The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-02
QUEENS OF The TURF
WHEREIN THE NEW CHAMPION is
THE GREATEST TROTTER.
MAUD S AND LOU DILLON.
COMPARATIVE CONDITIONS UNDER
WHICH RECORDS WE'RE MADE.

when Maud s. Made Her Sensational
Mile, All Conditions Were Most
FnVorabIe-LOu Dillon Carried
Fourteen More Pounds, In Her
SuIIxy-MaGd Finished All Out
while Game Little Californian
ter and Was Strong.
Since July 3d. 1885, there has dec
grated the main entrance to the Glen
VILE track the inscription: Maud ).
2:OS%." To the initiated this inscrip-
ton was of more than ordinary signifi-
canoe, as it meant that it was the high
wheel record for the track and further
meant in the minds of the vast ma
iority of observers a mark that would
never be oblfterated under the same
conditions in which it was made.
One or two attempts were made to
wipe out the record since the advent
of the bike sulky and resulted in la
mentable failure. The discrepancy be-
tween the two STYLES of vehicles was
so great that it was generally conced-
ed it would be useless for the latter
day horse to attempt to surpass Maud
SIS great mile. The record has long
been the one thing to which the old
timers pointed as showing that the
present day trotters were unequal at
least in some respects to the great per-
formers of the past.
1t was with many misgivings that
Mr. Billings intention of sending the
little mare against the record was, re-
ceived. But on reflection, in view Of
what the queenly little Californian had
already done, it was universally felt
her attempt would be worthy OF her.
1t was the old story over again. Inc
feat was accomplished with the same
marvellous smoothness as ell her other
great miles. The first quarter was in
0:32A, the second in 0:31%, the third
in O:S1 and the fourth in 0:S0, making
the mile in 205 fiat. Not once in the
mile did she slack her gait, as the rat
=. ing, of the quarters show, - "a.
The conditions under which Maud
set the record eighteen years ago were
as favorable as those which surround
ed Lou Dillon's mile. Shortly after
midnight of the day Maud S set the
record rain fell. making the track
slightly soft, which suited Maud as
she was ITlHG leIueI lOOleu. Inc
track was claimed to be a second slow,
but Blair who drove her, said it could
not have pleased her better on the
turns. 1t was a little soft at the pole,
and Blair drove her wide of the damp
spots, making up what distance may
have been lost by keeping close to the
pole on the way home. Her first quar-
ter was in 0:32, the second in 0:32, the
third in 0:321a and the fourth in 0:32A,
Ii, lo in
a prompter, which was kept to the
outside in the rear Near the distance
stand she faltered as she was plainly
firing, and Blair applied the whip to
arouse her tagging energies. She was
hitched to a CaffreY Sulky Weighing
thirty-eight pounds and made espe-
cially for her. This was the fastest
mile ever covered by Maud S and re-
manned the record to 1891. when it was
beaten a half second by Sunol in 2:0SA
To properly realize the greatness Of
the mile by Lou Dillon compare the
conditions The track suited both
mares and there their chances were
even, but Lou Dillon, the lightest of
the two champions, was handicapped
with fourteen more pounds weight in
her sulky. In a mile at extreme speed
added weight to this extent is a Sc
rious consideration. Maud S was at
the hight of her prowesS as a trotting
machine, while Lou Dillon is a COM
parative novice The fastest quarter
by Maud was the third in 0:31, while
Lou Dillon equaled her time in her
third quarter and trotted the fourth
in 0;30, increasing her speed at each
point.
Maud S could not carry her clip to
the end of the mile, while the five
year-old finished with a reserve of
speed. Lou Dillon drew a vehicle
strange to her, with a different draft
from that to which she was accustom-
ed. Maud S. was perfectly familiar
with the vehicle drawn by her. These
little things count with a high strung
performer. and speak volumes for the
mental balance of the new queen of
the trotting turf. Another point that
seems to have been overlooked by
commentators is this Lou Dillon not
only beat the record of. Maud S., but
she beat the record of Sunol, 20SH,
made in 1901; the record of the PAGER,
Johnston, 2:06A, made in 1884, and the
record of Direct, 206, made in 1891.
Now the onus is on Dan Patch to wipe
out the pacing mark to high wheels.
The mile by Lou Dillon in 2:05 has
given a serious jolt to the theory held
by many that horses are individually
no faster now than they were twenty
b years ago, taking means and methods
into consideration. If the theory is a
rule. which may now be consistently
doubted, she is a brilliant exception.
Taking the difference between the
styles of sulkies and their weights,
the mile in 2;05 was nearly as good as
he rnt1o In O.n0