HAMLIN AND SPEED DEVELOPMENT 



Had he given as much thought to a legal question as 

 he has to this breeding topic, his fee, I am sure, would 

 not have been short of $1000. I classed, it will 

 be remembered, among undeveloped stallions, found- 

 ers of trotting families like Hambletonian, Mam- 

 brino Chief, Gen. Knox, Black Hawk, Almont, 

 Golddust, Bashaw, and Mambrino Patchen; sires 

 of 2. 20 producing rank such as Aberdeen, Belmont, 

 Edward Everett, Louis Napoleon, Messenger Duroc, 

 Kentucky Prince, Masterlode, Strathmore, Red 

 Wilkes, and Walkill Chief; transmitters of 2.14 

 records, like Harold, Dictator, Volunteer, Conk- 

 lin's Abdallah, Happy Medium, Alexander's Ab- 

 dallah, and Princeps, and this classification stands 

 unshaken, not having been assailed with anything 

 more dangerous than a quibble. The list is formid- 

 able and the theory that I uphold rests upon a foun- 

 dation of adamant. I do not propose to follow 

 General Tracy's example and waste time on supposi- 

 tion. The issue turns not on what might have been, 

 but what has been and is. We know that the ma- 

 jority of successful stallions were not fully developed 

 in harness, were not overworked for the sake of 

 a fast record, and I contend that the conclusion log- 

 ically follows that their success was in a large meas- 

 ure due to the fact that their vital force was not 

 sapped or impaired by track campaigns. Their abil- 

 ity for producing speed was not weakened by much 

 scraping, scoring, and severe physical exertion. The 

 exposition of nature's laws made by General Tracy 

 has a chestnut flavor. It is a rehash of Darwin, who 

 had given no study to the principle governing action 

 in the American trotter. Mr. Wallace has been 

 repeating the dogma for years that trotting, like 

 pointing, is purely a matter of instinct; that, if 



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