THE TROTTER'S BEST AGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 39

THE TROTTER'S BEST AGE.

Turf, Field, and Farm discusses the ques. tion : At what age is the trotter most capable of making a supreme effort? One of the answers is from a gentleman who fixed the period at 10 years, and on being asked for a reason replied : "Dexter, the greatest horse of his day. was nine when he trotted to a, record of 2.17 i, and he was a better horse at 10 and in subsequent years. He was withdrawn from the turf when just in his prime. Goldsmith Maid, the first trptter to heat the record of Dexter, was 17 when she obtained a record of 2.14-, and at the age of 15 phe trotted what was regarded as the best rao of her remarkable career. St. Julieu, who reduced the record to 2.1H in 1880, was11 at that time. Maud S. was 10 when she trotted in 2.9-i, and 11 when she made her record of 2.8g to hiph hael sulky on the regulation track. Taking these performances for a guide. I do not see how we can escape the conclusion that a horse does not attain full possession of his powers until he is 10 years old." These remarks drew forth a ready answer : t 'The old champions were allowed to mature slowly. They were net. reared as carefully as the horse of to-day is. The colt which is fed oats before it is weaned, and which is sheltered in rough weather and constantly given the most nourishing food, is stronger and more developed as a yearling than Goldsmith Maid was as a two-year-old. This horee's education also begins much sooner. He is taught to step as a yearling, and is expected to trot in 2.30, or better, as a two or a three year old. Goldsmith Maid was not put in training until she was eight years old, and Dexter was six when he first appeared in public, and even then he was not asked to beat 2.30. St. Julien came out as a six-year-old, and Maud S. did not participate in a race until she was six years old, although she was fast as a four-year-old. The speed rate was slower in the days of the old champion?, and it is the pace that tests endurance, that kills. Alix, who holds the fastest record, was great as a five-year-old, and alfc

tamed her record as a six-3'ear-old. The same is true of Nancy Hants. The daughter pf Happy Medium was six when she trotted her record of 2.4-. Fantasy trotted in 2.8g sis a three-year-old, and in 2.6 as a four-year-old. The Abbot was great in his 'four and $ye old forms, and as a six-year-old he cut his reoord to 2.6^. Binger was an early trotter, and his record of 2.6^ was made as a six-year-old. Ralph. Wilkes trotted to. hie record, 2.6|, as a five-year-old, and so did Kremlin, 2.7|. The records of Cresceus, 2,7£; William Perm, 2.7|; Caid, 2.7* ; Jupe, 2.71, and Grattan Boy, 2.8, were made in the five-year-old form. Directum made his remarkable campaign and reduced the stallion record to 2.5 ias a throe-year-old, and Peter the Great obtained his record of 8.7 -as a four-year-old. Beuzetta, 2.6g, showed her highest form as a four-3'ear-old, and so did John Nolan, 2.8. The greatest of all trotting performance 0 , that of Arion, 2.101 to high wheel sulky, vra^ made as a two-year-old. • Sunol trotted as a two-year-old in 2.18; as a three-year-old in 2.10^; as a four-year-old in 2.104. an d as a five-year-old in 2.8J:. all to high wheel sulky. She was at her zenith as a five-year-old. A trotter, properly reared and developed, is capable of the gieatest achievement as a five or six year old. Lady Suffolk, the first horse to beat 2.30, was 10 years old when she trotted in 2.28 in harness in 18*9, and now the yearling record is 2.23. The past may be a golden past in some lespects, but it is not a correct guide to the present because conditions have so greatly changed."