And mightily the chestnut answered those calls, bolting down the stretch.
The riders of the mares had sensed danger in the shouting of the crowd, and though their lead seemed safe they took no chances but sat down and began to ride out their mounts.

Still Alcatraz gained.

From the stretching head, across the withers, the straight-driving croup, the tail whipped out behind, was one even line.

His ears were not flagging back like the ears of a horse merely giving his utmost of speed; they were dressed flat by a consuming fury, and the same uncanny rage gleamed in his eyes and trembled in his expanding nostrils.

It was like a human effort and for that reason terrible in a brute beast.