22 The American Thoroughbred 



turfmen of those days, expressed great disappro- 

 bation at any departure from the good old cus- 

 toms of their fathers, and did all in their power 

 to prevent a change, when it was proposed. The 

 prize used to be, not a purse of gold or silver, 

 but a piece of plate. Several of these tokens 

 of success are in the possession of the descend- 

 ants of those who formerly owned race-horses in 

 the State. 



" Such were the races in South Carolina ! 

 Let us hope, then, that we of the present genera- 

 tion will never feel less attachment than our fathers 

 did, to the sports of the Turf; and that, what- 

 ever other changes may occur in our State, no 

 change will ever take place in the celebrity of 

 our horses ; that the animating spirit of the chase 

 will, in all time to come, continue to call our 

 youth to the woods, and the rational amusement 

 of the course, our sportsmen to the Turf ! " 



After the Revolution racing was revived in 

 South Carolina in 1786. During that and the 

 following season, however, only a few gentlemen 

 trained their own horses and those of their friends 

 that were thought to give any great promise. 

 Hence the number of horses trained was few, and 

 not many races were run in public. A gray horse, 



