THE TROTTING-HORSE OF AMERICA. 193 



we prepared for the deciding heat. The mare was young 

 and fresh, the horse old and stiff, and she had the call in 

 the betting. At the word, she made a rush for the lead, 

 took the pole, and went on ahead for a mile and three- 

 quarters. At the last turn, on swinging into the stretch, she 

 took the centre of the track, leaving the privilege of the 

 inside to Bipton. I took it, and, giving him a sound cut or 

 two with the whip, challenged her for the heat and race. 

 Another desperate struggle ensued. Both were whipped at 

 nearly every stride they took, and both answered the call 

 with the utmost gallantry. The mare had a little the best 

 of it till we were close at home, but Ripton's perseverance 

 at last prevailed. He got to her head, and finally succeeded 

 in beating her two feet in one of the finest finishes ever 

 witnessed on that course. The time of this race was 5m. 

 15s., 5m. 15s., 5m. 18s. 



As I observed just now, Lady Sutton may be seen here 

 any day. She returned to the Island last spring, after a 

 long absence, to be put to New- York Ledger, by whom, I 

 believe, she is now in foal. Here, in John I. Snedicor's 

 pasture, she had a fond companion, until within these few 

 hours, in her old opponent, Lady Moscow, another very 

 famous mare of her own age, or it may be a year older. 

 When these two old competitors met in the pasture after never 

 having seen each other for many years, it seemed as if a 

 mutual recognition took place. Go by when you would, you 

 would see the two little old mares close together, grazing 

 aloof from the other horses in the pasturage. They both 

 throve amazingly, and got young again to all appearance, 

 in their companionship. When anybody went near them, 

 they would throw up their heads together, and stride a trot, 

 like a spark of the fire of other days. Each had done a 

 vast amount of hard work, and their years put together 

 made almost or quite half a century. Lady Moscow looked 

 the younger of the two, but she has gone ftrst. She 



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