134 THE TROTTING-UORSE OF AMERICA. 



driven by my uncle, George Woodruff, thirty-two miles in 

 two hours, over the Hunting-park Course, Philadelphia. 

 In the course of this race against time, the first sulky used 

 broke down on the backstretch of the course, and another 

 had to be sent for and taken to the spot. This caused a 

 delay of four minutes ; but nevertheless, when hitched up 

 again, Whalebone went on, and won the race easily. For 

 my part, I admired Whalebone greatly, but I was much 

 attached to old Topgallant. I took care of him at the 

 time of the great race between the eight at the Hunting- 

 park Course, and the one the following week at Baltimore ; 

 and I have always been proud, that, so early in my experi- 

 ence of trotting-horses, I knew this almost everlasting son 

 of the renowned Messenger. I have said that this famous 

 trotter was spavined in both hind-legs, and so he was ; but 

 the spavins never made him lame, and were really no 

 detriment to him. As a rule, no horse, ever had better legs 

 than the Messengers. 



So far as I am informed, there is not another instance in 

 the annals of either the running or the trotting turf, of a 

 horse which has raced and won, especially three and four 

 mile heats, when upwards of twenty years of age. The 

 oldest I can find on the running-turf was Buckhunter, a 

 gelding by the Bald Galloway, who ran in England when 

 upwards of sixteen years old, and might have run on some 

 time longer if he had not broken a leg. The Messengers 

 were always a lasting and long-lived breed of horses. Top- 

 gallant was twenty-eight when he died. His sire, Mam- 

 brino, was upwards of twenty when last advertised to cover 

 in England, and was eleven when he ran his last race. His 

 sire^ Engineer, ran till he was ten, and died at the age of 

 twenty-seven. In this country a daughter of the tribe, 

 Lady Blanche, the first filly that Abdallah got, went a 

 trotting-race when she was about twenty. These things 

 must be borne in mind. 



