AN EXCITING HEAT. Xxix 



" Both are now fairly in the straight work, and the grey is gaininf». 

 He is surely gaining, yet there are no shouts from enthusiastic parti- 

 sans. It is too exciting for cheers. Half-way home EJginton leatls ; 

 he is half a length in advance ; he is increasing his advantage. 

 Muscles, lungs, heart, brain, all are tired in the bay. You can hear 

 his sobs as he approaches the outcome. He reels ; his ears droop ; 

 his eye is bloodshot as he staggers over the score a length behind 

 Edginton, who has won in 2:26." This was a surprising race for a 

 horse to make whose ti'otting education had only occupied a few 

 months ; but there were other drawliacks to contend against. The 

 ankles of the hind legs were all " stove up," double the natural size, 

 and so badl}- "cocked " that the weight was thrown on the toe to an 

 undue degree. Notwithstanding these ailments and the hard race 

 with Edginton, the day following he took part in the 2:27 race 

 against Sisson Girl, Ajax and George Treat. Strong elastic 

 stockings were worn on his ankles, binding them so rigidly that many 

 thought they were an injury. He won the first heat in 2:26^, in 

 the teeth of a heavy gale, and led in the second to beyond the half- 

 mile pole, when he made a break, and refused to trot again until he 

 was a double distance out. In the match against Edginton, there 

 was 196 pounds in the sulky, and 190 pounds in all of the other 

 races. On December 11, 1875, he trotted against St. James. When 

 driven by Hickok he scoi-ed 2:27 — 2:30 — 2:24. All tliis was accom- 

 plished within a year after the commencement of his training to trot, 

 and after he had been pacing for many seasons. 



These two " conversions " from pacing to trotting are .worthy of 

 consideration. The first case shows that the horse had happened on 

 a manner of going which was more satisfactory than pacing, and he 

 had the faculty of retaining it under pressure. All that was neces- 

 sary was to move the bit in his mouth if he attempted to start on a 

 pace, and when once he struck the trot it was almost impossible to 

 force him out of it. As has been stated before, when the animal 

 becomes tired there is more knee^ction — a sort of spasmodic jerk to 

 overcome the slusrfjishness of the tired muscles. The sandy road in- 

 creased the tendency to a sharper bending of the knee, and the two 

 combined had the same result as the application of weight on the toe. 



