THE THOROUGHBRED IN AMERICA 63 



"But at this inglorious prospect Lecompte 

 desperately rallied, and escaped the humiliation 

 by drawing himself a few lengths within the dis- 

 tance pole, while Lexington dashed past the 

 stand, hard in hand, and actually running away 

 with his rider — making the last mile in 1.52} 

 and completing the four in the unprecedented 

 time of 7.23f , I say unprecedented, because it 

 beats Lecompte's 7.26, and is, therefore, the 

 fastest heat ever made in a match. " 



I have taken pains to transcribe this account of 

 the race for a double purpose. This race fixed 

 Lexington's place as the best horse in the coun- 

 try and it was also his last public appearance. 

 Then, again, I think it interesting to show how the 

 reporters of half a century ago dealt with an im- 

 portant sporting event. After this race Lexington 

 was taken back to Kentucky and covered thirty 

 mares without being thrown entirely out of train- 

 ing. It was Mr. Ten Broeck's intention to take 

 the horse to England and race him there. Un- 

 fortunately, exactly how even Mr, Ten Broeck 

 never knew, the horse was over-fed just before a 

 long gallop and went blind, so he never faced a 



