The Driving Clubs of Greater Boston 



169 



mile, in 1 :;S 1-2. was made at the same meet- 

 ing, four days later, Lou starting against 2:00. 

 ( Ictober 28 she went against her wagon rec- 

 ord of 2:01 3-4, and beat it by a well-rated 

 mile in 2 :oo flat. In 1909 she made her 

 memorable exhibition tour of Europe, aston- 

 ishing the public in Germany, Russia and 

 Austria by her marvelous speed, after three 

 years spent in the harem, although in foal at 

 the time. She is still the property of C. K. ( I. 

 Billings, of Chicago. 



Xext. and last in the line of trotting cham- 

 pions, comes the mighty Uhlan, a bay gelding, 

 foaled in 1904, and bred by Arthur H. Parker, 

 Bedford. Mass. In 1907 Mr. Parker sold the 

 gelding to Charles Sanders, of Salem, Mass., 

 for $2,500, and that Fall, in a matinee race to 

 wagon, he won in 2:13 3-4. He was turned 

 over to Robert Proctor to train, and in 190S 

 got a record of 2:07 1-4. The following sea- 

 son Uhlan, at Cleveland, forced Hamburg 

 Belle to a new world's race record for trot- 

 ters, of 2 :oi 1-4, and later, at Readville, de- 

 feated the mare, earning a race record of 

 2:03 1-2, which still remains (1914) the 

 world's race record for trotting geldings. He 

 was sold after the Readville race to C. K. G. 

 Billings, of Chicago, for $35,000, and Charles 

 Tanner became his trainer and driver. Be- 

 fore going into Winter quarters, in 1910, he 

 had taken a record of 1 :58 3-4, made at Cleve- 

 land against time, and a wagon record of 2 :oi. 

 Uhlan failed to lower his best mark in 191 1, 

 his mile against time at Lexington, Ky., of 

 1 :59 1-2, being his best effort. However, he 

 accomplished the remarkable feat of trotting 

 the Goshen, N. Y., half-mile track in 2 :o2 3-4. 

 the world's record for a twice-around course. 

 He also got the world's record, to wagon, of 

 56 1-4 seconds, and twice tied Lou Dillon's 

 wagon record of 2 :oo, C. K. G. Billings driv- 

 ing him in one of the heats, which marked a 

 new world's record driven by an amateur. 

 The season of 1912 Uhlan was, early in the 

 year, shipped to Europe with several others 

 of Mr. Billings' stable, and driven exhibition 

 heats. He was particularly appreciated by the 

 Russians, who marveled at his tremendous 

 speed. Returning to the United States, he was 

 put in shape by Mr. Tanner for trips against 

 the watch. At Lexington, Ky., on October S. 

 he lowered the world's trotting record to 1 158, 

 and did so in the open (without aid ot a 

 windshield). At the same meeting. Uhlan, 

 hitched double with Lewis Forrest, who was 

 bred by a New Hampshire man, lowered the 

 world's pole record to 2:03 1-4, a reduction of 

 4 1-2 seconds. With his retirement from the 

 turf, L T hlan still remains the property of Mr. 

 Billings. On pleasant forenoons in Central 



Park, Xew York, can frequently be seen the 

 famous gelding, gaily Stepping along the 

 saddle paths with his owner up, and by Mr. 

 Billings' own words, Uhlan is a perfect saddle 

 horse. 



THE PACING CHAMPIONS 



The first horse to beat 2 130 was the pacer 

 Drover, ridden under saddle by Hiram Wood- 

 ruff in 1839, in a race. But saddle records do 

 not count in this narrative, so the champion- 

 ship in harness began with Unknown, the 

 chestnut gelding, in 1844, who beat Fairy 

 Queen to wagon in 2 .23. Unknown seems to 

 have had but this one race to his credit, and he 

 never afterward paced near his record. The 

 pacing record of 2 123 stood for seven years, 

 when the roan gelding P'et lowered it to 

 2:21 1-4, cutting this the next year to 2:18 1-2. 



Then Pocahontas, the stout chestnut daugh- 

 ter of Irons' Cadmus, set a mark that stood 

 at the top for a long term of years. This old- 

 time champion did not figure in many races, 

 but few as they were, they were all victories. 

 Her last race was June, 1855, at the old Union 

 Course, Long Island, when she beat Hero, 

 both to wagon, distancing her opponent in 

 the first heat in 2:171-2. This remarkabL 

 mare was foaled 1847. 1° J 854 she was race' 

 by Otis Dimmick. and then passed to Jas. D. 

 McMann, who drove her to her record. 

 Woodmansee sold her in 1856 to R. S. Denny, 

 Watertown, Mass. In 1S70 she was owned 

 by John ( r. Wood. West Millbury, Mass., and 

 from Wood passed to Amasa Sprague, of 

 Providence, R. I., whose property she died in 

 1873 or 1874. 



In 1S69, the dun gelding Yankee Sam, date 

 of foaling and breeding unknown, cut the pac- 

 ing record to 2:161-2. He started racing in 

 1866 and made his last appearance in 1872. 

 Out of eleven races he won six. His world's 

 mark was made Oct. 21, 1879, at Ulrichsville, 

 Ohio, in a winning 'race with Shackelford, 

 Maggie Mitchell and Grey Dan, pacing the 

 first, third and fifth heats in 2 :i9 1-2, 2 :i6 1-2, 

 and 2:19 1-2. As to what became of him his- 

 tory is silent. 



The next notable pacing champion was 

 Sleepy Tom, chestnut gelding, foaled 1868, 

 and a son of Tom Rolfe, the son of Pocahon- 

 tas. When a three-year-old, his owner, Isaac 

 Dingier, of Bellwood, Ohio, had him trained 

 and he paced a few races but won none. In 

 1873 he won one race and got a record of 

 2 40 1-2. The following year a cold settled 

 in his eyes and he began to go blind, winning 

 but one race. One winning race in 1875 was 

 to his credit, with his record reduced a half- 



