TROTTING IN AMERICA.

North Otago Times, Volume V, Issue 105, 22 February 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

TROTTING IN AMERICA.

Great Match against Time. — Twenty Miles within an Hour. — The "New York Spirit of the Times" contains an account of a match which came off at Riverside Park, New York, on Tuesday, October 31, in which a gelding named Captain M'Gowan was backed to trot twenty miles within the hour, the backer of Time laying 4,000dol. to l,5000dol., or about L800 to L300. The match created extraordinary interest, as the feat had only been accomplished three times before — twice by

Trustee, his quickest time being 59,35, and and once by Lady Fulton in 59,55. These matches were on the Long Island mile track, but Captain M'Gowan was called upon to perform his arduous task on a round course of only half-a-mile. The " Spirit of the Times" says :— " Notwithstanding the threatening state of the weather, the crowd in attendance at the park was immense. The Cambridge Railway Company put on all their available extra cars, and yet their were hundreds who were unable to obtain conveyance by that mode to the track. The company comprised many of our best families. It was estimated tbat at least 10,000 people were upon the grounds. The horse was announced to start at three o'clock. At a few minutes before that hour, Capt. M'Gowan appeared upon the track, looking as fine as silk. His driver, Mr J. J. Bowcn, took his seat on the sulky, and he was started round the track to take a blight exercise preparatory to entering upon his work. He made the circuit of the track three or four times, and came down the home stretch for the word, which was given him at fourteen, seconds before three. At the word " Go," the interest in the race commenced in good earnest, and it need not be remarked that it continued to increase till the close. He started off with a good easy gait, making the first* half-mile in 1.27£, and the mile in 2.54. The second mile was quicker by one second, and the third mile was the same as the first. The fourth mile was made in 2.50J, while on the fifth Bowen held the horse, making it in 3.5£. Time of five miles, 14.36|, having gained 23| seconds on a threeminute gait. On entering the sixth mile, Jock lot the gelding out a trifle, and the first half was done in 1.1 7|, which was at the rate of 2.34*. The second was done in 1.26, making the figures of the mile stand at 2.43£. AU this time the horse was going an easy gait, without the slightest approach to a break. The next three or four miles were low down in the fifties, and the tenth was made in 2.48, the whole time of the ten miles being 28.45£. Half the distance had been completed, and the gain on three minutes to a mile was 1.1 4£. The gelding did not appear to show the least sign of fatigue, and although he had ten more miles before him, and the hardest ones at that, general confidence was expressed that he would beat Old Time. For the next few miles the gelding kept on the even tenor of his way, the highest being 2.57, until the fourteenth mile — 3 3 ; the fifteenth was a little better, and the sixteenth a second and-a-quarter slower. On the first half of the seventeenth mile, at the Pump turn, the gelding mude his first break since he received the word "Go." This was of short duration, however, for he was quickly caught down to his work, making the mile in 2.55J. At the end of the eighteenth mile the time was 52.32, leaving the horse 7min. 28sec. in which to do the last two miles, and from the easy way in which he was going, it seemed that, barring accidents, it was dollars to cents that he would win. The nineteenth mile was done in 2.55|, and Jock entered upon the last mile with a cheerful countenance and the applause of the assembled multitude. The first half was turned in 1.29£, and down the home stretch for the last time Jock swung the gelding from his beaten path close up to the pole to the middle of the track, letting M'Gowan out a trifle, making the last half in 1.27£, exactly the same as the first half, and the mile in 2.57^ the aggregate time being 58.25, the best time on record. The horse and driver were loudly cheered on coming in. As Jock left his seat he remarked'that the gelding was good for several miles more at the same rate ; and his appearance seemed to bear out the assertion, for he did not labor as hard as many horses we have seen in trotting mile heats, best three in five." The horse, it is said pulled up fresh, and could have done another mile or two at the same rate. Capt.* M'Gowan is a roan gelding, fifteen hands and-a-half high, foaled in Kentucky in 1855, by imported Sovereign, out of Sally Miller ; she is by the famous Eclipse, her dam a full thoroughbred, and one of the best and most celebrated four-mile runners of her day. By this record it will be seon'that the gelding came from the best of stock/ and his performances verify the old adage that " blood will tell." While owned in Kentucky he trotted several races, one a ten-miler, the last mile of which was made in 2min. 39sec, finishing, apparently, as fresh almost as at the start. M'Gowan was brought to New York in 1862, then seven years old, and was purchased by Mr S. Emerson and Mr J. Stewart. His first match was with the celebrated stallion George M. Patchen, at Franklin Park, North Chelsea, for 1,000 dollars, mile heats, best three in five. In this race he showed great speed to the half-mile pole, where he broke and ran with Mr' Bowcn, his driver, turning the track several times before he could be checked, for which he was distanced. In the summer of 1864, he trotted a five-mile race with a mare owned by Mr A. Carpenter, of Providence, at the Riverside Track, winning easily. During the present season his owner has been ready to match him against any horse in the country for a race of five miles and repeat, or even a longer distance, but without success. If the length of this track is correct, this certainly is the greatest performance on record. It is a curious thing that, although the "Spirit" describes the match as taking place on October 31, other papers state that it took place on November 11.