LIFE WITn THE THOTTERS. 93 



Wliat to do I did not know. The exhibition was adver- 

 tised, and the town fnll of people. Right here I may tell a 

 little story that will serve to show the uncertainties of horse- 

 racing. We also had with us on tliis trip Bodine and Occi- 

 dent, the latter being a horse that at that time belonged to 

 Senator Stanford, of California, and that had made a record 

 of 2:1 6|, which at the time of the performance was the best 

 mile ever trotted on the Pacific coast. Occident was a horse 

 of most romantic history, having been taken out of a ped- 

 dler's cart and his speed developed when he was past the 

 age of maturity in most horses, and further handicapped by 

 not being any too sound. The fact that Governor Stanford 

 owned him, and that lie had gone such a fast mile made 

 Occident a great attraction on the coast, and he would 

 always draw a crowd. Bodine, a horse that was in my 

 string, had been sent to California from Chicago by Mr. 

 Goodrich, his owner, who understood that a winter in that 

 climate would help him a great deal, he having been pretty 

 well worn out by his races of the previous summer. These 

 two were to trot for a purse, and I was always firm in the 

 belief that Bodine could beat Occident easily over any track. 

 At this time they had never trotted together. Budd con- 

 cluded that the best thing he could do was to get someone 

 to drive Occident and the Maid for him, rather than disaj)- 

 point the peo^^le. A leading driver of those parts was 

 Henry McGregor, who originally hailed from Michigan. 

 Budd arranged with him to drive the race, and it looked to 

 me as though Bodine had a cinch on Occident, as I knew 

 he was rather a peculiar horse to handle, and McGregor liad 

 never }:»een behind him. Uncle Ben Wright, of Boston, hap- 

 pened to be over on a trip for his health, and to his willing- 

 ear I confided the good thing I had on the boys and told 

 him to play mj'- horse. He asked me how high he should 

 play him, and I told him just as high and as long as any- 

 body would play the other one, and have always been sorry 

 since that the other peojole hung on so long, as the race 

 came off and Occident beat Bodine in five heats. That was 



