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History of American Thoroughbred ThlrtyFifth Installment Partbred horses of four or five crosses are those then which are in most request for heavy men in ordinary hunting countries while for light weights of 140 154 or 168 pounds three parts two parts and ever half bred horses are used in the plow countries by men who cannot afford to go the figure for blood bloodBut But there Is no such thing as a horse sired by a halfbred horse even if foaled by a full blood mare ever commanding a price or go ¬ ing the pace even fairly well across a country countryFor For the hunter therefore up to the middle of the nineteenth century when hounds ran or almost flew instead of trailing along on a slow scent the highest attainable degree of blood is desirable desirableTHOROUGHBRED THOROUGHBRED BLOOD DESIRED DESIREDAt At maximum prices any man of any weight who can pretend to ride at all to hounds if he choose to pay these prices can be carried up to hounds on thoroughbreds thoroughbredsAnd And as to the idea of any man ever com ¬ plaining that his hunter is too thoroughbred I can only compare it to his complaining that his wife is too pretty prettyIt It may be replied that as in America we have no fox hunting as a national sport we of course need no hunters more than we do racers that hunting and racing are the amusements of the wealthy and privileged class only are of no practical utility and therefore so far from being encouraged oucht actually to be discouraged discouragedFor For such balderdash as even this Is un blushingly thrust upon the reluctant ears of men of common sense by the blatant beasts who bellow their practical utilitarianism into the bedimmed and bedeafened brains of their groundlings Nay I have seen it promul ¬ gated by ignorant fanatics who are roused nto ludicrous frenzy by their perception of the returning sanity of the masses as evi ¬ denced by the favor with which the trials of speed have been received in the agricul ¬ tural exhibitions in all parts of the United States that speed is a quality of no possible advantage in a horse horseOn On the whole perhaps the horse him ¬ self is decided to be of no practical utility and is therefore to be dispensed with In that case my arguments can also be dispensed with But until that shall be determined I shall endeavor to show that as a partbred liorse is the best general hunter so is he in a greater or less degree according to the blood the best for all kinds of work unless it be for draught of enormous burdens at a foots pace paceIn In the old days of English coaching before the provinces of England were Interested by a network of iron rails and hissing locomo ¬ tives whirled their passengers from Lands End to John o Groats measuring their miles by minutes speed was a desideratum in coaches and as coaches were then drawn by horses only it was not wholly useless in a horse horseLAST LAST STAGE COACH TRAVEL TRAVELIn In those days the speed of the crack coaches such as on the short roads the Cam ¬ bridge Star and Fly the Brighton Age the Portsmouth Telegraph and on the long roads the Leeds Rockingham and York High ¬ flyer carrying twelve outside and four inside passengers in addition to the guard and coachman and from half a ton to a ton and a half of baggage was about fifteen miles or from that to seventeen miles an hour I have repeatedly traveled on either of the two Cambridge coaches the whole distance to London fiftytwo miles within three hours including stoppages and I once traveled on the Leeds Rockingham when that coach and the York Highflyer were running opposition Irom that city to London 101 miles in thir ¬ teen hours and thirtyfive minutes includ ¬ ing all stoppages part of the journey being night work workNow Now what were the horses by which these feats were accomplished each team doing Its distance varying from six to nine miles up the road and back once each day Sundays j excepted unless in the case of accident or unusually severe and heavy roads roadsTHE THE GREAT RACE The race was the greatest and most brilliant one that had ever occurred in America up to that time The re ¬ sult will produce a profound impression throughout the country The glories of Eclipse of Boston and of Fashion and In fact of all of the other classic heroes and heroines of the turf must pale before the glory of Lecompte Here Is feasible proof that this is an age of progress 1854 We have not degenerated in horseflesh We of this much calumniated century and epoch boldly fling Lexington and Lecompte into the faces of preceding generations and ask them if they can beat that time Shades of John Randolph and William R Johnson and of your contemporaries who were so in ¬ tensely excited by the great contest between the North and the South when Sir Henry and Eclipse decided a great question of sec ¬ tional pride will yet not be startled in your shadowy retreats by the wonderful figures which were exhibited from the judges stand at Metairie after Lecompte crossed the finish line Where now is the great time of Bos ¬ ton and Fashion 732 12 Of George Mar ¬ tin and Miss Foot 734 Or Grey Medoc 7 35 over a better track tran the Metairie was when Lecompte ran his great race raceIt It was a beautiful race from the start The great display of Lexington when he so easily beat a horse which came to this city with more reputation than any other horse in tho United States enjoyed had made him a gen ¬ eral favorite The bets were on him against the field and in many cases two to one were ventured on him against Lecompte Reubo was but little regarded and was thrown in to take the chances of any accidents or in case than three heats were run with a hopo that his endurance might tell in so long a stretch The contest was a close and noblo one between Bostons two gallant colts coltsIn In the first heat they ran regularly Le ¬ compte a few lengths ahead all through and winning the heat in 72C After this the beta were decidedly in his favor two arid even three to one The second heat was a varied and most exciting contest Lexington took the lead and kept it until the second milo when they closed in the quarter stretch and Lecompte shot ahead and continuing gamely j until halfway in the third mile a formidable gap was opened between them Suddenly Lexington gathered himself up and exerting himself to the limit closed upon Lecompte and in the last time the struggle was an intensely exciting one Lecompte coming in about a length ahead of his rival rivalThe The enthusiasm and hurrahs of the mul ¬ titude at the termination of the race denoted not so much the general satisfaction in the victory of Lecompte as in the brilliant char ¬ acter of the contest and the splendid achieve ¬ ment of both horses Two more equal cham ¬ pions could not be pitted against each other The old Boston blood was conspicuous in both and they were the noblest representa ¬ tives of his numerous progeny progenyMuch Much was due no doubt to the fine train ¬ ing of those two splendid horses under the direction of Colonel Bingaman and General Welles in whose stables Lecomnte and Lex ¬ ington were trained These two gentlemen with Messrs Kenner Minor and other plant ¬ ers of Louisiana and Mississippi gave more attention to the care and training of their fine bloods than any other gentlemen in the United States The Boston blood is pretty certain to display its excellence Louisiana may now 1854 boast of having the great ¬ est horses in America or that ever appeared up to their time on the turf in this country countryXOT XOT DETRACTING FROM LECOMPTE LECOMPTEFar Far be it from one who entered the arena in defense of Boston his blood and his pro ¬ geny to detract at all from the fame of Le ¬ compte the winner of mile heats in the fast ¬ est time on our record and also on the Metairie course in 1 45 12 1 46 or to ques tion that he ran four miles and fourmile heats in the fastest time on record yet before the conclusion is admitted that Le comptes is the best race that had been run in America up to that time or that he stood proudly before the world as the best race horse ever produced on the turf the record should be consulted in respect to some other races as run by Fashion and Boston Tallyho and Bostona Red Eye and Nina and by Eclipse and Sir Henry It will be discovered especially at the most northern course the Union that more weight was carried for ago and for colts too nearly of the same age and that there was a shorter interval between heats in those races than in Lecomptes con ¬ siderations that may fully compensate for the difference in the time as made at the Union and Metairie courses coursesWe We will now pass by those until now 1854 the fastest on record to the earlier achievement of Sir Henry as compared with that of Lecompte At the time of each race there was scarcely a months difference In their ages if as much Sir Henry as a four yearold carried 108 pounds Lecompte as a threeyearold carried eightysix pounds Had Sir Henry been in April as a three yearold instead of May as a fouryearold with the difference of weight who can doubt that he would have beaten Eclipse If Le ¬ compte took up 108 pounds who would doubt that he could not come within ten seconds of his big race raceTo To Be Continued
