196 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



man at Smithfield; and afterward he became the property 

 of Mr. O'Kelly. Eclipse had not the grandeur of form of 

 Flying 1 Childers, and might have escaped notice but for the 

 accidental trial of his stupendous powers. He was about 15.1 

 hands high. His shoulders were very low, oblique, and so 

 thick above that, according to the observation of the time, a 

 firkin of butter might have rested upon them. He stood 

 very high behind, a conformation suited to his great power 

 of progression. He was so thick winded as to be heard blow- 

 ing at a considerable distance. In the language of honest 

 John Lawrence: "He puffed and blowed like an otter, and 

 galloped as wide as a barn-door." No sooner were his powers 

 exhibited on the turf than every eye was set to scrutinize his 

 form, and he was then admitted to possess in perfection the 

 external characters indicative of great speed. A volume 

 was written on his proportions by M. Saintbel, a veterinary 

 surgeon, whose investigations showed that his figure differed 

 greatly from the conventional form which speculative writ- 

 ers had assigned as the standard of perfection. He was of 

 an indomitable temper, and his jockeys found it in vain to 

 attempt to hold him, but contented themselves with remain- 

 ing still on the saddle while he swept along, his nose almost 

 touching the ground. His full speed was not determined, 

 since he never met with an opponent sufficiently fleet to put 

 it to the proof. He not only was never beaten, but he was 

 able to distance some of the best horses of his time; and the 

 fleetest could not keep by his side for fifty yards together. 



This remarkable horse first appeared on the turf at the 

 age of five, in 1769. In the first heat he set off of his own ac- 

 cord and easily gained the race, his rider pulling him in vain 

 with all his force for the last mile. O'Kelly, observing this 

 and being aware of his horse's powers, offered in the second 

 heat to "place the horses," and he took heavy bets that he 

 did so. When called upon to declare he said: "Eclipse first, 

 the rest no place." He gained his wagers. Eclipse was first, 

 and all the others were distanced, or, in the language of the 

 turf, had no place. From this time Eclipse was continually 

 on the turf and gained every race. No horse daring to con- 

 tend with him he closed his career of seventeen months by 



