RACEALONG 45 



trotting blood in the pedigrees of their dams 

 prompted many breeders to jump at the conclusion 

 that stallions with badly balanced pedigrees made 

 the best sires. 



This was continued for two or three generations 

 in some families. Pilot Medium was the best son of 

 Happy Medium. He was out of Tackey, a developed 

 daughter of Pilot Jr. Her dam Jenny Lind had 

 nothing to recommend her other than that she was 

 a speed producer. She was reported as being by a 

 horse called Bellfounder but as no one knew who bred 

 her or could locate the Bellfounder referred to the 

 breeding is very doubtful. Pilot Medium sired Peter 

 the Great. His dam Santos had but one cross of 

 trotting blood through Grand Sentinel. Back of that 

 was Madison's Octoroon. The breeding of his sire 

 was unknown. The next remove introduced Creole. 

 He was a son of a pacer named Aikenhead, breeding 

 unknown, out of the thoroughbred mare Lady Bess 

 by Lexington. Peter the Great proved the leading 

 sire of racing speed of all time. Peter Volo proved 

 his best son. 



In the Wilkes family the dominating line was con- 

 tinued through William L. and Axtell. He in turn 

 got Axworthy, the sire of Guy Axworthy, the lead- 

 ing extreme speed sire, four of his sons having 

 records below two minutes. Until recently it was 

 beheved that Guy Axworthy, like Peter the Great, 

 had but one cross of trotting blood on the side of 

 his dam, Lillian Wilkes. She was got by Guy Wilkes 

 out of a mare by Langford, a son of the thorough- 



