THE THOROUGHBRED IN AMERICA 63 



"But at this inglorious prospect Lecompte 

 desperately rallied, and escaped the humiliation 

 by drawing himself a few lengths within the dis- 

 tance pole, while Lexington dashed past the 

 stand, hard in hand, and actually running away 

 with his rider making the last mile in 1.52f 

 and completing the four in the unprecedented 

 time of 7.23f , I say unprecedented, because it 

 beats Lecompte's 7.26, and is, therefore, the 

 fastest heat ever made in a match. " 



I have taken pains to transcribe this account of 

 the race for a double purpose. This race fixed 

 Lexington's place as the best horse in the coun- 

 try and it was also his last public appearance. 

 Then, again, I think it interesting to show how the 

 reporters of half a century ago dealt with an im- 

 portant sporting event. After this race Lexington 

 was taken back to Kentucky and covered thirty 

 mares without being thrown entirely out of train- 

 ing. It was Mr. Ten Broeck's intention to take 

 the horse to England and race him there. Un- 

 fortunately, exactly how even Mr. Ten Broeck 

 never knew, the horse was over-fed just before a 

 long gallop and went blind, so he never faced a 



