3t?8 THE HOBSE OF AMERICA. 



and the query in my mind then was whether the team could save 

 its distance. At last the old horse struck his gait, and it was. 

 like a dart out of a catapult, or a ball from a rifle. The team 

 not only saved its distance, but beat Dexter home five or six 

 lengths in 2:16. 



''In the third heat Mace had it all his own way throughout, 

 coming home the winner of the race in 2:19. The backers of 

 Dexter, up to the very last, placed great reliance on his well- 

 known staying qualities; but the last heat showed that the terri- 

 ble struggle told upon him more distressingly than upon the 

 team. It is said by those who timed Dexter privately that he 

 trotted the three heats in 2:17, 2:18, and 2:21. As an opinion, 

 I will say that if ever there was an honest race trotted this was 

 one, but there was such an exhibition of sharp diplomacy, of the 

 "diamond cut diamond' 7 order, as is seldom witnessed, even 

 among the sharp practices of the turf. It is not probable that 

 Ethan's running mate fell amiss at all, the evening before, as 

 represented; and if she did, it was not possible to send to Con- 

 necticut for another horse and have him there early in the morn- 

 ing as was pretended. This was a mere ruse put out to get the 

 advantage of the long odds. The managers of the team knew 

 just how the horses would work and knew they had speed enough 

 to beat any horse on earth. When the race was called and they 

 came forward and paid forfeit, it was merely to give the 'two to 

 one on Dexter' money encouragement to come out. It did 

 come out most vociferously and was all quietly taken. It was 

 said John Morrissey was the manager in chief, and that his share 

 of the winnings amounted to about forty thousand dollars." 



I have here given my personal impressions of this race, not be- 

 cause the performance was of any special value, as a test of 

 speed, but because the time was then phenomenal, even with this 

 kind of hitch, and as an illustration of what' certain horses can 

 do when relieved of all. weight. This was among the first of the 

 contests of this kind, and although some effort was made to in- 

 troduce this plan by which a poor horse could beat a good one, it 

 never has received much encouragement. With all his perfec- 

 tion of gait and wide popularity, extending from early life to old 

 age, Ethan Allen was not a success as a progenitor of speed. He 

 placed but six in the 2:30 list, and the best Billy Barr with a 

 record of 2:23|. He left but one son equal to himself as a sire, 

 and several daughters that became the producers of single per- 



