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NOTABLE BARGAINS OF THE ENGLISH XURF Some Animals Selling for Low Frices Have Won Fortunes for Their Owners Innumerable instances are on recordboth In Amer ¬ ica and England of exceedingly cheap colts after ¬ ward winning fortunes for their chance owners One of the most notable cases recently was that of the American steeplechaser Ruhio which won the Liverpool Grand National last March After arriving in England with a lot of yearlings lie was sold for 75 and driven to a trap for a while whileStories Stories of Derby winners having been sold as youngsters for exceedingly small sums are fairly numerous and without going too far back Into the recesses of the past at least two instances can lie cited of animals destined ultimately to win the Blue Ribbon of the Turf which as yearlings no one thought good enough to buy Voltigucr was one of these and the other was Thormanby ThormanbyVoltiguer Voltiguer was bred by Robert Stephenson in 1817 and as a yearling was sent up to be sold at the Doncaster sales a reserve price of 1750 being placed on him Not a man was found to bid that much for him consequently he was withdrawn In all probability he would have remained unsold had not Williamson a relative by marriage of Lord Zetland seen him and having taken a fancy to him finally persuaded his lordship to buy him His judgment was triumphantly vindicated for not only did Voltiguer win the Derby and St Leger but he succeeded in establishing a Hue of thoroughbreds which is at present dominant on the English turf and likely to remain so for some time to come comeThormauby Thormauby too was sent up to be disposed of at Doncaster and like Voltiguer did not reach a nominal reserve Desirous of getting rid of him however Pluminer his breeder requested the fa ¬ mous trainer Matt Dawson to come and have a thorough look at him This Dawson did and per ¬ ceiving at a glance good points about him which no one else apparently had noticed bought him for Mr Merry his patron Strange enough Dawson gave the same figure for Thormanby as that paid for Voltiguer As a twoyearold Thormanby ran fourteen times and out of this number scored nine wins and in the Derby of the following year lie beat a field of thirty It was said that the race netted Merry the nice sum of 200000 200000The The cheapest horse that ever won the Derby was Little Wonder which was successful in 1840 for he only cost his owner Robertson the meager sum of 32 Spaniel too winner of the race in 1831 was picked up for a very small sum Lord Egerton his breeder letting him go for 750 Pyrrhus I which won in 1840 was purchased by John Day the noted trainer as a yearling at Doncaster Gully the pugilist taking a half Interest In him As a twoyearold the horse never ran and seemingly his abilities were then of an unknown quantity for at the end of the season Day agreed to sell his half share in him to Gully for 500 Days chagrin at his subsequent victory In the Derby was very great greatTeddington Teddington the winner of 1831 was bred by a blacksmith who sold him as a foal together with his dam to Sir Joseph Hawlcy for 1250 and a further 5000 if he won the Derby Sir Joseph and his confederate iMasscy Stanhope to whom the horse really belonged profited largely over the success and the jockei Marson who rode the horse received 10000 as a token of victory which in those days was unprecedented unprecedentedSainfoin Sainfoin which carried the colors of Sir James Miller to the front eighteen years ago was an ex ¬ ceptionally fortunate purchase by John Porter the trainer He bought the colt out of the Hampton Court lot of yearlings in 1888 for the very reasonable price of 2720 Sir Robert Jardlne taking a half in ¬ terest in him As a twqycarold he was seen only once In public and he won his race with the greatest ease The year following he won the Esher Stakes in a canter after which he was sold to Sir James Miller for 30000 and a contingency of half the stakes if he won the Derby It was indeed a profit ¬ able deal for Porter and Sir Robert RobertAnother Another instance of Porters shrewdness as a horse dealer was his purchase of the great horse Isonomy for the bagatelle figure comparatively speaking of 1800 The real owner was Fred Gretton Isonomy gave no real promise of his worth as a Iwoyearold his only victory being a nursery stake in the latter part of the season As a three yearold he was not seen in public until the Cam bridgeshire which he won easily by two lengths and Incidentally earned no less than 200000 In bets for his owner Had he been in Ihe classic races he would In all probability have cleaned the board boardAt At four years old he won the Gold Cup at Ascot and the Goodwood and Brighton Cups and crowned these feats by literally running away with the Great Eboc Handicap carrying the crushing weight of 136 pounds The following year Isonomy proved himself a better horse than ever not only winning the Ascot Gold Cup again but also the Manchester Cup with the almost impossible burden one would think of 138 pounds It has been calculated that altogether Isonomy won for his owner upward of 500000 Jn stakes and bets which for an 1800 investment was a colossal profit profitStill Still another example of John Porters judgment In the purchase of a race horse was furnished by Paradox which he in conjunction with Captain Bowling bought for 2250 at the sale of the Yard ley Stud yearlings In 1883 He was not tried either In public or private until late In his twoyearold days when however he accomplished such a great performance in a home spin that the Duke of Westminster bought him for 30000 After run ¬ ning once for ids now owner he changed hands again and in the colors of Mr Cloete won the Two Thousand Guineas and should have won the Derby of that year yearVirago Virago was purchased by her owner when a year ¬ ling at Doncaster for 1750 and Padwicks Judg me t WM re warded jor ia one season she cap ¬ tured 50000 In stakes As a threeyearold she ac cpmplished a feat that has never heea duplicated winning two such diverse races as the City and Suburban and Great Metropolitan Stakes at Epsotn within the space of one hour hourOctavian Octavian winner of the St Lcger was pur ¬ chased by the Duke of Leeds from one of his ten ¬ ants for the paltry sum of 50 while his grand daughtjpr Crucifix which won the Two Thousand Guineas the One Thousand Guineas and the Oaks and altogether upward of GO000 in stakes cost Lord Bentinck together with her dam only 260 260At At Middle Park in 1875 there was a very remark ¬ able sale the two famous animals disposed of be ¬ ing Galopln to Prince Batthyany for 2600 and Stray Shot t Mr Chaplin for 1000 Galopin waa bought entirely on John Dawsons advice and ha proved to be one of the best horses ever bred fofi lie won the Derby In a common canter by eight lengths Stray Shot also turned out a good animal on the race course though not in the same class as Galopln hut her chief claim to remembrance rests In the fact that she was the mother of Shot over the only mare besides Eleanor and Blink Bonny to win the Derby until Signorinctta scored this year yearBargains Bargains galore have been made In the pnrchaso of horses out of selling races and In this respect the history of Black Sand sire of Rock Sand is both curious and Instructive He was bred by Sir James Miller and was so small and mean when a youngster that the liaronet made a present of him to his trainer Blackwell The latter entered him as a twoyearold in a selling plate at Newmarket which lie won and he was immediately bought by Sir William Ingram for 2000 In the colors of his new owner the next year Black Sand won two races In quick succession and then changed handa again a man named Pritchard buying him for 2100 2100Tliis Tliis was a bargain Indeed for although Black Sand started twice he won on both occasions Aa a fouryearold the horse showed great improvement running second for the Cesarewitch and for thn Manchester November Handicap being beaten only a head in each case The next season Black Sand fully recompensed his owner for the ill luck ex ¬ perienced in these two races by winning the Cesare ¬ witch in a canter with 114 pounds on his back To counterbalance the loss of Black Sand Sir James Miller had previously bought Chaleureux out of a selling wee and won the Cesarewitch with him I He is sire of this years Derby winner winnerTo To prove a real bargain it is not necessary that a race horse should be bought very cheap Ono notable instance Is that of Sceptre for which R S Siever paid 50000 wbcn a yearling to tho Duke of Westminster It looked to be a foolhardy deal to some but the great mare won four out of five big classics and altogether 125000 In stakes stakesThe The filly Kate which won the One Thousand Guineas In 1S52 was iKHight for 230 from the lato Lord AIHngton and the Honorable Henry Curzon She turned out so badly as a twoyearold that they decided to dispose of her and they had the mortification afterward to see her come home in the big fillies race
