210 THE HORSE OF AMERICA. 



strong race horse a hundred and forty years ago, we will repro- 

 duce them here in order that the curious may compare them with, 

 the average race horse of this generation: 



Height on the withers, 15 hands 2 inches; dimensions of fore leg from the 

 hair of the hoof to middle of fetlock joint, 4 inches; from fetlock joint to bend 

 of the knee, 11 inches; from bend of knee to elbow, 19 inches; round fore leg 

 below knee, narrowest part, Scinches; round hind leg, narrowest part, 9 inches. 



These measurements may not seem to merit any particular at- 

 tention at this day, but a hundred and fifty years ago they were 

 considered phenomenal in the race horse. But we are not left 

 to the dry details of a certain number of inches and fractions of 

 an inch upon which to base a just conception of the strength and 

 substance of this horse. A number of historians have told us of 

 the merriment among the grooms and jockeys when Sampson 

 made his first appearance on the turf. The question was, "Has 

 Mr. Eobinson brought a coach horse here to run for the plate?" 

 The laugh was on the other side at Malton that day, however, 

 when the "coach horse/' carrying one hundred and forty pounds, 

 won the plate in three heats. The distance was three miles, and 

 Sampson was then five years old. At long distances and at high 

 weights Sampson was a first-class race horse for his day. But, 

 notwithstanding all this, we are told that his blood never became 

 fashionable, for there was a widespread conviction that he was 

 not running-bred on the side of his dam. The historians tell us 

 that he transmitted his own coarseness and lack of the true run- 

 ning type in a marked degree, which was very evident in his 

 grandson, Mambrino. 



His pedigree has been questioned from the day of his first 

 appearance to the present time, and we have made a very careful 

 study of all the facts at our command. In the first edition of 

 his Stud Book (1803) Mr. Weatherby gives his dam as by Hip; g. d. 

 by Spark, son of Honeycomb Punch; g. g. d. by Snake and out of 

 Lord D'Arcy's Queen. This has not been materially changed in 

 any of the subsequent editions, and we think it may be taken for 

 granted that the horse was advertised under this pedigree. Mr. 

 Weatherby commenced work on pedigrees in 1791, arid avowedly 

 accepted the best information he could get with regard to old 

 pedigrees, regardless of the source. We are not aware that he 1 

 ever investigated anything outside of his office work, or if he did 

 he never gave the public the benefit of the details of his invest!- 



