326 THE TROTTING-IIORSE OF AMERICA. 



ahead of her. She now began to close with him, and they 

 trotted very finely to the end of the mile. At the score, in 

 2m. 23., her head was at his wheel. On the back-stretch 

 she got to his head and he broke, whereupon Flora got a 

 lead of three lengths. On the lower turn he made another 

 break ; but, even after that, trotted so well that Flora did 

 not win it easily. They were both whipped on the stretch. 

 She won by a couple of lengths in 4m. 55^s. 



This was almost five seconds more than she had beaten 

 Princess in ; and I conclude that Flora was not at her 

 best. There was apparently nothing in the weather or the 

 track to cause her to require more time ; and yet she had to 

 be whipped to get the second mile out of her in 2m. 32 j. ; 

 but one can never tell precisely what fast time depends 

 upon, and this makes time an uncertain test. It could not 

 have been the first mile in 2m. 23s. that made them quit in 

 the second ; for they had both gone a first mile as fast in a 

 two-mile heat, and had not quit in the second mile. My 

 opinion is, that neither of them was quite up to the mark 

 that day ; and I give it here, because I attribute her defeat 

 in the attempt to beat Dutchman's time, three days after- 

 wards, to the fact that she was stale and not at her best. 

 In this two-mile race with Patchen, she won the second 

 heat in 5m. 



On the 27th, she was brought out again in a match 

 against time for $500 a side, to beat Dutchman's three- 

 mile time under saddle. This was 7m. 32s. ; the four- 

 mile running-time of Fashion. It is unnecessary to say 

 much about Dutchman's time here, except to state that it 

 was not all he was capable of, by any means. I have 

 said, in a previous chapter, that I could have ridden him 

 that day ever so much better than 7m. 30s., from 7m. 

 26s., to 7m. 28s. ; therefore, I should not consider it a very 

 wonderful thing to have a horse come out and beat 7m. 

 32^s. in harness. It is true that no horse has ever done it ; 

 but I have driven three that I consider were quite capable 



