The sun., 1889-11-12
Tho Star of 1850.

The achievements OF Gov. STANFoRD's Call
ifornia trotters this season, which have led
TO an almost continuous stream OF congrat-
ulutions to their owner, eliminated, we are
almost inclined to hope. In one that may be
called unqualllledly the greatest sensation
ever known to the track, bar none. We do
not believe that even q single performance
in the days when trotting was young,
or the recent 2:12 OF Axtell, or yet the
9:Osi Of Maud S. shook the mind Of those
who ever turn thought to trotting horses
with such vigorous surprise as the 21Ot
made by the three-year-old filly Sunol
on Saturday last.
In comparison with this feat how queer
seems the sentence. Dexter never had an
oat till after he was four years OLD"
which Mr.. GEORGE b. ALLEY. one OF
his early owners, once said to friend.
And Goldsmith Maid was fourteen or
fifteen when she trotted in 2:l4 Rarus was
nearly old enough to smoke when he got
his record. st. Julien was almost In the
same class. Yet now three-yoar-old not
only leaves their marks behind, but comes
to within a second and three-quarters of the
very top notch.
The true superiority of these modern colts
may be exaggerated by some people, but we
are inclined to think that it has been dis
credited in greater degree still, just as In
the case of the successive lights of the run
ming turf. The records OF that field OF
sport show in more than one instance how
contemptuously the admirers OF former
period would greet the greater perform
ances that came after. The unwavering
champion OF Boston, for example. would
look coldly on Lexington with the observa-
ton that the fastest four-mile heat OF his
sire, TAO, or the mark opposite the name OF
Eclipse, Z: :S6, would have surely dropped to
7:192 II the Jockeys and trainers OF the old
horses had known as much as the handlers
OF their descendants.
But there has been a real improvement Of
one equine generation over the other, great
er rs it happens, with the trotter than with
the runner This Sunol may be freely called
the best filly ever seen. not with reserva-
tIon in favor of the driver and OF the
circumstances under which she made
her record, but with full confidence
that such she really is in herself. Next year,
with reasonable luck, II she does not bring
Maud s. out of her stable in defence OF her
supremacy, it will be because the latter
mares owner has lost his interest in the
record, and that is not very likely. And how
sweet 1t would be to see the chestnut mare
move again in earnest! The man who could
ever watch the bend of her knee or the fold
of her fetlock without his mind being taken
from the monotonous circle OF the track and
being walked to sense of perfection Of
movement unsurpassed, had no percep-
ton OF either art or nature. For the
first time since Maud S. made her
record there has appeared an ami
nal upon whom even betting might
be laid that she would eventually beat
il. Sunol trotted in her two-year-old form
in 2:ls In the next year she bettered that
by seven seconds and half. If she cannot
knock Off two seconds more during the
rest OF her career there is no virtue in ma
turity The year 1889 has seen a star arise
upon the trotting track which, when it re-
appears in the season Of 1890, may be looked
upon to blaze into sun OF peerless splendor.
AS for breeding, Sunol adds another power
full confirmation to the theory that the
nearer you can carry the trotting action and
instinct to the thoroughbred, the greater will
be the result Sunol boasts the immortal |
Lexington for a great-grandfather.