MESSENGER AND EARLY TROTTERS 113 



by sons of Hambletonian, and one by imported 

 Leamington. They have not done much to per- 

 petuate her prowess. My own idea is that in se- 

 lecting mates for her the great cardinal principle 

 of breeding: "like begets like," was utterly dis- 

 regarded. The blood of a Hambletonian was 

 probably too cold to mate with hers, though we 

 do not know what hers was, and Leamington's 

 conformation was too great a contrast. Though 

 she has left no descendants that do her particu- 

 lar honor, she has left by her performances im- 

 perishable fame as the greatest trotter of her day, 

 and her day lasted for more than a dozen years. 

 There was a lull in trotting during the Civil 

 War, just as there was in racing, but after the war 

 the trotting tracks became even more popular 

 than the running courses not the most fash- 

 ionable, but the most popular. Fashion has never 

 forsaken the running horse, and probably never 

 will; but in the main, the trotting races have been 

 patronized and managed by men of a slightly 

 different social status. To be sure, there are not- 

 able exceptions, exceptions so notable, indeed, 

 that they ought to be sufficient to lift the ban from 



