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BREEDING BUREAU NUCLEUS HENRY OF NAVARRE AND OCTAGON BROUGHT BACK FROM FRANCE BY MR. BELMONT. Famous Stallions Reach New York in Superb Condition and Are at Once Turned Over to Army Officer Representing Major-General Wood. New York, March 29. August Belmonts noted stallions, llenry of Navarre and Octagon, recently donated to the Government for breeding purposes, arrived hero fiom France Monday on the Atlantic Transport Lino steamship Minneapolis. Henry of Navarre is by Knight of Ellerslie Moss Hose and is twenty years old. During his turf career ho won :i Suburban and other great races, after which he was retired to Mr. Belmonts Nursery Stud, where he stood with some success. Three years ago he was shipped to Mr. Belmonts breeding establishment in France. Octagon, seventeen years old. is by Itayon dOr Ortegal, and was a famous racer. He did stud duty at the Belmont farm in Kentucky and went abroad with Henry of Navarre. Several weeks ago Mr. Belmont announced that be had decided to turn over these valuable thoroughbreds to the Government, and his promise was fulfilled Monday when the stallions were taken in charge by Capt. C. H. Conrad, Jr.. of the army, who was sent here by Maj.-Gen. Leonard Wood, chief of staff of the army, for that purpose. llenry of Navarre and Octagon stood the voyage splendidly and when they walked down the gangplank their eyes were ablaze with excitement and they tugged at the halters with plenty of vigor. They were in superb physical condition and Harry Clark, superintendent of live stock aboard the Minneapolis, pointed to them with unconcealed pride. .Mr. Belmont has made a valuable present to the army In these stallions," said Captain Conrad, in taking them in charge. "He has started the ball rolling and I understand that in due time the Government will buy other stallions for the purpose of breeding remounts for the army. I am shipping the stallions to Front Royal, Va., where they will lie quartered at the armys remount station there. They will be mated with cold-blooded mares owned ! by farmers in the neighborhood, ami their get will he devoted to the cavalry and artillery branches of- the service. The Government will not. conduct.-a breeding bureau of its own just yet, because Congress has not authorized expenditures for stallions and marcs, but I hope this privilege will come in time, for the breeding of army remounts is of vital importance. Half-bred horses are desirable just now. and with such stallions as Henry of Navarre and Octagon, as a nucleus the Government Is to be congratulated." The presence of the stallions attracted a crowd of horse enthusiasts to Pier 5S. North River, and when the former racers appeared there was a scurrying to avoid their tlying heels. It was hard to believe that they had been cooped up in stalls for ten days on the Atlantic, as their lively behavior was in striking contrast to that of utility horses and cattle that also made the trip across the ocean. Captain Conrad and several grooms walked with the stallions to the Dcsbrosses street ferry and before sundown they were comfortably installed in a private car liound.for their permanent home. Mr. Belmont will also send several colts by the mighty Bock Sand to Front Royal in the near future. Front Royal is a town in the Shenandoah Valley. From one end to the other the valley is a splendid grazing country. It abounds in blue grass and the best limestone water, and has long been famous as a stock raising country. For a year or perhaps longer Henry of Navarre and Octagon will be mated with cold-blooded Virginian mares, also to the mares of army officers, but later on -they may be moved to Fort Riley, Kan., where the Government has a cavalry .school and where there are always assembled a number of mares belonging to the oflicers of the army, which may be served at the proper seasons by stallions, thoroughbred or otherwise. The army is extremely fortunate in having two such horses as Henry of Navarre and Octagon placed at the disposal of its oflicors, for animals better qualified for getting the type of horse most desirable for oflicers remounts or for private cavalrymen and artillerymen could not have been obtained anywhere. Henry of Navarre and Octagon were two of the best race horses of their respective times. The former, a son of Knight of Ellerslie and Moss Rose, and a descendant in the male line of the house of Leamington, to which Longfellow, Longstreet, The Bard, Kolus, Morello, Enquirer, Falsetto and many other brilliant nice horses of the past belonged, cost Mr. Belmont 5,000. He won the Suburban of J 896. Henry of Navarre and Domino were great rivals. The black horse from which Commando. Disguise. Maskette, Peter Pan, Colin and Celt arc descended, held- Henry of Navarre safe at one mile, but it was nip and tuck between them at one mile and an eighth, and at one mile and a quarter the chestnut son of Knight of Ellerslie seemed the better horse. In height Henry of Navarro just shades sixteen hands, and he is one of the most smoothly turnod and symmetrical thoroughbreds that ever stood. He has had a fair measure of success as a getter of race horses and be shines when mated with cold-blooded mares of coarse build. Mr. Belmonts favorite saddle horse is a gelding by Henry of Navarre 5ut of a trotting mare. He is a big-boned, lusty fellow, with splendid shoulders and quarters, a big girth and admirable coupling. His feet and legs are llawless and he never seems to tire. With such a horse under him the chief of staff might well feel that he was the best-mounted soldier In Uncle Sams service. After Henry of Navarre left his native land he stood for a season in England. Then Mr. Belmont sent him to Chateau Villers to lie mated with Di Vernon. He remained at the French establishment of the chairman of the Jockey Club until lie was recalled witli Octagon to enter the service of the United States. Octagon, a son of the great French stallion. Rayon dOr and Ortegal, a daughter of Bend Or. is in every particular except In nativity an English horse. His "dam was a member of the celebrated family of Ormonde, from which descended Ormc. Flying Fox. Golden Maxim. Adam, Basliti, Olambala, Oiseau. Ormnndale, Orsini and Ossary. Octagon is a stalwart chestnut, more than sixteen hands tall, with superb bone and muscular development. He has the heavy quarters of the ideal sprinter and lie could run like the wind up to one mile and an eighth under heavy imposts. Octagon came to the races in 1S0G witli Don de Oro, another fast son of Rayon dOr. Voter, Ogden, Ornament, The Friar and Winged Foot, and he held his own with the best of them. Since retiring to the stud he lias sent Beldame, the most brilliant three-year-old of 1001, and the Suburban winner of 1005. to the races, besides many other good horses. Beldame alone was sufficient to make Octagon a stud success. She shines as one of Americas best mares. While Octagon and Henry of Navarre were at Chateau Villers, in Normandy, Mr. Belmont Inviteif otlieers of the French service to send mares to thein. and Octagon was iu great demand. Scvqral superb Frencli matronswere mated with the son of Rayon dOr and Ortegal. Octagon gets horses of splendid bone and substance, sound as to their underpinning and easy horses to manage.
