The Detroit times., 1914-01-07
MODERE! TRACKS
AND EQUIPMENT
CLIP SECONDS
Old-Time TrOtters as Good as
Those Now in Natural
Ability
INCREASE
SPEED BY ii SECONDS
Bud DOble Believes Goldsmith
Main The Greatest
TrOtter
, EW YORK. Ian

NEW YORK. Jan bud
~ Doble, the veteran reinsman.
came 10 the front today with
he opinion that Dexter, Goldsmith
Maid. Nancy Hanks and Maud s.
he wonderful trotters of decade
ago. were as fast. II not faster. than
is the whirlwind Uhlan, king of the
present-day trotters.
Doble makes this statement in the
face OF the fact that Uhlan has
reeled of a mile in 1:54ia while
Dexter's best mark was 2:17A,
Goldsmith Maids 2:14. Maud SIS
2:0S24 and Nancy Hanks 1904. A'
1T is the improvement in u
tracks and lighter equipment that is
responsible for the two-minute trot
ters." declared Doble. Most people
are OF the opinion that the trotters
OF today are better bred and that
they are faster for that reason.
lin 1867 when | drove Dexter 20
mark OF 2:l7L he pulled "A sulky
that weighed around 150 pounds
a sulky nearly six times as heavy
as that which uhlan pulled in his
record mile. Not only was he handi-
capped In that way, but he wore
shoes that weighed nearly a pound
each. Uhlan's shoes weighed only
few ounces The tracks today are
much faster than they were 20 aud
40 years ago, the harness Is lighter
and the trotters today wear boots,
and they didn't in Dexter and Gold
smith Maids time.
Goldsmith Maid. in my opinion.
was the greatest trotter that ever
lived. l make this statement after
having seen the best OF them for
more than 40 years. She was the
gamest horse / ever have known;
she had as much. III not more Intel
ligence than any OF the thousands
| have seen, and she had wonderful
speed
Il fully believe that any OF that
old quartet OF trotters, were they
in their prime today. and wearing
modern equipment could travel
mile In less than two minutes. But
! feel sure that Goldsmith Maid
would have bettered Uhlan's record
I'm 1874 drove Goldsmoth Maid
to her record-2:14. That day she
drew a high-wheeled sulky that
weighed around 20 pounds. Her
shoes averaged more than 10 ounces
In weight. Her harness was nearly
twice as heavy as Uhlan's Is today.
The tracks she raced over were con-
sidered good in those days, but now
adays nc horse owner would send his
campaigner over such course. He'd
be afraid that the roughness would
harm his animal.
I'm the old days the horses were
not equipped with boots TO prevent
them from hitting themselves. Con-
slant hitting injured their legs and
lessened the speed Furthermore
horse knowing that fast running
would mean hitting and injuring his
legs would not be inclined TO travel
at full speed.
when Goldsmith Maid was near
ly 20 years old I drove her again in
2:14-equalled the record she had
made when she was n youngster.
don't think she was naturally as fast
hen as she was when she made her
first 2;14 mark, but improvements
which had come between those pc.
RODS helped her by several seconds
MAUD s. stepped to her 2:OS%
record In 1885.
More improvements were made
in the next seven years period and
In 1892 Nancy Hanks stepped n rec
ord mile in 2:04 Lou Dillon made
her record or 1:5S1s In 1899. By
that time tracks had been improved
TO wonderful standard. the sulkies
had changed entirely In makeup,
scientific shoeing was in force
horses were equipped with boots and
every Improvement possible had
been to help horse in trial against
time.
81 believe that improvements
made In the shoeing OF horses. in
tracks In the change In ulkies
equipment OF horses with boots. and
the tightening OF the harness since
1867 had increased a trotter's speed
from fourteen 10 seventeen seconds
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