American Eclipse vs. Henry 161 



Randolph "was excited to an astonishing degree, as 

 almost every other person present was," wrote the Express 

 editor many years later. " When Henry had beaten Eclipse 

 in the first heat, and had come in ahead on both the first 

 and second rounds of the second, it was a despairing 

 moment and all was breathless silence. Even in a crowd 

 where more than a hundred thousand persons were spec- 

 tators, the slightest noise could be heard, and at this 

 particular juncture when the horses were hidden by a 

 knoll, Mr. Randolph cried out in his shrill voice, to Colonel 

 Wynn, of Virginia, who stood in a better position ' Whose 

 horse is ahead now, Colonel Wynn? ' to which a reply was 

 given in a stentorian voice, 'Mr. Randolph, Eclipse has 

 passed Henry* 'Then/ cried out Mr. R., 'we have lost 

 the race, by God/ These emphatic words were heard by 

 the multitude, and deafening shouts rent the air/' 



Randolph believed that Henry was the best horse, and, 

 it was said, could never endure the sight of a lobster be- 

 cause, as he stated, "it was a supper of lobsters, not 

 Eclipse, that beat us. If Johnson had been there the day 

 would have been ours. As it is Eclipse will gain more 

 fame for beating such a horse as Henry than for winning 

 the race." 



But on the authority of A. T. Nolen, of Williamson 

 County, Tennessee, it may be stated that Johnson, more 

 conservative than Randolph, did not place all the responsi- 

 bility for Henry's defeat on the supper of lobsters. In 

 advertising O' Kelly, by Eclipse, to stand at his place in 

 1836, Nolen said that after Johnson had failed to put 

 down Eclipse and had failed later to put down his colts, 

 "he turned about and bought several of Eclipse's best 

 sons, such as Lance, Goliah, O' Kelly, Vertumnus, etc., 

 and, to cap the climax, bought half of the veteran, 

 Eclipse. Being a general of great sagacity and skill he 



