LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 287 



imagine that this horse did not come honestly by his won- 

 derful speed, but such is not the case as he traced his ped- 

 igree back to one of the most wonderful performers the turf 

 has ever had. I speak now of his granddam Pocahontas, 

 who years ago made a record of 2:17^ to a wagon, she being 

 in foal at that time, and the produce proved to be the sire 

 of Sleepy Tom. She was owned at the time by a man of 

 the name of AVoodmansee, a resident of Ohio, who after- 

 ward sold her to James D. McMann of Flora Temple fame. 

 That the horse interest did not die out in the Woodmansee 

 family is shown by his two sons Dan and Ben, who were in 

 his lifetime the managers and conhdential advisers of Com- 

 modore Kittson. Being first-class judges of horses in all 

 their branches, good business men and strictly honest they 

 were of great value to Mr. Kittson in all his connection 

 with the turf. 



Sleepy Tom was unfortunate in his younger days by 

 being very much neglected and ill-treated by his owner and 

 from this cause lost his eyesight. But after coming into 

 the hands of Phillips, who bought him for a small price, 

 under his better care and management he showed symp- 

 toms of speed which afterward made him famous. He beat 

 all the best pacers of his day and was the first horse to beat 

 Rarus's record of 2:13^. He was a horse of rare intelli- 

 gence, and, as in the case of Prince, the loss of his eye- 

 sight seemed to increase the acuteness of all his other facul- 

 ties. In driving him Phillips always talked to him a great 

 deal which I think is a good idea to do with any horse. I 

 once drove him in a race for Phillips, he having met with 

 an accident. In talking the race over he advised me to lay 

 him up the first heat, saying it would give me a chance to 

 learn the horse and we could put our money on at a better 

 advantage. At this time there used to be a great deal 

 written in the newspapers about Tom and his peculiarities 

 and how Phillips drove him, and some of these stories were 

 very much exaggerated. After I drove in this race I was 

 interviewed by a reporter of a country newspaper who was 



