172 THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 



Phoebus, Hambletonian, Sir Solomon, and Sir Harry. The cele- 

 brated four-mile racer, Ariel, bad Messenger in her pedigree four 

 times in five generations. 



In his day trotting was not much in fashion, as we have shown, 

 and nothing is known of the trotting speed of this great fountain- 

 head of trotters, nor were any of his sons or daughters ever trained 

 to that gait. It was the second generation of his descendants, the 

 grand-colts of Messenger, and mostly those produced by a cross 

 with the common stock of the country, that attracted attention by 

 their trotting speed. This fact is easily explained. The Thorough- 

 breds of his get were trained to running, and were not used as road 

 horses, or some of them would probably have surpassed any of his 

 half-breed descendants in trotting. But even his own half-breed 

 colts made no mark as trotters, though some of them became cele- 

 brated as the sires of trotters. This is somewhat remarkable; but 

 we should bear in mind that public attention had not then been 

 given to that gait, good roads and light vehicles were not so com- 

 mon, and the next generation being more numerous, the probabili- 

 ties were greater that this remarkable quality of the family should 

 not remain undiscovered. 



The sons of Messenger to which nearly all the fastest trotters of 

 the present day trace their pedigree were Plato, Engineer, Com- 

 mander, Why-Not, Mount Holly, Mambrino, and Hambletonian. 



Mambrino, named after the sire of Messenger, was thorough- 

 bred, a bright bay, 16 hands high, long-bodied, and, like his sire, 

 upright in the shoulders. He was not only a large but also a 

 coarse horse. He had a free, rapid, swinging walk, a slashing 

 trot, and running speed of the first order. He was the sire of 

 Betsy Baker, one of the first eminent American trotters, of Ab- 

 dallah, from whom are descended many of the fastest, including 

 the get of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, who was sired by Abdallah, and 

 of Mambrino Paymaster, from whom are descended Mambrino 

 Chief and all his get, including Lady Thorn, Mambrino Pilot, Bay 

 Chief, &c. This son of Messenger stands undoubtedly at the head 

 of the family as a progenitor of trotters. 



Next in celebrity is Hambletonian, also thorough-bred. He 

 was a dark bay, 15 hands 1 inch, beautifully moulded, and without 

 a single weak point. He was the sire of Topgallant, Whalebone, 

 Sir Peter, Trouble, and Shakspeare ; all ranked among the best of 

 the early American trotters. 



Abdallah was a grandson of Messenger, and deserves especial 

 mention in this connection because so many trotters of celebrity 

 are descended through him. He was foaled in 1826, the property 

 of Mr. John Treadwell, of Jamaica, L. I. His sire was Mambrino, 

 and his dam Amazonia, a granddaughter of Messenger. Thus 



