528 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE 



is remarkable that Lady Thorne beat Goldsmith Maid every time she 

 met her, and never lost a single heat to her. In 1870, she trotted 

 but two races at the Fashion Course. July 4, she met and defeated 

 Goldsmith Maid, American Girl, George Wilkes, George Palmer, 

 and Lucy, in three straight heats, in 2 m. 23^- s., 2 m. 23 s., 2 m, 

 24i s., and three weeks afterwards, at Prospect Park, she beat 

 Goldsmith Maid, in 2 m. Idl s., 2 m. 20i s., and 2 m. 19i s. She 

 ■was to meet her again at Buffalo, but slipped while being put on 

 the cars at Rochester, and injured her near hip so badly that she 

 was never able to trot again, and was sent to the Fashion Stud 

 Farm at Trenton, N. J. 



That she attained the limits of her speed is not probable. At 

 the time of her accident she could easily beat all the flyers of the 

 turf, including Goldsmith Maid, American Gi 1, and Lucy ; and 

 though the former afterwards showed a vast improvement upon 

 her old form, it is not unreasonable to conclude that Lady 

 Thorne would have done the same, as there is but a year's dif- 

 ference in their ages, and she was a very well preserved mare for 

 her years. 



In his reminiscences of trotters, published in the Spirit of the 

 Times. Dan Mace, who knew her so well, says of her : " You can 

 put it down as an absolute certainty that Lady Thorne could trot a 

 mile in 2 m. 10 s., in harness, in 2 m. 15 s., to wagon. I will not 

 say how much faster than this the old mare could trot. I never 

 saw her trot a full mile at her best but once, and there are two 

 other men living, besides myself, who can tell how fast that was, 

 but I shall never tell, and it is probable that they will not. It 

 was so fast that it would not be credited by the public, and so we 

 agreed that we would never mention the time. But I will say this 

 much : it was a faster gait for the whole mile than I ever saw kept 

 up by any other horse for a single quarter." 



Be that as it may, her retirement left Goldsmith Maid the 

 mistress of the turf, which position she held until her retirement 

 in 1877. 



Goldsmith Maid was foaled in May, 1857, and is by Alexander's 

 Abdallah, a son of llysdyk's Hambletonian, out of a mare by old 

 Abdallah, and she is consequently very closely in-bred to the famous 

 rat-tail sire. She is a blood bay, and stands 151 hands high. 

 She was so wild and ungovernable when young that she was not 

 trained until she was eight years old. In September, 18G5, at 

 Goshen, N. Y., she trotted her first race against Uncle Sam, 

 Mountain Boy, and Wild Irishman, and won in three straight 

 heats, in 2 m. 39 s., 2 m. 36 s., and 2 m. 39 s. She then beat 

 Sorrel Bill, at Poughkeepsie, making a record of 2 m. 31 s., and 

 was beaten by General Butler, at Copake, N. Y., in fast time. In 



