CHAPTER XVIII. 



HISTORY OF MESSENGER. 



Messenger's racing in England His breeder unknown Popular uncertainty 

 about the circumstances and date of liis importation The matter settled 

 by his first advertisement Uncertainty as to his importer Description of 

 Messenger by David W. Jones, of Long Island Careful consensus of de- 

 scriptions by many who had seen Messenger His great and lasting popu- 

 larity as a stock horse Places and prices of his services for twenty years 

 Death and burial. 



MESSENGER made his first appearance on the turf in October, 

 1783, then three years old, and ran twice, successfully, that year u 

 He continued on the turf till November, 1785, winning eight 

 races, losing six and receiving forfeits in two. Most of his races 

 were practically matches, and all were single dashes but one, in 

 which he was beaten. Two of his winnings were less than a 

 mile, five at the distance of a mile and a quarter, and one at two 

 miles. These distances are approximate. He was beaten at two 

 and a quarter miles, three, and three and a half miles. He 

 never appeared in any great racing event, but seemed to be 

 managed with a special view to picking up small prizes at short 

 distances. His owner and manager, Mr. Bullock, was a very 

 shrewd "professional" at Newmarket, he had quite a number of 

 horses in the same stable with Messenger and some of them seem 

 to have been selected always to run for the more valuable prizes. 

 Considering the short distances he was able to run and the unim- 

 portant character of the contests in which he was engaged, we 

 must conclude that Messenger was a very ordinary race horse. 



It is not known by whom Messenger was bred. In his first 

 advertisement in this country it is stated that he was bred by 

 John Pratt, of Newmarket, but in the fourth volume of Pick's 

 ''Turf Register," continued by Johnson, it is stated explicitly that 

 he "was bred by and the property of Mr. Bullock, of Newmarket." 

 Mr. John Pratt was a breeder as well as a racing man of some 

 prominence, in his day, and the certificate of pedigree from him 

 jMid purporting to have been issued by him was probably a fraud, 



