TURF, TEN YEARS 1 RECORD OF THE. 



769 



of 2.20. Mr. Vanderbilt admired her quite 

 as much for her beauty and excellent disposi- 

 tion as for her ability to trot a fast mile. Oc- 

 tober 26, at Lexington, Ky., she trotted a mile 

 in 2.17J, making the first quarter in 33^ sec- 

 onds, the second quarter in 32| seconds, the 

 third quarter in 35 seconds, and the fourth 

 quarter in 36 seconds. This was better than 

 any previous four-year-old record by 3f sec- 

 onds. She was driven by Bair, and at the close 

 of the trial showed some signs of fatigue, but 

 entirely recovered in half an hour. Mr. Van- 

 derbilt paid $21,000 for Maud 8., the addi- 

 tional $1,000 having been promised to Bair by 

 Capt. Stone if he drove the mare during the 

 season of 1878 in 2.18 or less. In 1880 Maud 

 S. and St. Julian met at Rochester, and each 

 trotted a mile on the same afternoon, in 2.11f. 

 St. Julian had made a record of 2.12| the pre- 

 vious year, at Oakland Park, San Francisco, 

 C;il., the time of the quarters being 33, 32J, 

 34f and 32J seconds respectively. He has 

 been one of the best trottiug-horses of the dec- 

 ade a bay gelding, sired by Volunteer, after 

 Rysdyk's Hambletonian, and his dam by Sayer's 

 Harry Clay. He was foaled in 1869, and was, 

 in 1879, when he made his record, ten years 

 old. He was 15 - 3 hands high, had a white 

 patch upon his face, and his off hind-foot and 

 near fore-foot were white. He was purchased, 

 when four years old, by James Galway, for 

 $600. He began his career as a trotter in 1875, 

 and made a good record. He was bought by 

 Orrin A. Hickok, and taken to the Pacific 

 coast, where he became famous by beating all 

 previous trotting records. Two weeks after 

 the Rochester meeting, in 1880, St. Julian low- 

 ered the record at Hartford, to 2.11J, but in 

 September Maud S., at Chicago, trotted a mile 

 in 2.10f, thus closing the season as " Queen of 

 the Turf." In 1881 Maud S. opened the season 

 by trotting a mile at Pittsburg in 2.10^, and 

 followed it up in August, at Rochester, by re- 

 ducing the record to 2.10^. This latter time 

 she also subsequently made at Chicago, where 

 she also trotted the fastest second heat on rec- 

 ord 2.11^ and the fastest third heat 2.11. 

 This was also the record of the fastest two con- 

 secutive heats. At Belmont Park, Philadel- 

 phia, the same season, she also trotted the fast- 

 est three consecutive heats 2.12, 2.13J, 2.12^. 

 During this year no rival apjK'arcd to dispute 

 her supremacy. In 1888 Maud S. and Aldine 

 trotted a double-team mile in 2.15, driven by 

 an amateur, and draw ing more than 400 pounds 

 of weight an unapproached performance in 

 all the annals of trotting. During the same 

 season Jay Eye See trotted a mile in 2.1 Of, the 

 fastest time that had then been made, except 

 by Maud S., and a performance that led many 

 turfman to look upon him as a possible success- 

 ful rival of the "Queen " the next season. In 

 1884, August 1, at Providence, Jay Eye See 

 trotted a mile in 2.10, a quarter of a second 

 better than the fastest mile made by Maud S. 

 up to that time. But this wonderful son of 

 VOL. xxvu. 49 A 



Dictator, full brother to Dexter, by Rysdyk's 

 Hambletonian, dam Clara, by American Star, 

 was able to hold the first place on the Ameri- 

 can turf but a single day; for, August 2, at 

 Cleveland, Maud S. made a mile in 2.09}, and 

 Jay Eye See, after making several ineffectual 

 attempts to reduce his Providence time, gave it 

 up and retired from the contest. Two weeks 

 after the Cleveland performance Mr. Vander- 

 bilt surprised the country by selling Maud S. to 

 Mr. Robert Bonner for $40,000. The reason 

 he gave to the public for parting with the 

 " Queen of the Turf" was, that after her won- 

 derful trotting at Cleveland he received so 

 many letters in regard to her, and was impor- 

 tuned to such an extent to allow her to make 

 attempts to reduce her record still further, that 

 he became tired of it. He kept Maud S. solely 

 for his own pleasure, and parted with her 

 when he could no longer retain possession of 

 her in peace. He was offered $100,000 for her, 

 but preferred that she should pass into Mr. 

 Bonner's hands at the price named. In No- 

 vember, at Lexington, Ky., she closed the sea- 

 son by reducing her former time one half a 

 second to 2.09J a speed that has never yet 

 been attained by any other trotter. But Maud 

 S. was still to score her greatest triumph. On 

 July 30, 1885, at Cleveland, over a heavy track, 

 she trotted a mile in 2.08f ! The first quarter 

 was made in 32J seconds, the half-mile in 1.04^, 

 the three quarters in 1.854, and the last quar- 

 ter in 33J seconds. This closes the record thus 

 far of the fastest trotting-horses the world has 

 ever seen. Competent judges believed, in 1885, 

 that under favorable circumstances, Maud S. 

 might have reduced her own unapproached 

 time by at least two seconds. But the strain 

 upon her at Cleveland was about all that she 

 could bear. It is still an unsolved problem 

 the ultimate limit of the speed of the trotting- 

 horse. The following is a list of the horses 

 that have gone a mile in 2.15 or better : Maud 

 S., 2.08f ; Jay Eye See, 2.10; St. Julian, 2. Hi; 

 Maxey Cobb, 2.13J; Rarus, 2.13J; Harry 

 Wilkes, 2.13|; Phallas, 2.13} ; Belle Hamlin, 

 2.13f ; Clingstone, 2.14; Goldsmith Maid, 2.14; 

 Trinket, 2.14; Patron, 2.14J; Hopeful, 2.14}; 

 Majolica, 2.15; Lulu, 2.15. The past decade 

 has produced a great number of trotters, which, 

 in their several classes, have made remarkable 

 records; almost every one, however, has been 

 reduced the succeeding season. Among the 

 more noted may be mentioned Woodfurd Chief, 

 Great Eastern, Phil. Thompson, Judge Fuller- 

 ton, Lucile, Golddust, Frank Reeves, Smuggler, 

 So So, Elaine, Hopeful, Jewett, Santa Claus, 

 Steve Maxwell, Bonita, and Aldine. The value 

 of a trotting-horse depends largely upon the 

 disposition of the seller and purchaser. One 

 with a record of 2.30 may be estimated in a 

 general way to be worth $10,000. From 2.30 

 down to 2.20 $1,000 may be added for each 

 second. Below that there is no standard by 

 which to estimate a horse's value. One hun- 

 dred thousand dollars, the price offered Mr. 



