70 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



time, being matched to beat 2.19. He was trained by 

 Woodruff, but ridden in the race by John Murphy, a 

 very skilful horseman, and one of the few jockeys 

 whose reputation for honesty was always absolutely 

 unblemished. In this match, Dexter trotted the first 

 half-mile in 1.06|- ; but after passing that point he 

 broke. " When he broke," Hiram Woodruff relates, 

 " the people cried, ' He can't do it this time ! ' But he 

 settled well, and when he came on to the home stretch 

 he had a fine burst in. I was up towards there, and 

 sung out to Johnny, as he came by me, -'Cut him 

 loose ; you '11 do it yet ! ' Then Johnny clucked to 

 him, and he went away like an arrow from the bow. 

 true and straight, and with immense resolution and 

 power of stroke. I knew he must do it if he did not 

 break before he got to the score, and up I tossed my 

 hat into the air. I never felt happier in all my life. 

 The time given by the judges was 2 m. 18^ s. ; the 

 outsiders made it somewhat less." 



Of the great trotters, Dexter seems to have been 

 the best "all-round" horse, for none of his contempo- 

 raries was able to beat him either in one, two, or three 

 mile heats ; and he showed his superiority to a wagon 

 or under saddle as well as in harness. Hiram Wood- 

 ruff anticipated, but did not live to see his greatest 

 triumphs. " It is a long time now," he wrote shortly 

 before his own death, " since I took Mr. Foster to his 

 box, and, pointing out his very remarkable shape, — 

 the wicked head, the game-cock throttle, the immense 

 depth over the heart, the flat, oblique shoulder, laid 

 back clean under the saddle, the strong back, the 

 mighty haunches, square and as big as those of a 

 cart-horse, and the good, wiry legs, — predicted to 



