A GREAT HORSE. 



again met defeat, but it was not a disgraceful one, as 

 it was plain to be seer, that he was not in the proper 

 physical condition to stand the strain of many fast 

 miles. 



Buffalo came next in the itinerary of 1898, and here, 

 over the Ft. Erie track, Cresceus met his defeat by The 

 Abbot, a horse which a few years later was destined 

 to be his greatest rival. While both Cresceus and The 

 Abbot were at this time both highly regarded by all 

 followers of the trotters, it is doubtful if a single per- 

 son who saw them both race that sultry afternoon in 

 August ever even dreamed that the coming years would 

 see these two horses the most famous trotters that the 

 world ever knew. The Hamlins were confident that 

 The Abbot was a horse of extreme speed, and Mr. 

 Geers had intimated that he thought the gelding would 

 some day become a champion, but it is more than likely 

 that the wish was father of the thought. Mr. Ketcham 

 never lost faith in Cresceus, and regardless of the re- 

 cent defeats that the colt had met with, he felt confident 

 that the great young horse would redeem himself. It 

 had been the dream of his life to own the fastest trot- 

 ter in the world, and while he was certain that Cresceus 

 would prove a sensational trotter, he had never even 

 dared to whisper his hopes that the colt would become 

 the champion. 



On August 1 8 Cresceus made his fourth appearance 

 of the season in the 2:12 trot against The Abbot, Pat 

 Watson, Ruby, Hans McGregor and one other. The 



40 



