43 



|LANTER was foaled in September, 1868, in 

 Kentucky His sire was Red Bird, by a horse 

 called Old Norman, owned near Troy, N. Y ., a 

 son of Bush's Messenger, he by Old Messenger, 

 and his dam was a Mambrino mare. His breeding is not 

 as clearly defined as could be wished on the dam's side; 

 but that makes comparatively little difference with a geld- 

 ing, with which performance rather pedigree is the main 

 thing His trotting abilities were developed by J. W. 

 Wright, of Rochester, N. Y., into whose hands he passed 

 when quite young, and he made his debut in 1873, when a 

 five-year-old. August 6 of that year, at Buffalo, he won 

 the first heat in the 2:45 class, at the great race there, in 

 2:31 ; was subsequently beaten by Clementine, but got 

 second money. He trotted in a number of races afterwards 

 the same season, but was never a winner. In 1874 we find 

 him trotting five races and winning two, but without lower- 

 ing his record. In 1875 he was used for hippodroming 

 purposes, trotting several races, but only winning one, and 

 that in slow time. He reduced his record that year to 2:30. 

 His owner, of course, knew the speed that was in him, and 

 last winter he was sold, for a large price, to Mr. J. McAn- 

 drew, Jr., of Jersey City. He placed him for training in 

 the hands of John Splan, who has driven him so success- 

 fully in his races this year. He had shown that he was 

 fast enough to aspire to travel with the very speedy ones, 

 and was entered through the Septilateral Circuit, beginning 

 at Buffalo. At that city he met such flyers as General 

 Grant, Mattie, Trio, and Marion, and was obliged to content 

 himself with fourth place in the race, saving his entrance, 

 but was a good third in the fourth heat, which was trotted 

 in 2:22}. The following week, at Rochester, he trotted a 

 splendid race. General Grant won the first heat in 2:22$ ; 

 Planter third. In the second heat Planter took the lead 

 almost from the word, and was never headed, passing the 

 quarter in 37s., the half in 1:13, the three-quarter pole in 

 1:49, and winning, by half a length from Marian, in 2:25. 

 It will be noticed that he continued to go faster the longer 

 he trotted. In the third heat he was beaten by Trio by 

 only a neck, in 2:24; and in the fifth heat, which General 

 Grant won in 2:21, he was a close third. Planter got second 

 money in this race. At Utica he scored his first victory. 

 There were four starters Planter, Mattie, Marion, and 

 Trio ; and Marion was made a hot favorite, chiefly because 

 he had trotted a very close second to General Grant in a 

 fifth heat, in 2:21, at Rochester. Planter won the first heat 

 in 2:24| ; Marion the second, 2:23J ; the third was dead 



between Marion and Mattie, in 2:24, and Planter took the 

 fourth and fifth, each in 2:25. This prolonged contest, 

 every heat fast and bitterly contested, proved him to be a 

 reliable horse for endurance as well as speed. The following 

 week, at Poughkeepsie, however, he met with his Waterloo. 

 There were but four starters Planter, Mattie, and Trio, 

 with Martha Washington in place of the formidable Marion. 

 On account of his Utica performance, Planter was picked 

 for a sure winner. In the first heat, he took the lead on 

 the third quarter, and won it by a length from Mattie, in 

 2:24$. In the second, the finish was closer, and he only 

 beat Mattie out by a neck, again in 2:24$. In the third 

 heat, he led the party until entering the homestretch, and 

 apparently had the race in hand, but then had the misfor- 

 tune to grab his quarter, and was beaten out by Mattie by 

 several lengths. This accident, it is supposed, lost him the 

 race. Trio won the next two heats and Mattie the sixth, 

 and then the race was postponed until the following day, 

 with two heats to the credit of each of the three. Planter 

 was then made favorite, as he was credited with the most 

 speed, but was not able to get there, and Mattie won the 

 deciding heat, Planter and Trio dividing second and third 

 money. At Hartford, Planter had only Trio to contend 

 with. He took the first heat in 2:27$, she captured the 

 second in 2:24}, and he won the third and fourth in 2:26 

 and 2:27. At Springfield, he scored his third Septilateral 

 victory. In this race he was apparently laid up the first 

 two heats, Gray Bill taking the first in 2:30, and Bay the 

 second in 2:27$. Planter then won the next three, in 

 2:27i 2:28$ 2:25$. This race wound up his perform- 

 ances in the Septilateral Circuit, from which he emerged 

 with a record of 2:24 J, and winner of $5000, having taken 

 some part of each of the six purses he started for. There 

 were very few, if any, horses that lived through the cam- 

 paign as well as he. Nearly all the races in which he was 

 engaged were protracted and hotly contested, but he seemed 

 to improve as he went along. He is a very stylish horse, 

 carries his head high, and has a most resolute way of going. 

 His gait is as pure as can be, and he is a very fair breaker, 

 but never indulges in a reveille except for adequate cause. 

 It is claimed for him that the speed he has shown in public 

 is only an indication of what he is capable of, and that, 

 under favorable circumstances, he can beat 2:20. Next 

 season will tell the tale whether this trotter is to be added 

 to the rapidly-swelling free-for-all list, or whether he has 

 nearly reached the limit of his speed. His owner feels 

 very confident about him. Spirit of tJie Times. 



