THE BREEDS OF HORSES. 



213 



pete at our prominent trotting meetings, is 

 something very often overlooked "by those who 

 do not give the subject particular attention. 

 Year by year there have been vast accessions 

 to the list of horses with records of 2:30 or bet- 

 ter, and of course the influence of this constant 

 influx of fresh speed cannot but be made mani- 

 fest upon the turf. Taking the records of the 

 oldest prominent trotting track that of Buf- 

 falo, N. Y. as a guide, we find the average 

 time of all the heats trotted there during the 

 summer meetings from 1866 to 1884, inclusive, 

 to have been as follows: 



These figures speak volumes. From 2:38| in 

 1866 to 2:20 in 1880 and 2:20f the following 

 year is a tremendous stride, and it will be seen 

 that the reduction has been a steady as well as 

 a notable one. Of course it is not every season 

 that such flyers as Maud S. and St. J alien ap- 

 pear at the same meeting, as was the, case at 

 Buffalo in 1880, while the following year half 

 a dozen of our best trotters were out at once, 

 which accounts for the exceptionally low aver- 



