314 LIFE WITH THE TROTTEES. 



fourth money. After the race when I asked Mr. Gordon if 

 he was disappointed, he said no, that he had never had a 

 great deal of faith in her. I exjjlained to him that I thought 

 that race would put tlie mare on edge, and when she started 

 at Detroit against the same field of horses I thought he 

 would see a far different result. My prophecies proved 

 true, as she won a well-contested race of six heats and 

 trotted in 2:19. In this race she wore a ten-ounce shoe and 

 two-ounce weight forward, with a leather pad and sx)onge, 

 and a seven-ounce shoe behind. The reason I used the toe- 

 weight on Sparkle w^as that Mdthout it she scalped a good 

 deal, with the toe-weight she carried her forward feet out 

 of the way, and I thought went easier to herself. Someone 

 must have given Captain DeMass a tip on this race, as it 

 was reported afterward that he won handsomely. I was 

 more than pleased with the mare, and felt sure that, barring 

 accident, I would win my share of the money through the 

 grand circuit. 



From Detroit I took her to Cleveland, removed her shoes, 

 jogged her about on the working track barefooted, and tbe 

 day before her race had her re-shod, and drove her a couple 

 of miles in about three minutes. I never remember of seeing 

 a better field of horses face the starter than there was in this 

 race. I never saw a harder contest on the part of the horses 

 and drivers than here, and when I say that Mike Bowerman 

 was there with his coat off and his war paint on to drive J. Q. , 

 who had already shown a trial in 2:15, and half a dozen other 

 horses able to beat 2:20 also in the lists, you would naturally 

 expect a battle. I laid Sparkle up the first heat in which 

 Felix Avon in about 2:19. After this lieat I stood Sparkle in 

 a tub of water as hot as I could bear my hand in, and gave 

 her body a thorough fomenting with a bottle of George Per- 

 rin's Body Wash, after having it heated blood warm. I did 

 this to get uj) a good circulation in her feet and legs. The 

 second heat I laid her up again, and followed the same treat- 

 ment after the heat. I don' t think there was a man on the 

 track that exi)ected to see Sparkle do what she did in the 



