144 The American Thoroughbred 



ing a cut in the heel or frog of one of his 

 fore feet, which rendered it necessary to throw 

 him out of train ; Washington also fell amiss, 

 and he and Richards were left behind at Mr. 

 Badger's. With the other three the Southern 

 sportsmen proceeded to the Union Course, where 

 they arrived five or six days previous to that 

 fixed upon for the match. 



The ill fortune which befell the Virginians by 

 laming their best horse in the onset seemed to 

 pursue them, for scarcely had they arrived at 

 Long Island, and become fixed in their new 

 quarters, when Colonel Johnson, the principal 

 on their part, himself went wrong. On the 

 night before the race he gave himself to hila- 

 rious indulgence in high wines and red lobsters 

 with a coterie of Northern gentlemen who were 

 offering him the courtesies of a great city, and 

 the next morning the " Napoleon of the turf " 

 was hard by his back in bed at his hotel up-town, 

 while the great national event in which he was 

 to figure so prominently was being run over on 

 Long Island. It was the only time in the course 

 of a wonderful turf career that Colonel Johnson 

 had ever gone amiss and failed to face the starter 

 himself. That brilliant but eccentric man. Ran- 



