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Many
of the outstanding stallions and mares that helped form the nucleus
of the Walking Horse carried the blood of OLD PACING PILOT.
Early horse breeders of Middle Tennessee and Kentucky assumed
that PACING PILOT was of Canadian descent.
As in the case of COPPERBOTTOM, this assumption was
accepted because most pacers in America trace to the Canadian and
Narragansett horses.
In any event, PACING PILOT was known throughout both
Tennessee and Kentucky for his influence in contributing to the
easy, ambly gait for which horses in these states were known.
He
was foaled about 1823.
A man by the name of Louis Dansereau imported a great
quantity of pacing mares into Canada from Narragansett country and
PACING PILOT was one of several fine black stallions developed by
this breeder. The foundation mare of the Dansereau line was a black
pacer about 14 years old, obtained from a Yankee trader. Dansereau
bred this mare around 1817 to VOYAGEUR, whose pacing dam was bought,
when carrying him, from a Yankee trader. The result of this mating
was a black pacing mare, JEANNE d'ARC, who produced an outstanding
group of black pacing stallions.
PACING PILOT was one of these stallions foaled in 1823 and
imported to Kentucky in 1831. The horse was taken to Stafford
Spring, Connecticut, and put in training where it became obvious
that the black stallion possessed unusual racing potential.
It was during this training period that half interest in
PACING PILOT was sold to John Dean. Pacing
Pilot was taken to New Orleans where he ran the mile under saddle in
2:26, and was immediately purchased by a Major O. Duboise for
$1,000.
But the reputation of PACING PILOT was so well known that his
new owner found it impossible to match him against other racers, and
so the horse was sold to one D. Henisohn of Louisville, Kentucky.
The selling price was again $1000.
PACING PILOT died in 1855. PACING
PILOT was a pacing horse through and through, and left many
offspring, but their records were seldom kept. It is known that the
majority of his colts were pacers, but there were also some
trotters.
One very interesting thing about his offspring is the fact
that he was bred to NANCY TAYLOR and her daughter, NANCY POPE.
From NANCY TAYLOR, PILOT sired his fastest pacer, and from
NANCY POPE he sired his fastest trotter. While PILOT JR., the foal from NANCY POPE, was probably PACING PILOT'S most famous colt, it was another son, BROWN PILOT, that brought the blood to Middle Tennessee. PACING PILOT also left his mark on the Standardbreds of America. PILOT JR. sired TATTLER which ran the mile in 2:26, the five-year-old record of the world in 1868. He also sired TACKEY, the dam of PILOT MEDIUM, whose son, PETER THE GREAT, is still considered one of the greatest trotting sires of all time.
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