was over, the driver of B. B. said he '' could stand it to 

 have me watching him, but when he saw Hal Pointer 

 with one ear laid down also watching him he saw it 

 was no use and that he could not steal a march on 

 him, and so abandoned the attempt." He retired that 

 fall with a record of 2.09^, which made him a candi- 

 date for the free-for-all class the next season. A long 

 run barefooted that winter cured the soreness in his 

 feet and he was in good condition the next spring to 

 commence his training. I anticipated a hard cam- 

 paign for him in 1890 and carefully prepared him for 

 it. I started him first at Pittsburg that season and had 

 no trouble in winning at that meeting; but at Cleve- 

 land, which is regarded as the great storm center of 

 the Grand Circuit, I knew I should meet a different 

 antagonist than I had yet encountered. Adonis was 

 at that time the pride of California's race goers and, 

 with the experienced and accomplished Hickok behind 

 him, he had been campaigning through the minor cir- 

 cuits without meeting defeat, and all horsemen 

 expected that when he and Pointer met there would 

 be a battle royal, and those who saw the race were not 

 disappointed. There were a number of starters in the 

 race, but, as expected, the contest for first place was 

 between Pointer and Adonis. In the first heat Adonis 

 led until the last quarter was reached, when I, having 

 succeeded in passing the other horses, moved up so 

 that as we entered the stretch Pointer's head was upon 

 the wheel of Adonis, both going true and very fast, 

 Pointer gaining at every stride, and when within 

 about fifty feet of the wire he was fully a neck in the 

 lead, without any known cause, he left his feet and 

 passed under the wire on a run, thus giving the heat to 

 Adonis ; but this mishap made no difference in the 



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