The House of Lexington 323 



Immediately after winning his first race, Ken- 

 tucky was sold to Mr. John F. Purdy, who trans- 

 ferred him to W. R. Travers, Esq. His turf 

 career was a brilliant one, he vanquishing every- 

 thing that presumed to cross his path. Ulti- 

 mately he was sold to Mr. Leonard W. Jerome, 

 for ^40,000, and later became the property of 

 Mr. August Belmont. 



While Kentucky was winning fame in the- 

 East, his half-brother. Asteroid, out of Nebula, 

 was achieving renown in the West. The latter 

 was owned by his breeder, R. A. Alexander, Esq., 

 the proprietor of Woodburn, and at Louisville 

 he had distinguished himself by meeting and 

 triumphing over Loadstone, running the first 

 mile of the second heat of a two-mile race in 

 the marvellous time of i minute 44 seconds. 



In California Norfolk was winning golden 

 opinions. Lodi disputed the championship of 

 the Pacific Coast with him, and the races that 

 they contested excited the admiration of the 

 world. First, Norfolk defeated Lodi, a son of 

 Yorkshire, at the Union Park, Sacramento, 

 September 18, 1865, a race of two-mile heats. 

 This, however, was but the prelude to a fiercer 

 and more sanguinary batde. At the same place 



