St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-28

record in 1890, and in the past thirty-one
| years $40 horses have made mile trot-
ting in 2:20 or less. 1t is a little more
than thirty-one years since Flora Tenn
! place on Oct. Is, 1859, at Kalamazoo,
Mich. James ID. McMann, who drove
| her on that occasion. was an Old-timer
| of over fifty years OF age then. He died
| in Brooklyn but few days ago, after
living to see many performers surpass
| the mark established by his favorite,
and the best on record placed at
2:OS1s. None could successful
in her day. She first trotted
in public Sept. o, 1850, over the Union
| course, on Long Island, under the name
| of Flora, and her best time was $40.
| Two years later she gained some local
| celebrity, going as fast as 1856, and in
1858, having trotted as low as
| 2:27 over the Centreyille course, she
was thought good enough to campai gn,
| and made quite tour through the West
| and South. She was almost invariably
| victorious in her races. In 1856 she
gained record of 2:24115s, which made
| her the "Queen of the turf" and she
! wore this crown for eleven years. In
1859 she lowered her mark of 2:2419,
first to 2:22, then to 2:211s, and. last, at
| Kalamazoo, on Oct. Is, to 2:19M.
1t is difficult for the lovers of trOtters
in this generation to realize how stu
| pendOuS that performance appeared in
| its day. 1t was the talk of the country.
| There were few prophets who did not
hesitate to predict that it would yet be
surpassed; but the most able writer's
for the sporting periodicals agreed that
the rate of speed was high-water mark,
ard that the child was not yet born who
would live to see another trOtter beat
2:2O in harness. The war followed
shortly afterward, and the industry
of training trotterS, and the sport
of racing them, fell into disuse,
and for eight years the pessimiSts had
the best of it. But in 1867, over the
Buffalo track, Dexter upset all their cal
culations by trotting i'll 2:1714, and it
was not long before number of others,
like Goldsmith Maid, Lady ThOrne,
Lucy. American Girl and George Pal
mer, succeeded in entering the 800 list.
Year by year its ranks have been added
to, and the New York Sun, in present
Ing the complete list of all trotterS en-
titled to this honor, has thought it best
to remind readers how short a time ago
it was that such featS were deemed we'll
nigh impossible.
The 2:1O15 of Sunol in 1890 does not
appear in the table below because she
gained precisely that record as three
year-old in 1889. The fastest perform
ance of the season, as new record, is
the 2:l0$4 Of the stallion Nelson. which
was made at Cambridge City, Ind, over
regular oval track, and not one OF the
new-fangled kite-shaped courses, which
l,xrcn
onds. This adds greatly to the merit of
the performance. Nelson holds the
fastest record for stallion, His sire,
Young Rolfe, was by Tom Rolte. dam
Judith, by Draco, Tom Rolfe was by
Pugh's Aratus, dam the pacing mare
POcahontas, who made record of
2:1715 to wagon, as long ago as 1855,
driven by James d. McMann, the
same veteran that pilOted Flora
Temple to her 2:19%. The
dam of Nelson was Gret hen
by Gideon, son of Hamblet0nian
Gretchen is good brood mare, but
the wonderful speed of Nelson doubt
less finds its handspring in old POca-
fall. For instance, her son, Tom Rolfe,
trotted in 2:3313 in 1869; his son. Young
Rolfe, trotted in 2:211 in 1884, and
would have made much faster record
had he not fallen dead in race at
Mystic Park, Boston; and the latter's
son, Nelson, trots in 2:10$ in 1890.
What will the get of Nelson do in 1900?
The next best record of the season is
the 2:114 of the Californian stallion,
Stamboul, and he is still on the war
path for Nelson's scalp. The 2:124 Of
Jack and the 2:12A of Margaret S,
come next in point of speed.
Senator Stanford's Electioneer heads
the Sires of 2:20 OF better trotters with
IA of his get in the list; George Wilkes
is second, with 10: Nutwood and Prin-
cess have each; Blue Bell, Red Wilkes
and Volunteer, each; Aberdeen, Alcy-
one. Almont Jr. (Hamlin's), Gov.
Sprague, Guy Wilkes, Kentucky Prince,
Mosterlode and Strathmore, 4 each, and
Almont, Belmont, Dauntless, Dictator,
Gen. Knox. Hambletonian, Happy Me-
dunn, Mambrino King and Young Jim
HAYES each. OF these sires, Guy Wilkes,
who was foaled in 1879, is the youngest,
and his future promises to be very brill
liant. Among these twenty-fOur sireS of
great speed we find but six who them
selves have records of 2:30 or better.
which appears to support, as far as it
goes, the theory of undevelOped STALL
ions being the best for stock purposes.
of which argument G. j. Hamlin, of
Buffalo, is the founder. The complete
list of trotters to enter the 2:20 list this