Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-12-11

Lord Clinton, that was brought up from
Arkansas during the midsummer days
and went number of races with mod
crate success, although at no time did he
fulfil the predictions made concerning
his speed by those who should have been
well informed on that subject. There
has been good deal written in regard to
the blood lines of LCrd Clinton, but the
facts in the case are that beyond his be-
ing by stallion of the Ethan family
nothing is known concerning the horses
pedigree. When first brought north in
the summer he was held for sale at the
eXtravagant figure of 5000, his owner
claiming that he could trot in 2:lG. but
although he was horse of considerable
brush there was no time during July and
August that he could come anywhere
near making good his owners prediction.
As II matter of fact he was beaten at Sag
NAV in slower time than , 20 by Little
Albert, and during the time that MclIen-
ry had him he was hardly first-class. AS
the cold weather of fall came on, how
ever, Lord Clinton improved very fast in
racing capacity. and at the Nashville and
Columbia meetings in October he could
play with a , 20 horse, and seemed to
have speed enough to step mile in 2l5
or better. During the last week of Oc-
tober Lord Clinton showed up at Biz
mingham, Ala, where he won the free
fOr-all race from Ed. Geer's good horse
n. T. H., the best mile being , PA over
new track. From the fact that 20
was not beaten in this race, and Lord
Clinton seemed to be pretty we'll extend
ed all the time, Geers thought he would
be sure to beat him in another race later
in the week, in which he was to start
Fred S. Wilkes, "A horse that can beat
2 20 all the time over first-class track.
But when it came to trottng the race in
stead of talking about it Lord Clinton
stepped three dizzy miles in 2:2l, 2:l7
and 2:lS4, the best mile and best three
heats ever put to the credit of Il trotter in
the State of Alabama. Inasmuch as the
Birmingham track cannot be considered
a fast one, this mile in 2:l7 by Lord
Clinton is considered by horsemen to be
equal to =: IA over one of the fast tracks
in midsummer. After II. ID. Mckinney
had seen Lord Clinton step third heat
at columbia in 2:lS he expressed the
opinion that the horse could have done
the trick right then in 2:l5, and thought
that under more favorable circumstances
he was liable to become sensational
performer even in these days of equine
infant prOdigies and horses that beat
2:l0. Lord Clinton has a remarkable
history, there being no doubt of the fact
that up to 1880 he was used exclusively
under the saddle, and last year ran Il
number of quarter races, being re-
markedly speedy horse at the gallon.
More than this, he was ridden to hounds
in the South. and by reason of having
worn heavy curb bit his tongue was
badly laceratcd in one place, leaving IA
groove that has bothered him ever since
he began life as a trotter, and his defeat
in decided heat in Detroit last summer
fact that the horses tongue troubled him
and he let go of the bit at critical mo-
ment. 1t would be interesting and valu-
bic 10 learn all about the blood lines of
Lord Clinton, but the tracing of his pedi-
gree appears at present to be a hopeless
task. or course as soon as it was es-
tablished that he had run quarter races
the men who have a fancy for running
blood in trotting pedigrees at once ex-
planned all his trotting speed by means
OF their favorite theory, but the ONLY
reason for the horse trotting more than
ordinarily fast is that he was by grand
son OF Ethan Allen, stallion that in his
day was champion and whose sons and
daughters have produced speed at the
trot with more or less uniformity. The
fact that Lord Clinton could run well for
a shortdistance does not prove that he is
not trotting bred, because when Cold
smith Maid was in her salad DAYS and be-
fore she had known the touch of a har-
ness she was more than once ridden
quarter-mile races on the roads of Or
ange county, n. y, and it was also the
headstrong filly's favorlte mode of recre-
alton to break away from the Decker farm
I'm the night time and roam the country
at will, fences of the ordinary kind being
no obstacle to her progress. And yet