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1 : ; - . 1 . i . . - t - - ; 5 I i 5 5 3 j - 1 I THE THREE GREAT BLOOD LINES. Horses That Are Regarded as the Fonntain Head Ancestors of Our Thoroughbreds. In the present state of breeding tho thoroughbred is divided into three great families. those of Eclipse. Herod and Matchcm. These in turn are the rcure- sentatives of the houses of the Darley Arabian. By-I erly Turk and Godolpln Arabian, respectively. The predominant blood has long been that ot Eclipse. but in England of late yearjs there has been much advocacy of bringing back representatives of Herod and Matchem from France and the United States to mingle with and modify the fiery blood of the intensified Eclipse inbreds. In each line of descent there have been great race horses and each has its characteristic virtues and defects. Much has been written by students of breeding problems concerning these great horses and their descendants, but nothing more compactly than the following by Captain Merry: Matchem was a bav horse foaled 174S and bred by Mr. John Holme, of Carlisle. He was not trained until live years old when he raced as the property of William Fenwick. of Bywell in Northumberland, He won his first race for the subscription purse of 100 guineas at York, beating Barforth Billy. , by Forester, aud Bold, by Cade. He wop six races wltli- out experiencing a single defeat. when he was beaten at seven years old, by Spectator, but beat ; Drawcansir at four miles, a few days later. In 175S he won the Jockey Club Plate at four miles. but was subsequently beaten by Mirza. Jason third. Feather favorite, fourth, and Forester last. His 1 last race was to that same year for a 50 plate 1 at Scarborough, in- which he beat Foxhunter and Sweetlips. He then retired permanently to the 1 stud, at the low fee of five guineas, which was 1 increased to ten In 1763. twenty In 1770 and fifty in 1775. Ho was then twenty-seven years old. but got nineteen foals In that year. Matchems get : were on the turf just twenty-three seasons, during which they won 150.097. Ho died at the ripe age of thirty-three years in the SDrinc of 1781. Herod was bred by H. R. n. the Duke of Cumber-is land and was subsequently sold to Sir John Moore. He won his first live races, three of them matches I ; 1 1 1 1 : I of 1,000 guineas each, and met with his first defeat in a match of 1.000 guineas each against Sir James Lowthers Aschani, to which he was giving fourteen pounds. He then was beaten three straight races by Turf. Bay Malton twice and then wound up his turf career by Ieating his old antagonist. Ascham. for 1,000 guineas a side, over the Beacon course four miles, at Newmarket. Herod retired to the stud in 1770. He never got a Derby winner, but got two winners of the St. Lcger and three of the Oaks. The best of his get were Anvil. Phenomenon. Higlnlyer. Florlzel. Bngot. Fortitude. Woodpecker and Telamachus. Considered as sires. Highflyer. Woodpecker and Florizel were his best three. His get were on the "turf nineteen seasons, duriug which they won 201.505 in money, seven cups and fortv-three hogsheads of claret. He also showed himself a wonderful broodmare sire, getting the dams of Waxy, whose male line has won more of the classical events than any other sire: and of Animator. Gohanna and his brother. Precipitate. Gustavus. Benlngbrough St. Leger 17S4 and sire of the great Orville. Calomel, Coriander. Dungannon wluner of twenty-six races, thirteen at four mile heats. Iui-perator. Overton and Worthy, all more or less famed as sires. He also got the dam of Contessina bv Young Marske. from which is descended, in female tail line, the great Isonomy. Herods greatest fee was twenty-five guineas, but he obtained that In his third year. His male line now exists only through three of bis sons Woodpecker. Highflyer aud Florizel, whose son, Diomed. was imported to America in 170S. Herod died May 12, 17S0, aged twenty-two years. For the first two generations Herods line was far in advance of all others through Highflyer and his great son. Sir Peter, whose fifth dam was the dam of the two True Blues, the founder of the No. 3 family in Bruce Lowes system. The reader will also note that Sir Peter was conversely inbred to the Byerly Turk, that horse being his fifth sire and the sire of his fifth dam. The great Australian stallion. Chester, and the equally famous New Zealand stallion. Sir Modred. imported by Mr. James B. Haggin. and premier sire of America in 1894. were both conversly inbred likewise. But it was not through Highflyer and Sir Peter alone that Herod triumphed, for Woodpecker got Buzzard in 17S7 and he got the Oaks winner. Bronze, and the St. Leger winner. Quiz. But Buzzards honors did not end there, for. from a daughter of Alexander by Eclipse Grecian Princess, he got those three great brothers, Sellui. Castrel and Rubens, ranking as sires in the order named. Selim got 152 winners of 55,253, beside the Whip and nine gold cups. Castrel was a "roarer" and was very much avoided by select breeders on that account. Nevertheless, he got forty-two winners of 11,720 and six gold cups. Rubens was the youngest of the trio, all foaled in four years. He won seven races ut ol eleven and, at the stud, became the most popular stallion of his time, getting two Oaks winners and one of the Two Thousand Guineas. Castrel died at twenty-six. Selim at twenty-three and Rubens at twenty-five. Rubens got 231 winners of a total of 73,031. besides thirty-three gold cups. His male line became extinct more than twenty years ago, while Castrels line survives through Pantaloon. Windhound, Thormanby and Atlantic in France and Sir Modred and Cheviot in America. Seliras male line descends to us through Sultan. Bay Middleton. Glencoe. Vandal, Virgil, Hindoo. Hanover and his great sons. Hamburg. Handspring. Handsel. The Commoner and Buck Massle. The blood of Florlzel was strongly exploited in the United States through Diomed. tiic first winner of the Epsom Derby, which was imported into America in 1799 at the ripe age of twenty-two years. Diomed. old as he was. managed to get two great performers in Balls Florizel never beaten and Sir Afchy. the greatest sire of the first half of the nineteenth century. Balls Florizels male line soon became extinct. Orphau being the only good sire in all his get. But Sir Archy was the great premier of his era. getting forty-odd good performers and ten or a dozen sires of which several became premiers. Timoleon. Sir Charles and Virginian, Sir Charles heading the winning sires list as late as 1S39. when his son. Wagner, carried off the 20.000 Post Stakes at Louisville. Duroc. the sire of the unbeaten American Eclipse, which raced till nine years old and lost by a neck the fastest heat of four miles ever run up to that time 7:37, was also by imported Diomed. Eclipse got several good sires, the best of which was Medoc. premier sire of America in 1S40 and 1S41. Me-docs daughters did a great deal towards building up the reputations of Wagner and Glencoe. the two most popular stallions in America between 1S43 and 1SG0. It was from 1800 to 1S77 that tho blood of Florizel. through Diomed and thence down to Lexington, foaled 1S50. had its greatest innings. Lexington outbred all horses of his day. but his excellence ended with himself. He headed the list of winning sires for eleven seasons, no other stallion, either native or imported, being able to cope with him save Leamington: and yet none of his sons were ever better than third on the list War Dance and he was only for one season. The late August Belmont who died in 1S90 imported over S25.000 worth of fashionably-bred English mares, in the hope of getting some son of Lexington that would equal the father, but all in vain. His best sons were War Dance. Kingfisher. Norfolk and Wanderer: and they were all good without any of them being entitled to be called great. The best horse that ever came from his male line was Grinstead. a grandson. which was by Gllroy Lexington Magnolia, 3 full brother to Daniel Boone and Kentucky. He suffered from being a private stallion and all his get were raced out of one stable Mr. Ellas J. Baldwins, of Santa Anita. California. Had Grin- steads services been accessible to the public, or had Mr. Baldwin sold his yearlings at auction. Grinsteads progeny would have had. a much better showing to their credit. The only line of Diomed Continued on sixth page. THE THREE GREAT BLOOD LINES. Continued from first page. a 1 I A V i I 1: t v s I 1 v J, J v 0 L a 1 r i J 1 c 1 J j t f t v J v J J c I J I i 1 f I i : j - i . i i ; now extant is that through Boston and Lexington; and if that line is in existence by the vear 1925, miss my reckoning very badlv. ICclipse, foaled in 1701. was a chestnut horse by Marske. sou of Squirt, lie by Bartletts Childers. His dam was Spiletta. by Regulus. son of the Godolphin Arabian which died in 1753. Eclipse took his name from the great eclipse of the sun which prevailed on the day he was foaled, and was bred bv II. R. II., William, Duke of Cumberland, who also bred Herod. At four years old Ecjipse was broken to ride and sold to Mr. Wildman. who shortly afterwards sold one-half interest in him to a noted Irish gambler of that day. Colonel Dennis OKelly. Eclipse won his first race at lOpsoni on the third day of May. 1709. for a plate of 50 which he won with ease in a Held of live. Gower. by Sweepstakes, was second: Chance, by Young Cade, third, while Trial and Plume were unplaced. The scale of weights at that time was 118 pounds on five-year-olds and 129 on six-year-olds and aged horses. The next race he ran, OKelly offered to bet 1.000 that be could place the horses. On the wager being accepted, OKelly said, "Fclipse first the rest nowhere." He then instructed his jockey to ride so as to distance the field, which was obeyed to the letter and OKelly won his bet. He had alreadv paid C50 guineas for one-half of the horse and now he became the owner of the other hnlf for 1.10O guineas. Eclipse won nine l-aces In all that year. Including a gold bowl at Salisbury, two Town Plates and six Royal Plates. The next vear he got a long list of winning brackets, some of which he won at odds of 10 to 1; and in his great race over, the Round Course, against Pensioner, Ohigger and Diana, they not only bet 10 to 1 that he would win. but. after the first beat, bet 7 to 4. in very large sums, that, he would distance Pensioner, which he did. Eclipse won nine races In 1770. making eighteen in all without a single defeat, and was then retired to the stud at fifty guineas per mare, whence came forth his progeny to conquer ns he had done before them. His get won 158.047 in twenty-three years, whining long after his death. Eclipse first stood at Clay Hill, near Epsom, where his fee was liftv guineas. He died February 26. 17S7. aged twenty-three years, at the Cannons, in Surrey, not far from Cobham. his fee leing but thirty guineas for two years before bis death. This goes to prove what I have already asserted that Herods get surpassed those of ICclipse for the first two generations. Had the young Eclipses beaten the young Herods. there would have been no need of reducing ICclinses service fee from 50 to 30. a shrinkage of forty per cent. But after the second generation of each horse had passed, then came the revulsion, which has never wavered for a moment. It became a rehearsal of OKellys famous bet. "ICclipse first and the rest nowhere." Eclipse got three Derby winners to Herods none, one pf the best of which was Saltram. afterwards imported to America. Before leaving England, however. Saltram got Whiskey, out of Calash, by Herod, she being the dam of Paragon, which won the St. Leger of 1780; and Whiskey was about the best stalliou of that day. He got Eleanor, winner of the Derby and Oaks of 1801. which also beat the great Orville three times at cup distances; and he was also the sire of Pelisse, winner of the Oaks, aud other capital performers.- Among the great broodmares gotten by Whiskey were those two great sisters. Julia, dam of Phantom, which won the Derby in 1811 and ran second to Soothsayer in the St. Leger: and Cressida. dam of Priam, which not only won the Derby of 1830 in a common canter, but also won the Goodwood Cup at four years with 128 pounds aud at five with 139 pounds without being extended. Young Eclipse, also a Derbv winner, figures in some good pedigrees, but died too young to achieve any marked success. Of Eclipses sons that were the sires of classical winners, we may mention Alexander and his full brother. Don Quixote. King Fergus, sire of two St. Leger winners; Mercury and Meteor, both sires of Oaks winners: Volunteer, which got a winuer each of the Derby and Oaks: and last, but not the least. Pot-8-os, which got two Derby winners in Champion and Waxy, the former being the better race horse and the latter the greater sire, by long odds. Other good sires by Fclipse were Boudrow. Joe Andrews. Dungannon. Jupiter, nermes. Javelin. Soldier and Zodiac: and he got the dams of Bobtail Chanticleer, Haphazard, John Bull Derby winner. Master Bagot. Phenomenon St. Leger Oberou. Skyscraper, Scotilla, Stamford. Archduke aud other great not- ablesv Of all of Eclipses great and worthy aocf. both on the turf and in the stud, there are now extant only the male lines of Pot-and-os. King Fandkuh and Joe Andrews, all others having "gone a-gllm merhV thro the gloom." Joe Andrews was nothing great himself, but he got Dick Andrews, and Dick got tile Oaks winner. Munnclla, and her full sister. Altisdora. which won the St. Leger in the very next year, as well as Cwrw. which won the Two Thousand, but the greatest of all of Dick Andrews get was the stout little bay horse. Tramp, which won the Doncaster Cup of 1814. when it was a far more important race than now. he being the first three-year-old to carry off that event. The distance of the Doncaster Cup was then four miles, since re , dueed to three, then to two and a half, then to two and a quarter, and now It is just two miles. TraiUJ got Dangerous and St. Giles, winners of the Derby Barefoot, which won the St. Leger aud was Imported to America: Tarantella and Charlotte West, winners ot the One Thousand Guineas: Zinganee. which won the Ascot CP and was also importfd to America: and the great Lottery, which won the Doncaster Cup of 1S25. Iwatlng two previous wimv rs of the Derby.
