CHAPTER XXII.

HAMBLETONIAN’S SONS AND GRANDSONS.

Different opinions as to relative merits of Hambletonian’s greater sons—George Wilkes, his history and pedigree—His performing descendants—History and description of Electioneer—His family—Alexander’s Abdallah and his two greatest sons, Almont and Belmont—Dictator—Harold—Happy Medium and his dam—Jay Gould—Strathmore—Egbert—Aberdeen—Masterlode—Sweepstakes—Governor Sprague, grandson of Hambletonian.

There is hardly a prominent sire by Hambletonian that has not been claimed by his admirers to have been the “greatest son” of the most renowned of trotting progenitors, and if a poll of the horsemen of the country could be taken to-day as to what horse was the greatest son of Hambletonian, probably a dozen names would be found to have thousands of supporters each. As with all questions that are largely matters of opinion, and that cannot be decided absolutely by figures, the relative rank of horses as progenitors must always remain open to disputation according as thinkers approach the subject from different points of view and of interest. I shall not enter into any discussion as to the relative merits of the great sons of Hambletonian with a purpose to reach any deduction as to which was or is the greatest; but shall refer the reader to the table given in the preceding chapter, and content myself with briefly giving the history of the more renowned sires of the Hambletonian line, with such statistics as may be necessary to gauge their rank as progenitors.

GEORGE WILKES was one of the first of Hambletonian’s sons to attract attention, by his performances on the turf, to the value of his sire; and as a progenitor he must be accorded a place in the first rank of all trotting sires. This horse was bred by Colonel Harry Felter, Newburgh, New York, was foaled 1856, and was got by Hambletonian out of the fast road mare Dolly Spanker. (This mare was afterward registered on what seemed excellent evidence as by Henry Clay, out of a daughter of Baker’s Highlander, but more recent investigation has thrown serious doubt upon this pedigree, the subject being fully discussed in the chapters in this work on “The Investigation of Pedigrees.”) After the travail that brought the little brown colt into the world, Dolly Spanker died, and the orphaned youngster, like Andrew Jackson, owed his life to woman’s kindly care. He was fed by the women of the farm on Jamaica rum and milk sweetened with sugar, and soon grew lusty, though he was always an undersized horse, never much, if any, exceeding fifteen hands in height, though he was so stoutly and compactly made that he gave the impression of being larger than he really was. He was of that order that has been paradoxically described as “a big little horse.” In color he was a very dark brown, and his flanks and muzzle shaded into a deep tan, or wine color. From a detailed description of him published in the _Spirit of the Times_ in 1862, I extract the following:

“He is about 15.1, but all horse.... His traveling gear is just what it should be—muscular shoulders long strong arms, flat legs, splendid quarters, great length from hip to hock, and very fine back sinews. He stands higher behind than he does forward, a formation we like.... He is very wide between the jaws.... His coat is fine and glows like the rich dark tints of polished rosewood.... His temper is kind. We had the pleasure of seeing him at his work, and unless we are greatly mistaken he will make an amazingly good one. He has a long and easy way of going, striking well out behind and tucking his haunches well under him.”

Though from the fact that this writer stated that Wilkes “was as handsome as Ethan Allen,” we might suspect him of a tendency to “paint the lily,” it will be noted that this was written before the horse had any great reputation to speak of, and it may be accepted as a substantially correct description as far as it goes. In describing his action Charles J. Foster wrote that “his hind leg when straightened out in action as he went at his best pace reminded me of that of a duck swimming.” He was then the property of Z. E. Simmons, who had purchased him as a three-year-old for $3,000, and another horse.

George Wilkes, or Robert Fillingham, as he was first named, was a trotter from colthood. At four years old he was matched against Guy Miller, but his party paid forfeit, the reason therefor being afterward alleged that they found Fillingham possessed of so much speed that they decided to “lay for bigger game.” The late Alden Goldsmith, a most competent judge, saw the colt trot at this time and then thought he was the fastest horse he had ever seen. He won a race in August of his five-year-old year, taking a record of 2:33, and the next year sprang into wide fame by defeating the then popular idol, Ethan Allen, in straight heats, over the Union Course, the fastest heat being in 2:24¾. In October of that year he started in harness against General Butler, under saddle. Though Butler was no match for George Wilkes in harness, with a saddle on his back, and Dan Mace in the saddle, he was almost unbeatable in his day, but it took him four heats to beat Wilkes, who forced him out in the first heat in 2:21½, a record he never after surpassed. Then William L. Simmons and John Morrissey matched Wilkes against Butler, two-mile heats to wagon, the latter having previously beaten the great George M. Patchen a heat in record-breaking time under similar conditions. In preparation for that match George Wilkes was sent a trial over the Centerville Course, concerning which there has been much discussion and probably much romance. Charles J. Foster wrote thus:

“It was a close, sultry day and the stallion was short of work.... He went the two-mile trial and I have no doubt it was faster than trotter ever had before, or has since, in any rig. But it ‘cooked his mutton,’ as the saying is, and for a long time he was George Wilkes no more.”

It is said that ever after this trial, whatever it may have been, George Wilkes was inclined to sulk in his races. He raced with fair success in 1863 and 1864, and at the beginning of 1865 was classed among the very best out. He was sent against Dexter and Lady Thorn, being beaten by both; but in 1866 he twice defeated Lady Thorn, the last time in a notable wagon race over Union Course in 2:27, 2:25, 2:26¾. Afterward in the same year Lady Thorn defeated Wilkes in four successive races, and she beat him again in their only meeting the following year, but in 1868 he defeated the mare in a hard-fought race, she winning the first and second heats and making the fourth heat dead. George Wilkes made his record of 2:22, October 13, 1868, over the Narragansett Course at Providence in a winning race with Rhode Island and Draco. He was kept on the turf with indifferent success until 1872, racing frequently against Lucy, Lady Thorn, and American Girl, all of whom outclassed him, at least in the afternoon of his racing career. Just how fast a trotter George Wilkes was it is impossible definitely to determine, so many and varying have been the representations on that point. It has been claimed that he went a quarter in twenty-nine seconds to an eighty-five pound wagon. William L. Simmons some years ago stated that of his own knowledge George Wilkes trotted a mile and repeat as a six-year-old at the Centerville Course in 2:19¼, 2:18½, and that Sam McLaughlin drove him a half-mile to wagon over Union Course in 1:04½. These statements I give for what may be deemed their worth, contenting myself with the remark that it is safe to conclude that George Wilkes would have trotted well within the 2:20 mark, if he had been managed with a view to bringing out his highest racing capacity, instead of being handled solely for the purpose of smart betting and match-making manipulations.

George Wilkes was taken to Lexington, Kentucky, by William L. Simmons, his owner, in 1873, and in his declining years made a reputation so great in the stud that his brilliant turf career is almost forgotten. After having trotted against the best in the country for twelve successive years, proving his fitness in the fiery ordeal of turf contest, he, in the nine remaining years of his life, fulfilled the purpose of his being, and demonstrated the truth of heredity by getting trotters in plenty able to do and outdo what he had in his day done.

George Wilkes got a few foals before going to Kentucky, of which the most notable was May Bird, 2:21, the first trotter to bring him reputation as a sire. Of the others got in the North, Young Wilkes, 2:28¼, a sire of some reputation, and Wilkes Spirit, who also figures in the table of sires, are the only ones to earn places in the records. Early in the eighties George Wilkes began to assume high rank as a sire, May Bird, Kentucky Wilkes, Prospect Maid, So So, Joe Bunker and others bringing him into prominence. Every year added to his roll of honor and soon he was among the leaders. Blue Bull had surpassed Hambletonian in the number of trotters to his credit in the 2:30 list, but at the close of 1886 George Wilkes was even with the Indiana sire, in 1887 he passed him, and for some seasons led all sires of 2:30 performers. George Wilkes got seventy-two trotters and eleven pacers to acquire standard records, of which the most noted were Harry Wilkes, 2:13½, Guy Wilkes, 2:15¼, and Wilson, 2:16¼; and ninety-four of his sons and eighty-one of his daughters have produced, as shown in the table of Hambletonian’s sons, 1801 standard performers. The following table embraces the sons of George Wilkes that have twenty or more standard performers to their credit:

LEADING SONS OF GEORGE WILKES.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Total No. produced in two generations. -----------------------------------------------------------+ Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. | ----------------------------------------------------+ | Producing daughters. | | ----------------------------------------------+ | | Producing sons. | | | ----------------------------------------+ | | | Standard performers. | | | | ----------------------------------+ | | | | Year foaled. | | | | | ---------------------------+ | | | | | Name. | | | | | | ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------ Red Wilkes, 2:40 | 1874 | 127 | 62 | 41 | 267 | 394 Onward, 2:25¼ | 1875 | 120 | 64 | 32 | 275 | 395 Alcantara, 2:23 | 1876 | 98 | 29 | 15 | 115 | 213 Bourbon Wilkes | 1875 | 67 | 14 | 12 | 45 | 112 Simmons, 2:28 | 1879 | 64 | 13 | 6 | 35 | 99 Wilton, 2:19¼ | 1880 | 61 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 69 Jay Bird, 2:31¾ | 1878 | 57 | 10 | 10 | 68 | 125 Alcyone, 2:27 | 1877 | 55 | 27 | 9 | 117 | 172 Guy Wilkes, 2:15¼ | 1879 | 52 | 10 | 5 | 49 | 101 Ambassador, 2:21¼ | 1875 | 48 | 8 | 3 | 33 | 81 Gambetta Wilkes, 2:26 | 1881 | 48 | 11 | 6 | 32 | 80 Baron Wilkes, 2:18 | 1882 | 47 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 65 Adrian Wilkes | 1878 | 38 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 63 Wilkes Boy, 2:24½ | 1880 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 45 Young Jim | 1874 | 37 | 11 | 19 | 43 | 80 Brown Wilkes, 2:21¾ | 1876 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 39 | 71 Young Wilkes, 2:28¼ | 1868 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 41 Favorite Wilkes, 2:24½ | 1877 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 44 Woodford Wilkes | 1882 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 35 Wilkie Collins | 1876 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 31 Lumps, 2:21 | 1875 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 36 The King, 2:29¼ | 1874 | 20 | —— | —— | —— | 20 Jersey Wilkes | 1881 | 20 | —— | 2 | 2 | 22 ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------

Among the other seventy-one producing sons of George Wilkes: that do not come within the scope of this table are many most promising sires of rapidly growing prominence, and indeed this family is branching out wonderfully in every direction. This family is an emphatically improving one. In extreme speed, in racing capacity, and in form the third Wilkes generation is better than either the second or first. Of trotters, such as Beuzetta, 2:06¾, Ralph Wilkes, 2:06¾, Hulda, 2:08½, Allerton, 2:09¼, the once sensational Axtell, 2:12, and many others of the first rank by sons of George Wilkes sustain this judgment. The pacing instinct is rampant in the Wilkes blood, as is attested by the fact that twenty-five per cent. of the performing get of George Wilkes’ sons are pacers, and frequently pacers of extreme speed, including such as Joe Patchen, 2:03, and Rubenstein, 2:05, while John R. Gentry, 2:00½, Online, 2:04, and Frank Agan, 2:03, are by grandsons of Wilkes. Like his sire, George Wilkes got many sons greater than himself—and after all that is the true test of greatness in a progenitor.

ELECTIONEER has for some years led, far and away, all sires of trotters in the numbers of performers to his credit in both the 2:20 list and 2:30 list, and is generally conceded to have had no equal as a producer of early speed—that is, of colts and fillies that trotted fast at tender ages. In many respects this was the most remarkable horse of any age, for besides being phenomenally prolific in transmitting speed at the trot, and in getting early trotters, he possessed in a higher degree than any sire that has yet lived the ability to control running blood in the dam, and to impress his own instinct and action upon his progeny out of any and all kinds of mares. In speaking on his pet hobby of producing trotters from thoroughbred running mares, Governor Stanford once said to me: “None of my stallions but Electioneer can do it;” and of all the hundreds of stallions that have been mated with thoroughbred mares in the hope of getting a trotter of extreme speed, Electioneer alone was able to do it. Palo Alto, 2:08¼, is so far faster than any other trotting horse out of a thoroughbred dam—the one solitary instance on record of a half-bred trotter of extreme speed—that he is significant in one way, and one only, and that is as an evidence of the phenomenal prepotency of the blood of his sire in controlling instinct and action.

Electioneer was a dark bay horse, foaled May 2, 1868, bred by Charles Backman, at his Stonyford Stud, Orange County, New York. He was got by Hambletonian, out of Green Mountain Maid, by Harry Clay, 2:29, grandam the fast trotting mare Shanghai Mary, pedigree not established, but in all probability a daughter of Iron’s Cadmus, the sire of the famous old pacer and brood mare Pocahontas, 2:17½. (In Chapter XXIX., on the investigation of pedigrees, the history of Shanghai Mary is fully given.) Green Mountain Maid, the dam of Electioneer, has been called by Mr. Backman, and with justice, “the great mother of trotters.” In all she bore sixteen foals, fourteen of which were by the not remarkable horse Messenger Duroc. Electioneer was her second foal and the only one by Hambletonian. Of the other fifteen, nine have records of 2:30 and better, another has a record of 2:31, another, Paul, was a very fast road horse, and two died young. Of her four sons kept entire, Electioneer, Mansfield, Antonio, and Lancelot, all are sires of trotters, and her daughters already figure as producers. The figures would seem to point to the daughter of Shanghai Mary and Harry Clay, 2:29, as perhaps the most wonderful of all great trotting brood mares. She was a brown mare, barely fifteen hands high, with a star and white hind ankles, and was finely formed, with an exceptionally beautifully outlined and expressive head. She had very superior trotting action, the trot being her fastest natural gait. A writer who made a very close study of her history said, on this point, in _Wallace’s Monthly_:

“Her education was limited to a single lesson when three years old; but previously she had been regularly developed on somewhat the same plan since adopted for early training at Palo Alto, and was probably one of the fastest trotters out of harness that ever lived.”

As a matter of fact Green Mountain Maid, while in no sense vicious, was so highly strung, wild and uncontrollable, that her training was abandoned with the “one lesson” referred to, and she never wore harness again.

Green Mountain Maid was a money producer as well as a speed producer. Mr. Backman paid four hundred and fifty dollars for her when she was carrying her first foal, and the writer above quoted states that up to that date (1889) Mr. Backman had received sixty-eight thousand eight hundred and thirty dollars for such of her progeny as he had then sold. This remarkable mare died June 6, 1888, and a fitting monument marks her grave by the banks of the Walkill.

At maturity Electioneer was of that shade of bay that many might call brown, and stood precisely fifteen and one-half hands at the wither and an inch higher measured at the quarter. Many of his get, notably Sunol, are pronouncedly higher behind than at the wither. In general conformation, Electioneer was a stout and muscular horse, standing on fairly short legs. His head was well proportioned, of fair size, and a model of intelligent beauty. The forehead was broad and brainy, the eyes large and softly expressive, and the profile regular, with just the faintest suggestion of concavity beneath the line of the eyes. Electioneer’s neck was a trifle too short for elegance of proportion, but not gross. His shoulder was good, the barrel round, of good depth and proportionate in length and well ribbed, and the coupling simply faultless. The quarters were marvelous, and Mr. Marvin did not overstate the case when he said they were the best he had ever seen on any stallion. They were the very incarnation of driving power, and recalled Herbert Kittredge’s portrait of Hambletonian, except that there was nothing gross or meaty about the buttocks of Electioneer. They were the perfection of muscular endowment and development. The arms and gaskins, like the quarters, were full with muscle laid on muscle, and the legs and feet were naturally excellent. In the last years of his life he went over on his knees a bit, but that was not strange considering his age, and the fact that he had seen considerable track work. Indeed as long as he was at all vigorous he was daily exercised on the track, and in view of his great success in the stud, this fact has a special significance.

As a three-year-old Electioneer was worked some on the Stonyford farm track to wagon, and Mr. Backman, whose word is good enough authority for all who know him, stated that he showed a quarter to wagon in thirty-nine seconds in that year. Little else is known of his history at Stonyford. He was bred to a few, very few mares, and was evidently not greatly esteemed by Mr. Backman. In the autumn of 1876, ex-Governor Stanford, who was just establishing his great breeding farm, Palo Alto, in the Santa Clara Valley, California, visited Stonyford to purchase stock—principally brood mares. The governor was a great believer in what I may call horse-physiognomy, or to be more exact, he believed in the importance of the right psychical organization, what we commonly call brain force, in horses, and was attracted by the physical evidences thereof as indicated in the head. Electioneer pleased him in this regard, and in his general make-up, and when the governor’s purchase was completed Electioneer went along, being put in at twelve thousand five hundred dollars. He with the other Stonyford purchases arrived at Palo Alto Christmas Eve, 1876.

Though Electioneer never took a record, he was emphatically a developed horse. I do not know whether he was ever driven a full mile or not—Mr. Marvin never drove him one—but it has been stated that one of the other trainers drove him a mile in time somewhere between 2:20 and 2:25. However they may be, Mr. Marvin in his book settles the question as to his having been a fast, trained trotter. He says:

“Electioneer is the most natural trotter I have ever seen. He has free, abundant action; it is a perfect rolling action both in front and behind, and he has not the usual fault of the Hambletonians of going too wide behind. Certain writers have said that Electioneer could not trot, and have cited him as a stallion that was not a trotter yet got trotters.... I have driven, beside Electioneer, a quarter in thirty-five seconds.... He did this, too, hitched to a one hundred and twenty-five-pound wagon, with a two hundred and twenty-pound man, and not a professional driver, either, in the seat. In this rig he could carry Occident right up to his clip, and could always keep right with him; and it was no trick for the famous St. Clair gelding to go a quarter in thirty-four seconds. Without preparation you could take Electioneer out any day and drive him an eighth of a mile at a 2:20 gait. He always had his speed with him.... That Electioneer could have beaten 2:20 if given a regular preparation is with me a conviction about which no doubt exists.”

Mr. Marvin is a conservative and reliable man; he knew whereof he wrote, and his testimony must be accepted as conclusive both as to Electioneer’s having been a naturally fast trotter, and as to his having had his speed developed. Undeveloped horses do not trot quarters in thirty-five seconds.

When in 1880 Fred Crocker, one of the seven foals got by Electioneer in his first year’s service in California, astonished the world by trotting to a two-year-old record of 2:25¾, his sire became instantly famous, and that fame has increased rapidly and steadily from that day to this. It was not allowed for a moment to wane or lag. After Fred Crocker came an ever-surprising procession of young record breakers. In 1881 Hinda Rose made a yearling record of 2:36½, and Wildflower a two-year-old record of 2:21. In 1883 Hinda Rose lowered the three-year-old record to 2:19½, and Bonita the four-year-old record to 2:18¾. In 1886 Manzanita lowered the four-year-old record to 2:16; in 1887 Norlaine, granddaughter of Electioneer, lowered the yearling record to 2:31½; and in 1888 Sunol put the two-year-old record at 2:18, and the year following took a three-year-old record of 2:10½, the fastest to that date. Sunol captured the four-year-old record in 1889, and the world’s record, 2:08¼, in 1891, but what made this the brightest year in all the history of Palo Alto was that Arion lowered the two-year-old record to 2:10¾—the most remarkable of all trotting performances—Bell Bird the yearling record to 2:26¼, and Palo Alto the stallion record to 2:08¾. Electioneer has now to his credit one hundred and fifty-four standard performers, and in this and in the 2:20 list he has a long lead over all other sires. He died at Palo Alto, December 3, 1890, and I am informed that his skeleton has been articulated and mounted for the museum of the Stanford University. The following table gives the sons of Electioneer that up to the close of 1896 had ten or more standard performers to their credit:

LEADING SONS OF ELECTIONEER.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Total No. produced in two generations. -----------------------------------------------------------+ Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. | ----------------------------------------------------+ | Producing daughters. | | ----------------------------------------------+ | | Producing sons. | | | ----------------------------------------+ | | | Standard performers. | | | | ----------------------------------+ | | | | Year foaled. | | | | | ---------------------------+ | | | | | Name. | | | | | | ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------ Saint Bell, 2:24½ | 1882 | 47 | 1 | —— | 1 | 48 Sphinx, 2:20½ | 1883 | 43 | —— | —— | —— | 43 Chimes, 2:30¾ | 1884 | 32 | 3 | —— | 3 | 35 Anteeo, 2:16¼ | 1879 | 28 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 40 Norval, 2:14¾ | 1882 | 24 | 1 | —— | 1 | 25 Egotist, 2:22½ | 1885 | 18 | 1 | —— | 1 | 19 Anteros | 1882 | 16 | —— | 2 | 2 | 18 Elector (2170), 2:31 | 1879 | 16 | —— | —— | —— | 16 Albert W., 2:20 | 1878 | 15 | 1 | —— | 1 | 16 Eros, 2:29¼ | 1879 | 14 | 3 | —— | 4 | 18 Antevolo, 2:19½ | 1881 | 13 | —— | 1 | 11 | 14 *Bell Boy, 2:19¼ | 1885 | 11 | 1 | —— | 1 | 12 Fallis, 2:23 | 1878 | 10 | 1 | —— | 3 | 13 Palo Alto, 2:08¾ | 1882 | 10 | —— | —— | —— | 10 ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------

* Died at 5 years old.

In considering this table it is necessary to remember that the Electioneer family dates from 1878, and that no family of anything approaching so late a date makes a showing that will bear comparison with this. In considering the rank of families this question of age is always vital. Electioneer’s first crop of foals at Palo Alto—1878—numbered seven, and of these two are represented above, while another was the famous gelding Fred Crocker. The next numbered but twenty-one, and of these Eros, Elector, and Anteeo are in the table, and ten are in the 2:20 list. His third and fourth crops (1880 and 1881) numbered sixteen and twenty-three respectively, and the forty of 1882 was the greatest number he ever got in one year. I am informed that in all Electioneer got less than four hundred foals at Palo Alto; and that, since the first one saw light in 1878 this family should in eighteen years make the showing it has with nearly fifty per cent. of its members in the 2:30 list, and four hundred and ninety-three of the second generation also there, is certainly remarkable. Electioneer has to his credit in the 2:15 list the following trotters: Arion, 2:07¾, Sunol, 2:08¼, Palo Alto, 2:08¾, Helena, 2:12½, Belleflower, 2:12¾, Utility, 2:13, Quality, 2:13¼, Conductor, 2:14¼, and Norval, 2:14¾, an “extreme speed list” greater than to the credit of any other sire, while among the get of his sons are such trotters as Azote, 2:04¾, Fantasy, 2:06, Little Albert, 2:10, Lynne Bel, 2:10½, Copeland, 2:11½, Athanio, 2:11¾, Cobwebs, 2:12, etc., etc. Sixty-five of his sons have sired four hundred and thirty-seven performers, and forty-three of his daughters have produced fifty-six performers. With all these facts kept in view the study of the above table will prove interesting and instructive in forming an estimate of the merit of Electioneer as a trotting progenitor.

ALEXANDER’S ABDALLAH was the founder of one of the very greatest of the Hambletonian sub-families, and he stands in the records as a progenitor of the first rank. This was a stout bay horse, about fifteen and one-half hands high. Excepting a right white ankle he was a rich solid bay. The only reliable portrait in existence of this horse was a drawing by Herbert Kittredge, made from a photograph taken of Abdallah after he went to Kentucky. The picture of Abdallah published in this work is a faithful reproduction of the Kittredge portrait published in _Wallace’s Monthly_ for March, 1881, and in the absence of any reliable detailed description of the horse this portrait must be taken as the best reflection we now have of his individuality. He was bred by Lewis J. Sutton, of Warwick, Orange County, New York, and was foaled 1852. Mr. Sutton had in 1851 a good road mare that he had got at Carl Young’s roadhouse in Third Avenue, New York. This mare, Katy Darling, had been quite a trotter, and had, it was said, won a match race on Union Course. Her reputation as a trotter and her fine form caused Mr. Sutton to buy her when, as he describes it, “she was standing on three legs,” in the hope of getting a foal from her. He took her home in March, 1851, and in August bred her to Rysdyk’s Hambletonian, then a two-year-old colt, and September 22, 1852, she produced the subject of this sketch. Two years later Mr. Sutton sold Katy Darling to James W. Benedict, of Warwick, from whom she was purchased by Hezekiah Hoyt, who took her to Muscatine, Iowa, where she produced a chestnut colt that was gelded, by Hector, son of La Tourrett’s Bellfounder. This gelding was her only foal other than Alexander’s Abdallah, and Katy Darling died at Muscatine, the property of a Mr. Stewart. A search was long kept up for the pedigree of this mare, and for the full details of what is known of her history the reader is referred to the different volumes of _Wallace’s Monthly_. The conclusion from all the evidence found is that she was probably by a son of Andrew Jackson.

As a foal by his dam’s side Alexander’s Abdallah attracted much favorable attention by his fine trotting action, and his persistency in cavorting around at that gait. Among those who took great delight in watching the little fellow trot was Mr. Hezekiah Hoyt, and when the youngster was seventeen months old Mr. Hoyt, acting for, or in partnership with, Major Edsall, bought the colt for five hundred dollars, a fine price at that time. Major Edsall kept him until he was seven years old, and I am under the impression that he won some local races during that time, when he was known as Edsall’s Hambletonian. He was accorded a fairly liberal patronage in Orange County, and his progeny showed so well that Major Edsall sold him for three thousand dollars in 1859 to Joel F. Love and James Miller, of Cynthiana, Kentucky. The Hambletonian family was just then becoming popular, and the price paid indicates that this horse was already regarded by good judges as one of Hambletonian’s best sons. That he was regarded, moreover, as quite a trotter is indicated by the fact that at the close of his second season in Kentucky—1860—Mr. Miller matched him against Albion, a competing stallion, for two hundred and fifty dollars a side. The affair caused quite a sensation at the time, the Cynthiana horsemen going in crowds to Lexington to back Abdallah. The latter was driven by “Jim” Monroe, and Albion by Warren Peabody, and Abdallah won in the hollowest fashion, distancing Albion in 2:46. As youngsters Abdallah’s first progeny in Kentucky showed very well, and in the spring of 1863 he was purchased by R. A. Alexander, and made the seasons of 1863 and 1864 at Woodburn. On the evening of February 2, 1865, Marion’s band of Confederate guerrillas raided Woodburn and took away a number of horses, among them Alexander’s Abdallah and the then famous young trotter, Bay Chief, by Mambrino Chief. Marion mounted Bay Chief and, crossing the Kentucky River, the band encamped on the farm of a Mr. Bush, in a rough, hilly region, twelve miles from Woodburn. Here the next morning the Federal cavalry, that were sent in pursuit after the raid, came up with the raiders, and after a sharp fight routed them. Marion, on Bay Chief, was a conspicuous mark for Federal bullets during the skirmish. Early in the fray Bay Chief was shot through the muzzle, through both thighs, and one hock. In this condition he carried his rider two miles in the retreat, when the horse was so weakened by loss of blood that a Federal cavalryman overtook them. His piece being empty, the soldier aimed a blow at Marion, but missing him, lost his balance, and fell from his horse. The guerrilla leader quickly saw his opportunity, jumped from Bay Chief, mounted the soldier’s horse, and escaped. Bay Chief died about ten days later, despite all efforts made to save him. Meanwhile, Alexander’s Abdallah had been found, safe and sound, by a Federal soldier in Mr. Bush’s stable. The soldier refused to give him up to Mr. Alexander’s men, and declared he would send him North and keep him until he got a large reward for his return. The horse was barefooted and in no condition for hard usage. And so they rode him off, and after going some forty or fifty miles he gave out, and they turned him loose on the road. He was found next day in a pitiable condition by the roadside, and brought back as far as Lawrenceburg on his way home, where he was taken with pneumonia and died a few days later.

Just how great a loss this was to the trotting breed was not realized until long after—until in fact Goldsmith Maid had conquered all before her, and made a record as a campaigner never equaled, and until his two great sons, Almont and Belmont, rose to pre-eminent places in the list of great sires. Other sons of this remarkable progenitor have taken rank as sires, and his daughters proved of the highest excellence as brood mares; but Almont and Belmont have each established such large, important, and popular sub-families that this work would be incomplete without some brief sketch of each.

Alexander’s Abdallah got Goldsmith Maid, 2:14, Rosalind, 2:21⅔, Thorndale, 2:22¼, Major Edsall, 2:29, and St. Elmo, 2:30. Fourteen of his sons have produced one hundred and fifty-five standard performers, and twenty-nine of his daughters have produced forty-four standard performers, among them being the noted campaigners, Favonia, 2:15, and Jerome Eddy, 2:16⅔, the latter also a successful sire. The following table gives the families of his most prominent sons:

LEADING SONS OF ALEXANDER’S ABDALLAH.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total No. produced in two generations. ------------------------------------------------------------------+ Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. | -----------------------------------------------------------+ | Producing daughters. | | -----------------------------------------------------+ | | Producing sons. | | | -----------------------------------------------+ | | | Standard performers. | | | | -----------------------------------------+ | | | | Year died. | | | | | ----------------------------------+ | | | | | Year foaled. | | | | | | ---------------------------+ | | | | | | Name. | | | | | | | ---------------------------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+----- Almont, 2:39¾ | 1864 | 1884 | 37 | 95 | 72 | 609 | 646 Belmont | 1864 | 1889 | 58 | 63 | 48 | 560 | 618 Hambletonian (Wood’s) | 1858 | 1885 | 24 | 12 | 13 | 49 | 73 Major Edsall, 2:29 | 1859 | 1886 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 87 | 90 Thorndale, 2:22¼ | 1865 | 1894 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 47 | 57 Jim Munro | 1861 | 1882 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 38 | 46 Abdallah Pilot | 1865 | 1881 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 20 ---------------------------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-----

ALMONT was bred at Woodburn Farm, was foaled 1864, and was by Alexander’s Abdallah out of Sally Anderson, by Mambrino Chief; grandam Kate, a wonderfully fast pacer by Pilot Jr. Colonel R. P. Pepper informed me that he knew Kate as well as any of his own horses, and that her speed at the pace was “simply terrific.” Kate, whose dam was called the Pope mare, pedigree unknown, had several foals, among them the “catch filly” that was the dam of Clay Pilot, sire of The Moor, that got the great brood mare Beautiful Bells, 2:29½, and Sultan, 2:24, the sire of the world-famous Stamboul, 2:07½. Thus the blood of this pacing Pilot Jr. mare figures in three great sub-families, the Almont family, the Beautiful Bells family, and the Sultan family. Almont was a beautiful cherry bay, very rich in shade, and without any white whatever. He was fifteen hands two and one-quarter inches high at the wither, somewhat higher behind, and stoutly and symmetrically made all over. He could not be called a handsome or highly finished horse, but he was emphatically a well-made one. He had very excellent feet and legs, and these he reproduced with great uniformity, as well as his very intelligent and even disposition. He was trained early at Woodburn, and, like his sire, started but once and distanced his competitor in 2:39¾, this being in his four-year-old form. He soon after showed 2:32 over the slow Woodburn track, and was sold to the late Colonel Richard West for eight thousand dollars and put in the stud. In 1874 the late General W. T. Withers, Lexington, Kentucky, bought him for fifteen thousand dollars, and a half dozen of years later he was very generally regarded as the greatest of living sires, and his prestige made the name of Fairlawn Farm of world-wide renown, and made his owner rich. The fact that ninety-five of his sons have sired standard performers, a greater number of producing sons than is to the credit of any other horse, Hambletonian alone excepted, indicates the high rank Almont must be accorded as a progenitor. In considering his success it is well for breeders particularly to note that good judges considered Almont capable of showing a 2:20 gait any day, and that, like Electioneer, he always was daily given regular and ample track exercise. His gait has been described as bold and open, without an excess of knee action, but with immense display of power behind. Almont died of spasmodic colic, July 4, 1884, in the fullness of his fame, and at an age when, had he been more discreetly used in the stud, he should have been at his prime as a stock horse.

Almont was hardly a sensational horse in his day, the performance of Westmont at Chicago in 1884, when he paced a mile with running mate in 2:01¾, being the one sensational performance to the credit of his progeny. This lightning streak of pacing speed that so often crops out in the Almont family can be readily accounted for by the student of breeding. As has been noted, his grandam Kate, by Pilot Jr., was a phenomenally fast pacer, and, as we have indicated, her blood proved potent in more than one line. In addition to this there was a strong tendency to pace among the progeny of Alexander’s Abdallah. St. Elmo was first shown at fairs in Kentucky under saddle and as a pacer, and many others of Abdallah’s get were known to naturally pace. When we reflect that in Almont this Alexander’s Abdallah blood with its pacing predilection was united with the blood of the old lightning pacer, Kate, we need not be surprised at the great number of fast pacers that came from Almont and his sons. Belmont, too, has shown a tendency to get the pacing gait with great frequency, but not in such frequency or at such high rates as his son Nutwood. As there could not be traced any known pacing blood in Belmont’s dam, and as the fact that Alexander’s Abdallah transmitted an inclination to pace has been generally not known or ignored, some writers have been unable to understand why the Belmonts paced. He got pacers because he inherited that capacity from his sire, and Nutwood got more and faster pacers than Belmont, because in him the pacing inclination inherited from Alexander’s Abdallah was reinforced by the strong pacing inheritance of his dam, Miss Russell, the granddaughter of Old Pacing Pilot.

As shown in the table of Alexander’s Abdallah’s sons, Almont got thirty-seven standard performers, ninety-five of his sons sired five hundred and three standard performers, and seventy-two of his daughters produced one hundred and six standard performers. His most successful sons are embraced in the following table:

LEADING SONS OF ALMONT.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Performers produced in two generations. -----------------------------------------------------------+ Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. | ----------------------------------------------------+ | Producing daughters. | | ----------------------------------------------+ | | Producing sons. | | | ----------------------------------------+ | | | Standard performers. | | | | ----------------------------------+ | | | | Year foaled. | | | | | ---------------------------+ | | | | | Name. | | | | | | ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------ Almont Jr. (1829), 2:26 | 1872 | 44 | 7 | 20 | 39 | 83 Altamont, 2:26¾ | 1875 | 39 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 49 Atlantic, 2:21 | 1878 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 46 Piedmont, 2:17¼ | 1871 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 37 Almont Jr. (1764), 2:29 | 1871 | 19 | 11 | 11 | 51 | 70 King Almont, 2:21¼ | 1874 | 14 | —— | 1 | 1 | 15 Pasacas, 2:43 | 1870 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 27 Almonarch, 2:24¾ | 1875 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 20 Allie Gaines | 1875 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 29 Harbinger | 1879 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 *Allie West, 2:25 | 1870 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 31 Abdallah Mambrino | 1870 | 13 | 1 | 11 | 24 | 37 ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------

* Died at 6 years old.

This line is justly regarded with growing favor as one of our very best and most productive sub-families, and one that is breeding on excellently, generation after generation.

BELMONT was a bay horse of very superior form and finish, bred at Woodburn Farm, and foaled there in 1864. He was by Alexander’s Abdallah, out of Belle (that also produced McCurdy’s Hambletonian, 2:26½, and Bicara, the dam of Pancoast, 2:21¾) by Mambrino Chief; grandam Belle Lupe, by Brown’s Bellfounder. Belmont and Almont were of the same age, and, perhaps because of his finer appearance, Belmont seems to have been the preferred one at Woodburn, and was retained while Almont was sold. Though Belmont was a successful horse and established a great family, no thinking man can contend that he was the equal of Almont as a sire, when all the circumstances are considered. Almont spent almost his entire stud career at Fairlawn, where there never were five mares worthy in blood to be in a great trotting stud, where there were scores of mares of all kinds of poor and freakish pedigrees, even to “Arabs,” and where none of the stock was ever trained. Belmont, on the other hand, was all his life at the head of the most famous, and, in his younger years, unquestionably the best collection of trotting brood mares in the world, and where a training department was always maintained. Remembering these conditions, and contemplating the statistics of the two families, it is interesting to speculate as to how the records would stand had Belmont been at Fairlawn, and Almont at Woodburn.

LEADING SONS OF BELMONT.

------------------------------------------------------------------ Performers produced in two generations. -----------------------------------------------------------+ Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. | ----------------------------------------------------+ | Producing daughters. | | ----------------------------------------------+ | | Producing sons. | | | ----------------------------------------+ | | | Standard performers. | | | | ----------------------------------+ | | | | Year foaled. | | | | | ---------------------------+ | | | | | Name. | | | | | | ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------ Nutwood, 2:18¾ | 1870 | 136 | 90 | 69 | 432 | 568 King Rene, 2:30½ | 1875 | 35 | 17 | 16 | 55 | 90 Egmont | 1873 | 34 | 13 | 11 | 38 | 72 Wedgewood, 2:19 | 1871 | 31 | 12 | 9 | 60 | 91 Vatican, 2:29¼ | 1879 | 14 | —— | —— | —— | 14 Warlock | 1880 | 12 | —— | —— | —— | 12 Monaco | 1878 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 18 Waterloo, 2:19¼ | 1882 | 10 | —— | 1 | 1 | 11 Meander, 2:26½ | 1879 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 17 Mambritonian, 2:20½ | 1883 | 10 | —— | —— | —— | 10 Herschell | 1883 | 10 | —— | —— | —— | 10 ---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------

Belmont, besides having the advantage of excellent individuality was also a trotter of no mean speed. He was driven a mile over the working track at Woodburn in 2:28½, and was, therefore, a quite well-developed trotter. He never appeared in public, and has, therefore, no public history. The most successful of his sons has been Nutwood, whose dam was Miss Russell, the dam of Maud S. This horse was himself a fast trotter in his day, taking a record of 2:18¾, and rose to great popularity and success in the stud. Daughters of Belmont, being nearly all out of producing mares, are greatly and justly esteemed as brood mares. Belmont died at Woodburn November 15, 1889. Belmont got fifty-eight standard performers, sixty-three of his sons sired four hundred and eighty-nine standard performers, and forty-eight of his daughters produced seventy-one standard performers. The rank of his best sons is shown on the preceding page; all having ten or more in the list of standard performers being included in the table.

VOLUNTEER stands pre-eminent among trotting sires as the one horse against not one of whose get the epithet “quitter” was, as far as I am aware, ever hurled. He did not get speed with remarkable uniformity, nor did his progeny develop speed early or rapidly. They required persistent training, but when speed was developed in a Volunteer you had with it every other quality of a resolute, enduring race horse. They were hardy, rugged, good-limbed horses, and uniformly possessed stamina and resolution in the highest degree. Volunteer had the advantage of being owned by Alden Goldsmith, an ambitious and experienced horseman, and the father of two of the most successful trainers of our day. The Volunteers had, therefore, every advantage that training could give, and his rise to fame was largely due to Mr. Goldsmith’s constantly developing and racing his progeny.

In 1853 Mr. Joseph Hetzel, Florida, Orange County, New York, bred the bay mare Lady Patriot to Hambletonian, 10, and Volunteer was foaled May 1, 1854. This mare, Lady Patriot, was by a horse called Young Patriot, and out of Mr. Lewis Hulse’s trotting mare, and that is all that is known of her pedigree. Her sire’s pedigree is wholly unknown. She produced a numerous family, among them being Sentinel, 2:29¾, and Green’s Hambletonian, brothers of Volunteer, and of some rank as sires, and Marksman, by Thorndale, that is also in the table of sires, while her daughter Heroine, sister to Volunteer, produced Shawmut, 2:26.

Volunteer was a bay horse, with a little white around the left hind coronet, fifteen hands three inches at the wither, and sixteen hands measured at the coupling. He has been considered by many good judges to have been the handsomest of all the sons of Hambletonian. He was a horse of superb form and of great elegance of carriage. With sufficient of muscle and substance, he was built on graceful, finished lines, with a beautiful head loftily carried, a long and graceful neck, a body stout but finely molded, and all set off by a handsome mane and tail. His feet and legs were of superb quality, and despite his great age they were, it is said, without fault or blemish to the last. His temper and disposition were good, though he was very high-spirited, and in harness he was especially attractive. As a four-year-old Volunteer was sold to Mr. R. C. Underhill, of Brooklyn, after he had won a premium at the Orange County fair. In April, 1861, Mr. Underhill sent him to Tim T. Jackson, of Jamaica, Long Island, and in _Wallace’s Monthly_ for December, 1880, Mr. Jackson gave his experiences with Volunteer, making among others this specific statement:

“I had him at Union Course one day, and met Mr. Alfred M. Tredwell there, and I got him to hold that watch on him. Had him in quite a heavy single-seated wagon, weighing probably one hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and thirty pounds. On the first trial he trotted in 2:33. I said to Mr. Tredwell that he could beat that, and he trotted the next mile in 2:31¼.”

He had previously been trained by William Whelan, at Union Course. It was June 26, 1862, while he was in Jackson’s hands, that Alden Goldsmith, in partnership with Edwin Thorne, purchased this horse, then called Hambletonian Jr., and he soon afterward became the sole property of Mr. Goldsmith. Mr. Rysdyk greatly resented his having been called Hambletonian Jr., and early regarded him as a possible rival of Hambletonian, and there was war from the start between the adherents of sire and son. The Civil War was just then at its height, and the patriotic and military spirit rampant, and Mr. Goldsmith aptly named his horse Volunteer. Mr. H. T. Helm, who wrote a very detailed history of Volunteer twenty years ago, credits him with having trotted in 2:36 to wagon at the Goshen Fair in the fall of 1862, beating Winfield, Grey Confidence and others. At Hartford, Connecticut, in August, 1867, he beat George M. Patchen Jr., in a single dash in 2:37. He was, like nearly all the other great sires, a developed trotter.

It is said that his early stud opportunities were so limited that at ten years old he had but eighteen living foals. The first of his get entered the 2:30 list in 1871, but from that time on his list rapidly grew, and the great campaigners Gloster, Alley, Driver, Bodine, Huntress, the great three-miler, and finally St. Julien, 2:11¼, then the fastest trotter in the world, so spread the fame of Volunteer that when his sire died in 1876 he was regarded as the greatest living sire of trotters. In 1882 Mr. R. S. Veech, probably the most intelligent breeder in all Kentucky, while on a visit to New York, telegraphed Mr. Goldsmith to know whether it was worth while for him to visit Walnut Grove, with a view to buying Volunteer, and Mr. Goldsmith’s answer reveals the regard in which he held his horse. The pith of his admirably written letter was in this paragraph:

“While there is no person that would be more welcome at the farm than yourself, if the only object of your visit would be the purchase of Volunteer, then your trip would not be a profitable or successful one, as no breeder in Kentucky has money enough to buy him.... I have as high a regard for money as the most of men for the uses it may subserve, but there are certain things which money cannot buy, as the Teacher of old taught Simon the Samaritan.”

And so Volunteer remained at Walnut Grove, and “lagged superfluous on the stage” long after his owner had passed away, and died December 13, 1888, at the extraordinary age of thirty-four years, seven months and twelve days.

Volunteer sired thirty-four standard performers, and forty of his sons and forty-eight of his daughters produced an aggregate of two hundred and twenty-one standard performers. The most successful of his sons is the Michigan sire, Louis Napoleon, that was out of the Harry Clay mare, Hattie Wood, dam also of Victor Bismarck and Gazelle, 2:21. Louis Napoleon has twenty-seven in the standard list, and fourteen of his sons and twenty-two of his daughters are producers, his best son being Jerome Eddy, 2:16½, sire of Fanny Wilcox, 2:10¼, and twenty-seven other standard performers.

DICTATOR very early in his career attracted attention as the full brother to the famous Dexter, who was his senior by five years, and who was king of the trotting turf, and the most famous trotter in all the world just at the time when Dictator was merging from colthood to maturity. Dictator had thus from the very start the advantage of splendid stud opportunities. He was bred by Jonathan Hawkins, of Walden, Orange County, New York, and was foaled in 1863. He was got by Hambletonian out of the famous Clara, the dam of Dexter, 2:17¼, Alma, 2:28¾, Astoria, 2:29½, etc., by Seely’s American Star; grandam the McKinstry mare, breeding unknown, but that produced Shark with a saddle record of 2:27¾. Dictator was a seal-brown horse with a white rear ankle, and stood scant fifteen hands and one inch. He was made on a small but a fine model, and was, all in all, a handsome little horse, and most of his get partook of his fine quality of structure, though many were unsound. Shortly after Dexter made his _début_ on the turf, Dictator was bought by Mr. Harrison Durkee, a wealthy New York gentleman who had an extensive stock farm at Flushing, Long Island. The colt was then but eleven months old and was left at the Hawkins farm until two years old. Then he was sent to Mr. Alden Goldsmith’s place, at Washingtonville, to be broken, after which he was taken to Mr. Durkee’s farm. The colt was very fast, but the fame of Dexter was already wide, and, no great importance being attached to development of stallions in that day, he was considered of more value for breeding than for racing. He was worked considerably at Mr. Durkee’s farm, and Colonel John W. Conley and H. C. Woodnut, who at different times had charge of him, have both declared that they knew him to be one of the fastest trotters of his day. In 1874 Colonel Richard West sold Almont to General Withers, and to fill his place leased Dictator in the autumn of 1875, and he made the seasons of 1876 and 1877 at Colonel West’s Edgehill farm, Georgetown, Kentucky. Standing at a higher fee than Almont or George Wilkes, he attracted little outside patronage, and he was returned to Long Island. It has been stated that when at Colonel West’s, George Brasfield drove Dictator quarters as fast as thirty-four and one-half seconds. After his return to Flushing he sank from public notice until the appearance of Director as a great three-year-old in 1880. Then a couple of years later came the phenomenal Jay-Eye-See, and close after him Phallas, and with these three great trotters on the turf at once “the sire of Jay-Eye-See, 2:10, Phallas, 2:13¾, and Director, 2:17,” came again prominently before the public. In 1883 he was purchased by Major H. C. McDowell, and Messrs. David Bonner and A. A. Bonner, for a price that was said to have been twenty-five thousand dollars, and taken to Ashland farm at Lexington. Eventually he became the sole property of Major McDowell, and died May 25, 1893.

Dictator did not get speed uniformly. He was what might be called a sporadic sire, but those of his get that raced at all raced well. By far his best son as a producer is Director, 2:17, that was out of Dolly by Mambrino Chief, and is the sire of sixteen trotters and pacers with records in the 2:20 list, including the champion trotting stallion Directum, 2:05¼, and the one-time champion pacing stallion, Direct, who after being practically crippled in trotting to a four-year-old record of 2:18¼, carrying great weights to keep him at that gait, was allowed to go at his natural gait and paced in 2:05½, and is already a very successful sire. Phallas, 2:13¾, of whom high hopes were entertained, and who had great opportunities, proved practically a failure in the stud, though his son Phallamont, out of an Almont mare, ranks with Direct as the best of Dictator’s grandsons. Dictator got fifty standard performers, forty-four of his sons have produced one hundred and seventy-three standard performers, and forty-two of his daughters have produced sixty-one standard performers.

HAROLD became very famous when Maud S. became queen of the turf with the then marvelous record of 2:08¾, a record that stood unequaled from 1885 till 1891. This horse was bred by Charles S. Dole, Crystal Lake, Illinois, by whom he was sold, in an exchange of horses, to Woodburn Farm, when he was a yearling. He was foaled in 1864, and his dam was Enchantress (the dam also of Black Maria and of Lakeland Abdallah), by Abdallah. It was long claimed that this mare’s dam was a daughter of imported Bellfounder, but investigation exploded this claim. Harold was a bay horse, without marks, just fifteen hands high, stoutly made but very homely of form. He had a finely made head, but otherwise he was exceedingly plain, and when Maud S. came out the late Benjamin Bruce, in the _Kentucky Live Stock Record_, expressed wonder that “that little bench-legged stud” could have gotten such a mare. Harold’s full brother, Lakeland Abdallah, was far superior to him individually, but ranks with Hetzel’s Hambletonian, the brother to Volunteer, and Kearsarge, by Volunteer out of Dexter’s dams, in the fore front of the well-bred failures in trotting history. Largely from his individuality Harold was never, even when Maud S. was in the heyday of her renown, a popular horse, and the figures given by the Woodburn management say that in his entire career he was bred to but five hundred and ninety-four mares, or an average of about twenty-five for each of his twenty-three seasons. With the exception of Maud S., Harold got nothing of the first class, but in the second generation the family holds better rank in respect to extreme speed production. Beuzetta, 2:06¾, Early Bird, 2:10, The Conqueror, 2:13, and the great three-year-old Impetuous, 2:13, are out of daughters of Harold, while Kremlin, 2:07¾, Io, 2:13½, Rizpah, 2:13½, Russellmont, 2:12¾, and the great pacer Robert J., 2:01½, are among the produce of his sons, and the present queen of the trotting turf, Alix, 2:03¾, is out of a daughter of Attorney, by Harold. Harold died at Woodburn, October 6, 1893. This horse never trotted in public, but he was worked some for speed at Woodburn. As a six-year-old he is said to have trotted the farm track in 2:40½, in which mile it is stated he “grabbed a quarter” and was not worked again. He is the sire of forty-four standard performers, forty-three of his sons have produced one hundred and eighty-one standard performers, and forty-five of his daughters have produced sixty-seven standard performers.

HAPPY MEDIUM was bred by R. P. Galloway, of Sufferen, New York, and was foaled 1863. He was by Hambletonian, out of the famous old campaigner Princess, 2:30, that trotted ten miles in 29:10¾ and two miles in 5:02, and was the great rival of Flora Temple, 2:19¾. Princess was a bay mare, foaled 1846, by Andrus’ Hambletonian, son of Judson’s Hambletonian, that was by Bishop’s Hambletonian, son of imported Messenger; and her dam was the Wilcox mare, by Burdick’s Engineer, son of Engineer, by imported Messenger. She campaigned from ocean to ocean, and her career is perhaps the most remarkable of the earlier trotting days. When young she was mixed gaited, alternately pacing and trotting, and was put to work hauling logs. Then her owner traded her for a second-hand wagon, and finally she reached the hands of D. M. Gage, of Chicago. He put her into training, and she trotted some indifferent races as Topsy, was sold, and taken across the plains to California. Here in 1858 she beat New York, taking her record of 2:30. Then she fell into the hands of the notorious “Jim” Eoff, and the next year was matched against the then crack trotter of California, Glencoe Chief, at ten miles to wagon. These were golden days on the coast, and this race was for the enormous stake of thirty-six thousand five hundred dollars. Princess won easily in 29:10¾, but the Glencoe Chief party being dissatisfied, another race was trotted the next day at the same distance for five thousand dollars, Princess again winning. There was after this nothing on the coast to race with Princess, and Eoff brought her to New York to try conclusions with Flora Temple. Her first race with Flora was at three-mile heats at Eclipse Course, Long Island, Flora winning, but at two-mile heats a week later Princess won in 5:02, 5:05. In their subsequent races Flora turned the tables, though in a stubborn contest at two-mile heats Princess forced the then queen of the turf to make the long unbeaten record of 4:50½. She was then retired from the turf, and after passing through several hands became the property of R. F. Galloway, who in 1862 bred her to Hambletonian.

Happy Medium was a bay horse, with star, snip, and two white rear ankles, fifteen hands two inches in height, and was a shapely, attractive horse, with excellent legs and feet. Some critics have found fault that he was light barreled, and perhaps with some degree of reason, but as a whole he was structurally much above the average of his time. As a four-year-old he started at the Goshen Fair and won, taking a record of 2:54, which he lowered to 2:51 in 1868. The next year, 1869, at Paterson, New Jersey, he distanced Guy Miller and Honesty in 2:34½, 2:32½, and these three performances, all winning ones, comprise his entire turf career. He was in 1871 purchased at a very large price—said to have been twenty-five thousand dollars—by Mr. Robert Steel, who placed him at the head of his Cedar Park Farm, at Philadelphia. In 1879 he was purchased by the late General W. T. Withers, and taken to his Fairlawn Farm, Lexington, Kentucky, where he remained until he died, January 25, 1888, at which time he had more 2:30 performers to his credit than any horse then living. The Happy Mediums developed speed easily and quickly, and were remarkable for the purity of their gait. The most famous of his get is the mare Nancy Hanks, that lowered the world’s record to 2:04 in 1892. The mares bred to Happy Medium never were as a whole of good breeding, and in his early stud career they were largely of inferior blood and quality. His fame has steadily grown, and with ninety-two standard performers to his credit, and his sons and daughters breeding on, the blood of Happy Medium is justly held in very high esteem as a positive speed-producing element. Fifty-one of his sons have produced two hundred and thirteen, and forty-seven of his daughters have produced fifty-nine standard performers.

JAY GOULD was one of the most famous of all the sons of Hambletonian on the turf and the sensational trotting stallion of his day, and he now, in turn, takes a high place among producing sons of the great father of trotters. This horse was bred by the late Richard Sears, of Orange County, New York, was foaled 1864, and was got by Hambletonian, out of Lady Sanford, by Seely’s American Star; grandam Old Sorrel, by Exton Eclipse; third dam by Lawrence’s Messenger Duroc, etc. At maturity Jay Gould was a handsome, blood-like horse, fifteen and one-half hands high, and a rich bay in color, with white hind ankles. With his dam he was sold while at her side to Charles H. Kerner, of New York, who soon after traded them to John Minchin, of Goshen, for the then well-known trotter Drift, Mr. Kerner also paying a fair sum in cash. Later the colt came into the hands of A. C. Green, of Fall River, and was by him named Judge Brigham. It is said that Mr. Green first learned that Judge Brigham was a fast trotter through his taking fright at a train one day in 1870 and running away with him at a trot. Whatever the facts as to this are, it was soon known that Mr. Green had a very fast trotter, and the next season (1871) he started for a five-thousand-dollar purse at Buffalo, among the other starters being the already famous Judge Fullerton. To the general astonishment, Judge Brigham “cut loose” in the second heat, winning it in 2:22, thus equaling the stallion record then held by George Wilkes, and placing to his credit the fastest heat ever up to that time trotted by a horse in his maiden race. He won the race handily, and was the sensation of the time. He was at once purchased for, I believe, the great price of thirty-five thousand dollars by the late world-famous financier, Jay Gould, H. N. Smith, and George C. Hall. Later Mr. Smith acquired Mr. Hall’s interest, and Mr. Kerner bought Mr. Gould’s, and finally, some years after, Mr. Smith, who had established Fashion Stud Farm, at Trenton, New Jersey, and owned the noted mares Goldsmith Maid, 2:14, Lady Thorn, 2:18¼, and Lucy, 2:18¼, became sole owner of Jay Gould, as Judge Brigham was renamed.

The week following his Buffalo race Jay Gould defeated another strong field at Kalamazoo, Michigan; and in 1872 started four times, winning in all his races, lowering his record to 2:21¼, the then champion stallion record. He was kept in the stud in 1873, but being challenged on behalf of Bashaw Jr., the following year, was given a hurried fall preparation, and met his challenger at Baltimore. Bashaw Jr., broke down in the first heat, and Gould of course won an empty victory, but to satisfy the audience was driven a public trial in 2:19½. Meanwhile Smuggler had lowered the stallion record to 2:20, and Jay Gould was sent against it at Boston, trotting under unfavorable circumstances in 2:20½ and 2:21½. This practically closed his turf career. He made a number of seasons at Fashion Farm, and in his later years at Walnut Hill Farm, near Lexington, Kentucky, and died of old age June 10, 1894. Jay Gould’s opportunities were never of the best. In his earlier years in the stud General Knox was more used at Fashion Farm than Jay Gould, and there was no training done at Fashion until 1886. Jay Gould is the sire of twenty-nine standard performers, the most noted of which is the great mare Pixley, 2:08¼. Fourteen of his sons have produced thirty standard performers, and twenty-eight of his daughters have produced forty-six performers, among the latter being the great pacer, Robert J., 2:01½, and such trotters as Poem, 2:11½, Colonel Kuser, 2:11¼, Mahogany, 2:12¼, Edgardo, 2:13¾, etc. His most noted producing daughter is Lucia, whose dam was the famous old trotting mare Lucy, 2:18¼, by George M. Patchen, 2:23½. Lucia is the dam of Edgardo, 2:13¾, Hurly Burly, 2:16¼, and several others in the 2:30 list, and her blood is breeding on through both her sons and daughters.

STRATHMORE, taking all things into consideration, must be rated among the very greatest sons of Hambletonian. He was a solid bay horse, of the substantial Hambletonian type, foaled 1866, bred by Aristides Welch at his Chestnut Hill farm, near Philadelphia, and was got by Hambletonian out of the quite famous trotting mare Lady Waltermire, by North American, and Lady Waltermire’s dam was said to have been by Harris’ Hambletonian. This North American sired Whitehall, that got the famous trotter Rhode Island, sire of the still more celebrated Governor Sprague, and in the section treating of the latter the reader will find particulars concerning North American. Lady Waltermire was a noted trotting mare in her day, and it has been claimed that she performed faster than 2:30, but I have never been able to substantiate this claim. When Strathmore was a three-year-old, in 1869, I visited Chestnut Hill. Mr. Welch then had three sons of Hambletonian, viz., William Welch, Rysdyk, and Strathmore, who was then called Goodwin Watson. The two former were led out to be shown, but when I inquired for Goodwin Watson, Mr. Welch’s reply was “Oh, he’s a pacer”—except that he used an adjective in connection with “pacer” that added emphasis, and betrayed some degree of regret, or indeed disgust. The fact that several of Strathmore’s sons have gotten many fast pacers need not be marveled at. I am not aware that Strathmore was ever trained, and probably his pacing inclination furnishes the reason. When he was seven years old he was purchased by Colonel R. G. Stoner, of Paris, Kentucky, and named Strathmore, and up to this time, Colonel Stoner states, he had but three foals, one of which was afterward known as Chestnut Hill, 2:22½, the first of his get to earn a reputation. His first two seasons were made in Montgomery County, after which he was taken to Paris, in Bourbon County. Colonel Stoner states in one of his catalogues that Strathmore’s early opportunities in Kentucky were very inferior; that in 1877 and 1878 the service fees earned would not pay for his keep; that up to 1879 he never served a mare with a record or the dam of an animal with a record, and that it was not until Steinway trotted in 1878 as a two-year old in 2:31¾, and Santa Claus as a five-year-old in 2:18 in 1879 that any good mares came to Strathmore. At Colonel Stoner’s sale, February 9, 1886, Strathmore was sold for two thousand one hundred and fifty dollars to Rockhill & Bro., of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they owned him until his death, March 11, 1895. Strathmore has seventy-one in the standard list; twenty-six of his sons and fifty-four of his daughters have produced one hundred and fifty-eight standard performers.

EGBERT is one of the youngest sons of Hambletonian, and has achieved very fair success in the stud. He is closely inbred to the Hambletonian, or rather the Abdallah blood, and is possibly the most notable instance of a successful sire being very closely inbred. Egbert was bred by Hon. J. H. Walker, Worcester, Massachusetts, and was foaled in 1875. He was sold at the sale of Mr. Walker’s horses at Worcester in the autumn of 1877, when he was purchased for the then great price for a two-year-old of three thousand four hundred and twenty-five dollars by H. J. Hendryx, of Michigan, a representative of Mr. Veech, of Kentucky, being a contending bidder. After the sale Mr. Hendryx sold the colt for four thousand dollars to George W. Raudenbush, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who I believe still owns him. In the spring of 1880 Egbert was taken by Colonel Richard West to his farm at Georgetown, Kentucky, and kept there a number of years, and indeed the greater part of his stud career has been in Kentucky. I am not aware that Egbert was ever trained. He is individually a superior horse, but is alleged to have an unkind disposition.

Egbert was got by Hambletonian out of Campdown, by Messenger Duroc (son of Hambletonian); grandam Miss McLeod (dam of Lord Nelson, 2:26¼, and Polonius), by the Holbert Colt (son of Hambletonian); great-grandam May Fly, by Utter Horse, son of Hoyt’s Comet; great-great-grandam Virgo, sister to the dam of Messenger Duroc, by Roe’s Abdallah Chief, son of Abdallah, the sire of Hambletonian. The Holbert Colt, son of Hambletonian, was a pacer, and others in Egbert’s ancestry paced; and in commenting on his pedigree, from this point of view, at the time Colonel West took him to Kentucky, I remarked in _Wallace’s Monthly_, March, 1880: “Colonel West need not be surprised if he finds quite a number of Egbert’s offspring starting off at a pace.” The facts have borne out the prediction, as a glance at Egbert’s long list of fast pacers will show. Egbert is the sire of seventy-five standard performers, while twenty-five of his sons, and eighteen of his daughters have produced seventy-four standard performers.

MASTERLODE, that left a family of some merit in Michigan, was a mammoth bay, foaled 1868, got by Hambletonian out of Lady Irwin by Seeley’s American Star. He was a gigantic, coarse horse, and was certainly the largest horse that ever earned a reputation as a sire of trotters. It is said he was quite seventeen hands high and was built on a heavy mold even for his height. He was bred by James M. Mills, Orange County, New York, and passed to A. C. Fisk, Coldwater, Michigan, who owned him until his death in 1892. The most noted of his get was Belle F., 2:15¼, that was one of the very best campaigners out in 1886. He has twenty-eight to his credit in the list, and seventeen of his sons and sixteen of his daughters have produced in all fifty-seven standard performers.

ABERDEEN shares with Dictator such honors as attach to the highest success of the “Hambletonian-Star cross” in the stud. This horse was bred by the notorious Captain Isaiah Rynders, at Passaic, New Jersey, and a full account of the investigation of the pedigree of his dam, the noted Widow Machree, 2:29, will be found in Chapter XXIX., on the investigation of pedigrees. Widow Machree was altogether the best trotter of the American Star family, and was especially noted for her gameness. Bred to Hambletonian, it was natural that she should produce a trotter, and Aberdeen was quite a trotter in his day. As a three-year-old he won a stake at Prospect Park, distancing his field in 2:46, and the statement has been published that he later in his career trotted a slow New Jersey track in 2:24¼. This horse was foaled in 1866, and was a bay fifteen hands three inches high, and very stoutly, indeed coarsely made, and was of a dangerously vicious disposition. The good race mare Hattie Woodward, that made a record of 2:15½, first attracted attention to Aberdeen as a sire, and in 1881 he was purchased by General Withers and taken to Fairlawn, and before this his stud opportunities had been very limited. He died in 1892. By far the best of his get is the great mare Kentucky Union, that made a record of 2:07¼ in 1896. Aberdeen has forty in the standard list, fourteen of his sons have produced fifty-seven, and seventeen of his daughters have produced nineteen standard performers.

SWEEPSTAKES must be classed among the successful sons of Hambletonian as a sire of trotters, though in the second generation his family have yet failed of great distinction, nor did Sweepstakes himself get extreme speed. This was a bay horse, foaled 1867, by Hambletonian out of Emma Mills, that also produced Mott’s Independent, by Seely’s American Star. He was bred by the late Harrison Mills, near Goshen, in Orange County, New York, and was never, I believe, trained. Indeed it has been stated that he never wore harness, and is perhaps the most remarkable example of a strictly undeveloped sire of trotters. The most noted of his get is the bay horse Captain Lyons, 2:17¼. Sweepstakes sired thirty-three trotters and two pacers that are standard performers, four sons have produced eight trotters and two pacers, and twenty of his daughters have produced twenty-five trotters and four pacers.

GOVERNOR SPRAGUE is one of the few horses not descended in the male line from one of the great foundation progenitors, and that yet was a trotter of merit and the founder of a trotting family. His dam, however, was a producing daughter of Hambletonian, and this must be regarded as the probable source of his power, though his sire was a fine trotter for his day.

Back in the thirties a Frenchman living at Rouse’s Point, New York, near the Canadian boundary line, bred a pacing mare to a horse that was kept in the same stable with Sir Walter, thoroughbred son of Hickory, and the result was the horse known as North American, or the Bullock Horse. It was long claimed that North American was by Sir Walter, but the best authenticated version is given in _Wallace’s Monthly_, for 1880. This was the statement of a Mr. Ladd, said to be a reliable man, who knew the Frenchman who bred North American. Ladd had formerly lived at Rouse’s Point, and kept a little hotel at Benson’s Landing on Lake Champlain. Ladd’s statement was that the Frenchman had a little pacing mare, from which he wanted to raise a foal, but would not pay more than three dollars for any horse’s service. Sir Walter’s fee was fifteen dollars, but in the same stable was a large stallion that was used to haul water from the lake to the hotel, and the Frenchman was permitted to have the service of this horse for three dollars, and this is the only reliable version I could ever obtain as to the pedigree of North American. Besides the line we are now considering, this horse got Lady Waltermire, the dam of the great Strathmore, and one of his daughters is the dam of two in the 2:30 list, and Vergennes Black Hawk came from another. North America was said to have been a natural trotter, and quite fast for a short distance. A son of his, named Whitehall, from the name of the place where he was bred, was taken to Ohio from New York about 1854 and there got the noted Rhode Island, 2:23½, the sire of Governor Sprague. Rhode Island was a brown horse, foaled about 1857, and his dam was by a black horse called Davy Crockett that was brought from Pennsylvania, and her dam was called Bald Hornet. This mare, Mag Taylor, was bred to Whitehall twice, one of her foals being Belle Rice, the dam of the stallion Harry Wilkes, sire of Rosalind Wilkes, 2:14¼, and the other was Rhode Island. This horse trotted many races, and at Fashion Course, New York, October 27, 1868, earned his record of 2:23½. He about this time passed into the hands of Sprague & Akers, and he died in 1875. At this time Governor Amasa Sprague had among his brood mares Belle Brandon, by Rysdyk’s Hambletonian out of a daughter of Young Bacchus. This was a bay mare, foaled in 1854 in Orange County, and was a fast trotter and a mare of great general excellence. She was driven as a mate to Sprague’s Hambletonian, and Mr. Sprague claimed that he had once driven her a mile in 2:29. Bred to Volunteer she produced Amy, 2:20¼, and to Rhode Island, produced in 1872, Governor Sprague, 2:20½.

Governor Sprague was a black horse, approximating fifteen hands two inches in height, and very substantially built. He is described as having been an exceedingly handsome horse, especially in action, his gait having been pure and beautiful. In 1873 he was sent to Kansas and trained, and so promising was he that he was that year sold to Higbee Brothers and Mr. Babcock, of Canton, Illinois, for one thousand five hundred dollars. He was shown and known as a very fast four-year-old, trotting public exhibitions in about 2:22. With the exception of a three-year-old race at Earlville, Illinois, he did not start in a public race until July 20, 1876, when at Chicago he easily defeated a good field, and so promising and attractive did he seem that the late Jerome I. Case, of Racine, paid the great price of twenty-seven thousand five hundred dollars for him. At Poughkeepsie, New York, that season he lowered his record to 2:20½, and a few more races ended his short but brilliant turf career. He died at Lexington, Kentucky, May 23, 1883, at the early age of eleven years. His stud career was therefore short, and this fact we must remember in estimating his rank as a sire. Kate Sprague, 2:18, and Linda Sprague, 2:19, were about the best of his immediate progeny, and Rounds’ Sprague, that has twenty trotters and pacers in the 2:30 list, some of them in better than 2:20, seems to be his most successful son. Governor Sprague has to his credit thirty-six trotters and two pacers with standard records, twenty-two of his sons have sired fifty-four trotters and fifteen pacers, and his daughters have produced twenty-three trotters and six pacers. There was nothing in the inheritance of Rhode Island to justify a supposition that he would transmit speed uniformly, and, like Smuggler, the speed-getting power with him was sporadic. But from his dam, Belle Brandon, Governor Sprague received the blood of Hambletonian through an individual that had speed herself and naturally produced speed; and this strain, combined with the blood of a horse that was good enough in his day to beat Lucy, American Girl and George Wilkes, gave Governor Sprague a right to be all that he was.