The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-11-03

The Greaf PresenIter Of Trcttial
Horses.

10 uttotupb W oay uuJ thihS upbut
he great fountain head from which I
Ias come nine-tenths OF the harness
peed attained Id the last quarter OF
century. is like threshing old etraw.
Eloquent pens have dlscoursed upon
very material feature OF Ham.
power, time and time
lgaln. while poets have tr1lled his sur
passing excellence in rythmic verse,
10 that indeed little may be presented |
him that will have the vir.
.ue or originality beyond the status OF |
zach recurring season that revealed |
With ever increasing vividness. the |
potency OF his blood.
Still there may be some who are not |
with the history OF the grand
Did horse, that will be Interested In q
,ketch OF him.
Hambletonlan was dark bay.
lbout 10 3 hands. iIis hind ankles
we're white, and there was bright
white star on his forehead; he was
foaled In 1919 and was bred by Jonas
Seeley, of Sugar Loaf, Orange Co..
New York, and sold In the same year
to Mr.. VIM. Rysdyk of Chester. Orange
Co, N. Y. together with his dam for
SIPS. Mir. Rysdyk was poor man at
the time. and gave his note for the
colt and his dam. The mother OF
Humbletoniun was bred by Chas. Kent
of Stone Plains, n. Y. and she was
called the Chas. Kent Mare. She was
itoaled In 1884 and she was 10 years old
whom she foaled her famous son Ham.
Ibletonian. Her Sire was Bollfounder.
who was foaled in England lii 1916
and brought to this country In 1922.
lie was is years old when he sired
the Chas. Kent Mare. He is said to
be the fastcst trotter ever bred in the
Norfolk district. Behfounder's dam
was Velocity, and In 1903 she trotted
twenty eight miles In one hour and
lforty-seven minutes.
1t will be seen therefore that the
ltrotting Inheritance OF the Chas- Kent
mare was strong. Hambletonian was
sired by Abdallah, who was a grand.
son of old Messenger. Abdallah's
dam was Anaconda and she had some
reputation as roadster.
At three years OF age. Hambletonian
was bred TO Few mares at service
fee OF sis; In few years his progeny
showed 8 much speed and proved to
DO so valuable that Hambletonian's
fec was increased to $50 When four
years old he was exhibited at the
/ American Institute Fair in New
York. and was awarded first premium
and from then his star was in tho as
} cendancy and his fee was raised to
800.
He was never trained for speed, and
the fastest mile he was ever timed was
! 2.44. Although 1t Is said ne could show
u clip better than . 30. As his colts
began to show merit and Increase In
value. so was his fee increased year by
year until 1t reached $500. and then at
that hgure he had more mares than he
could serve. In 1865 Dexter cams on
l the turf. and his triump hs from time
TO Time raised The reuown OF the etal-
, lion Sc high that numbers of breeding
, mares Hooked to the stable of Handle.
Z tonlan from all parts OF the country,
J and the rates were increased from
$500 to $3.50, and when his son Dexter
trotted to his record OF 2-t7L. at Buff
falo, N. Y. In 1887, IIambletonian's fee
} was raised to $500, whore it remained
D until his death.
Mr.. Rysdky was very particular,
: in keeping his books and they were
inspected by the writer alter Mr.. Rvs.
'dyk's death and they showed that dur.
-. ing his career tIanb,etonlan had
7 served 1908 mares and produced 1901
fouls, and that his entire earnings In
Y the time that he was In the possession
" OF Mr.. Rysdyk was over sal GOO
r, nearly sll 90 each year.
' Tho Hamblctonian ID considered tue
chief cornerstone In the structure OF
:. the American tIotter. Nine-tonths of
[ our fastest trotters have some of his
:. blood i'll their veins. Every horse,
mare or gelding that has broken tho
r top trotting record in this country.
y with tho exception Of two-Lady Suf-
4 folk and Flora Temple-have Ham
, bietonian blood. to a great extent,
i ,courslng through their veins. The
b greatest of all Nancy Hanks, who
now holds the worlds record, 3.04, is
: an Inbred Hambletonlan, as we can see.
Nancy Hanks was sired by Happy
: Medium, and he by Rysdyks HANDLE.
ltonlan. Nancy Hanks dam was
Nancy Lee, and she was sired by Direc.
tor, aud he by Hambletonian. Happy
Mediums Jam was Princess, and she
by a son OF Hambletonian. How true
1.-THE saying, that like must begat like.
tiThe brave begotten are by the brave aud
good.
There is in steers there is in horses
II blood.
n The virtue Of their sircs no tlmid dove
Springs from the coupled eagles furi
II Gus love.
\, Hambletonlan sired sons that in
turn have proved themselves even
igrsater than lie. Goo. Wilkes, his son,
otstood for years as the greatest of sirss
8 and his progeny have proved tho fast.
!, est family OF trotters we had until he
was succeeded by the great Election
l. eer, who was also q son of Handle
Is .toniun, and who sired the record
,t,breaker Sunol 2.OS' !, and Arion. WIN
!, at 9 years old made a record OF 2.l934
- and sold for sl25.000.
The sire OF Maud S. (Harold) was
also sired by HanbletOnian. In fac
II I,n s,F nm
W legion. liambletunian died March "a
= 1876, aged 81 years.
just before his death Mr.. Rysdyl
v left special injunction that HANDLE
t-tonian, who had always been his pet
al ted horse, and which had brought hin
a fortune, should 10 buried with un
III usual marks Of respect. The place o
a burial was pointed out. back OF tn
ot stable which WIS constructed Tor tn
10 horse, and that he should DO arrayet
in his stable blankets, gear and shoee
u and that a brown headstone should b,
n erected upon the mound that market
of his grave. All OF Mr. Rysdyk's order
: were faithfully carried out,
te The stallion had been failing 70
about year lilo never lost his spirl
however. He tried to eat until tn
ep Last moment and often the food feI
from his jaws into the manager be
IT, cause he was too weak to masticnte II
His form which when i'll health weigh
ed 100 lbs. shrank to less than SU
lbs. On Sunday night his colore
=, groom. Herman Showers. who ha
81 been with the horse for Is years, lel
:, the stable at II O'Clock. When hs r.
~ turned ct live In the morning the oil
49, horse lay lifsles5 in his stable, h
m. body still warm.
M An elaborate coffin was constructe
for him and the body placed thereil
Tho box was left open and hundred
III of persons took u last look at IL
horse. Under the shadow of u blaC
as. wooded bluff of the Blue Ridge Moul
is. tains. in the village of Chester. II
az, remains of the world renowned sta
ey lion Hambletonian were buried.
The body, which had been coyere
-, with the blankets and robes and 9th
- stable gear that the hurse had wol
80 at his death. WAS enclosed In the bt
and borne to the grave on stoi
essi boat that wac dragged by six horse
al Many people had gathered OF an car
hour and the formed an escort to Il
as. burial place, at the back of the stab
rh, i'm an open orchard, and the int
ment was made. 10 mark the gra
ma. OF tho greatest horse every raised
nv THIS country, monument has bet
,et erected by popular subscriptit
among breeders and horsemen. and
=, "a granite shaft costing about $40, VI
~ Inscribed Id follows:
IN :''..'.''.'''........ ..'..................