LOU DILLON 25 



to Cleveland and worked to wagon in 2:04^), 2:05^/4 and 

 so on. At Lexington she first went a mile to wagon in 

 2:01'^, which was the day of Lou Dillon's life, when she 

 should have set a record that yet would be hanging on the 

 Lexington stand, as never before or after in her life was she 

 so good. I warmed her up to go for the sulky record. 1 

 expected to drive her and worked her in 2:40, 2:21 and 

 2:14, the last eighth of the 2:14 mile in 13 seconds. I had 

 made great preparations for the mile. The day was good, 

 the track was good, the mare was good and I had hopes that 

 she would set a record that would stand for many days to 

 come. Her sulky was run out on the floor and I had given 

 every detail careful thought. I went to the stand and 

 weighed in — at 156 pounds. Walking back to the stable to 

 get the mare ready and bring her out to sulky, I was hailed 

 by Mr. Tanner who said: 'Hitch her to wagon; Mr. Billings 

 will drive her.' While she went a beautiful mile to wagon 

 for Mr. Billings, I still think, if she had gone to sulky that 

 day, her record would not have been lowered to this day as 

 she had been trained and worked with the idea that I was to 

 drive her that mile. While I do not want to make any claims, 

 I believe that every great horse, trotter, pacer or runner and 

 every great man has ONE day. What makes it more dif- 

 ficult for a horse to perform in wonderful time is a combina- 

 tion of circumstances. For a horse must be just right, 

 the track just right, the atmosphere just right and the driver 

 himself just right in order to accomplish great things. 



"At Memphis, following the Lexington effort Lou trotted 

 in 2:04*^, 2:04*% to wagon and then came her record mile 

 of 1:581/2 to sulky, the quarters in 30, 591/0, 1:281/0, thus 

 the middle half was trotted in 581/) seconds and she still 

 had enough left to trot the final quarter in 30 seconds. This 

 mile was not trotted under the most favorable circumstances, 

 owing to the fact that a light frost the night before had left 

 the air heavy — not light and balmy such as is necessaiy for 

 a supreme effort. 



"While I do not want to find fault, yet I do believe that 

 Lou Dillon's performances were most wonderful for a green 

 mare. It is to be remembered that she began the season 



