292 THE HORSE. 



quite across the space, and marched from one end to the other, 

 thereby driving outside of the gate every person witliout a badge. 

 Of course there were among this mob several ugly customers, 

 but Yankee Sullivan had only to " let fly with his right," or 

 Jeroloman give any one of them " a teaser on his smeller," to fix 

 his business ! On the whole, the mob conducted themselves 

 very well under the circumstances ; the great majority were in 

 perfectly good humor, and had the proprietors taken the pre- 

 caution to paint the tops of the pickets with a thick coat of tar^ 

 and engage a strong body of j)olice, no such disgraceful scene 

 would have occurred. 



The race commenced about 2 o'clock. For more than a 

 quarter of a mile in front of the stands, the spectators ranged on 

 the side of the course and of the field presented one dense mass 

 of thousands, through which the horses ran the gauntlet. The 

 course itself, owing to the rain of Sunday night, was not deemed 

 quite so well adapted for speed as upon some other occasions ; 

 still it was in fine order. The prospect of the weather, in the 

 morning, was unfavorable, but though at 10 o'clock there was a 

 slight sprinkling of rain, it soon cleared off. The day was warm 

 and pleasant, but with scarce a glimpse of the sun. 



The betting was a shade in Boston's favor. Before the race 

 came off, however, his friends were obliged, in order to get on 

 their money, to lay 100 to 60, and in some cases 2 to 1. "We 

 never saw so little money bet on a race here of any impor- 

 tance; oi heavy betting we did not hear of a solitary transac- 

 tion, though the backers of each were sanguine. 



Having previously given in the preceding pages complete 

 memoirs of the rival champions, with their pedigrees, character- 

 istics, and performances, in detail, we have only to speak of their 

 fine condition. Both stripped well. Boston was drawn unusually 

 to our eye, but his coat looked and felt like satin. Fashion's 

 curb, though quite prominent, did not seem to affect her a jot ; 

 otherwise she was in condition to run for a man's life. We 

 need hardly say that she was admirably trained by Mr. Laird, 

 nor that slie was splendidly jockeyed by iiis son Joseph — a chip 

 of the old block — Mr. Laird liaving formerly been a conspicu- 

 ous jockey. Boston of course was managed by Col. Johnson, 

 and ridden by Gil. Patrick in his usual superb style ; Arthui 



