Middletown transcript., 1871-09-02
llopul;lr cltlistrll1nn.
Fran Nuytrs Nyissf.
The Running Turf in America.

The Running Turf in America,
1t is traditional. il not u well aulhenii-
Gated fact that horsc-racipg was knpwn
in America prior 10 The defeat Of General
Braddock, in l,53. Virginia aul Mary
land were the places where first the pee-
pic began 10 think nbout developing the
speed OF the horse In that carly period
quattpr-rncing wa. most in vogue. and il
is safe to assert that sport, rather than the
Improvement Of tn equine, was the in-
eeuliyc to action Feuupusht, imported
into Nigiu, IN March. l1Gt. was regard
ed as tie Gololpbu trahinu Of Amcriea.
Ii We may believe the Old chronicles. lie
certainly was superior horse. He was
bny, - hnnl, u inches high. anl was
foalcl in l1ad, GeGg lri by Mr. War
ran. lie was got iy Rtgups. and lis
dam Silvc;nil mare descended from the
parlcy Arabian Fcunpueht va. bred
to the hest mares in Ih, country, aul tin
result was a better class VI har.es than
Ind formerly been seen on this 81 /, o( tho
Atlantic
Fcnruough, conferred stoutngss and
qualities uI nurauct upon his stock,
which lcA to trials Of .rscd at longer dis
taurcs than had boon the fi-hiun before.
Mares Of pure Blood were ala Imported
from l.nnlanl. anon. which was tat csl.
elta:ai Cn1 maat the dam OF sigmeFkin:
and lraf iiua 1as ca,fiad on viii great
success ii II O. Dominion until it NJ.
interrupted l., the waa ot ihc Revolution
After ,he war new imp5riatinus werJ I'm +,
among which may he mentioned ~ the
mott celebrated the stalliuus Medley anil
Messenger. From Virginia the blood an
racing fever extended into Maryland, anl
then into the Garolinas Charleston for
many years was great rncing centre
Horses were matched ngninst each other
n far hAc, rs i73t; lnt the contests wrrc
not of character to exercise much lutlu-
encc upon The problem Of breeding, if, in
deed, NJ that tiaic breeding was regarded
n the liah, O! apr'blem.
The Newmarlc, toutsf was inaaguratei,
Charleston, fchruary -, lIin, under the
management II Nj Thomas Nightingale,
York shire man by birth. Sesesal other
courses were opened in different parts Of
South Carolina. and racing became some
thing Of n popular pa>lmc, though ;he
sports were what in this modern day We
would fnrcibly. if not elegantly, dcGoni'
nate the scrub order.
About l7I12. flimnap, bay stallion by
South out of tygnct narr- tyguet by
the Gulnlphin arabian was imported il.
to South Carolina hy Mr.. Mauscl! He
vas quite celebrity in his day. aud hi,
blood served to enrich our stock. Though
small. being but fourteen hands aud halt
inch high, h. WIS strong and hardy, Jo-
,iah Quincy, who visited Charleston il
l773, msda hriyi nnt5 in his journal
March ; Spent day in viewing horses,
! riding over the town, and receiving cam-
plimen,ary wits" "Alarch IL Spen,
| the morning. ever since five o'clock. in
pcrusing public records Of the Province
etc. etc am now going 10 the iamou,
races. The races were well performed ;
but flimnap beat Little David twho had
won the last sixteen raccs) ont aud out,
The last heat the former distanced The lat.
ter. The first four. mile heat was perform
ed in eight minutes and seventeen sec
onds. being four miles. t1ouD were won
and los, Mt this race, and flmnap sold nj
public yendue the same day for t5bu
sterling. At the races saw fine collec.
ton OF excellent though very high priced
horses, and was L., little into the singn-
lar art and mystery Of the turf.
When South Carolina was invaded by
the soldiers Of Lord CORVALLIS, frequent
at,cmp,s were mad, to secure from the
farm Of Major liarlcston flimnnp MS .
prisc. for the fame the horse had spread
throughout the two armies But all ef.
for.s to get possession of the stallion PROV
cd unsuccessful flmnap eventually was
sent into North Carolina, where he re-
mained until the British soldiers were
Withdrawn from the other Carolina And
to this day many Of the pcdigrees of tho
best horses in America trace back to this
small but hardy son of South and the
Cygne. marc.
When the war closed new impulse
was given to the sports of the turf. A.
mong the gentlemen from South Carolina
who now took an activc interest in racing
were General Aston. Colonel Washing
ton, Colonel M M'Pherson, Major Thompson
Mr.. Sumter, Mr.. Fenwick, Mr.. Wigfall,
Mr.. William Moultrie, and M. Single