572 AMERICAN HORSES. 



and 15. 2 J over the croup. During his younger days, it was 

 generally stated that he was i| inches higher behind than 

 in front. None of Hambletonian's stock which closely 

 resembled him in appearance, proved eminent either at 

 the stud or on the track, for he was a long horse, and all 

 his fast progeny were short in the body. His chief 

 peculiarities were : great muscular power, small and 

 round body, and low withers, which appeared sunk 

 between the tops of his shoulder blades. Although 

 Hambletonian transmitted the trotting faculty to many of 

 his descendants, he did not possess it himself. Mr. 

 Francis A. Foster, who knew Hambletonian, tells me 

 that " the stories of his having trotted a mile in 2.42 as 

 a 3 year-old, are a myth. I have read hundreds of pages 

 of these yarns, but I have never known a man who had 

 practical knowledge of this sire, that believed he was able 

 to trot a mile in 3.15. The stock of Rysdyk's Hamble- 

 tonian were not only unstable in conformation, but they 

 also varied in size from ponies to giants." 



After the Hambletonian, the Mambrino Chief strain is 

 the most successful trotting one, and then comes American 

 Star, Clay, Pilot, Morgan, Vermont Black Hawk, Bashaw, 

 and others. Mambrino Chief was foaled in 1844 and died 

 in 1861. He was the grandson of Mambrino by imported 

 Messenger, and his dam was of unknown blood. 



American Star is believed to be descended in the male 

 line from imported Diomed, who was the first winner of 

 the Derby (1780). Although many of the American Stars 

 are handicapped by unsoundness and lack of height, 

 they possess such a large amount of speed at the trot, 

 that they cannot be ignored from a record-breaking 

 point of view. For instance, the champion, Lou Dillon 

 (Fig. 565), and the ex-champion, Cresceus (Fig. 566), have 

 a cross of this blood. 



The Clays are descended from Henry Clay, who was 

 a fast trotter that was foaled in 1837. His sire was Andrew 

 Jackson, who was a well-known trotter, and was a grandson 



