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DICK WLLXS. In a recent chatty letter Capt. T. B. Merry writes in the following entertaining fashion of this years Hyde Park winner: "Dick Welles, Mr. J. B. Respess great two-year-old colt by the never-appreciated Sing Eric, is a colt bred very much to my liking. He goes back through mares by Hanover, Vigil the gamest horse Virgil ever got, Glen Athol, Lexington and Yorkshire, to Maria Black, dam of the beautiful Sallie Waters, whose defeat by Lexington was that great sires first step up the ladder of fame, I was under age at the time, but remember that the filly was a hot favorite over tho son of Alice Carneal till nearly noon on the day of the race, when the muddy track began to look favorable for Lexineton and he went to the, post an even-money favorite with her. The story was soon told. The race was at three-mile heats, and, after giving Sallie a very indulgent lead for a mile, Lexington put on steam and rnshed her off her feet so badly that she was nearly distanced and was drawn after the first heat. Sallie Waters was reported to have run a trial of three miles in 5 :381 over the old Bascomb track at Mobile about ten days before this race, which her party deemed equal to 5:29 over the Metaire, and that was five seconds faster than the record up to that time. " Another good horse from Dick Welles female line was Preakness, whose dead-heat for the Saratoga Cup of 1875 will never be forgotten by those who saw it. The betting on that race there were no books at that time was the heaviest ever known in America up to that time. I had, in partnership with the late William Shear, of San Francisco, a ticket on Proaknass for which we paid 75, Springbok bringing ,250 and Grinstead ,000 as second choice, while the field brought 50. Preakness passed the three-quarter post in the lead when . j 1 1 l , ; i j somebody called out, 1 Look at 8pringbok a-com-ing, and by the time Preakness got into the stretch the sorrel horse was at his throat-latch. Shear and I were about 250 yards up the stretch, and when they passed us Springbok was at least two feet in front of Mr. Sanfords horse. Shear looked at me ominously and asked : " Tom, have you got enough money left to get back to Frisco? " No, I replied, bnt I can get all I want in New York, for myself or you either. " I tell you folks.that whenold Bill and I got down to the stand and saw the two ciphers hung out for a dead heat we both felt like going up and giving "Ole Man Hayward" a genuine grizzly hug, It should also be recollected that Preakness went over to England the next year, and, after being twice defeated, went out and walked over for the Brighton Cup, not a hoiso in all of England or France daring to start against him. On his retirement to the stud, Preakness got The Fiddler, who won the Newmarkat Tri-ennial, beating Camel-liard, while that great mare Thebais, was two lengths away, and Falkirk no bad horse, either, was beaten away off. In the next year The Fiddler won the Great Metropolitan, with 110 pounds easily. In the Chester Cup he was beaten a scant length by Prudhomme, to which he conceded a year and 13 pounds. After that he won tho Alexandra Plate, beating the great Foxhall, whieh had beaten Petronel two days previously for the Ascot Cup. Jnst as the excellent performances of The Fiddler were beginning to attract the attention of English breeders to Preakness, as a valuable outcross,, the old hero became a savage and it was necessary to destroy him, and as Bay Leaf is the only American mare, so far, to produce three winners of races in England Preakness, Rubicon and Bay Final, all by Lexington, I dont think Mr. Respess need be afraid to put Dick Welles in the stud after his racing days are ended. Good horses from King Toms male line are already scarce and the services of Dick Welles should command a fairly good price, for that reason if for no other; and apart from any merit he may be said to possess as an individual. On mares having the blood of Lexington and Yorkshire, he ought to be a mortal air-tight cinch, all the other crosses being wholly dissimilar. "You will notice that I speak of Vigil as the gamest of Virgils sons. I write this with no desire to disparage Hindoo, but Hindoo had more speed than Vigil. In a mile he could beat Vigil sixty yards and in two miles at least forty, but, at three miles, Vigil could bring him or any other horse of his day to the whip. I saw him win his last race, on three legs at two and a half or three miles, I have now forgotten which at Jerome Park, beating St. Martin by Phaeton by a neck. Vigil pulled up hopelessly broken down and, in two hours afterwards, his queer leg was as big and as round as your coat sleeve. I deem a cross of Vigil a very good thing to have in. a horse, for his dam not only produced that good horse Ve"ra Cruz, by the same sire, but Also pro-1 duced Jolly Sir John, by Glenelg, a good winner in England ; and Jolly Sir John was in the same stable with those two great sons of Waverly, Abbotsford and Wallenstein, for which reason he had to wait. his turn for the good things of that era. Yes, Dick Welles 1b bred all right. I have only one objection. to him he does not belong to me."
