The Tribe of Hambletonian 151 



ren youth realized, died before Hambletonian did ; 

 but the horse will carry his name far down the 

 walks of time. The 2.17^ of Dexter at Buffalo, 

 August 14, 1867, was presumed to be the limit of 

 trotting speed, and people ambitious to excel 

 each other on the road and track turned eagerly 

 to the source of that speed. Those who had 

 favored the Morgan type suddenly discovered 

 that this type was physically small and of mod- 

 erate capacity at the trot, and there were whole- 

 sale desertions from the standard. The sons of 

 Hambletonian invaded New England, and thou- 

 sands were taught to undervalue the family 

 founded by Justin Morgan. But time brought 

 the conviction that the Morgan foundation was 

 the foundation for Hambletonian to build upon, 

 and intelligent opinion again does justice to 

 the son of True Briton, born in 1789. 



The forty trotters sired by Rysdyk's Hamble- 

 tonian include Dexter, 2.17^; Nettie, 2.18; Orange 

 Girl, 2.20; Gazelle, 2.21; Jay Gould, 2.2 ij; George 

 Wilkes, 2.22; Bella, 2.22; Deucalion, 2.22; Mat- 

 tie, 2.22^; Lady Banker, 2.23; and Madeleine, 

 2.23^. It was not so much the speed of his sons 

 and daughters as their ability to transmit speed 

 which placed Hambletonian on the summit of the 

 mountain. 



