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History of American Thoroughbred j j j j 5 j 1 : , ; ; ; ! : I s l . - - r 1 s r i J - - - 1 i" 1 i , Eleventh Installment. t In her final campaign in "the race horse region" she ran and won thirty-six miles in j fifteen days. The first race was a four-mile i heat at Norfolk, when she beat horses of high reputation. She won the second heat v in 7:43. The next was a race of three-mile heats, at Broad Rock, where, at four heats, t the last one in 5:47, she beat the "crack p nags" of "Virginia. i The third race, another one of four-mile 1 heats, was severely contested, but she won t again in four heats in extraordinary time, i On the eighth day thereafter she was beaten by a superior three-year-old, in four-mile heats, but, in the two consecutive weeks fol- lowing, she won two more races. The English "patriarchs," Childers. Eclipse and Highflyer, probably had more speed. The early American racers, Timoleon, Gal- .. latin, Sally Walker and Sir Henry, have tj run one, two, three and four miles quicker than Ariel had stepped those distances, but , none of them exhibited the same degree of bottom and durability. Few were put to , the same tests facpd by Ariel, nor do we believe as much money was staked on their races. Others, in England, equally or more distinguished in some respects, were not as much so in others. j If It was her fate sometimes to encounter a superior she was never beaten by that one in a second campaign. When Monsieur Tonson and Sally Walker were her victors , during the short period of their glorious triumphs, she may not have been in equal con- dition. Recovering readily from the effects of a hard race, she started every season at every meeting within her reach, wearing i down all of her opponents. She was never known to be lame, even to the close of her long and brilliant career. ; .When beaten by Flirtilla in their great match, so admirably described by "An Old Turfman," she yielded to a noble foe which had borne off every laurel that season and the next and continued her triumphs until j she broke down with the wreath of victory , almost within her grasp. "It was considered j marvelous that a three-year-old should make , such a contest with such an adversary , especially as she must have been "hurried in her work" to have changed her condition in the brief interval from her other match. , In the aggregate, taking into view speed, j bottom and durability, amount of running, travel and of sums lost and won, the writer , thinks Ariel stands unrivaled. Her time, 1 from one to four miles and more, was scarce- ly second, at any distance, to any time on j " authentic record when she was running. At three years old she ran a mile on the Union course, winning by several lengths well j in hand in 1:48. A few weeks after she won a three-mile heat she covered the two last times in 3:47. At eight years old, on ; the same course, she was defeated by about ; two lengths by Arietta in two miles, run in 3:44. At five years old she ran a second heat of three miles when she was beaten by about a length by Sally Walker in 5:42. At six years old she won readily a second ; heat of four miles in 7 :43. Such stoutness was never exemplified as in her sixteen-mile race at Newmarket, where, after winning the second heat of four miles, she closely contested the third, running it in 7 :57, and won the fourth four-mile heat in 3-04, the best third and fourth heats on record up to that time. Of the fifty-seven races she ran she was a winner forty-two times, having won seventeen Jockey Club purses of four-mile heats and ran more than 345 miles in public. For five years, from the spring when she was a three-year-old to the autumn of eight years old, she was the ornament and dread of the turf from New York to Georgia. She must have traveled at least 3,000 miles, perhaps more. In her matches and Jockey Club purses she has "lost and won" about 550,000. Ariels pedigree is worthy of her performances. Besides combining the three valued crosses of Herod, Matchem and Eclipse, she was "richly imbued with the best English blood," which she traced directly to , Childers, Dartner, Crab, Snap, Cade, Spark, , Othello, Gimcrack, Mambrino, Medlet, PotSos, . Messenger, Baronet and Diomed, besides deriving her descent from the best early importations. RICHNESS OF HER PEDIGREE. No other stock probably partakes as much t . of the Messenger blood no less than four crosses. Two of these were from English t , Eclipse and two from Gimcrack. Two were from imported Tacolet and three from im- ported Spark. Her color sustained her val-: liable origin, running so much into the Arabian blood. From the certificates published in the sec- ond volume of the American Turf Registrar, , page 56G, it appears Ariel was bred in 1822, 1 by Gcrrit Vandeveer of Flatbush. L. I. She was sired by American Eclipse ; her dam by T Financier; granddam Empress, by imported i Baronet; great granddam by imported Mes- - senger ; her dam by Snap Jenny Duter, by True Briton ; her dam Quaker Lass, by m- - ported Juniper, imported Molly Pacolet by " imported Pacolet; Molly Pacolets dam by imported Spark Queen Mab, by Musgraves 1 gray Arabian. Ariel, having passed through many hands while on the turf at a period when there 3 was no general "Register" to record her r achievements it is only possible to record her r performances from several creditable sources for which we owe obligation. 1. April, 1325. Ariel, three years old, won a race of one hundred rods against the 2 Eclipse filly, Flying Dutchmans dam, and a 1 horse by Duroc. BEATS POX, CRACK M1LEIU 2. A fortnight after she again won a race sj of one hundred rods, beating Fox, by Duroc, :, Flying Dutchmans dam, and a Duroc colt - Fox, a gelding, was for many years the e crack mile horse of the North. He was al-" - mo3t invincible at a single mile, at which 1 he beat the then famous Kentucky mile horse e Snow Ball by half a length at Lancaster, , Ta., in one minute forty-nine seconds for r ,000. Snow Ball, a few weeks before, had I beaten the famed Arietta for ?1,000 in a match at one thousand yards. 3. Shortly after she won mile heats for a set of silver spoons, beating Fox, Van Ransts Eclipse colt, Flying Dutchmans dam and Agnes, by Sir Solomon. Fox being drawn, Ariel distanced her field in the sec-1 ond heat. 4. Immediately thereafter she won a mat h against John Stevens Flagellator, t j i v t p i 1 t i .. tj , , j , i ; j , j , , , j , 1 j " j ; ; ; , , . t . t , , 1 T i - - " 1 3 r r 2 a 1 sj :, - e - 1 e , r I t then considered the fastest mile horse in New York. 5. May. Ariel Avon, with great ease, for II. Lynch, a match against a Bussorah colt in a race at two miles for ?1,000. 6. October. The ensuing autumn Ariel won a match race for ,000 against Col. W. R. Johnsons Lafayette in mile heats. , 7. October. Three weeks thereafter, on J the Union course, backed by other northern 1 gentlemen, she ran a match race for 0,000 in three-mile heats against General Wynns Flirtilla, then five years old and deemed by j the South to be superior to any thoroughbred in the country. The latter was backed oy , Col. Johnson and other AMrginia gentlemen. It was a severe contest, won in three heats. Less than six inches decided the second heat and the issue of as much as 0,000. j AN EXTRAORDINARY CHALLENGE. This Ariel and Flirtilla race grew out ot an extraordinary challenge given by Henry I . Lynch, the owner of Ariel, at the dinner table, to run Ariel four-mile heats, against , any horse to be named, for ,000 on each ; turn or quarter post, four turns to the mile, 1 and 0,000 on the main race. This was not . I taken. j On the day following Mr. Lynch gave a second challenge to run Ariel four-mile heats I against any horse, mare or gelding that j might then be named, that day six weeks, for 0,000, which was accepted by Dr. : Wychc of North Carolina, who then named I Flirtilla and offered to increase the bet to j 0,000, which was not acted upon. j j A gentleman present, confederate with the owner of Ariel, a few minutes later made ! j two other bets with Dr. Wyche of ,000 each. Thus the match, though nominally I for 0,000, was in point of fact for 0,000. ; . By a subsequent arrangement this distance was altered from four to three-mile heats and October 31 was agreed upon as the day 1 1 of the race. Ariel, which had been trained by Richard J I Jackson, was confided to the care of Samuel 1 Laird, a trainer of some experience who was at the time popular. Flirtilla, which had lioretofore been trained by Gen. Wynns black servant Charles, under the Generals superintcndence was now put under the direction of William R.. Johnson. Ariel also changed her rider and in place of Black Harry, who had ridden her admirably against Lafayette, Madison Laird was chosen as jockey. Bob Wooden rode Flirtilla. At the instance of some of. my friends who were anxious for me to view the horses toward the termination of their training to give them my opinion, I repaired to the stables and was politely permitted, by the owners of the racers, to take a view. I found Ariel by no means in the order to be desired. Her coat was harsh and her skin clapped down tight, exhibiting infallible signs of her having been overmarked or having had her pores collapsed. Without hesitation I told a friend of mine who had backed her that she was wrong; that whether she won or not she would not relieve herself by perspiring freely, either while running or after the heat. In my opinion nothing but an accident or miracle could give her the race and I advised him to get his money off. On the other hand, the coat of Flirtilla had a satin-like gloss, the skin when taken hold of showed nothing like adhesion to the body and handled like a rich, pliable yet elastic velvet. She was drawn completely into muscle, yet was fresh upon her legs, while her animated countenance gave assurance that her spirits were unbroken. Betting was on briskly no odds asked or given. At length the long and anxiously-looked-for day arrived. With the exception of the great match between Eclipse and Sir Henry, the course was never more thronged. Numbers arrived from the South, and the northern sportsmen were on the ground to a man. Betting went on merrily and some individ-. uals had from ,000 to 5,000 at stake. START OF THE RACE. The hour of one was now at hand, the bugle sounded the call and the summons was obeyed. Next were heard the orders "Sad-, die," "Mount," "Come up." The signal tap then resounded and off they flow. Each pres-, ently took a hard pull with intent to wait upon his adversary, but the light weight was unable to restrain the impetuosity of the gray filly and necessity compelled her to lead. The bay mare now trailed close in her rear and thus they proceeded at a moderate rate to the end of the first mile, run in slow time, 2 minutes 12 seconds. Here stood Mr. Johnson, upon whom the lively Bob Wooden, as he advanced, fixed an eye, which quickly caught the signal to make play. He dashed forward and, as by a single bound, was three lengths ahead before young Laird, taken by surprise, could call out the filly. Away they went, at a killing pace ; and as they passed round to the termination of the second mile, the bay mare still leading, the cry was "Hold her steady and let her go." The stride wag excessive, the gather quick, the stroke regular, not floundering; no laboring, no dwelling, no clambering, nothing abroad ; the rate was tremendous ; thus they went along until they arrived at the middle of the back part of the course, in the third or last round, the gray filly trailing full twenty yards. Here she let out and, as if with magic, came up, challenged and took the lead, all in a run of forty rods and before she arrived at the half-mile post of this last round. Flirtilla followed in a detcr-3 mined and spirited manner, but Ariel .kept up her rate and, although she dropped a little coming up the stretch, she came in from three to four lengths ahead. Time of running the first mile in this heat 2 minutes 12 seconds. Time of running tho last two miles, 3 minutes 47 seconds. Time of limning the heat, 5 minutes 50 seconds. I took a view of the horses as soon as they were stripped and led off to their rubbing Places. Ariel appeared a little swollen about the loins, what is termed filleted ; did not perspire freely or relieve herself as she cught. Flirtilla showed also some symptoms of distress, but nothing which indicated being overmarked. The race I now considered, l;arring accidents, insured to Flirtilla. To be Continued.
