Wichita eagle., 1889-09-01

q
MAUD s.
"Whv," says Mr.. Bonner, "Guy, the horse
that has done the best time this season, has
only made Il mile in 2:103I, and that is three
quarters of a second behind Jay-Eye-See and
two full seconds slower than the record Of
Maud S."
Two seconds is not a long time, do You say?
Well, so it isn't, but look at two seconds for
moment through Mr.. Boomers spectacles.
''If you were to see two horses come in at
the finish one eighty-two feet behind the
pther you wouldn't call it very close record,
would you:" he asked a reporter the other
day "WeIl, eighty-two feet to the mile
represents the difference in speed between
baud S. and Guy"
Still the handsome speedy little mare viii
be trained Mr.. Bonner explains why this
was not done earlier IL the season. John
Murphy, her Old trainer, was i'll, and tn ere
fore he could not undertake the task, and
Mr. Bonner did not wish TO wound the Sensi-
hive trainers nature by giving his favorite's
care to another during his life Mr. Bonner
feels the loss Of Murphy very keenIy.
Il had the most implicit confidence IN
him. he says land so did Mr.. Vanderbilt. l
had known him for twenty years, and for
the last ten he had driven my best horses"
1t is Mr.. Bonner's intention to work the
little mare very gently at first. She has
been out of training for long time, and Is
too fat for speedy trOtting But her easy
work viii not be exactly the pace Of a snail.
''If / were to give her work by the watch
tomorrow" her owner explains, 81 should
have her trot the first mile in, say 2:30. The
next day she might go in 2:25, and q few
days later in 2:2l, until by degrees she would
regain something like her old speed"
Mr.. Bonner talks as coolly about Maud S.
and her achievements as if her possession
were not the envy of all lovers of fine trot-
ting horses.
Maud S. did her best time at Greenville,
O., July 30, 1885, and she is therefore more
than four years older now than when she was
ct her best. She has, however, never been sent
FOR all she is worth since then, and 1t is, of
course, quite possible, though by no means
certain, that she can still do as well as she
could then.
The interest in trotting, which has unfort-
unately Jagged a good deal for few years
past, seems to have taken q new lease of life
this year, if we may judge by the wonder
fully successful meetings of the grand circuit
at Cleveland, Buffalo and Rochester, and it
may be that it viii again invade the vicin-
ity of New York, which has long been
stronghold of the running race. 1t is sin
cerelY to be hoped that it may, for trOtting
is ms distinctivcly an American institution as
baseball In fact there is no trotting of any
moment outside of America. The running
horse is supreme in England, France and
Germany, the three transatlantic countries
in which trials of the speed OF horses are
popular.
Forty-ffve years ago Lady Suffolk was the
fastest and the most famous of trOtters. Her
best time i'll harness, made in 1874, was only
2:2555, yet she held firsU place with this rec
ord for twelve long years, though IN 1919
Lady Suffolk trotted a mile under the saddle
in 2:26, and in 1851, Tacony, also under
saddle in 2:25j5 In 1856 Flora Temple made
mile in 2:251s and in the same year broke
the record again IN 2:24J3. Three years later,
in 1889, she lowered the record to 2:l9&l, and
she held the titles Of queen of the track till
lS6? the famous Dexter trotted mile
in2 He had made mile in 2:1Sl! IN
1863 ~ this was under the saddle. 1t was
not aadl 1871 that Dexter was dethroned by
Goldsmith Maid, who trotted a mile in har
neSs4n 2:l7, knocking or a quarter of a sec
ond of Dexter's best record. In 1872 she cut
under her own record, making new one of
2:l654.
Two years later, in 1874, in a series of beau
tiful performances she cut the figures down
10 PIG, 2:l5}2, 2:l4$4 and 2:l4. The country
went wild over her and worshiped at her
shrine for four years, when Rarus reigned
in her stead when he first eQualed and then
cut down the record to 2;l34. Rarus was
king but year when st. Julien seized the
slSpter by trotUing a mile In 1879 in 2:l2S4
NE next year, 1880, no other horse lowering
the record, be did it himself, making new fig
ures, first of 2:lI$4 and then OF 2;ll3+.
Then came peerless Maud s. She has not
appeared in public nearly 50 often as did her
predecessors, but her record is extremely
brilliant. In September, 1880, she made
mile in harness in 2:l05l, thus beating st. Jul
lien ana securing the proud title of Queen,
which she has held ever since with the ex-
ception of a single day. Ia July, 1881, she
trotted mile in 2:l03s, and a month later
in 2:lOlL. This record was the best for three
Years, when Jay-Eye-See III 1884 knocked of
the quarter and made mile in 2:l0. The
next dav. however, Maud :, who was then
the property of ". H. Vanderbilt, trotted
mile in 2:C9st. Maud S. s best time, made IN
1885, is, as stated above, 2:0S$a.
- Is extremely doubtful, II outside of Ken
lucky, running has ever awakened the gen
uine enthusiasm that used 10 blaze along the
line OF the grand circuit in the good old days
r.Jw happily come back again The present
writer, who for many years reported the
meetings in Buffalo, Rochester and Utica,
can remember the time when the best PEG
pie, from Chicago to Hartford, In every
sense, outside the very straitlaced, who
looked with horror upon all sporting events,
used 10 gather annually under the canopies
of the grand stand OF the track nearest them
In those days race week-the lover of the
trosting match insists that he has as good a
right 70 the use Of the word ''race. = in sneak
inc 81 his favori1e snort. as the devOtaa IF tho
running horse-was the gala week Of the
wear. II was the social landmark Of the year
as well as a great sporting event, aud Of the
tens Of thousands who used to gather besiis
the beautiful tracks at Buffalo, Rochester
and Utsca, and presumably at all the Others,
but a small proportion were there for ths
purpose Of buying French pools, almost or
quite the only form of organized betting 81
trottiug matches III those days
An exceptionally fast mile was Q subject
for conversation in all circles .ti.a s-yla and