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THE MILK BUNKING BKCOKD EDITOR DAILY RACING FOEM FOEMI I notice in Mondays Daily Racing Form your reprint of an article from the Turf Field and Farm entitled The Mile Running Record It is in the main interesting and correct but has overlooked a few bets betsAlarm Alarm was the first horse in America 1872 to beat 1 43 but he Busby does not mention the first mile in 1 43 This was run in 1871 at Cincinnati if memory serves by Salina 3 by Lexington The first mile in 1 40 is also omit ¬ ted that is the first mile in a race Ten Broecks 1391 having been against time The first mile in 140 in a race was by Stuyvesant 3 llli poundsat Bheepshead Bay8eptember71887 Bay8eptember71887Maoris Maoris mile in 139J at Washington Park is mentioned but the date is erroneous It was not run July 12 1892 but July 12 1889 It is historic as the first time 140 was ever beaten in a race It is also worth notice that of these two mares named Salina is the dam of Salvator and Maori of Ethelbert EthelbertIt It is doubtless a fact that as the article you quote states the thoroughbred of today is faster than the one of even ten years ago Still the extraordinary number of fast miles run at Sheepshead this year five below 1 39 are par ¬ tially due to the fact that the track there has been remodeled since last season Voter ran in 138 at Brighton Beach last year When Tenny ran against time there in 1890 the best he could do was 140 But two years ago the track at the Beach was practically rebuilt rebuiltAt At the same time Washington Park is to all intents and purposes the same track as when completed in 1884 When Modesty ran there in 1 411 in 1885 it created a sensation For the last few years miles better than 140 have been com ¬ mon there The tracks are better than they used to be and the horses are also faster fasterTruly Truly yours JOHN L HEEVET HEEVETA A table showing the successive reductions in the mile record from the days when a mile in 150 was respectable and in 148 fast would prove interesting to delvers into turf statistics but is difficult of compilation because of the scarcity of reliable records of racing in the early days In 1855 Charley Ball made some ¬ thing of a sensation by running better than 146 doing 145 at Lexington Along about the close of the Civil War two horses Mam mona and Revolver ran in 1 44 and this stood as the record until Herzog by Vandal in 1869 ran a mile in 1 43 or 1 43 and a fraction Mr Hervoy is correct in saying that Salina ran in 143 in 1871 This was in the first heat of the Viley Stakes at Lexington May 23 1871 Gin ¬ ger took the second heat and Express won the third and fourth beats and the race But on the preceding day Fadladeen by War Dance had won a mile dash in 143 at the same track Another mile performance of great interest then was Searchers mile in 1 41i at the Lexington Spring Meeting of 1875 being the first time 142 1 was ever beaten This fast son of Enquirer r was sold to George Lorillard and renamed j Leander but was poisoned soon after his pur ¬ chase by Borne undiscovered miscreant
