CHAPTER FIVE 



MESSENGER AND THE EARLY TROTTERS 



ONE of the most important events in the early 

 horse history of this country was the landing from 

 England in 1788 of the Thoroughbred stallion 

 Messenger, a gray horse that had had some suc- 

 cess on the turf in the old world, but was scarcely 

 what might be called great as a race-horse. He 

 was brought over here to be the sire of runners, 

 and he was, to an extent, as both his sons and 

 daughters were good performers. His greatest 

 place in the Thoroughbred records is due to the 

 fact that he was the sire of Miller's Damsel, the 

 dam of American Eclipse, the horse that upheld 

 the honor of the North in the great contest when 

 Sir Henry represented the South. But before 

 Messenger's death it had been recognized that 

 when he was bred with the mares of the American 



basic stock, the produce had a disposition and a 



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