As a three-year-old Electioneer was worked some on the Stonyford farm track to wagon, and Mr. Backman, whose word is good enough authority for all who know him, stated that he showed a quarter to wagon in thirty-nine seconds in that year. Little else is known of his history at Stonyford. He was bred to a few, very few mares, and was evidently not greatly esteemed by Mr. Backman. In the autumn of 1876, ex-Governor Stanford, who was just establishing his great breeding farm, Palo Alto, in the Santa Clara Valley, California, visited Stonyford to purchase stock—principally brood mares. The governor was a great believer in what I may call horse-physiognomy, or to be more exact, he believed in the importance of the right psychical organization, what we commonly call brain force, in horses, and was attracted by the physical evidences thereof as indicated in the head. Electioneer pleased him in this regard, and in his general make-up, and when the governor’s purchase was completed Electioneer went along, being put in at twelve thousand five hundred dollars. He with the other Stonyford purchases arrived at Palo Alto Christmas Eve, 1876.
Though Electioneer never took a record, he was emphatically a developed horse. I do not know whether he was ever driven a full mile or not—Mr. Marvin never drove him one—but it has been stated that one of the other trainers drove him a mile in time somewhere between 2:20 and 2:25. However they may be, Mr. Marvin in his book settles the question as to his having been a fast, trained trotter. He says:
“Electioneer is the most natural trotter I have ever seen. He has free, abundant action; it is a perfect rolling action both in front and behind, and he has not the usual fault of the Hambletonians of going too wide behind. Certain writers have said that Electioneer could not trot, and have cited him as a stallion that was not a trotter yet got trotters.... I have driven, beside Electioneer, a quarter in thirty-five seconds.... He did this, too, hitched to a one hundred and twenty-five-pound wagon, with a two hundred and twenty-pound man, and not a professional driver, either, in the seat. In this rig he could carry Occident right up to his clip, and could always keep right with him; and it was no trick for the famous St. Clair gelding to go a quarter in thirty-four seconds. Without preparation you could take Electioneer out any day and drive him an eighth of a mile at a 2:20 gait. He always had his speed with him.... That Electioneer could have beaten 2:20 if given a regular preparation is with me a conviction about which no doubt exists.”
Mr. Marvin is a conservative and reliable man; he knew whereof he wrote, and his testimony must be accepted as conclusive both as to Electioneer’s having been a naturally fast trotter, and as to his having had his speed developed. Undeveloped horses do not trot quarters in thirty-five seconds.
When in 1880 Fred Crocker, one of the seven foals got by Electioneer in his first year’s service in California, astonished the world by trotting to a two-year-old record of 2:25¾, his sire became instantly famous, and that fame has increased rapidly and steadily from that day to this. It was not allowed for a moment to wane or lag. After Fred Crocker came an ever-surprising procession of young record breakers. In 1881 Hinda Rose made a yearling record of 2:36½, and Wildflower a two-year-old record of 2:21. In 1883 Hinda Rose lowered the three-year-old record to 2:19½, and Bonita the four-year-old record to 2:18¾. In 1886 Manzanita lowered the four-year-old record to 2:16; in 1887 Norlaine, granddaughter of Electioneer, lowered the yearling record to 2:31½; and in 1888 Sunol put the two-year-old record at 2:18, and the year following took a three-year-old record of 2:10½, the fastest to that date. Sunol captured the four-year-old record in 1889, and the world’s record, 2:08¼, in 1891, but what made this the brightest year in all the history of Palo Alto was that Arion lowered the two-year-old record to 2:10¾—the most remarkable of all trotting performances—Bell Bird the yearling record to 2:26¼, and Palo Alto the stallion record to 2:08¾. Electioneer has now to his credit one hundred and fifty-four standard performers, and in this and in the 2:20 list he has a long lead over all other sires. He died at Palo Alto, December 3, 1890, and I am informed that his skeleton has been articulated and mounted for the museum of the Stanford University. The following table gives the sons of Electioneer that up to the close of 1896 had ten or more standard performers to their credit:
LEADING SONS OF ELECTIONEER.
| Name. | Year foaled. | Standard performers. | Producing sons. | Producing daughters. | Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. | Total No. produced in two generations. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Bell, 2:24½ | 1882 | 47 | 1 | —— | 1 | 48 |
| Sphinx, 2:20½ | 1883 | 43 | —— | —— | —— | 43 |
| Chimes, 2:30¾ | 1884 | 32 | 3 | —— | 3 | 35 |
| Anteeo, 2:16¼ | 1879 | 28 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 40 |
| Norval, 2:14¾ | 1882 | 24 | 1 | —— | 1 | 25 |
| Egotist, 2:22½ | 1885 | 18 | 1 | —— | 1 | 19 |
| Anteros | 1882 | 16 | —— | 2 | 2 | 18 |
| Elector (2170), 2:31 | 1879 | 16 | —— | —— | —— | 16 |
| Albert W., 2:20 | 1878 | 15 | 1 | —— | 1 | 16 |
| Eros, 2:29¼ | 1879 | 14 | 3 | —— | 4 | 18 |
| Antevolo, 2:19½ | 1881 | 13 | —— | 1 | 11 | 14 |
| *Bell Boy, 2:19¼ | 1885 | 11 | 1 | —— | 1 | 12 |
| Fallis, 2:23 | 1878 | 10 | 1 | —— | 3 | 13 |
| Palo Alto, 2:08¾ | 1882 | 10 | —— | —— | —— | 10 |
* Died at 5 years old.
In considering this table it is necessary to remember that the Electioneer family dates from 1878, and that no family of anything approaching so late a date makes a showing that will bear comparison with this. In considering the rank of families this question of age is always vital. Electioneer’s first crop of foals at Palo Alto—1878—numbered seven, and of these two are represented above, while another was the famous gelding Fred Crocker. The next numbered but twenty-one, and of these Eros, Elector, and Anteeo are in the table, and ten are in the 2:20 list. His third and fourth crops (1880 and 1881) numbered sixteen and twenty-three respectively, and the forty of 1882 was the greatest number he ever got in one year. I am informed that in all Electioneer got less than four hundred foals at Palo Alto; and that, since the first one saw light in 1878 this family should in eighteen years make the showing it has with nearly fifty per cent. of its members in the 2:30 list, and four hundred and ninety-three of the second generation also there, is certainly remarkable. Electioneer has to his credit in the 2:15 list the following trotters: Arion, 2:07¾, Sunol, 2:08¼, Palo Alto, 2:08¾, Helena, 2:12½, Belleflower, 2:12¾, Utility, 2:13, Quality, 2:13¼, Conductor, 2:14¼, and Norval, 2:14¾, an “extreme speed list” greater than to the credit of any other sire, while among the get of his sons are such trotters as Azote, 2:04¾, Fantasy, 2:06, Little Albert, 2:10, Lynne Bel, 2:10½, Copeland, 2:11½, Athanio, 2:11¾, Cobwebs, 2:12, etc., etc. Sixty-five of his sons have sired four hundred and thirty-seven performers, and forty-three of his daughters have produced fifty-six performers. With all these facts kept in view the study of the above table will prove interesting and instructive in forming an estimate of the merit of Electioneer as a trotting progenitor.