Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-10-03
American Horss. and the rurr.

Or country, mas Deen the n0rSe-races, or trials
to speed" There can be no doubt that these exhib
s. tons, with the system of competition and tests the
have established have raised the standard of excel
to lence in American horses, and produced breed o
re animals which commands the admiration of the
IS world. A few weeks ago five valuable Vernon
D. horses were purchased for the French Emperor
,e thus augmenting the number of American animals
"a in the imperial stables twenty-nne; and not tive
n weeks ago. at the Springfield Horse Fair his agen
a. bought another Vermont gelding, Black Hawk ant
Morgan, seven years old and Isl hands high, fo1
$1,000
Il The triumphs in England of Mr.. TENBRoECK
e Prioress and other American horses, even when
# subjected to foreign climate, and to style of
{ training and racing which were entirely new to
Them and the constant expectation of the improved
cisAtIantc stock to Europe are also among the re-
suits of the interest in horseesh awakened BY the
excitemento of course racing The emulation produced
by the opening of trotting grounds will tend still
further towards the same end Nor is there any
kind of horse from the cart horse to the carriage
or saddehorse, which does not share in the general
improvement.
These remarks call to mind, says the New York
Evening Post, memoir recently published of the
late WILLIAM PORTER, whose Journal the Spirit of the
lines established by him in 1881, gave the impulse
to the sports Of the turf which brought them into
such general favor throughout the United States
and even in his native New England Colonel PoR-
TER was born in Vermont, in 1902 and died citizen
| OF New York in 1858. Like the eccentric English
noblemen, Lord SEYMOUR, in France, he was the
means of introducing ''pg-skin," as the sport is
sometimes termed, into large part of the Union
where it was before unknown; and Mr.. BRNLEr's
interesting biography of him supplies many sugges-
tive facts respecting the history of the turf this
! continent Mr.. BRISIEY says:
"In the reign of Queen Anne, Herbert informs
us) the English thoroug bred horse may be regard
ed as fully established, the barley Arabian son of |
Flying Childers Curwen's Barb and Lord Carisles
Turk son of the Bald Galloway, being imported in |
her reign Sixteen years after her DEATH and three
years before the foundation of Georgia the youngest
of the royal colonies, twentyone foreign and fifty
native stations, of them the most celebrated
horses the world has seen, such as Chllders
the Bald Galloway, Bay Bolton COneyskns Crab |
Fox Hartleys blind horse Jigg Soreheels and True
blue were covering the United Kingdoms and from
some OF these descended all our racers of the |
present day. Six years before this the first racing
calendar was published in England, with nearly
seven hundred subscribers
During this period it was, precisely, that the
American colonies were planted and, as might be
anticipated English horses of pure blood were at a
very early period introduced. And in those regions
where the settlement was principally effected by
men OF birth, attached to the cavalier part race
horses were kept and trained race-courses were
established, and wellauthentcated stock of thor
Ough-bred animals. tracing to the most celebrated
English sires many of which were imported in the
early part of the eighteenth century, was in exist
ence considerably before the outbreak of the old
French War. In the Eastern States the settlers of
which were, for the most part, attached to the pur
tan party and therefore oppose to all amusements
nnGfI 4lo g.,
and to hOrse-racng especially, as profane and posi-
lively wicked very few horses of Thoroughbred
were imported
Virginia and Maryland as the headquarters of
the cavaliers. the seat of the arstOcracy fashion
and wealth of the colonies prior to the Revolution
took an early and decided lead in this noble pursuit.
and while the love of the sport continues to distn
gHlsh their descendants who age by far the most
equestrian in their habits of any citizens of the Re-
public, the result of their lberaty is yet visible in
the blood of their noble steeds. The emgrants |
from those States to Tennessee took some of their
best stock with them, and thus it became more or !
less dIHused. as population attracted to fresh
territory and as the boundaries of the Union were
enlarged
1t Is believed, continues the EUeniHg Post that the
amusements of the turf were introduced into Amer
lea by Governor SAMUEL OGLE, during his term of u
Office as Governor of the province of Maryland
from 1872 to 1745 About IS47 a jockey club was
/
imported blood horses great expense. The races
were occasions of high festiviy, and were honOred
by the presence of cIergymen and the highest dig
nltaries of the State. Considerable sums are SAID
10 have been bet on the races ; but subscription :
purses of one hundred guineas were for a long time
the highest amounts run for. D
In South Carolina the sport was held in equal b
lGpOr The first recorded race there took place in
charleston February 1874, the prize being saddle
md bride, valued at twenty pounds. The horses, q
~ stipulation, carried each ten stone-white riders al
nile heats AS evidence of the popularity of races
IS said that the courts of law would adjourn the
chools be suspended, and the shops of Charleston
losed as the time of the horses starting drew near.
these early days also, the prize consisted of
money, but of some permanent honorary memorial
nd the pieces of plate won on such contests are of
till exhibited in the old Carolina families.
Of late years numerous race-courses have been
established over the country, and the improvement
horses consequent upon their success has been l9
Unprecedented. Our trottng horses are the fastest
n the world although every effort has been made o
n England and elsewhere to contest their supre-
macy. Thirty years ago, according to Col PORTER
thousands of dollars would have been wagered that
o horse in the world could trot mile in three -
minutes, and this speed is still regarded as remark
BILE in England Now, on every clear afternoon we n,
lay scores doing it with ease on the Blooming Pr
ale road, and in almost every town in the country NJ
here horse fancers who will not own an ami De
la that does not trot within that time The achieve S
lent Of Flora Temple at Kalamazoo, in trotting Oh
lille in 2.l9!, would have been pronounced thirty W
ears ago an inpossbility. NJ
COurse-racing has not only improved the quality
ut the value of the blood stock of this country As
ing ago as 1915, Col. PORTER estimated this value
t not less than five millions of dollars, and its
augmentation since has been immense. Mr.. BRIN- ~
ETY. in illustrating this point says that 900 tr
aid for Henry; Zenith and Magnate could not be w
urchased for $4,000 at three years old. Medoc NJ
ne of the very best Of native stations, was Ce
lid to be worth not less than $4,000 the day of s
is death. Black Maria sold at auction at Nash Pa
lille for $4,000, when thirteen years old. Mary a.
lunt sold for $4,000. Altorf for $4,000 at nine Ri
ears of age. ROdOlph for $4,000 For Fash
N Sl2, 900 was asked and so on. For such of our
lore recent favorites Flora Temple and George
Patchen, it would probably be difficult to suggest