PKDIGRKE OF ECIJPSK. 187 



also particularly long, and well let down npon the cannon bone ; 

 legs short, with large bone and strong tendon, well detached, 

 upon which he stands clear and even. Although his form 

 throughout denotes uncommon strength, yet to the extraordi- 

 nary fine construction of his hind quarters, I conceive him 

 indebted for his great racing powers, continuance, and ability, 

 equal to any weight. I have closely observed him in his gal- 

 lops ; if he have a fault, it is that of falling a little too heavy 

 on his fore feet, and dwelling a little too long on the ground ; but 

 then the style and regularity with which he brings up his haunches, 

 and throws his gaskins forward, overbalance other defects. 



He was sired by Duroc, a Virginia horse, bred by Wade 

 Moseby, Esq., and got by imported chestnut Diomed, out of 

 Amanda, by Gray Diomed, a son of old Medley. His — Eclipse's 

 ■ — dam was the noted gray mare Miller's Damsel, got by imported 

 Messenger. His grandam, an English mare, imported when 

 three years old, in 1795, by William Constable, Esq., of New 

 York, bred by Lord Grosvenor, and sired by PotSos, son of 

 English Eclipse. His g. g. dam by Gimcrack, Gimcrack by 

 Cripple, and Cripple by the Godolphin Arabian. He was bred 

 by General ]N"atlianiel Coles, of Queens County, Long Island, 

 and foaled on the 25th of May, 1814. 



All horses date their age from the 1st of May. Thus a horse 

 foaled any time in the year 1819, would be considered four years 

 old on the 1st day of May, 1823. Consequently, Sir Henry, 

 although not four years old complete until the 17th day of 

 June, had, on the 27th of May, to cany the regulated weight 

 — agreeably to the then rules of the course — for a four-year-old, 

 viz. 108 lbs. Eclipse, being nine years old, carried weight for 

 an aged horse, 126 lbs. 



At length the appointed hour arrived, the word was given to 

 saddle, and immediately afterward to mount. Eclipse was ridden 

 by William Crafts, dressed in a crimson jacket and cap, and Sir 

 Henry by a Virginia boy, of the name of John Walden, dressed 

 in a sky-blue jacket, with cap of same color. The custom on the 

 Union Course is to run to the left about, or with the left liand next 

 to the poles ; Eclipse, by lot, had the left, or inside station at the 

 start. Sir Henry took his ground about twenty-five feet wide of 

 him, to the right, with the evident intention of making a run in a 



