THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 47 



Wild Air, foaled in. 1753, imported to New York by Mr. 

 DeLancy, and on account of the great value of his stock was 

 taken back to England, was undoubtedly a great improver of 

 American horses, and one of the paternal ancestors of Justin 

 Morgan, founder of that greatest of American general purpose 

 horse, the Morgan. (See Morgan Horses, Chapter VI.) 



Fearnaught, imported in 1764, a great-grandson of the 

 Darley Arabian, stood for service in this country for twelve 

 years and left a numerous progeny of highly distinguished 

 horses of that time. 



Messenger, foaled in 1785, was imported to Pennsylvania 

 in 1792, and died in New York State in 1808. He distin- 

 guished himself as being the progenitor of horses from half- 

 bred and cold-blooded mares of good trotting action and stay- 

 ing qualities, and whose influence in the trotting horse of 

 America is still highly recognized, and from whose loins on the 

 paternal side, descended Rysdyk's Hambletonian. 



"We find an old advertisement of this horse, — the last, — 

 dated April, 1807 (eighty-eight years ago and one year before 

 his death), which reads as follows : 



" THE CELEBRATED HORSE MESSENGER. 



" Old Messenger (commonly so called) is allowed by the best judges to be 

 in as good order, feel as well, and to retain his faculties in as much vigor as 

 at any time since he was imported. 



" Messenger is a full-blood racer, fifteen hands three inches high, and well 

 proportioned. He was bred by John Pratt, Esq., of Newmarket, and was 

 got by Mambrino, who covered at twenty-six guineas a mare in the year 1784. 

 Mambrino was got by Engineer, who was got by Sampson, who was the sire 

 of Bay Moulton and several other capital racers ; his dam by Turf, his grand- 

 dam by Regulus. 



" The mare was sister to Figurante and was dam of Leviathan, an excel 

 lent racer. He-is a sure foal-getter and his stock equal, if not superior, to that 

 of any horse in the States, some of whom are selling from $500 to $2,000 each. 



" The horse Will stand at Bishop Underbill's in the County of West Chester, 

 fifteen miles from Harlem on the White Plains Road, to cover the ensuing 

 season at $15 the season and $10 single service ; the season to commence on 

 the first day of April, and to continue not longer than the first day of August 

 following ; the money to be paid at the time of taking away the mare. 



" Warranted foals by agreement. 



