AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE, 531 



were, of course, other trotting meetings in different parts of the 

 country, but the Septilateral, as the Grand Circuit was called, sur- 

 passed all the other meetings in glory. 



Thomas Jefferson is a handsome black stallion over fifteen and 

 a quarter hands high, foaled 1863. His sire was the prominent 

 son of Ivoyal George, known as Toronto Chief, a trotter in his day 

 who secured a saddle record of 2 m. 241 s., and a wagon record of 

 two miles (wagon and driver weighing 300 pounds) in 5 m. 21 s. 

 His dam, the renowned ten-mile trotter Gipsey Queen, was a mare 

 of wonderful endurance allied to great speed, and, true to the laws 

 of inheritance, she stamped her own great powers and level brain 

 upon her now famous sou, in whom the trotting gait has been in- 

 tensified and improved by the cross with Toronto Chief. Her 

 record of 2 m. 44 s. to wagon, July 31, 1S58, over Garden City 

 Track at Chicago, three miles to harness in 8 m. 17 s. (the first 

 mile in 2 m. 46 s., the second in 2 m. 44 s., the third in 2 m. 47 s. ), 

 and ten miles to harness in 28 m. 39 s., with a repeat race one 

 week after (beaten only by a length) in 28 m. 11 s., is sufficient to 

 entitle her to a place in the history of our American trotters as one 

 of the " gamest" mares ever known. 



Thomas Jefferson, " The black whirlwind of the East," as he is 

 frequently called, is, without doubt, the highest type of the 

 " American trotter." His handsome form, high quality of finish, 

 great and lasting game, and willingness to trot for his life at the 

 close of a heat, have warmly endeared him to every lover of a 

 good horse. He is one of the purest gaited, and the nearest 

 approach to the finest bred Arabians, of any of the trotting stal- 

 lions that have appeared on the American turf — in beauty, style, 

 and action, being immeasurably superior to the much talked of 

 " Grant" Arabians. Docility of disposition is a leading trait among 

 his produce ; in many instances their owners have refused to allow 

 them to be used on the turf or handled therefor — their many good 

 qualities making them special favorites for gentlemen's road use. 



His career as a trotter commenced when he was two years old, 

 when he secured a public record of 3 m. 24 s., in a class for those 

 six years old and under. As a three-year old, in May, 1866, he 

 defeated a daughter of Hambletonian (out of a Star mare) in a class 

 for those four years old and under, winning at his ease in 2 m. 572- 

 s. This season closing July 15, 1866, the horse went on a pleasure 

 trip down to Boston with an eye to business as well. He went 

 from Providence to Boston alone, unaccckmpanied by an attendant, 

 standing between the trotting geldings Honest Abe and Old Put. 

 He won several races that year, and finished with a record of 2 m. 

 45 s. In 1867 his owner challenged the most famous two colts of 

 that day — Gift, by Mambrino Pilot, and Strideaway, son of the 



