76 THE TliOTTING-IIORSE OF AMERICA. 



The Bashaws were not commonly trained early ; and they 

 were not natural trotters in the same degree as the horses 

 of the IMessenger line. The Bashaws originated from Grand 

 Bashaw, a horse imported from Barbarj^ ; and they have been 

 priuc ipally represented through his son, Young Bashaw, and 

 his sons, Black Bashaw, /vndrew Jackson, and Saladin. 

 Black Bashaw did not trot in j ablic ; neither did Abdallah, 

 Messenger's grandson. The latter never was in harness iu 

 his life; hut you could jump on him bare-backed, and he 

 would go right away a fifty-clip. In those days, entire 

 horses were not trained. It was thought that they woidd 

 be ruined for service if they were " put through the mill " 

 for racing purposes ; and so. when they showed a good gait, 

 they were reserved for the stud. The notion also prevailed, 

 that it would ruin a trotter to train him before he was five 

 or six years old. The only Bashaw that I know of that 

 trotted at three years old was the gray filly before mentioned, 

 beaten by Gypsy in 1830. My uncle, George Woodruff, had 

 a very high opinion of the Bashaws. He handled more of 

 them, including Lantern and George Washington, than any 

 other man, I think. He had old Topgallant, a son of im- 

 ported Messenger, and a noted old-time trotter. More wiU 

 have to be said about that class of horses hereafter. 



Young Bashaw became much noted through his son An- 

 drew Jackson, who was one of the first stallions that ever 

 trotted in public. His best performance was at Centrevillo 

 some thirty years ago — it was 1835 : he went two miles iu 

 5.18. He got Long-Island Black Hawk, who was the first 

 liorse that trotted a mile in 2.40 to a 2501b. wagon. It was 

 against Jenny Lind, who went to a skeleton wagon, and 

 won the second heat in 2.38. The stallion beat lier the 

 race, which was the first he ever went. Black Hawk won 

 the stallion stake on Union Course in 1849. He beat Cas- 

 eins M.Clay; and St. Lawrence paid forfeit. This Long- 

 Island Black Hawk was a capital horse. He could pull any 

 weight, and was good for a long distance, as the ra<:e of 



