Salt River herald., 1878-11-23
FAST HORSES.
The Wonderful Trotter, Rarus.
Details of an Unprecedented Performance at
 Lexington. Kentucky.
[CineinnAtti Commercial.I


 has been the most brilliant in the annals of the American turf. We presume, from the marvellous i'm provement that is made in the trot- ting stock of the country from year 10 year, that the same assertion will be made next fall of the season of 1879, but so far as this year is concerned there can be no manner of doubt. Thousands of men with out even a tinge of gray in fheir locks can remember when '2:4O" on the shell road was considered al- most lightning speed, and can re- call the successive shock of amaze ment they experienced when Flora Temple first beat 20, when Dexter .rotted in 2:173, and when both Goldsmith Maid and American Girl trotted up to Flora's time whenever they pleased. Last year was a pretty fair year itself for trotters, and some of the fastest of them ma terially reduced their records, until Flora Temples 2:195 was simply an ancient landmark, held in but little more repute than the still more ancient she'll road record.
 Goldsmith Maid, the Queen of the trOtting turf, trotted in the al most incredible time of s:l4, and the oldest hands at the ribbons threw up their arms and exclaimed: "That settles it, no horse will ever beat that time.' And yet along comes the imperial Rarus this year and nonechalantly trots in 2:13! and 2:l34, with every sign of ability to go faster. And Edwin Forrest gets down to half mile in 1:O4, and a mile in 2:144; along comes Hopeful with his 2:143 and Edward and Croxie, and Lucille and Proteine, and several others gracefully desceud Into the "free for all" class, which always means good deal better than 20 when they go for "blood"
 The performances of young trot- ters were remarkable last year, but they have been still more remarka- this season. As a two-year old last year. So So trotted mile in 2:314, which, it was thought, like Gold smith Maids 2:14, would never be beaten. On his way to Lexington to attend the recent trotting meet iig there, an experienced New York turfman, Mir. J. D. Walton, said to 6 reporter: Its hard to believe that two-year old ever trotted that fast, but it's a record, and must be accepted. I'd like to bet something pretty however that the like is not done again in the next five years" An hour later, at the finish of heat he put his timing watch to his ear, and with a startled expression con- pared it with that of friend. The timepieces agreed, and recorded that Memento, Col. R. s. Strader's beautiful two-yelr old Alley had trotted mile in 2:30. MT. Walton, astonished by the performance, thought his watch must have stop ped. It would require more space than we have to spare to enumer- ate all the brilliant things that have been done by trotters, old and young this year, but an event occurred at Lexington yesterday which calls for more than passiug notice. That event was that Maud S., the magnif- icent four-year old Alley of Capt. G. N. Stone of this city trotted a mile over the track of the Kentucky Trotting Horse Breeders Associa- tion, in the altogether unprecedented and unexpected time of 2:179. Maud S. was known to be extreme ly fast, and her owner has not for some time doubted her ability to beat 20, but he was by no means sanguine of her trotting in any such time as she made yesterday. The lilly has been af Lexington some three weeks, and in consequence of the bad weather that has spoiled all these weeks for turf exercies, was very "short of work" Early in the week she was given Ego" in the face of very strong, piercing wind