The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-04-08
4 GREAT RACE.
Riding . Horse Fifty Miles In I've
Haf Hours.

The Erening Ne,cs, of Gold Hill, Ne
vada, contains the subjoined account of
great race against time, on the Car
son City Course, by Johnny Taylor, for
stake Of 81 900, or $500 to 5000 that
he could ride fifty miles in two hours:
"At just twelve o'clock Taylor made
his appearance, mounted, and ready
for the fray. He is light-built, dark
cOmplexioned young man, and weighs
l1S pounds. After few minutes pre-
liminary arranging of affairs, away he
dashed on the first heat. We have
never seen better rider. Perfectly
erect and steady, he rode firmly in his
stirrups, aud seemed no impeding
weight for horse to carry, but on the
contrary, light, lively, and anything
but dead weight, Johnny knows just
how to ride u horse, that's certain
We did not time all the heats separate
", as that would be too lengthya mat
ter for publishrnent, but the shortest
was made in two minutes and two Sc
cOnds; the average was about two
minutes and eight seconds. Some of
the horses he rode twice round, at a
single heat, and one three times; most
of them, however, he rode only once
round. At the farther sideof the track,
near the half-mile pole, he had placed
horses also waiting, and had to change
at that point OIL two or three occasions. !
When coming in on the home stretch,
if the horse he rode was observed to be
failing, fresh horse was taken out to
meet him, and exchanged; this was
done also two or three times. One
very interesting feature to notice was
the extreme rapidity and facility with
which he changed horses at the stand.
A fresh one ready saddled and bridled,
was held there, and when he rode up,
two or three men would seize his horse
and assist him to leap down and into
the saddle Of the other horse, these
changes thus occupying far less time
than it takes US to write about them.-
Indeed, the last dozen or twenty heats
he was not allowed to touch the ground
at all but was simply picked off one
saddle and placed into the other, with
slap bestowed on his horses rump in
order to start him off at hurry. 1t
was little the Hyliest horse navigation
most people ever saw. About the
twenty-third mile round blood was dis
covered coming from Faylor's mouth
and one ear, being subject to bleeding
at the lungs on such occasions, under
the fearfully severe exercise, but a. he
kept "stiff upper lip" and about
that time also shouted for, some one to
get his watch aud bet 1t ON the race,
we felt assured that he would live
through it-and he did. About two
o'clock, p. m., he finished the race;
time, one hour, fifty-eight minutes and
thirty three seconds s-within two hours.
AS he rode in from the concluding
heat, looking still quite vigorous, and
anything but exhausted, he was taken
from the saddle, amid loud cheers of
triumph, and hilariously carried on the
shoulders of his friends to the front of
the judges stand, from which the re-
suit was announced immediately
Taylor being called upon for a speech,
replied, thanking his friends for their
efforts in his behalf, and expressing the
hope that he would I've as successful in
the great race he is to run Of 300 miles
in ten hours. at Jerome Park, New
York, i'm May next. Faylor had pro-
cured fifteen horses for his race of yes
tertiay, but he had to use three more ON
account of some OF them getting lame.