The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-18

-53 seconds-both were exactly side by side. On they went at the same fly ing pace, Lexington again drawing grad ually forward, first his neck, then his shoulder, and increasing up the straight side amid a wild roar of cheers, flew by three-quarters of a length in the lead One hundred to seventy-five on Lexing- toni Time, 1:491b.
 Onward they plunge; onward without pause What makes this throbbing at my heart? What are these brilliant brutes to me? Why do I lean forward , and insensibly unite my voice with the roar of this mad multitude? Alas. but share the infatuation of the horses, and the leveling spirit common to all strife has seized on all alike. Where are they now? An, there they fly round the first turn! By heaven, Lecompte is overhaul ing himp
 And so he was for on entering the backstreteh of the second mile the hero of 7:26 made his most desperate effort reaching first the girth, then the shoul- der, then the neck of Lexington, and finally, when he reached the half-mile post, laid himself alongside him, nose by nose. Then the mass, which during the few seconds of this special struggle had been breathless with hope and fear burst into a shout that rang for miles, and amid the din of which might be heard here and there, One hundred even on Lecompte!
 Lexington Forges Ahead.
 But his equality was only for a mo- ment's term. Lexington threw his eye jealously askant Gil. Patrick relaxed a little of his rein, which up to this time he had held close in hand, and without violence or startling effect, the racer of racers stole ahead, gently but steadily and surely, as before, until he drew him self clear length in the lead. in which position they closed the second mile. Time 1:51.
 Again the hurrah rises as they pass the stand-'One hundred to seventy-f1ve on Lexingtonl'-and swells in still wider volume when Lexington increased his one length to three, from the stand to the turn of the backstretch. In vain Lecompte struggled; in vain he called to mind his former laurels; in vain his rider struck him with the steel; his great spirit was a sharper spur, and when his tail fell, as it did from this time out, I could imagine he felt sinking of .ne heart as he saw streaming before him the waving flag of Lexington, now held straight out in race horse fashion, and anon nervously flung up, as if 1t were a plume of triumph.
 "'One hundred to fifty on Lexingtonl The three lengths was increased to four. and again the shout arose. as in this relative condition they went for the third time over the course. Time. 1:51.
 Lecompte Makes Final Rally.
 'The last crisis of the strife had now arrived. and Lecompte, if he had any resources left, must call upon them straight. So thought his rider, for the steel went to his sides; but 1t was in vain he had done his best; while as for Lexington, 1t seemed as if he had Just begun to run. Gil. Patrick now gave him a full reign, and for time as ne went down the backstretch, 1t actually seemed as if he were running for the very. fun of the thing. It was now sloo to s10 on Lexington, or any kind or odds. bpt there were no takers. He had the laurel in his teeth, and was going for distance.
 But at this inglorious prospect Le- compte desperately rallied, and escaped the humiliation by drawing himself a few lengths within the distance pole while Lexington dashed past the stand, hard in hand, and actually running away with his rider-making the last mile in 1924, and completing the four in the unprecedented time of 7:23a. I say un- precedented, because it beats Lecomptes :26, and is therefore the fastest heat that was ever made in a match"