DOUBLE-TEAM MATCH. 227 



to saj that for every one horse who does it and lives, twenty will 

 die in doing it, and as many more, after it is done. 



Such trials can answer no purpose whatever, and ought to 

 be discountenanced by all true sportsmen and lovers of the horse, 

 and — in my opinion — to be declared a high misdemeanor at 

 law. 



There was also this year a fine double-team match, between 

 Lantern and Whalebone, bay and chestnut geldings ; and Alice 

 Gray and Stella, gray and black mares ; mile heats, over the Union 

 Course, June 5t]i. 



The horses were di-iven by George Spicer, the mares by Hi- 

 ram Woodruff— time, 2A6i. — 2.42. 



An exceedingly spirited engraving by Mr, E, Hinshelwood, 

 from the design of Mr, L. Maurer, representing the start, will 

 be found in this volume. 



The great feat, however, of this season, which I have saved 

 to the last, in order that, like the autumn forest of America, it 

 may die in a blaze of glory, is the pacing match of Pocahontas, 

 the mare described above, and Hero, whom she distanced in the 

 first heat, to wagons, wagon and driver to weigh 265 lbs,, in 

 the unparalleled time of 2.17, 



The year 1856 was distinguished on the trotting turf, chiefly 

 by the contests of Flora and Lancet, on whom was concentrated, 

 especially, the interest of the season, although there was much 

 excellent trotting, and an increase, both in the number of horses 

 and of places devoted to this popular amusement, fully equal 

 to that of the preceding year. 



To show how great that increase has been, it will be 

 enougli to mention, that, whereas in 1845 the Turf Kegister con- 

 tains fourteen pages of trotting records, in large type, averaging 

 about eight trots to the page, this, for 1856, contains 36 pages, 

 averaging twelve trots — these of course only regular contests for 

 purses or matches on well-known public courses ; that, whereas 

 in 1845 the whole number of trotting horses which started, 

 named and unnamed, in the United States and Canada, were but 

 137, of whom 55 were winners ; in 1856 there started 610 horses, 

 named and unnamed, of whom 259 won prizes of some sort 

 — and, lastly, that whereas, in 1845, there were sixteen places of 

 sport in all the United States and Canada, there were sixty-four 



