LIFE WITH THE TROTTEES. 341 



friend and patron Z. E. Simmons, who was, at the time of 

 which I write, enjoying the ease and comfort of a breeder's 

 life at Lexington, Ky., wliere he lias gathered about him 

 some of the most notable sons of the brown stallion that he 

 loved so well and that won so many races for him. 



And while on the subject of trotting stallions I want to 

 say something about one that attracted my attention in a 

 marked degree the first time I ever saw him, and that I 

 then and there predicted would some day in the near future 

 prove himself one of the fastest and best in the country. 

 This horse is Jerome Eddy, and he is also another exami^le 

 of the truth of my argument that great horses, like poets, 

 are born, and not made. The first time I saw Jerome Eddy 

 was at Jackson, Mich. , where he took part in a race against 

 some of the best horses in their class of that day. As I sat 

 under a tree with my friend Don Robinson watching a heat 

 that I had no financial interest in in a lazy sort of a way, I 

 saw a large bay horse pu'l out of the ruck on the extreme 

 outside of -the track and go by his field of horses in about 

 the same manner that Rams would have done. IS'ot know- 

 ing the horse I asked Mr. Robinson what his name was, and 

 he replied that it was Jerome Eddy, a horse that belonged 

 to a couple of farmeis at Owosso. I remarked that the 

 Michigan farmers had what Bill Woodruff called " a sure 

 enough trotter." I was so much interested in the animal 

 that after the heat I went to the stable to get a closer look 

 at him, and found a bay horse about sixteen hands high 

 with feet and legs that looked as though they had been 

 made to order, with a liead shaped well enough to have 

 been the central figure of an oil painting. The following 

 week I saw him in another race, and his performance there 

 only served to increase my good opinion of him, and before the 

 season was over I had the pleasure and satisfaction of hav- 

 ing my judgment verified by Jerome Eddy obtaining a 

 record of 2:16|- in a contested race against one of the best 

 fields out that year, and it was the opinion of most people 

 who saw the race that he could easily have beaten the best 



