Then he saw them far across the field, and neither yet had the advantage.
Now, Robert understood why the Virginians loved the sport.

The test of a horse's strength and endurance and of a horseman's skill and judgment was thrilling.

Presently he found that he was shouting with the shouting multitude, and sometimes he shouted Cressy and sometimes he shouted Blenheim.
They came around the curve, the finish of the first mile being near, and Robert saw the nose of the sorrel creeping past the nose of the bay.

A shout of triumph came from the followers of Cressy and Cabell, but the partisans of Blenheim and Stuart replied that the race was not yet half run.

Cressy, though it was only in inches, was still gaining.