24 THE TWO-MINUTE TROTTERS 



seconds and I felt very much ashamed of myself, because 

 I should not have expected any horse to go a mile and trot 

 the first eighth that fast. The result was, of course, that 

 she slowed up at the end of the mile. But, blaming my- 

 self more than I did the mare for this performance, I per- 

 suaded Mr. Billings to let me take her to Boston for another 

 trial. We took her there and Mr. Chas. Jewett, the Secretary 

 of the Readville track, gave me full charge of the course. 

 I worked it for four days before she was started, to get it 

 conditioned to suit Lou Dillon. This carried us up to Sun- 

 day and she was to go on Monday, the opening day. The 

 question that bothered me most was how to blow her out and 

 prepare her for the effort of the next day. The meeting was 

 the regular Grand Circuit event and before working her on 

 Sunday I talked with a number of the leading trainers try- 

 ing to get advice as to the preparatory work on Monday. 

 My past experience with her had convinced me that she had 

 to be worked right up to the day of a performance in order 

 to be good. A majority of the trainers advised me to work 

 her in 2:25 to 2:20 on Sunday. After thinking the matter 

 over and knowing the mare as well as I did, I worked her in 

 2:40, 2:25 and 2:091/2, the last half of the 2:09l/> mile in 

 1:00^. There is where I was criticized and called the 

 erratic tariner. I asked the men to wait with their adverse 

 criticism until after Monday. When she trotted the mile in 

 two minutes the last eighth in 14 seconds, I merely said they 

 could criticize as much as they pleased, but that my judg- 

 ment had proved to be right. 



'T considered Lou Dillon what may be termed short bred 

 on her dam's side. My reason for working her as I did was 

 drawn from the old-time races where a field of horses would 

 start in a race one day and trot two, three or four heats and 

 the race would be postponed until the next day and the same 

 horses would trot faster than they did the previous day. 

 This may not prove to be true with the present day breeding, 

 but the old-fashioned trotter had to be keyed tighter than the 

 fashionably bred horses of today. 



"This mile only convinced me that Lou had a great deal 

 more in her than she had shown. She went from Readville 



