15 



former lasted the longest, and won in 2:243 ; and then 

 the Long Islanders of the south side raised a shout that 

 swelled like the roar of the sea when it bursts upon their 

 own shore. A hundred to sixty on Dexter. They were 

 but two, for Vanderbilt had been distanced in the preceding 

 heat, and they had each won two heats. They went away 

 together, and Dexter led a neck at the quarter. Neck-and- 

 neck at the half-mile, in 1.12}, and the eighteenth quarter 

 of the race trotted in better than 35s. Neck-and neck still 

 at the head of the stretch, and it was which can stand the 

 high pressure longest. That was soon settled, for Butler 

 broke when they entered the straight work, and Dexter won 

 in 2:24}. The last half was trotted in 1:12, and it was the 

 tenth half-mile in the race. I consider this race one of the 

 greatest of Dexter's exploits, for he was not well, and 

 nothing but the stubborn endurance of a bull-dog, and the 

 unyielding valor of a game cock, enabled him to win. Budd 

 Doble now took charge of Dexter, and a hippodroining cam- 

 paign began. At Philadelphia Dexter beat the California 

 stallion, and trotted in 2:232. At the Fashion Course he 

 beat Butler and Toronto Chief, under saddle. At Avon 

 Springs Dexter beat the California stallion. At Buffalo 

 he beat the stallion and Rolla Golddust. He also beat But- 

 ler, under saddle, in 2:18, and trotted the last half in 1:08. 

 At Cleveland he beat the stallion and Butler in harness. 

 To recapitulate the further races in which Dexter beat Eoff 

 and the stallion, would be useless. At Kalamazoo, the 

 former tried to beat Flora Temple's t ; me. He trotted the 

 second heat in 2:21 J, and the third in 2:21}. The track 

 was not as good as it was when she made her 2:1 9|, and 

 this is one of the great things which make the time-test a 

 very uncertain one. In his third year upon the turf, Dex- 

 ter won twenty-five races of heats, three in five, and lost 

 one, which was when he was off, and General Butler beat 

 him under saddle. In 1867 he was matched against Lady 

 Thorn to trot mile heats and two-mile heats in harness, and 

 the same races to wagon. Before they came off, he met 

 Goldsmith Maid at Middletown, and beat her with great 

 ease. On the 28th of May, he met Lady Thome at the 

 Fashion Course, mile heats, three in five, in harness. The 

 mare was beaten with ease in the first heat, and distanced 

 in the second. On the 7th of June they trotted to wagons. 

 The first heat was slow. The mave broke twice, and Dexter 

 was held back for her. The second was an amazingly fine 

 heat. He beat her in 2:24; and then won the third, under 

 a hard pull, in 2:28. On the 14th, they trotted two-mile 

 heats in harness, and Dexter won easily in 4:51 5:01 i. 

 On the 21st, Dexter trotted a race on the Fashion against 

 Ethan Allen and running mate, mile heats, three in five. 

 The team won the first heat in 2:15, and Dexter got home 

 in 2:16. In the second heat he trotted on the outside, 



round the turn, and went to the half-mile in 1:06. On the 

 lower turn the pace was still very hot, and Ethan broke ; 

 but the runner enabled him to catch without loss, and, pull- 

 ing him along through the air, they overhauled Dexter and 

 beat him three lengths in 2:16. The team won the third 

 heat in 2:19. This, though a losing one, was the best per- 

 formance Dexter ever made upon the course. To trot mile 

 after mile at such a rate, against winning opponents, runner 

 and trotter on the outside, and never to flinch an inch, mani- 

 fests the most admirable resolution. He never broke, and 

 was not forced out at the end of the heats. I never saw 

 another trotter that could, in my estimation, have stood the 

 pinch. I have seen some very fast ones that would have 

 gone all to pieces when collared in the second heat, as 

 Dexter was. On the 29th of June Dexter beat Lady Thome, 

 two-mile heats to wagon. He was very fine-drawn from his 

 previous races with her and with the double team, but 

 he beat her with ease in 5:01 5:09. On the Fourth 

 of July, he trotted against Ethan Allen and his thorough- 

 bred runner, Charlotte F., on the half-mile track at Morris- 

 town, and they won a very fast race for that course. On 

 the 10th day of July. Dexter encountered Lady Thorne at 

 Trenton, and beat her. This was the last time they met. 

 On the 16th, he beat Brown George and running mate at 

 Albany, and trotted the second and third heats in 2:20}. 

 He beat them again at Providence, July 26. And on the 

 30th, he beat them again at the Riverside half-mile course, 

 Boston. In this race he made 2:21 J 2:19 2:21}. After 

 that, at Buffalo, he beat his Boston time by trotting in 

 2:17}. The course was then over a mile in length, and 

 much slower than it now is. At that meeting no horse save 

 Dexter beat 2:30. He was now purchased by Mr. Bonner. 

 and retired from the turf. During his career of less than 

 four seasons Dexter won forty-nine races. The great ma- 

 jority of them were mile heats, three in five, in harness. 

 He also won at three-mile heats, and at two-mile heats, in 

 harness, and to wagon he was never defeated. He lost a 

 race to Shark through hitting himself. Lady Thorne de- 

 feated him once when he was not seasoned, and was off as 

 well. He beat her five times in much better races. General 

 Butler beat him once in a poor race, under saddle, when he 

 was all off. Ethan Allen, with running mate, beat him 

 twice. Dexter made the best mile under saddle, the best 

 mile in harness, and the best mile to wagon that had been 

 made. His two miles to wagon, second heat, was perhaps 

 his greatest performance. He had lots of speed left at the 

 end of it, and could have gone another mile without pulling 

 up at a tremendous rate. It is manifest to those who carefully 

 consider the breeding, the form, the wonderful exploits, and 

 the rare characteristics of this famous horse, that he never 

 had an equal. Chas. J. Foster in Wallace's Monthly. 



