51 



JAG was bred in Maine, his sire being a horse 

 called Morgan Caesar, but better known in 

 Maine under the name of Morgan Post Boy, 

 The dam of Mac was a mare said to be of Messen- 

 ger blood. He was a brown gelding, standing fifteen and one- 

 half hands in height. The first race in which Mac became 

 prominent was trotted November 1, 1848, at Albany, against 

 Jenny Lind, the mare winning the first and third heats, and 

 Mac taking the second and fourth, in 2:382:42, and after 

 the latter, Jenny Lind was drawn. A record of 2:38 was fast 

 in those days, and it was not long before Mac was pitted 

 against the speediest horses of the country. On the 16th 

 of May, 1849, we find him in a race against those old 

 flyers, Lady Moscow and Jack Rossiter, two-mile heats 

 under saddle, which he won, taking the second and fourth 

 heats, the fastest in 5:10, a rate of 2:35. On the fifth, 

 sixth, and seventh of June, 1849, we find him engaged in 

 three races, at Providence, with that most noted flyer of her 

 day, Lady Suffolk. In the first of these he was victorious, 

 taking three heats, in 2:29} 2:32 2:31 ; but the old gray 

 mare defeated him in both the other races, leaving him 

 behind the flag each time, though the time was slower than 

 he had marked to his own credit. He subsequently met 

 Lady Suffolk on four different occasions, and beat her 

 every time, besides defeating, in her company, Gray Eagle, 

 Trouble, Jack Kossiter, and Boston Girl. In a race with 

 Lady Suffolk, at Boston, June 14, 1849, he trotted a heat 

 in 2:27, which he was afterwards able to equal, but never 

 to surpass. 



Mac gained much celebrity from his repeated contests 

 with Tacony. These two horses met each other ten 

 times, from October, 1851, to September, 1855, and the 

 honors were equally divided between them, each one win- 

 ning five races. The amount of the purses for these trots 

 ranged from $300 to $3,000, and in one of the later ones, 

 Taeony made his famous saddle record of 2:25 J. Many of 

 our readers will clearly remember the great interest felt in 

 these races between Tacony and Mac. They were the topic 

 of conversation throughout the country, and people who 

 had never seen either horse became strong partisans of one 

 or the other. Even children, catching the spirit of their 

 elders, were ardent champions of Mae or Tacony. Hiram 

 Woodruff thought Mac the superior trotter. He says in 

 his book : " This Mac was very famous for his many con- 

 tests with Tacony. They were very close together when in 

 condition ; but Mac had a little the best of the roan, in my 

 judgment, until he was injured by over-driving and got the 

 thumps." 



This horse met the then Queen of the Turf, Flora 

 Temple, twice, in 1854 and 1855; but she was too speedy 

 for him, and beat him on both occasions. In looking 



over the files of The Spirit, during the years that Mac 

 was trotting, we find frequent allusions to him; enough to 

 show that he was the sensation of the day. On the 9th 

 and 10th of July, 1848, he beat Lady Suffolk two races, 

 one of mile heats, best three in five, and the other of two- 

 mile heats, under saddle, and was then claimed by the 

 Albany party to be the champion trotter of the world. The 

 owner of a chestnut gelding, named Zachary Taylor, in 

 Philadelphia, became jealous of Mac's growing fame, and 

 challenged him to a race, mile heats, best three in five,, 

 under the saddle, at Hunting Park Course, for a piece of 

 plate valued at $500, and the trot took place July 18, 1849. 

 It was won by Mac, in 2:31 2:302:35, and we cite this 

 race because, in connection with it, we find the following 

 from a Philadelphia correspondent in The Spirit of July 28, 

 1849, which is the most interesting extract we can make 

 about the old-time trotter we are describing : " What has 

 become of Mac ? He created a slight sensation here the 

 other day. Gen. Taylor is nowhere just at this time; his 

 proud owner I should have said his ambitious owner is 

 perfectly done brown since the trot, and will not be very 

 apt to get up again in the horse line for some time to come. 

 . . . Ihere has not been so great a flurry kicked up in 

 the trotting world, in this usually quiet section of country, 

 for years ; the proprietor of the course sold over seven thou- 

 sand tickets for the stand, and there were not less than ten 

 thousand anxious people collected around and about the 

 enclosures, hoping to get a look at the two great champions 

 of the trotting turf. . . . How fast can Mac trot, or 

 rather fly ? Does any one know his best time when train- 

 ing, except his owners ? Some suppose here that he might 

 do a mile in 2:15 perhaps a little under ! ! ! And one 

 might readily believe it, if they take into consideration the 

 ease with which he closed the gap of sixty yards made 

 between him and Taylor, on the first heat, in consequence 

 of a bad start. George Young (the driver of Taylor), re- 

 marked to a friend of ours, when speaking of the circum- 

 stance, that when Mac came up and passed him at the 

 half-mile score, he thought he was going a tremendous lick 

 himself, but when Mac shot ahead, he looked involuntarily 

 behind, to see if Taylor's legs were moving at all ; he for a 

 moment was under the impression that all had come to a 

 stand, so amazing was the speed of his antagonist." It 

 is less than thirty years ago that this horse was claimed to 

 be the champion trotter of the world, and he had preten- 

 sions to the title ; while now there are a hundred trotters 

 living who could leave him behind the flag. Yet in his 

 day he was as much of a hero, had as strong partisans, and 

 as firm believers in his almost unlimited speed, as Dexter, 

 Lady Thorne, or Goldsmith Maid have had since. Spirit 

 of the Times. 



