SAMPSON BLOOD. 89 



McKinney, from whom he obtained the mare, and Mr. Gould gives 

 the above pedigree. The colt seems to have been in Kentucky at 

 one time when very young, and there is great uncertainty about the 

 whole matter. He has generally been regarded as a thoroughbred. 

 He was a good runner and a fast trotter, and could beat his competi- 

 tors easily, it is said, at both gaits. I find no record made by him 

 better than 2:31, but he trotted a great many heats and races in 2:31 

 to 2:45. He also trotted two-mile heats in 5:12-^. His history is a 

 long one, and full of doubtful places. He was owned by a man 

 whose professional calling did not add to his credibility, and but little 

 rehance can be placed on any fact, except the general ones of his his- 

 tory. He was owned in recent years by Winthrop W. Chenery & 

 Co., of Boston. 



Grafton, a chestnut gelding, owned by Robert Bonner, Esq., was 

 by Vanmeter's Waxy, dam by Kavanaugh's Grey Eagle; second dam 

 by Mason's Whip; third dam by Post Boy; fourth dam by Jim Allen, 

 a thoroughbred. This pedigree is made up of thoroughbred crosses, 

 but is in no part near to this trotter strictly thoroughbred. He was a 

 very fast horse, and made a record of 2:22^, and eleven heats in 2:30 

 or better, after which he passed into the hands of Mr. Bonner, and 

 was retired from the turf. 



The young stallion Portion by Planet, son of Revenue, he by imp. 

 Trustee, is a trotting stallion of some prominence, and will most 

 likely prove a good one, both as a trotter and a breeder, as his dam 

 was one of the best and most noted of the daughters of Mambrino 

 Chief, and is also the dam of the stallion Voltaire, one of the greatest 

 stallions now before the country. 



The trotting action of Planet is often referred to. He is frequently 

 spoken of much in the same way that Mambrino, the sire of Messen- 

 ger, is characterized, that in his racing career, in which he was greatly 

 distinguished, he would often start, in a race, on a sweeping trot when 

 approaching the score. This was a trait which marked the produce 

 of Revenue, the sire of Planet. His other son. Exchequer, has been 

 noted for displapng similar traits, and I think we may anticipate now 

 and then to see these traits of the Sampson blood come out ve:y 

 notably in the highly bred, and perhaps thoroughbred descendants of 

 Catton, Hooton, Sarpedon, Bertrand, Grey Eagle, Trustee, Revenue, 

 Planet, Exchequer, and above all, in the daughters of Melbourne. 



Exchequer has to his credit, one trotter in the 2:30 list: Lucille, 

 with record of 2:29. 



