flOLDSMITH MAID was bred in Sussex county, 

 N. J., by Mr. John B. Decker. She was got 

 by that son of Hambletonian called in Orange 

 County Edsall's Hambletonian, but after his 

 purchase and removal to Kentucky, Alexan- 

 der's Abdallah. Her dam was by the original Abdallah, 

 son of Mambrino (American), and sire of Hambletonian. 

 Consequently she is very closely in- bred to the famous old 

 saddle-horse whose rat-tail is still to be seen among the 

 mementoes shown to his visitors by that fine horseman, 

 Simeon Hoagland. Goldsmith Maid was foaled in 1857, is 

 now twenty years old, and still full of vim and vigor, as 

 her performances of late have abundantly shown. She was 

 the smallest of her dam's products, and was by no means 

 exempt from temper and accidents. She jumped fences; 

 she reared up and fell over when hitched to a harrow; she 

 kicked herself loose and ran away when put to a wagon. 

 She was thought to be so ungovernable as to be practically 

 useless, and when she Was eight years old Mr. Decker sold 

 her to his nephew for 8350. On his way home with her, 

 young Decker met William Thompson, and after some 

 negotiations, he bought her for $400. Three months after- 

 wards Thompson sold her for $650 and a buggy to Mr. 

 Alden Goldsmith, one of the most sagacious and patient 

 horsemen we have ever known. In his hands the good she 

 had in her was sure to come out. She was then very wild, 

 timid, and nervous, but had none of that malicious disposi- 

 tion which is called "vice." Mr Goldsmith, by patient, 

 gentle usage, made her more quiet, but he could not get her 

 to go with a ckeck-rein or running martingale, so he dis- 

 carded them and took off the blinders. In all her races for 

 the first three years she trotted without check. She had 

 the distemper severely the first spring she was in Mr. Gold' 

 smith's possession, and had not recovered entirely from it 

 when we first saw her at his Walnut Grove Farm. Even 

 at that early date he was convinced that he had got a treas- 

 ure, and we greatly admired her breeding and her looks. 

 She was of small stature, but long and low, deep through 

 the heart, of wiry, whalebone texture all over, and with a 

 b;ick which is of amazing strength for a horse of her size. 

 Now, the back, according to our notions, is the great source 

 of muscular power. In the August of that year, 1865, she 

 trotted her first race. It was at Goshen, and she won in three 

 heats, the best time being 2:20. Goldsmith Maid trotted two 

 more races that year, both of which she lost. She was well 

 wintered, but in nowise pampered. In 1866 she trotted nine 

 or ten times, and won all her races except the last. In that, 

 General Butler beat her after scoring above twenty times on 

 account of his own proceedings and those of the black mare 

 C'>ra. Next year Goldsmith Maid met Dexter, who beat 

 her with ease. Goldsmith Maid continued to improve all 

 that season in the hands of William Bodine, but for the 

 last race of it she was passed over to Budd Doble. In 1868 

 Doble won eight times with her, and she made a record 

 of 2:21*. That fall Mr. Goldsmith sold the mare to 

 Budd Doble and Barney Jackman. She was wintered in 

 Philadelphia, and began the next season by losing five times 

 to American Girl, who trotted in 2:19 at Nanagansett 



Park, and seemed likely to take up the sceptre which Dex- 

 ter upon his retirement had relinquished. But now the 

 little mare of the concentrated Abdallah blood began to 

 come again. She beat Lucy at Boston, and trotted in 

 2:20J. She beat George Palmer on the Fashion Course. 

 She met American Girl at Suffolk Park, Philadelphia, 

 and beat her in three straight heats, all better than 2:20. 

 That was the first time any horse beat 2:20 in all the 

 heats of a race. Goldsmith Maid won eight races that 

 year, and beat all those that beat her, save Lady Thome, 

 who was then in her prime and pride, and who won five 

 races from her, In 1870 Goldsmith Maid won eleven 

 times. She did not beat 2:20 that year, but she trotted in 

 2:24J to wagon. In 1871 Goldsmith Maid continued her 

 brilliant career. At Fleetwood Park, Baltimore, Prospect 

 Park, Brooklyn, Boston, and Buffalo she beat all her com- 

 petitors, including American Girl and Lucy. At the latter 

 place she again won all the heats in better than 2:20. 

 Here she failed in an effort to beat Dexter's time 2:17i, 

 for an extra purse. But she soon after trotted in 2:17 

 at Milwaukee, and thus clutched the crown which Dexter 

 upon his retirement had virtually laid down. Goldsmith 

 Maid continued on the great Western route, and reached 

 as far as Omaha and Council Bluffs, away up the Missouri 

 liiver. In 1872, after one trot at Philadelphia, the little 

 mare went to Boston to assist at the Grand Jubilee, and 

 contributed to the music by a merry-go-round on the 

 Mystic Course in 2:16|. Afterwards, at Prospect Park, 

 she put in all the heats in better than 2:20 ; and at 

 Cleveland she did it for the fourth time. The little mare 

 was now taken across the continent, and at Sacramento, in 

 a little more than a month after her last previous race on 

 this side of the Rocky Mountains, she trotted in 2:17 i. 

 She afterwards trotted at San Francisco, and returning to 

 Sacramento, beat Occident very easily. In 1873 she did 

 not trot any especially fast heat. In 1874 Goldsmith 

 Maid trotted seventeen times, and with increase of speed. 

 At Saginaw, Michigan, she went in 2:16. At Springfield, 

 Mass., she again made 2:16, and all the heats were bet- 

 ter than 2:20. Three times that year she beat 2:20 in 

 all the heats. At Rochester she trotted a second heat 

 in 2;14|. And at Mystic Park, Boston, for a special purse, 

 in which she was required to beat her Rochester time, 

 she trotted in 2:14. That was September, 1874. In 

 1875 she only trotted six races, and Was beaten once by 

 Lula, at Rochester, a memorable event, but reversed the 

 tables at Utica. In 1876 she trotted seven races, and was 

 beaten but once by Smuggler, at Cleveland. Besides this 

 she trotted against her own record seven times, and though 

 failing to reduce it, she trotted at Belmont Park, Philadel- 

 phia, June 23d, in 2:14. This year, 1877, she has trotted 

 several races in California, against Rarus and other fast 

 ones. At Chico, Gal., May 19th, over a rough track, she 

 defeated Rarus, in 2:19 i 2:14 J 2:17. It is announced 

 that she will not trot in any more races, but will reserve 

 her powers for special tilts with old Father Time, in the 

 hope of lowering her record, if possible. New York 

 Sportsman. 



