PETER MANNING "]"] 



meeting in August, that the time had arrived to make another 

 addition to the list of two-minute trotters, which had been 

 growing slowly, and to which there had been no additions 

 since 1916, Lee Axworthy's year. The gelding was started 

 over the original two-minute track on the thirtieth day of 

 August, 1921, and performed strictly up to expectations, 

 trotting the mile in exactly two minutes, and making the fifth 

 trotter to accomplish that feat. It has been said that this per- 

 formance was gratifying to Murphy for many reasons, and 

 that his goal had been to drive a trotter into the tw^o-minute 

 list. Perhaps the proper way to put it would be to say that 

 he was quite anxious to perform that feat, one so few men 

 had accomplished. But it was only a step toward the real 

 goal, which was to drive Peter Manning to the world's record. 

 Two weeks later, when he trotted his mile in 1 :58 over the 

 New York State Fair track at Syracuse, the feat was some- 

 thing to talk about, for it tied the world's record which had 

 been set by Uhlan, at Lexington, in 1912. But that, as well, 

 was but a step toward the Murphy goal. He had the sole 

 ownership of the champion record in view, and he kept right 

 on. He drove Peter Manning two fine miles at Columbus, 

 giving that fast track its first trotting mark in two minutes or 

 better, and that put the finishing touches on the gelding's 

 preparation for the effort, to be made at Lexington, to secure 

 the world's record. 



The feat was accomplished and the mile was trotted in 

 1:57%^, and the diffidence of the human factor in the per- 

 formance is described by one of his friends in these words: 



"While the thousands welcomed the performance with 

 fast beating hearts, hand-clapping and shouts of congratula- 

 tions, the hero of the occasion was conspicuously absent, hav- 

 ing failed to respond to the calls from the audience which de- 

 sired to accord him its homage. He had driven Peter Man- 

 ning off the track and, with acclamations ringing in his ears, 

 sought solitude." 



The Lexington audience had no greater disappointment 

 than most people have had in trying to get the Poughkeepsie 

 reinsman to talk about what he has done. He will cheerfully 

 answer many of the millions of questions that are put to him 



