AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 509 



delphia. This is the noble animal that trotted and won at Philadel- 

 phia the silver cup and $oQ0, on the 15th of May last, beating 

 Betsey Baker and Topgallant. On the 7th inst. he won the 

 $300 purse on Long Island, and was intended for the S300 purse 

 to be trotted for on Tuesday, the 21st inst., at Philadelphia. He 

 was considered the best trotter ever kuown in this or any other 

 country, of a fine figure and excellent temper. He was the prop- 

 erty of J. P. Brown, of this city." 



la those days most of the races were at long distances — two, 

 three or four mile heats were the most frequent — and speed was 

 not, as now, cultivated to the exclusion of that other and more 

 useful qualification of the driving horse, endurance; and upon that 

 solid foundation, then and there laid, rests the beautiful superstruc- 

 ture which we now admire. In 1829, when in his twenty-second 

 year, in a four-mile race against Whalebone, over the Hunting Park 

 Course, Topgallant, a grandson of Messenger, trotted four heats of 

 four miles each in II m. 16 s., 11 m. 6 s., 11 ni. 17 s., and 12 m. 

 15 s., the whole sixteen miles being trotted in 45 m. 44 s. The 

 second heat was declared " dead," and the third heat was won by 

 Whalebone. Hiram Woodi'uff, in his work on " The Trotting 

 Horse of America," the acknowledged standard authority, says of 

 old Topgallant: " He was the most remarkable instance of extra- 

 ordinary trotting power and endurance, when at a great age, that 

 ever came under my notice. * * * He was a dark bay horse, 15 

 hands 3 inches high, plain and raw-boned, but with rather a fine 

 head and neck, and an eye expressive of much courage. He was 

 spavined in both hind legs, and his tail was slim at the root. His 

 spirit was very high ; and yet he was so reliable that he would 

 hardly ever break, and his bottom was of the finest and toughest 

 quality. He was live-oak as well as hickory, for the best of his 

 races were made after he was twenty years old.' 



Up to 1830 there had been but little interest taken in trotting, 

 but now it was fast becoming thoroughly established as a popular 

 pastime. Plank roads too were being laid out in all directions, and 

 "two forty on a plank road" became the familiar slang term to 

 denote anything fost, and applicable alike to the equine and human 

 species. Old Topgallant, Whalebone and Swcetbriar were the 

 public favorites, while Sally Miller, Chancellor, Columbus, Dred, 

 Collector, and a host of new aspirants were fast edging their way 

 to public favor. In 1833, Paul Pry, a gray gelding nine years old, 

 was backed to trot 171 miles within the hour, over the Long 

 Island Course, which he did with ease, trotting 18 miles and 36 

 yards over in 58 m. 52 s. This race is especially noteworthy as 

 being one of the first mounts of Hiram Woodruff", to whose patient 

 care, wonderful insight into the nature of the horse, and unsur- 



