient and gentle treatment, Mr. Goldsmith made her more quiet, but she 

 would not go with check-rein or running-martingale, so her owner ordered them taken off, 

 and also took off her blinders. She trotted without check in all her races for the first 

 three years. She is described as &quot; small of stature, long and low, deep through the heart, 

 of wiry, whalebone texture all over, and with a back of amazing strength for a horse of her 

 size.&quot; 



In 1865 she trotted her first race, the best time being 2:26, and won in three heats. In 

 1866 she trotted nine or ten times, and won in all but the last. The next year she was beaten 

 by Dexter. In 1868 she won eight times and made a record of 2:21^-. The next season she 

 lost five times to the American Girl, who trotted in 2:19. Her next record was 2:20^ at 

 Boston, where she beat Lucy. At Philadelphia she won the victory over American Girl in 

 three heats all better than 2:20, which was the first time any horse had beaten 2:20 in all the 

 heats of a race. 



During this year she won eight races, beating all those that had previously beaten her 

 except Lady Thome. In 1870 she won eleven times. In 1871 she beat all her competitors, 

 including American Girl and Lucy. Soon after, she trotted in 2:17, beating Dexter s time 

 of 2:1 71. In 1872 she went to Boston and reduced her record to 2:16|. After this she put 

 in all the heats for the fourth time in less than 2:20. She was then taken to Sacramento 

 and in little more than a month after her previous race trotted in 2:17^. In 1874 Goldsmith 

 Maid trotted seventeen times and with increased speed, making a record of 2:16. Three 

 times during this year 2:20 was beaten in all the heats. At Rochester a second heat was 

 trotted in 2:14|. At Boston in September, 1874, she trotted in 2:14. In 1877 she defeated 

 Rarus in California over a rough track in 2:19^, 2:14, 2:17. Shortly after this she was 

 permanently retired from the track, her best record, as previously stated, being 2:14. 



The following incident, showing how attached an intelligent horse becomes to his faith 

 ful attendant, and also the influence of kindness on dumb animals, will be of interest to 

 many. As the story goes, Charley Cochrane, who was many years the faithful custodian of 

 Goldsmith Maid, went to pay her a visit. It is well known that she was very jealous of 

 her foal, and would not permit any one to come near it, and it was arranged that she should 

 hear Charley s voice before she saw him; and although they had been separated for two 

 years, a loud whinny presently assured the visitors that she had recognized the man s 

 voice. Cochrane next showed himself, when a touching scene occurred. The old Queen of 



