The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-08-07
TRorTINe HORSES
The Growth and Development
Of This Animal.
Continually


capacity of an animal by his size and
form.
Trotters go in all shapes is An old
adage and a true one. The kings and
queens of the trotting turf from Lady
Suffolk, 2:26h, to Maud S, 9:os%, over
regulation track, and Sunol, 2:OsA.
over kite-shaped track, have borne
but slight resemblance to each other in
form or size. Lady Suffolk was a hand
some, blood-like gray marc with loug
clean neck and stood about 1852 hands.
She was the first trotter to make re-
cord OF 2:2GH to harness and surrendered
the crown to Flora Temple, strong
bav mare about 14:1, who lowered the
mark to 2:l9%. and Flora yielded the
sceptre to Dexter, a u hand chestnut
gelding, with four white feet and n
blaze in the face, who forced the re.
cord down to 2:l7A.
Goldsmith Maid, 2:l4, who sup
planted Dexter, was bay mare built
something after the greyhound pattern,
and stood about Is hands or little
more at the withers and 1871 strong
behind. She had what has been called
the trotting pitch which has been COM
mented upon and argued upon by
great many horsemen. AS formy part
l don't think that the so, called trotting
pitch amounts to "a hill Of BEANS" and
you will always find a set of men that
will take up some new tangled notion
and they believe in their own hearts
that unless that system, $50 to speak,"
is not carried out that those opposed to
tho system will meet with failure and
defeat.
This theory Of trotting pitch in the
trotting horse was sprung upon the
horse world when Maud S came into
prominence in 1882 to 1885. and the
same trotting pith is being argued to-
day by many men who have passed the
best days of thier lives amongst
the trotting horses. But 1 be-
termine the speed capacity OF the
trotter or PAGER by his form, and expe-
rience and observation from year to
year and from day to day strengthens
my belief. Still may be mistaken.
And L will say right here that the bay
gelding Rarus, the subject Of this article,
was horse that was study to horse
man who had had little experience in
the trotting horse business. A sketch
OF Rarus, perhaps, will be OF interest to
tho readers of The TIMES and to the
loVcrS OIL unc GrOGtlnR morse.
Rnrus was bay gelding bred by the
late Il. b. Conklin and was foaled at
Greenport, l.. l., in 1867. His sire was
Conklin's Abdallah ESQ it is said), but
when we followed up the chain there
was question, and it is my belief to day
that the sire of Rarus is not known to q
certainty.
1t has been claimed that the sire of
Rarus was by old Abdallah, who was
the sire Of Hambletonian (1O), and Rarus
resemblod the old horse and had great
many Of the old horses characteristics.
Rarus was undou btedly bred in trotting
lines, and from this source it was that
he inherited his good qualities. Rarus'
dam was Nancy Awful, and she is regis.
tered in tho Breeders Trotting Stud
Book as gray in color and was foaled
in 1877; she was. got by Telegraph, dam
Lady Hunter. By Vermont Black Hawk
Telegraph was strongly inbred Messen-
ger.
always thought that Rarus got his
staying qualities from the Telegraph
| stock. Telegraph traced back to the
English Eclipse, horse we spoka Of
and gave his history some week since.
Rarus scored his first victory ct Hor-
nellsville, N. Y, august 81. 1874 where
no met Barbara Knox. Eathan, Will
Golddust and others. Rarus lost the
| first heat in 2:47, but won tho next three
in BAG. 2:4516, 2-461< At this time
| Rarus was in the hands of John Splann
At that time SRlann was a young
man and had just graduated from Dan
Mace's school, or in other words Splann
had served his time with Dan Mace.
than whom no better or more discreet
| trainer, driver and developer of trotting
horses ever lived. Pages and pages of
firm ,fttI ftnr l.
| compiled on the Wizard of the Sulky, as
Dan Mace was called in his day, and as
| those who knew him in his palmy days
and in his declining years met hial and
saw Dan trotting his race with old
Father Time, all could see that the old
man with the moving machine had
made race with Mace, that with all
poor Dams tact and eunningness, with
all his nerve and courage and with all
his kind heart and fellow feeling for
his friends
For bettor heart never heat i'm mans body.
we could all see that Dan had lost his
last race, although he struggled hard
to get to the score once more ahead of
the field. Poor Dan, as his wife and
friends stood around his death bed in
January, 1898, his last words were as
he opened his eyes for the last time and
bid them all farewell. Dan said: "This
is my last raee. l am most to to the
score, but hope am not d;stanced in
the race Of life. and hope to meet you
all in the far beyond and trot you
another race"
think sometimes Tin my mind)
that 1 see my old friends Mace and
Hiram Woodruff sitting in their easy
chairs, together with the old friends
who had gone before, and those who
had followed, all in the happy land of
Caanan-but am DEPRESSING.
Rarnc' uayt auccoco u,oo D.oo.ooI