CHAPTER X. 

 Home of the Racer* 



Kentucky may to-day be virtually termed the home ot 

 the thoroughbred, for it has certainly produced more great 

 race horses than any other section of the world. The Blue- 

 grass country is the richest in the " dark and bloody 

 ground," and its emerald-hued fields abound with grand 

 farms and magnificent training quarters. 



Probably the first race horse ever brought to this State 

 was taken there by Leonard Israel Fleming, who laboriously 

 worked his way over the mountains from Virginia, and after 

 many privations arrived at his father's estate in Kentucky. 

 It was a vast tract that had been ceded him by the govern- 

 ment and was uncultivated, but it was in the fertile country 

 near where Midway now stands. It is claimed also that he 

 established the first race track in the State on the Forks of 

 Elkhorn, but this point is in dispute. However, everything 

 goes to show that the first track was built in that vicinity. 

 Mr. Fleming was the grandfather of Mr. Andrew M. Sulli- 

 van, a leading attorney of St. Louis, and also of the late 

 Judge W. B. Fleming, of Louisville, Ky. The Rev. Thomas 

 Lewis, an old negro preacher, of St. Louis, Mo., claims to 

 have been Mr. Fleming's jockey, and says that when he 

 became too heavy to ride he was taken out of the saddle 

 and placed in the pulpit by his owner. 



A mention of the States that have produced the great 

 thoroughbreds of the country will be of interest to the 

 reader. Of course, Kentucky stands at the top, as has been 

 stated, for she has the location and everything that pertains 

 to the making of splendid horses. 



Probably the greatest sire Kentucky ever produced, and 

 of whom the loyal natives of the State will always point to 

 with pride, was Lexington — a name that is a household word 

 in the State famous for its pretty women, fast horses and 

 good whisky, Lexington was a wonderful horse, of his age, 

 as a performer at all distances ; but he gained his greatest 



