250 TALES OF THE TURF. 



celebrated pedigrees as "a mare from Ohio, breeding un- 

 known, but a very fast roadster," which is so frequently 

 found in the pedigrees of our best performers. Among 

 those bred to him was a sorrel mare by Blucher, owned 

 by Conrad Turner, of Medina County, and the produce 

 was a bay colt, foaled in 1854, afterwards locally famous 

 as Stranger. At four months of age he was sold to H. 

 Sylvester for $40, who in turn disposed of him when a 

 two-year-old for $70 to H. S. Hatch, in whose hands the 

 colt received all the education he ever got. Hatch sold 

 him as a five-year-old for $2,500 — a large price in those 

 days — to YVm. Waterman, Shalersville, O., who owned 

 him at the time of his death two years subsequently, when 

 but seven years old. 



Stranger was broken and used by Hatch to haul wood 

 in the winter, and as an all-around general purpose horse 

 as a two, three and four-year-old. The spring he was 

 five, Hatch, who was then a green country boy, com- 

 menced in his crude way to train him. He was fast from 

 the start, but cut his quarters cruelly, and, boots being 

 then unknown, Hatch used to tie rags around his feet for 

 protection, until he discovered that a heavier shoe avoided 

 the trouble. After that he wore twenty-four ounce shoes 

 forward and twelve-ounce shoes behind, and went clear 

 and true. 



In the fall of 1859, Stranger paced his first race at 

 Cuyahoga Falls, O., distancing his only competitor, 

 Butcher Boy, the first heat being in 2 124. His next race 

 was at Ravenna, O., where he again distanced the field, 

 composed of Union Jack (then a very fast pacer, and 

 afterwards a fast trotter under the name of Dick Hil- 

 liard), the Gorham Pony and two others, the heat being 

 about 2 :28. Those were all his races that year. The 



