The House of Lexington 331 



visited Jerome Park and were entertained there 

 by private parties. The gowns to be seen were 

 as rich as those one may admire at the Grand 

 Prix in Paris. One afternoon General Grant, 

 Admiral Farragut, and Madame Ristori were 

 separately guests of different parties at the 

 Jerome Park races. The fame of the meetings 

 at Jerome Park spread over the country and 

 stimulated the organization of new jockey clubs 

 on high planes of conduct and led to the re- 

 vival of some of the old institutions. There 

 was a distinct improvement in the odor of the 

 turf; and it has never since been permitted to 

 become degraded, though it has stood many 

 storms and has been many times threatened. 

 William Travers Jerome, August Belmont, M. 

 H. Sanford, R. W. Cameron, Lewis G. Morris, 

 one of the oldest of Eastern breeders, began 

 to be conspicuous as owners. The success of 

 Jerome Park stimulated the Southerners to 

 action, and they began to build up their broken 

 fences, and once more the thoroughbred came 

 into his own in the South. 



