MAKING THE AMERICAN 

 THOROUGHBRED 



CHAPTER I 

 SPEAKING GENERALLY 



"BEING in the midst of the winter's blast," wrote 

 Gen. Robert Desha, of Sumner County, to the New York 

 Spirit oj the Times, on February 8, 1839, "there is noth- 

 ing doing with us as regards that manly and gentlemanly 

 amusement, the sports of the turf, to which Sumner 

 County, from the earliest period has been and continues 

 to be so much devoted. Every week brings us your 

 valuable sheet, which is a rich delicacy amidst the com- 

 mon fare of our table. Like the old soldier we sit by the 

 fireside and talk of comrades of other days; the battles 

 they have fought and victories won. We talk of those 

 now on the field and those who are to come after them. 

 In these discussions we exhibit the feelings common to 

 man when we maintain that our county, Sumner, has 

 produced, is producing and will continue to produce as 

 good and as many race nags as any county in the United 

 States." 



"This, I suppose, is the acknowledged centre of the 

 race horse region," wrote William Giles Harding from 

 Belle Meade to The American Turj Register, on June n, 

 1839. "Blood stock here is all the go. To be without it 



