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AMBRINO GIFT was bred by the late E. P. 

 Kinkead, of Woodford Country, Ky., and was 

 foaled in 1866. He was got by Relf s Mam- 

 brino Pilot out of Waterwitch (the dam of 

 Diadem) by Alexander's Pilot, Jr., second dam by Kinkead's 

 St. Lawrence, third dam was always called a thorough-bred 

 mare, but we are not able to give her pedigree. His sire, 

 Mambrino Pilot, was got by Mambrino Chief out of Juliet, 

 by Alexander's Pilot, Jr. It will thus be seen that Gift is 

 strongly inbred to Alexander's Pilot, his own dam and the 

 dam of his sire having been got by that horse. When he 

 was two years old he was placed in the hands of that skill- 

 ful trainer and astute horseman, Dr. L. Herr, of Lexington, 

 who had entire charge of his early education as a trotter. 

 At three years old, Dr. Herr is reported as stating that he 

 thought Gift the fastest colt of his age in Kentucky. He 

 was purchased by his present owners, Messrs. Nye & Foster, 

 of Flint, Mich., in July, 1873, from Messrs. J. Monahon, 

 of Springfield, Ohio, and E. Wade, of South Bend, Ind. 

 He trotted in one race at three years old. and did not again 

 appear on the turf until after his purchase by his present 

 owners. At the commencement of the trotting season of 

 1873, he was not able to show a trial better than 2:40, but 

 he steadily improved during the season, and was very suc- 

 cessful in his races. He started eight times, and was seven 

 times winner of first money, winding up with a record of 

 2:26}, at Buffalo. He suffered during this entire campaign 

 from cracked heels, and they bled more or less in every one 

 of his races. During the next winter it was not contem- 

 plated to put him on the track again, and he was permitted 

 to become loaded with fat. He made a short season in the 

 stud in the spring of 1874, covering twenty-five mares, and 

 was then put into training. His first race was at Jackson, 

 Mich., in June, when he lapped out Red Cloud, in 2:25. 

 On the week following, at Saginaw, he again lapped out 

 the same horse, in 2:22. He entered the Quadrilateral at 

 Cleveland, where he was beaten by Fred Hooper, in 2:23 J 

 2:23 2:27}, Gift taking the third heat in 2:26J. On the 

 following week he trotted at Buffalo, in what we must be 

 permitted to call the greatest stallion race of the season, for 

 a purse of $10,000; and although he was defeated, yet he 



covered himself with glory in this hard-fought contest. It 

 was a race for blood from the beginning to the end of the 

 sixth heat with Gift. He was not saved up or rested, but 

 was driven for every heat. The first was won by Smuggler, 

 in 2:22}, with Gift second. The next was taken by the 

 same horse, in 2:2U|, with Gift fighting for the lead to the 

 last moment. The third was won by Gift, in 2:22}, and, 

 Smuggler having been disposed of by Gift, the next three 

 were fought out, inch by inch, between the game chestnut 

 and the resolute black stallion, Thomas Jefferson ; and it 

 was not until the wire was reached, at the finish of the 

 sixth heat, that it was a sure thing for either horse, but 

 Jefferson secured the honor of victory. But it was in the 

 next week, at Rochester, that he made his great record ot 

 2:20, and won a race in three heats, which aggregate two 

 seconds faster than any other three heats ever trotted by a 

 stallion. In this race his competitors were Tanner Boy, 

 Joe Brown, Joker, Barney Kelly, Fred Hooper, and Gift's 

 time was 2:21 2:20 2:23. In the great stallion race at 

 Boston, Gift was defeated, the race being won by Smuggler, 

 in 2:23 2:23 2:20 ; but the aggregate time of the race 

 is two seconds slower than that of the race won by Gift at 

 Rochester. Messrs. Nye & Foster claim that their horse 

 was drugged, in order to prevent him from winning this 

 race. They state that it was the opinion of a veterinary 

 surgeon, who examined him at the time, that he had been 

 given a heavy dose of aconite; but, be this as it may, he 

 was clearly and decidedly out of condition on the day of 

 the race, and was only able to secure fifth place in the 

 award. Mambrino Gift is a very dark chestnut, without 

 white, is about 16 hands high, and, in full flesh, weighs 

 over 1,200 Ibs. He trots level and true, with a manifesta- 

 tion of a very great degree of nervous will, power and 

 intelligence; but, when closely pressed, has a way of leaving 

 his feet and running rather oftener than we like to see. 

 Whether this is from an infirmity of temper, or from defect- 

 ive training, we are not able to say ; but we would like him 

 better if he would stick closer to his gait. He is a natural 

 trotter, was easily trained to go fast, comes of most excellent 

 trotting blood on both sides, backed up by several stout 

 crosses of thorough blood. Spirit of the Times. 



