r 



250 Making the American Thoroughbred 



to weight in the former race, in which he was allowed two 

 years' advantage; a proposition which, of course, was not 

 accepted. 



Unable to get a race in Tennessee Uncle Berry took his 

 horse to Natchez, Miss., travelling through the swamps of 

 the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations and entering him in 

 a stake, 3-mile heats, $200 entrance; but his bad luck 

 pursued him and just before the race his horse snagged 

 his foot and he paid forfeit. He remained near Natchez 

 12 months and nursed his horse as no other man could 

 have done, until he was perfectly restored to health and 

 in condition for the approaching fall races of 1808. Writ- 

 ing to Col. George Elliott he urged him to come to Natchez 

 and bring 15 or 20 horses to bet on Omar, and also to bring 

 Monkey Simon to ride him, which Col. Elliott did. 



Simon's appearance on the field alarmed the trainer of 

 the other horse who had known him in South Carolina, 

 and suspecting that Omar was a bite, he paid forfeit. 



As Simon was a distinguished character and made a 

 conspicuous figure on the turf of Tennessee for many years 

 it may be well to give some account of him. 



His sobriquet of "Monkey Simon" conveys a forcible 

 idea of his appearance. He was a native African and was 

 brought with his parents when quite young to South 

 Carolina, before the prohibition of the slave trade took 

 effect. In height he was 4 feet 6 inches and weighed 100 

 pounds. He was a hunch-back with very short body and 

 remarkably long arms and legs. His color and hair were 

 African, but his features were not. He had a long head 

 and face, a high and delicate nose, a narrow but prominent 

 forehead and a mouth indicative of humor and firmness. 

 It was rumored that Simon was a prince in his native 

 country. I asked Uncle Berry the other day if he thought 

 it was true. He replied, "I don't know; they said so, 



