252 THE HORSE. 



Of none is this more true than of tlie two gallant animals, 

 whose names are prefixed, and whose gi-andest exploit I am 

 about to borrow from the Turf Eegister of 1840, for which it 

 was incomparably reported by my friencl Wm. T. Porter. 



"Wagner in his five-year-old forai, was already a tried horse, 

 of proved speed, courage, and bottom, a distinguished winner, 

 and even, in the high-flown aspirations of his owner, capable 

 to compete with Boston. He was, at least the equal of any 

 other horse in America of his day ; and not long afterward, a 

 distinguished writer was found in the columns of the Spirit of 

 the Times to maintain that, up to this period, the great son of 

 Timoleon had displayed no manifest sui^eriority over him. 



He had been in training continually since his third year ; in 

 1838, he had won three races of four-mile heats, and two of 

 two-mile heats, beating Extio at New Orleans in 7.44-Y.5T — 

 considered in those days all but the very best time. 



He was a beautiful chestnut horse of fifteen and a half hands, 

 with a white blaze on his face, and two white hind feet. He 

 was got by Sir Charles — he by Sir Archy, dam by imp. Citizen, 

 gd. by Commutation, g. gd. by imp. Daredevil, g. g. gd. by imp. 

 Shark, g. g. g. gd. by imp. Fearnought — out of Maria West by 

 Marion, her dam Ella Crump, by imp. Citizen, gd. by Hunts- 

 man, g. gd. by Wildair, g. g. gd. by Fearnought, g. g. g. gd. 

 by Janus, &c. 



Marion was by Sir Archy, dam by Citizen, gd. by Alder- 

 man, g. gd. by Roebuck out of a Herod mare. 



Grey Eagle was in his fourth year, a magnificent horse nearly 

 sixteen hands in height, said to be of almost perfect symmetry, 

 although scarcely equal in his quarters to his forehand, which 

 is described as sumptuous. His color, as his name indicates, 

 was a fine silvery gray. 



In his three-year-old form he had won two races of two-mile 

 heats, in 3.41 — 3.43 — 3.48 — and 3.44 respectively, and was 

 honestly believed by his owner, and by Kentuckian sportsmen 

 in general, to be equal to any thing in America, both for speed 

 and bottom ; although, in truth, this opinion must be regarded 

 rather as surmise than as judgment, since his powers had not 

 yet been sufficiently tested to justify such boundless confidence. 



