THE TROTTING CHAMPION. 269 



is quite large in the outline and filling- up of the hindquarters, but 

 not so large as some others. In the triangle of the hindquarter, rep- 

 resented in the cut of Harabletonian by the lines H, F and G, he is 

 respectively H 16, F 19, and G 27. From his hip to his hock he is 

 only 38^, which is short, but his thigh is 24 inches — in which his Mam- 

 brino Chief anatomy clearly appears. His quarter is very full ; and while 

 he is wide on the outside, at the stifle, he is also very full between the 

 hind legs, and the great muscle comes down low, as it does in all the 

 best ones of this family. His foreleg measure is 11|- and 20|-, from 

 which it will appear that with the exception of his thigh he has not a 

 long leverage; and his gait is just what might naturally be expected 

 from so much muscle located as his is, and propelling such levers as 

 carry him at a rate of speed which places him in the front rank of 

 trotting stallions in this country. He has been described as a rattling 

 trotter, having an excess of trotting action. His hind feet pass apart 

 at a good width; his stroke is a raj^id one, and his advance is almost 

 terrific; he seems to have every foot in the air at the same time, and 

 he comes like an avalanche. His body is so compact and his frame- 

 work so close together, and at the same time so muscular, that he 

 moves in every part at one and the same time. I should say that in 

 him all his elements and blood forces blended in exact degree and in 

 excellent harmony. His action, front and rear, is exactly alike, and if 

 one is faulty the other is; and the only salient feature of his motion 

 that stands out clear and above everything else is, that it is so abund- 

 ant, so free, so ready and so powerful. I regard him too short from 

 hip to hock. He lifts his hind feet and raises his hocks too high. 

 Were he 39^ inches from hip to hock he would trot with more elas- 

 ticity and less consumption of power. Further descriptive reference 

 to Thorndale will be found in the succeeding sketch of Alraont. 



As this stallion was one of the first fruits of the union of the blood 

 of Hambletonian and that of Mambrino Chief, he is deserving of a 

 close study, and his history gives us the opportunity. On the 15th 

 of July 1868, as a three-year-old, he trotted at Lexington, Ky., for a 

 sweepstake for three -year-olds — mile heats, best three in five. He 

 had five competitors, one of which was by American Clay, one by Iron 

 Duke, one by Kentucky Clay, and one named Bismarck. He won in 

 thi-ee straight heats, distancing his three former named opponents in the 

 second heat; time, 2:49^, 2:50, and 2:55^. The day was intensely hot. 

 He was then pronounced the most promising colt in the West. He 

 was soon after ward purchased by Mr. Thorne, then as now a gentleman 



