HAMLIN AND SPEED DEVELOPMENT 



and intensified by severe work in the ancestors of 

 Maud S., for, had their vitality been sapped by over- 

 development, we should not have had 2.o8J. I 

 would rather use the brother or sister of a great 

 performer in the stud than the performer itself, and 

 in this I am backed up by so good an English au- 

 thority as the late Admiral Rous. The brother or 

 sister has the conformation, courage, and instinct 

 to go fast, and his or her vitality is of virgin 

 strength and purity. The foal, to develop into a 

 perfect horse, cannot be charged with too much vital 

 force at the very inception of its career. I do not 

 look upon Jay Gould as a phenomenal sire. He 

 is twenty-four years old and has but five with records 

 of 2.25 and better, and one of these, King Philip, 

 2.21, was got before he obtained his record. Jay 

 Gould was not severely campaigned. He trotted 

 twelve heats in 1872, and five heats in 1874, and 

 his record is 2.2iJ, not 2.20^, as stated by General 

 Tracy. Let us be accurate as we move along in this 

 discussion. Governor Sprague made his record of 

 2.2o in 1876, and his fastest performer, Kate 

 Sprague, 2.18, was foaled in 1875. Ethan Allen 

 made his record of 2.25^ in 1860, and he sired 

 previous to this, Pocahontas, 2.26^, trial 2.17!; 

 Billy Barr, 2.23!, and Hotspur, 2.24. George M. 

 Patchen made his fastest record, 2.23^, after he had 

 got his fastest performer, Lucy, 2.i8i. Thorndale, 

 2.224, sired Edwin Thorne, 2.i6i, and Daisydale, 

 2.19!, before Doble drove him to his record, and 

 Oliver K., 2.i6J, the sole jewel in the crown of King 

 Wilkes, was got before his sire made a record of 

 2.224. These are but straws showing how strongly 

 the current of confirmed truth flows to the support 

 of the undeveloped sire theory. 



