THE GKEAT EACE AT NEW OELEAl^S. 



THE FASTEST TIME ON RECORD! 

 LEXINGTON VICTORIOUS I¥ OKE HEAT— TIME, 7.231 I 



THE THIRD EVENT. 



It was not strange that this match should command more atten- 

 tion than an ordinary race. Tlie antecedents of both animals 

 were brilliant beyond com23arison, and the improvement which 

 each had shown at every successive trial, led to an almost wild 

 belief that some new miracle of time would be performed in 

 the impending meeting. There was much, too, in the annals of 

 the Turf connecting itself with the present position of these 

 horses, that was calculated to add immensely to the interest. 



It will be recollected that Time, which should always 

 be progressive, stood still for twenty years on the heels of the 

 renowned Eclipse, who ascended into glory — over Sir Henry — on 

 the Long Island track, in a four-mile heat, in 7: 37. At length the 

 brilliant mare Fashion sprang up, and exceeded it, on the same 

 course, by five seconds, gaining a double victory, by beating 

 the till then unconquerable Boston in a four-mile heat of T: 32^. 

 The world was astonished, and so miraculous was this considered, 

 that a report was current that the judges were almost afraid 

 to proclaim it; indeed, that the true speed was 7:31^, and that 

 two of the judges who had so taken it, yielded to the third, who 

 was the second slower, for fear the public would be dissatisfied 

 with their decision. Tliis time of Fashion held the field for 

 about nine years, and the lovers of the Turf, as they dolefully 



