Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-11-16

Nancy Hanks, 2:O4, us been shipped
to her owners farm at Ponkapog and
next spring will be bred TO AriOn. 2:O7
81. The queens of the turf have not
proved very prolific in years past.
Flora Temple had but very few foals,
Lady Thorn two, Goldsmith Maid
three, while Maud S and Sunol have
had none though Maud is now nearing
her nineteenth birthday. She was bred
to Mr.. Bonner'S premier Sire Ansel
2:2O, and for Il time was thought to be
in foal; but this proved not be TO the
clse. 1t is to be hoped that Our
Nancy will be as great a success in
the harem as she has been on the
track and that Mr.. Forbes may breed
a world beaten from the two animals
which together cost him $1,000 and
whose average record is faster than
2:O6.
1t is said that AliX, 2:07 "a, and Di-
reGtrTm, 2:04, are to meet in Il match
at Mystic park, Boston tomorrow af-
ternOon. With both contestants fit and
we'll this should prove the race of the
season. On public form the stallion
should win, but racing is Il mighty I'M
certain business and it is not entirely
beyond the bounds of probability that
victory will perch on the mares
sulky. Anyhow it will be great race
and NAV the best horse win
We notice that a prominent Wisconsin
daily has tGken UP the subject of
records made to bicycle and old style
sulky and draws attention to the fact
that a prominent tllrfman has finally
fixed the difference between the two at
six seconds; that is to say, that Maud
SIS, 2:OS 81, when corrected to con-
form to present modes Of record break
ing, would read 2:O2 81. We confess
that we always thought Maud the
fastest trOtter that ever lived. But let
us not stop here. Let us go still farther
back in the history of harness racing.
If improvements in tracks, SulkieS, and
racing appliances generally have added
six seconds to the speed of the trOtter
in the past ten years, is it not reason
able to suppose that these things have
in the past tweny years added at least
ten seconds independent entirely of
the reductions made to old style slllky
during that time? re think so. In
1870 Lady Thorn went a we'll authenti-
Gated mile in 2:1O; so you see on the
kind of reasoning that makes Maud'S
2:OS 81 equal to 2:02 3-4 Lady Thorn
should be accounted the greatest of
them all. In fact, the two minute mare
was seen % years ago. If 204 is the
best "Our Nancy" can do we have gone
back from 200 in 1870 to 300 81 in
1884 and from 2:O2 3-4 that year to
2.O4 in 1892. This year 2:O4 81 was
the fastest mile trOtted, so it can easily
be proved that while the bike casts the
glorious glamour of speed around the
trotter we are actually receding instead
of progressing. Still, either Maud or
Nancy could easily have distanced an
animal with all Thorn's speed and yet
Thorn was the best and speediest
mare of her day, Goldsmith Maid not
excepted, as the records show. Where
are we ut anyway?
The king is dead. Longfell0W, the
greatest of American-bred racing sires,
died at Nantura Stud, Midway, Ky,
a week ago. LongfellOw was the larg
est thoroughbred the writer ever had
the pleasure of seeing. He stood with
Of do. h 1r1 In
was dark brown in color, had 4 rather
plain head, but the depth of his rib
and power of his quarters were little
short of phenomenal. AS a rlce horse
he was distinctly of the first class in
all that the term implies. He defeated
all the famous horses of his day and
the historic match between him and
Harry BasSett was the racing senSa-
ton of 1872. LongfellOW ran the two
and a half miles in 4:34 and BasSett
was beaten off. Shortly after this
victory LongfellOw broke down while
running for the Saratoga cup; but so
invincable was his gameness that he
nearly won on three legs. Longfellow
was by imported bennington out of
Nautura by Brawner's Eclipse; second
dam by Bertrand, etc, etc. Nautura
also produced Fanny HOltOn, the dam
of Ten Brock. bennington was by
Taugh-a-Ballagh, brother to the famous
Irish Bird-catcher, and out of mare
by Pantaloon. His Faugh-a-Ballagh 5
name recalls an incident in English
turf history worthy of record. Fog,
as he was called for short, was Won
derfully good 3-year-Olu and was eS-
pecialIy prepared in the Emerald isle
for the St. Leger. His trial was sat
isfactory and grand preparations were
made for a killing. When the horse
reached Doncaster a hitch occurred as
to who was to ride him and the gossoOn
who was put up failed to get the irish
phenomenon. home by a short head.
The Irish brigade would have walked
home had it not been for the channel
AS it was, most of them SWAN.
Tt was Just before LongfelOW's race
with Kingfisher for the Saratoga cup
in 1871 that old John Harper, his
eccentric owner, gave vent, in his in
structions to his jockey, to the famous
expression run him from eend to eend, y
a saying which has become as famous
among turfmen as the remark made
by the llustriouS governor Of North
Carolina to the equally illustriOus
governor of South Carolina; or the
epigrammatic request preferred, with
i,