THE THOROUGHBRED IN AMERICA 49 



to the front of our box and, calling to a gentle- 

 man, said: 'You must ride the next heat; there 

 are hundreds of thousands of Southern money 

 depending on it. That boy don't know how to 

 ride; he don't keep his horse's mouth open!' The 

 gentleman positively refused, saying that he had 

 not been in the saddle for months. The manager 

 begged him to come down, and John Randolph 

 was summoned to use his eloquent persuasions. 

 When the horses were next brought to the stand, 

 behold the gentleman* appeared, booted and 

 spurred, with a red jacket on his back, and a 

 jockey cap on his head. On the third heat Eclipse 

 took the lead, and, by dint of constant whipping 

 and spurring, won by a length this closely con- 

 tested race. 



"There was never contest more exciting. Sec- 

 tional feeling and heavy pecuniary stakes were 

 both involved. The length of time before it was 

 decided, the change of riders, the varying for- 

 tunes, all intensified the interest. I have seen the 

 great Derby races ; but they finish almost as soon 

 as they begin, and were tame enough in com- 



* Arthur Taylor, a Virginian. '^ 



