108 LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 



ern made his saddle record of 2:ir)|, which is still the 

 best at that way of going, I shall tell about it in detail . In 

 the tirst place, it furnishes another instance of the uncertain- 

 ties of horse racing. To X)ut it plainly, the condition of the 

 Fleetwood track at that time was villainous. Of course, 

 Rarus was a tremendous favorite for the race, and so we 

 started. In the first heat Great Eastern caught his boot 

 right after getting the word, and Green had to pull him to 

 a standstill, while I jogged Rarus the mile in 2:33, and had 

 I gone in 2:30, which I w^as afterward very sorry for not 

 doing, I would have distanced him. My reasons for letting 

 Great Eastern inside the flag were that a good many people 

 had come to see this special race, and feeling sure that my 

 horse would win in three heats I wanted to let the folks 

 have something for their money. How near I came to being 

 entirely mistaken the result of the race will show. In the 

 second heat Green went away with the lead and I trailed 

 until we turned into the stretch. In a driving finish Great 

 Eastern beat Rarus in 2:18. Tliis taught me that I w^ould 

 have to follow a different plan in the next heat, and I con- 

 cluded to set sail from the start, having the fullest confi- 

 dence in the ability of Rarus to stay, and thinking that in 

 that manner I would force Green' s horse to surrender. Down 

 to the half-mile pole Great Eastern led all the way in the 

 the third heat, having got the best of the start. From there 

 to the three-quarter pole he increased his lead at least an- 

 other length. As we rounded into the stretch Rarus began to 

 close on him and had got to his saddle skirts at the distance 

 stand. From there to the wire Great Eastern beat him out 

 in what is to this day the best saddle record, 2:li5|. Had 

 the race been over a track prepared like that at Cleveland 

 or Hartford I am certain that this mile would have been as 

 good if not better than 2:13, and in this opinion I have often 

 heard Mr. Green concur. 



At this point in the race the betting changed, and there 

 was one grand rush to hedge. I made up my mind that if 

 Great Eastern kept going that kind of a clip he would cer- 



