Prepotent Sons of Hambletonian 169 



as the sire of Axtell, who trotted as a three- 

 year-old to a record of 2.12, and who was sold 

 on the strength of the performance for ^105,000. 

 Axtell has contributed shoals of trotters to the 

 list, and his blood is breeding on as forcibly as 

 that of Allerton. Trevillian, 2.08J, exported to 

 Europe, is the fastest of the 46 performers by 

 Young Jim. The blood of this horse also shows 

 vigor through his sons and daughters. 



Gambetta Wilkes by George Wilkes, dam by 

 Gill's Vermont, a direct descendant of Justin 

 Morgan, is the sire of 58 trotters and 59 pacers, 

 a number of which have shown extreme speed. 

 Behind the blood of George Wilkes and Justin 

 Morgan is thoroughbred blood, and experience 

 shows that this race-horse blood gives speed at 

 either gait in harness. The tendency to pace is 

 largely due to conformation. The King, one of 

 the handsomest horses ever seen in a show ring 

 or on the track, was a brother of Gambetta 

 Wilkes, and he sired more than four times as 

 many trotters as pacers. H. M. Whitehead, 

 owner of The King, was partial to the trotter and 

 insisted that the sons and daughters of his horse 

 should be trained to trot. This probably reduced 

 the pacing average. 



