Sain a Bargain Stallion: Famous Sire Cost Barney Schreiber Only ,200 Circumstances of His Purchase, Daily Racing Form, 1913-12-11

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SAIN A BARGAIN STALLION. Famous Sire Cost Barney Schreiber Only ,200 Circumstances of His Purchase, "The recent sale of that great stallion. Sain, for ,000 to James B. Haggln, at the sale of Barney Schrcibers horses at Lexington, has given rise to :i story that Mr. Schreiber bought him in California from an Australian," says the San Francisco Breeder and Sportsman. "This Is untrue. The fact that he paid .0,000 for that short-bred Musket horse, Foul Shot, to an Englishman who had lived in Australia for many years, may have been the cause of this rumor about the sale of the imported Sain. The opposite is just the case, for no one tried to dissuade Mr. Schreiber from buying this sou of St. Serf and The Task more than the man he bought Foul Shot from. He claimed he knew the horse and that he was positive he was impotent. But, ere Mr. Schreiber closed the deal, he learned that Charles Griffiths, of Plcasanton. had a beautiful filly by this horse. Tills filly became the property of Dr. Rae Felt, and the fact that she was by Sain furnished another link In the chain of curious circumstances surrounding the early history of this horse, and caused him to help an innocent man out of trouble and make his new owner famous. "In 1894 the late Marcus Daly sent over to England and purchased that splendid collection of thoroughbred stallions and mares which made his farm in the Bitter Root Valley, Montana, one of the most uoted in the United States. Among the mares was a beautiful one called The Task, by Barcaldine, owned by the Duke of Portland. She bad won two good races one of them the Devonshire Nursery Handicap for two-year-olds, and was bred to that grandly bred and, at that time, the most fashionable stallion In the United Kingdom. St. Serf. lie was by St. Simon, out of Feronia. by Thormanby, out of Woodbine, by Stockwcll. out of Honeysuckle, by Touchstone, out of Beeswing, by Syntax, etc. Every sire and everv dam was a noted stake winner and producer of his era. Like Sysonhy, that phenomenal race horse. Sain was imortcd in litem and foaled In this country. He was remarkably small, but as prettily formed as one could wish to see. Myles Fin-Ian, a close friend of Marcus Daly, became infatuated with tlie youngster and bought him from the latter and. when old enough, sent him to Lee Shaner. who at that time was handling some runners for him, and had also a few fast trotters he had brought from California. The colt did not display any extraordinary speed. In fact, from a racing standpoint. he was deemed a failure, for, on account of his breeding, greater tilings were expected of him. ! Claude Burlinganie was the jockey, and on his advice Lee Shaner finally purchased the colt, a young man named Figel. also from California, being a silent partner in the transaction. Sain was brought from California and raced and won, but did not show a marvelous flight of speed. Shortly afterward Lee Shaner died suddenly and Mr. Figel became the sole owner. He turned the horse out on a farm near neasaiiton, where he remained, doing nothing, until brought to this city and sold. It was claimed that Marcus Daly always had great faith in the future of imported Sain as a sire, notwithstanding his lack of height and speed. He said The blood is there, and it is the very best of all thp strains that England could produce. 1 "While at Pleasantoli Sain was mated with three mares, one of which, as stated nltpve, was a trotter. She was the only one that prodilcecfnI,fO!ll. Whethat it was through neglect or lack of knowledge of breeding I am not prepared to say. but he sired no others. In the fail of 1S97 Mr. Figel was charged witli the murder of bis employer and while in the citv prison, then located on Broadway, ho sent for me" and said he was the sole owner of iniiwrted Sain, and that he had to sell him, as his attorney was anxious to get some money. I asked him what price he expected. He replied, Mr. Layng. you have held some very successful sales at your place, and I would like to have you get me at least ,200 for him, and I also wish to reserve tlis right to breed two mares to him. This was on January 15, 1858. 1 sent for the horse had him brought to my place, the Occidental Horse Exchange, the largest establishment of its kind west of Chicago, tabulated his pedigree and was astonished at the wonderful combination of bloodliucs represented therein. There was not a weak cross in it. His dam, The Task, was a good winner in a large field, and she was bv Barcaldine. the great unbeaten Irish race horse: Satchel by Galoping, his second dam. won the Levant Stakes at two. and at three the Molvneaux Cup and Racing Stakes at Goodwood, ran third for the One Thousand Guineas and foaled the winners The Prize, Wantage and School Book, latter dam of Lady Melton, best twrt-year-old filly in England In 1S99, and sold at auction for 5,000. Quiver bv Toxophllite, sire of Musket, the great Australian sire, the third dam of Sain, won many races and foaled the winners Archer, Memoir Zetland. Prendergast, Newmarket Oaks, St. Leger and July Cup Stakes and La Fleche, that remarkably game stake winner, conceded to be the best of her day. She won the One Thousand Guineas, Oaks and St. Leger of 1892, Nassau, Lancashire Plate of 10,000 sovereigns. Grand Duke Michael. Newmarket Oaks and Cambridgeshire Handicap Stakes, and was second for the Derbv at three, and at four won the Lowther Stakes and the Liverpool Autumn Cup. She was then sold at auction for 1913.sh3,000, and produced that famous stake winner. La Veine. , The fourth dam foaled the winner Reprieve, and jshe was out of Brown Bess, in addition to a mare, a winner, dam of Musket, a grand race horse and sire, whose descendants in Australia did more to build up the racing interests of that farawav land than those of any other sire. "With such "a heritage, I felt that some breeder like Barney Schreiber should get him. So I took the tabulation over to Emeryville, and. with Ralph H. Tozer, who was working for me at that time, begged this gentleman to buy hlin. He said: Will von let me have this pedigree? I want to look it over. I did so, and that night he sent for me to come lo the Baldwin Hotel, where he said: I have shown that pedigree to several horsemen and they all like It prettv well, but I understand this horse has r.o speed and he will not breed. He never sired a colt. I knew he was told a deliberate falsehood, and, before I left, convinced him that the one who told him so was jealous and did not want him to buy anything unless he was consulted. Mr. Schreiber promised to come and see Sain the next day. He did so, and then went to Emeryville. Before the sale began that evening, he called me aside and said: Mr. Lavng, is that the lowest you will take for Sain? He "had seen John Mackey. Sam Hildreth, W OB. Macdonough, Daniel Burns, Clarence Water-house, George Berry, Dan Honig. Prince Ponia-towsky, A. B. Spreckels and a pavilion full of horsemen, and among them many who had come with the intention of bidding on this horse. I teU you whatll Ill do: I havent the full amount, ,200, now; I will give you 1913.sh00 and my note for the balance if you do not put him up for sale. He is. a little fellow, but I think he will cross well with my mares in Missouri. If you will take my note, and not offer him in the ring, I will take him. As Sir. Schreiber and I had had many previous transactions, and I did not believe the little horse would bring that much in the ring, for there were several large stallions to bo sold, I said, Very well. Sain Is your horse, and we can fix up about the note tomorrow. "The next day I brought the ,200 to Mr. Figel, got the bill of sale of the horse and in less than ten davs Mr. Schreiber paid me the money I advanced and sent the stallion east. With this ,200 the young man was enabled to pay his attorney and at the trial proved Ills innocence and was ncquited. So Sain, in a great measure, proved a valuable benefactor to him. "The first two-year-olds sired by Sain were phenomenal winners. Otis was winner of the St. Louis Derby value 1,000; Corrigan. Geheiraness and Schwalbe. Then followed Nealon, Tony Faust. Jack Atklu, Detitschland, Otto Stifel. Pinkerton, Dewey, Colonel Ashmeade, Guy Fisher, Centre Shot. Miss Sain. Tom McGratb, Emperor William, Seymour Bcutlcr, Tony Bonero, Mockler and scores of others. His produce since Mr. Schreiber owned him has won in six years the magnificent sum of S7,2S2. He is only nineteen years old now and at Mr. J. B. Ilag-gins Elmendorf Farm, where he will be bred to nothing but proved matrons, will undoubtedly continue cnrrylng on the good work he started at Woodlands, Bridgeton, Missouri, where his late owner, Mr. Schreiber, refused the sum of 25,000 several times for him when thoroughbred racing in America was in the zenitli of its glory and the doings of the children of the winds occupied columns of the daily newspapers every day."


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1913121101/drf1913121101_1_3
Local Identifier: drf1913121101_1_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800