Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-18
Our Untraveled Horses.

On own soil we have as good
horses, probably, as those that have
won glory in England and in France.
We have Hindoo, the winner of the
Kentucky Derby and the Clark Stakes
at Louisville, and of the Blue Ribbon
Stakes at Lexington. We have Thora,
a grand filly, who in 1881 defeated both
Hindoo and Crickmore, but succumbed
last year at Jerome Park to Sly Dance,
having to concede a year and six
pounds. We have back from his Eng
lish campaign our old favorite Parole,
whose brilliant performance in the Man
haitian handicap, with 120 pounds, de-
served the enthusiasm it aroused. We
have the steeple-chaser Trouble, who on
the fifth day of the October meeting at
jerome Park o. the handicap steep]e-
chase, carrying 157 pounds. We have
Glenmore, the gallant chestnut that
achieved the unparalleled performance
of running the four miles in the last two
heats for the Bowie Stakes in the time
of 1901 and 7.31 respectively. With
his easy action and great staying pow
ers he is a wonderful horse; and in
spite of the long races in which he has
been engaged, he is as sound and as
fresh as ever. In the Coney Island Cup
race he defeated Luke Blackburn, Mon
itor, Parole, and Uncas, winning in
3.5Sa.
We have every reason to expect that
in the near future other foreign victories
will be obtained by our sportsmen. We
possess some Of the best blood in the
world. We have rich pastures !; we
have q better climate, at all events,
than the British Islands and we have
trainers second to none in their art, and
owners second to none in their enter
prise. The performances of Iroquois
and Foxhall leave no longer any room
for cavil On these points.
The best trotters that fourished about
1880 could not do a mile under 2:5O,
but in 1856 Flora Temple reduced the
time to 2:24!. In 1866, Woodruf's
pride, Dexter, under the saddle, did the
mile at Buffalo in 2:18, and in the fol-
lowing year in 2:174. Since that time
Mr.. Bonner's famous Rarus. Goldsmith
Maid, Lulu, and others, have trotted
their mile in 2:15 or less. But horses
like those just mentioned are nothing
to the wonderful trotters of to-day.
Maud S., the queen of the turf, re-
duced the time, at Rochester in 1880, to
2:1O8; and in 1881, vel the same course,
she trotted amile in the unparalleled
time Of 2:104. The first half of the
Rochester track is by 10 means good;
had it all been equal to the last half,
she would have made the distance in
2:1O. AS a sustained performance,
however, her achievement at Belmont
Park, Philadelphia, in July, sur
passed all previous record. She trotted
three consecutive heats in 2:12, 2:131,
2:123. Her slowest heat beat Rarus's
best at Hartford in 1873, when the re-
cord was 2:13a, 2:13lI. and 2:15. Maud
S. has now the glory Of having achieved
the fastest heat, the fastest two consec-
utive heats, and the fastest three con-
secutive heats that have ever been seen.
If Maud S. is the queen, St. Julien is
the king, Of the trotting turf. He
stands second to her alone with his last
YEARS. record of 2:111. His trainer,
Hickok, has in Santa Claus another
horse not unworthy of being matched
with the queen Of the turf. AS q five
year-old he got a record which is still
unbeaten, making the mile in 2:1S.
The speed of u trotting horses can
not be approached by the animals of
any other country. 1t has been attain
ed, to quote from Hiram Woodruf's
book, ''by our method of breeding,
training, and driving horses, aided by
the enterprise and ingenuity which pro-
vide vehicles, harness, and all the par
aphernalia of that combination of
lightness with strength which is mod
eled upon the plan Of the best trotting
horse himself."-Hugh Craig, IN Har-
per's Magazine.