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HORSE BREEDING STATE AUDITORS HOBBY. Mr. McCullough Has Some Highly Bred Mares at His Illinois FarmBuys Hurst Park. Louisville, Ky., September 18. James Griffin and Co.s Frontenac, which made his first start in nearly a year on Friday last, ran a creditable, race under the circumstances. On the way to New Orleans last fall the horse contracted a high fever and had to be put off the train at Jackson, Tenn. It was with great difficulty that his life was saved. He was laid up all winter. He rounded to in the spring, but when Mr. Griffin was shipping from Kenllworth to Salem he was taken sick again. It was necessary that he be thrown out of training all through the summer. He is only Just now getting Into shape after this second setback. Frontenac was bred by James R. Keene and is by Kingston, out of Sylva Belle, by Bend Or, out of the dam of St. Gatlen, and Is of royal lineage, and Mr. Griffin bought the colt mainly for breeding purposes. Mr. Griffins racing partner, Mr. J. S. McCullough, a prominent business man of Urbana and Champaign, 111., and now serving his third term as State Auditor, owns eighteen hundred acres of land in that section of Illinois. He is an enthusiastic student of breeding, and a couple of years ago had a band of some sixty broodmares. These have been weeded out, twenty-five of the best being retained, and Frontenac was bred to twelve of these, last spring. The premier stallion at the farm just now is the English-bred horse Uncommon, by Common, the sire of a number of good winners, Including the useful performer, Husted. While he was east the past summer, Mr. Griffin bought for stud use from Mr. Keene, by advice of trainer James Rowe, the six-year-old horse Hurst Park, by Kingston, out of Editha dam of Pope Joan, by Master Kildare. Hurst Park early gave indications of high-class form, but went wrong. Mr. Griffin says there are nine yearlings -tttthe farm, six of them by fJucoinmon: HeVIll take these up this fall and ship them to New Orleans with his stable. Uncommon was imported In utero by Mr. Keeno and was a very likely two-year-old, but he went wrong early aud was sold to Mr. McCullough, who fancied his bloodlines. Mr. McCullough has great confidence in the Bruce Lowe system of Indieating the winning and non-winning families by numbers. But apart from that he is well versed in the history and development of the thoroughbred, the study of which has been a hobby with him for years. He is going about the matter in the correct way in buying castoffs from establishments like that of Mr. Keene, for the Castleton collection of broodmares is one of the best in the world. Mr. McCullough has an ambition to breed a great horse, and if he pursues the policy he has been following stranger things have happened than that he might have a Futurity winner to his credit one of these days. He is traveling in the footsteps of the late Major B. G. Thomas, the nestor of American breeders. That is to say, while his means may not permit him to buy racing qualfty and Individuality as well as blood, lie is going after the blood which is the .first and prime essential. "We have but little blue grass up our way," said Mr. Griffin, "but we have good grazing and we raise good hay. I think we will, be turning out some pretty high-class racehorses after awhile, as Mr. McCullough is thorough in his methods aud a scientific breeder. Pity we have no racing in Chicago, as with turf sports assured there Illinois would speedily become one of the greatest thoroughbred states in the Union, and these interests would add millions of dollars to the wealth of the state."
