108 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 
has a soft spot in him somewhere when pinched.” 
Florence was a beautiful mare, also fast, and a good 
breaker. All three, it should be mentioned, were 
driven by masters of the art. 
The first heat was won by Florence after a sharp 
contest with Felix, Nobby making no effort. In the 
second heat Nobby outstripped the others on the home 
stretch, but made a wild break, passing under the 
wire on arun, and Florence was awarded first place. 
In the third heat Nobby again broke badly, and Felix 
won after another hard contest with Florence. In 
the fourth heat Nobby showed his quality. At the 
three-quarter pole Felix led him by four lengths, but 
from this point Nobby began to gain inch by inch, 
Splan driving him with great patience and skill. 
His long neck showed nearer and nearer to the sulky 
of Felix, as the two horses approached the judge’s 
stand, until at last they were side by side. Then 
Felix seemed to fall back, and Nobby won amid wild 
hurrahs. “TI have seen his sire do the same thing in 
California,” said a noted horseman who was among 
the spectators. In the fifth heat, however, Nobby 
made another disastrous break, and Felix won easily. 
Five heats had now been trotted, and the coming 
heat would decide the race if it fell either to Felix 
or to Florence. Nobby, so far, had only one to 
his credit. This brings us to the 
Sixth Heat. It had begun to rain a little; the 
track was sticky, and all the horses were tired. 
“Their courage,” says the report, “was cheered by 
sherry.” It is more likely, however, that Nobby was 
treated to champagne and seltzer water, that being 
the agreeable dose usually administered by Splan 
