CHAPTER XXX 



HENRY N. SMITH AND OTHER BREEDERS 



THE first time I exchanged words with Henry N. 

 Smith was in the sixties, and at Fashion Course. I 

 had driven over to the track with Wm. Rutter to 

 hold a watch on the stallion Garibaldi by Rysdyk's 

 Hambletonian, out of a black mare called Topsy. 

 Mr. Rutter's son, William, rode the handsome horse, 

 and we timed him along the back stretch a fast 

 quarter for that day. Mr. Smith looked at my watch 

 and exclaimed: "I will bet $1000 that he cannot 

 trot the last quarter as fast as that." This was taken 

 as a reflection on the correctness of the timing, and 

 the reply was far from pacific. Before we left the 

 track we learned that the first quarter pole had been 

 moved some yards nearer the half-mile pole than 

 was regular, the object being on the part of a dealer 

 to show a customer a fast fractional performance. 

 I sometimes wondered, had a wager been made and 

 lost on account of this glaring deception, if Mr. 

 Smith would have claimed the money. In the Stock 

 Exchange Henry N. Smith was a quick and bold 

 trader, and for a while everything seemed to go his 

 way. He piled up millions, and was ambitious to 

 own the fastest trotters in the world. He bought 



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