1 86 Making the American Thoroughbred 



by Col. George Elliott, of Sumner County. All of the 

 horses, at the time of their entry, were two years old, with 

 reputations yet to establish. With the hope of establish- 

 ing Sarah's reputation at once and for good, Col. Elliott, 

 in July, 1836, offered to run Sarah in a match race, 2-mile 

 heats, the following year for $5,000, but his banter went 

 unaccepted. 



Early in their careers it became evident that the con- 

 test would come between Sarah Bladen and Picton. The 

 making of their records for excellence was like the building 

 of two parallel columns of apparent equal dimensions. 

 Picton ran in the East, Sarah Bladen in the South. Reports 

 of the victories of one were followed in quick succession 

 by reports of the victories of the other. For two years 

 they were bright stars in the racing firmament and kept 

 the coming contest in the public mind. In addition to 

 their parallel of victories, the bitter controversy, and the 

 fame of Leviathan's get, there were two or three inci- 

 dents that fed the flame of popular interest. 



In her 3-year old form Col. Elliott sold Sarah Bladen 

 to John R. Head of Manchester, Mississippi, for $8,000, 

 the highest price ever paid for a 3-year old in the United 

 States up to that time. Head, about two months before 

 the race, much to the surprise of everybody, sold her to 

 Thurston & Pryor, of Natchez, for $5,500. Pryor was 

 Bingaman's trainer and Thurston "his man Friday." 

 The purchase was looked upon as being and it was 

 that of Colonel Bingaman. 



The fact that after leaving Elliott's hands Sarah ran 

 as the entry of James Jackson, showed the public that 

 Jackson's influence was at work in the management of 

 her races, and that he was grimly determined to teach 

 Mr. Thomas A. Pankey and Rev. Hardy M. Cryer a 

 thing or two about the House of Leviathan. A knowledge 



