46 TRAINING THE TROTTING HORSE. 



third — in 2:22. The heat before this Smuo^o-ler had 

 broken badl}^, and in the first quarter of this heat Dan 

 Mace said to Colonel Eussell: "It^s §100 to one cent 

 that he will be shut out.'' But he came home from the 

 half in the vicinity of 1:06, winning the heat handily. 

 At Beacon Parlv, on September 10th, in the 2:34 class, 

 Smuggler won, beating a field of eight with compara- 

 tive ease, the fastest heat being 2:26. 



Then came the sensational trotting event of the year, 

 Mr. David H. Blanchard's " Great Stallion Eace for 

 the Championship of the United States, and a purse of 

 $10,000." AYhen the race was first announced, early in 

 the summer, some people sought to throw cold water on 

 the whole thing with the easy cjmicism that it was " a 

 race made for Smuggler." But the races at Buffalo 

 and further down the circuit line left very few to be- 

 lieve that Smuggler could defeat Mambrino Gift and 

 Thomas Jefferson, and when the day came it looked to 

 the public anything but " a race made for Smuggler." 

 I do not think I ever saw a larger crowd on a race- 

 course than flocked to Mystic Park on September 15, 

 1874, to see the battle of the champions. Of the origi- 

 nal fifteen entries, six came to the wire, viz.: Mambrino 

 Gift, that trotted a few weeks before in 2:20, thus 

 making the fastest stallion record to that time ; Phil 

 Sheridan, of whom much was expected, and his son 

 Commonwealth, that afterward made a record of 2:22 ; 

 Smuggler, with his record of 2:20f , and his reputation 

 for unreliability ; Henry W. Genet, 2:26, then the fast- 

 est son of the sire of the great Hopeful, and Vermont 

 Abdallah, who was as much out of place in the com- 

 pany as a fire cracker among cannon. 



