GOLDDUST. 523 



He has to his credit Ned Wallace, with record of 2 :25, and eighteen 

 lieats in 2:30 or better, and Parkis' Abdallah, 2:2(jf, and seven heats 

 in 2:30 or better. 



The form and blood composition of this horse suggest that he 

 •ought to be a valuable roadster stallion, and that in all probability 

 many lines from him may yet prove of great excellence when 

 crossed with other well bred strains. He is certainly a horse deserving 

 of favorable notice. 



GOLDDUST. 



This stallion and his claim to distinction find a proper place at the 

 dose of these chapters. He was a stallion of undoubted merit, but 

 one to which I have hitherto made few references, and my apparent 

 neglect was not the result of oversight or a lack of appreciation, but 

 arose from the fact that I always found his name enveloped in an 

 atmosphere which I am not in the habit of penetrating. 



I am not acquainted with the owner or manager of the horse, his 

 peculiar method of advancing the claims of the horse to distinction 

 being such as to debar me from the privilege of making his acquaint- 

 ance. I never saw Golddust, but have seen many of his progeny, and 

 they were a family of trotters. Their record has been a really brill- 

 iant one. Golddust died in 1871 or 1872, and he is credited with 

 Lucille Golddust, with record of 2:16^, and thirty-seven heats in 2:30 

 or better; Fleety Golddust, 2:20, and twelve heats in 2:30 or better; 

 and Rolla Golddust, 2:25, and four heats in 2:30 or better. 



But the interesting question at once arises, What was Golddust? 

 "Whence did he come? The literature on that subject has been 

 mainly furnished by his owner, and it was of a character to add to 

 the mystery — and great seemed to be the mystery. From the oft- 

 repeated statements we gathered from time to time that he was not a 

 Messenger — had no Messenger blood — was a breed to and by himself. 

 But from whom and what did he come? Was Golddust in reality 

 the ancient sire that came down the mountain with the early Navi- 

 gator f Did he spring from the horse that was seen swimming in 

 mid-ocean? I believe the latter was a pacer. Was he descended from 

 the sire that jumped out of the sloop and swam ashore, or had he any 

 sire? On all of these points we find it difficult to obtain satisfactory 

 information from his owner. 



Mr. Wallace, in his second volume of the Trotting Hegister, after 

 paying his respects to this sort of horse heraldry in very proper 

 terms, says: 



