THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 471 



races in the Spirit of the Times, though we now have many that 

 can go the mile in less than 2m. 30s., a few that can make 2m. 24s., 

 and two or three that have trotted in less than 2m. 20s. Among 

 the early celebrities were Screwdriver, Betsy Baker, Topgallant, 

 Whalebone, Shakspeare, Paul Pry, Trouble, and Sir Peter; all 

 grand-colts of Messenger, except the first named, and he was a 

 great-gran d-colt. As many of the most distinguished trotters of * 

 the present day claim the same lineage, and as the influence of this 

 great progenitor on the trotting stock of the country was immensely 

 greater than that of all others together, a history of Messenger and 

 his descendants would be a pretty full history of the eminent trot- 

 ting horses of the world. 



Messenger was an English thorough -bred, foaled in 1780, and 

 imported, as were many other English thorough-breds, on account 

 of his value as a running horse, and for the improvement of 

 thorough-breds in this country. He had run successfully in sev- 

 eral races, and at five years old won the King's Plate. It was 

 three years after this performance, 1788, that he was imported 

 inte New York by Mr. Benger. The first two seasons after his 

 arrival he was kept at Neshaminy Bridge, near Bristol, in Bucks 

 county, Pa. Mr. Henry Astor then purchased him, and kept him 

 on Long Island for two years. About this time Mr. C. W. Van 

 Rantz purchased an interest in him, and for the remainder of his 

 life he was kept in various parts of the state of New York, with 

 the exception of one year at Cooper's Point, in New Jersey, oppo- 

 site Philadelphia. He died January 28, 1808. 



Messenger was a gray, 15 hands 3 inches high, and stoutly built. 

 His form was not strictly in conformity with the popular notions 

 of perfection, being upright in the shoulders and low on the 

 withers, with a short, straight neck and a large, bony head. His 

 loins and hind quarters were powerfully muscular, his windpipe 

 and nostrils of unusual size, his hocks and knees very large, and 

 below them limbs of medium size, but flat and clean and whether 

 at rest or in motion, his position and carriage always perfect and 

 striking. It is said that during the voyage to this country the 

 three other horses that accompanied him became so reduced in 

 flesh and strength that when the vessel landed at New York they 

 had to be helped and supported down the gang-plank ; but when 

 it came Messenger's turn to land, he, with a loud neigh, charged 

 down the gang-plank, with a colored groom on each side holding 

 him back, and dashed off up the street at a stiff trot, carrying the 

 grooms along in spite of their efforts to stop him. 



Though his name has been made illustrious chiefly by the per- 

 formances of his trotting descendants, he was also the sire of some 

 of the best running horses of his day. The most famous on the 

 turf of his immediate thorough-bred descendants were Potomac, 



