, 1876-11-11

Sou VI AnOIACfsu Ivy O"o OA WIZ
Commodore's imported mare Pru-
nella, by Comus. He gave a field
of -four horses a drubbing at Te-
hama for q purse of S40O, being then
three years old, and then passed
into the hands of E, S. Lathrop,
who bought him on the advice of
Col. Balie Peyton for 50, 800. The
following Spring 1859 he beat Ne
braska Bill, Wake-up-Jake and
Mary O'Neil at Sacramento and the
next Fall at Napa beat Ashland two
mile heats. This led to the
GREAT $4,000 MATCH
At four-mile heats between the
same horses. The excitement for
months before this race, which took
place at Sacramento April Goth, 1860,
was most intense. The Kentuckians
all bet on Ashland, who had pre-
viously beaten q horse called Owen
Dale, also a son of Belmont; while
the Ohio-born men and a few Jersey
men laid their money on Langford.
There were no pools in those days
but in the open betting, Ashland
had the call at
TWO TO ONE.
Col. Peyton took the odds to the ex-
tent of 81 800 and landed So, 200 for
his venture. The writer made what
was called the most foolish bet of
all--S20 against 800 that Ashland
would not win a heat-and laid it five
times over, bagging cool $500 on
it. The judges Of the race were
James G. Davis, of Sacramento; AL
fred J. Ellis, of San Francisco; and
George T. Thomas, the presentSher-
iff of Walla Walla. Ashland was
ridden by John Williams and Lang
ford by WILDER Pierce. The latter
horse was trained by the late r. S.
Wooding and Ashland by John S.
Dunn.
AN IMMENSE CONCoURSE
Of people lined the track as the
horses came up for the word, Lang
ford on the Inside. The first mile
was run in 1855, when Ashland
moved up to within about three
lengths of Langford, who shook
him off and made the second mile in
1:50, the two miles being 3:45. All
efforts on the part of Ashland to
close the gap were unavailing and
Langford was running in hand at
the close of the third mile, the
three miles being 5:44H. Wilbur
now took a bracing pull of his
horse and sawed his head clean
around to the saddle,
WINNING IN A WALK,
In the good time of 7:43a4, Ash
land being drawn after this heat.
Two weeks after this great event,
on which over 100000 changed
hands, Langford won the Jockey
Club purse of 81 900 at Marys-
vile, distancing a big gray tilly
from Cache Greek, called
SUSIE HAWKINS,
The grand-dam of Tom Merry,
Mark Twain and Eva Bascom. He
also beat Orphan Bay at Santa Ro-
sa. two-mile heats, which he won
by sheer gameness. He then re-
tired to the breeding stud where he
did no good, owing to his them
owners mean disposition and par
simony. But ON the death of La
throp he fell into the hands of Mr..
Boggs at $500. He subsequently
became the sire of Compromise,
who won ten out of seventeen races,
and of
THAD STEVENS,
The most famous horse foaled on
the Pacific Coast. Thad was a
buggy horse driven by Mrs. George
Treat of San Francisco to basket
phaeton till six years old, when
Henry Walsh took the lazy rascal
in hand and made him run like a
Fourth Ward niger with a bull
dog after linn. He ran two miles
in 1885,, four miles in 1880, a second
heat at that and mile heats, in 5,
in 1:43, 1:43, :434, 1:45. Langford
was also the sire of the little poney
Waterford" who has the best two
mile record of any horse living.
He beat Woodbury. and HockE ock-
ing in 3:364, 3:374. $50 the only
race ever won with all three heats
below $40. They were noble sons
of
WORTHY SIRE.
The old horse has passed away,
and so have many of the noble
spirits who were there on that day
he overcame the Nervii." He is
buried beside the murmuring wa
ters of the Sacramento, in a grove
of oaks, beside Jerry Lancaster, the
great Southern horse Of thirty years
ago.