104 LIFE WITH THE TROTTERS. 



when, as a matter of fact, the condition of a horse Las all to 

 do with it. 



From Grand Ra^jids we went to Jackson, another half- 

 mile track, where Rarus trotted an exhibition mUe in 2:17, 

 beating by a full second Goldsmith Maid' s best time over 

 a half-mile track, which had stood unchallenged for years. 

 This proved two things to me — that he was at that time the 

 fastest horse in the country, and that the five corking heats 

 at Grand Rapids had keyed him up to his best form. At 

 Detroit, Cozette was distanced in the first heat of our race, 

 which Lady Maud won in 2:21f . Nettie won the second 

 heat in 2:22^, and then Rarus took the next three in 2:22^, 

 2:25, 2:33|. The last heat shows a wonderful falling off in 

 time. In the betting, Rarus was the favorite, with Cozette 

 well backed, the people remembering what a race she had 

 given Rarus at Grand Rapids, and still loath to believe he 

 was the great horse I had claimed him to be. The others 

 had some incidental support in the betting, but the main 

 money was on Cozette and Rarus. The only uneasiness felt 

 by me regarding the race was that the track was very soft 

 and uneven. I decided to lay up the first heat, and the 

 result proved the plan a good one, although likely enough 

 I could have won in straight heats. In the first mile Cozette 

 made a wild break and Lady Maud distanced her. With 

 Cozette out of the fight it was dollars to doughnuts that 

 Rarus would win. I knew that Turner had a fair mare in 

 Nettie, and as the General was rather inclined to lie around 

 and give the boys a surprise party now and then, I concluded 

 to keep an eye open and see what the little man from Phil- 

 adelphia was up to. On this occasion, however, he was not 

 dangerous, as after Nettie had taken the second heat in 

 2:22J, I won the next three in the time stated above. In 

 the last heat Nettie and Slow Go came together at the first 

 turn as the result of a double break, and in the melee Lady 

 Maud also injured her stifle, so that the three had a grand 

 scramble to save their distance in the slow time of 2:33^. 

 This race, I think, was the last in which Lady Maud ever 



