74 THE TWO-MINUTE TROTTERS 



public a two-minute, or better, mile. And yet in the nine- 

 teen years included in the period 1903-1921, but six trotters 

 have shown that capacity in public trials and two of them 

 made their records as long ago as 1903, for it was in that 

 year that Lou Dillon trotted the first mile in two-minutes and 

 set the world's record at 1 :58l/> and Major Delmar set the 

 record for trotting geldings at 1:59%. Seven years elapsed 

 before another two-minute trotter appeared and he only 

 succeeded in lowering the record of Major Delmar and lacked 

 a quarter of a second of equaling the mark of Lou Dillon. 

 As already stated nine years went by after the Lou Dillon 

 championship mile before Uhlan became fastest of trotters, 

 for it was in 1912 that he trotted in 1:58. 



Six years after Uhlan entered the two-minute list Lee 

 Axworthy trotted to a record of 1:58^/4, the first stallion to 

 enroll his name among the very elect of the trotting turf, 

 the best record for a stallion up to that time having been 2:01. 

 That increased the list of two-minute trotters to a total of but 

 four and yet thirteen years had gone by since the day of Lou 

 Dillon and Major Delmar. 



Lee Axworthy's year was 1916 and while three other 

 trotters appeared about that time that appeared to have 

 chances to trot in two-minutes or faster, none of them did it, 

 the nearest approach being the 2:01 of Lu Princton. Five 

 years went by and then the history of 1903 was repeated 

 and the names of two more trotters were enrolled, Peter 

 Manning 1 :57'j4, the new champion and a gelding and Arion 

 Guy 1:59^, a four-year-old and a stallion and also the first 

 of his age to get into the extra-select list. They brought the 

 total up to six. 



As further showing the importance of a two-minute trot- 

 ting record and the extremely difficult task of lowering the 

 trotting record, it should he remembered that the first two- 

 minute trotter took a record of 1:58^ and that the present 

 world's record is but three-quarters of a second faster, so 

 that the task of developing and training a trotter to where 

 the ability to cut off a quarter of a second is shown is by no 

 means an easy one. Hence the men who have brought out 

 the two-minute trotters have accomplished great things and 



