MESSENGER AND EARLY TROTTERS 113 



by sons of Hambletonian, and one by imported 

 Leamington. They have not done much to per- 

 petuate her prowess. My own idea is that in se- 

 lecting mates for her the great cardinal principle 

 of breeding: "like begets like," was utterly dis- 

 regarded. The blood of a Hambletonian was 

 probably too cold to mate with hers, though we 

 do not know what hers was, and Leamington's 

 conformation was too great a contrast. Though 

 she has left no descendants that do her particu- 

 lar honor, she has left by her performances im- 

 perishable fame as the greatest trotter of her day, 

 and her day lasted for more than a dozen years. 

 There was a lull in trotting during the Civil 

 War, just as there was in racing, but after the war 

 the trotting tracks became even more popular 

 than the running courses — not the most fash- 

 ionable, but the most popular. Fashion has never 

 forsaken the running horse, and probably never 

 will; but in the main, the trotting races have been 

 patronized and managed by men of a slightly 

 different social status. To be sure, there are not- 

 able exceptions, exceptions so notable, indeed, 

 that they ought to be sufficient to lift the ban from 



