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- ENGLANDS BEST BLOOD IN LIVINGSTON YEARLINGS Young Thoroughbreds, Recently Imported Into This Country by Chicagoan, Bred in the Purple An Expert Review of Some of Their Pedigrees and Connections Editors Note Readers of Daily Racing Form are introduced in the subjoined letter to Dr. Maurice M. Leach, of Lexington, Ky., than whom there probably is no better informed man in all America on the subject of the blood lines.of English thoroughbreds. Dr. Leach is a veterinarian who has practiced his pro-Kssion in England and Australia, as well as in this country, and he writes with an intimate knowledge of his subject that is at once interesting and instructive. Lexington, Ky., December 7. Recently I went over the pedigrees of the twenty head of Mr. Jefferson Livingstons imported yearlings, which were purchased for him by Phil. T. Cliinu in the United Kingdom last summer. Tlie Livingston yearlings are now quartered at Louisville, iu the charge of trainer Herman Brandt, and if some first class racing material is not developed out of this lot I shall badly miss my guess. Quite a number of theiri arc by Englands most fashionable sires out of mures from the best producing families. Mr. Livingston is, of course, a comparatively newcomer iu the game, but I must say he and his advisers have acted with any amount of discretion iu the selection of this team of English-bred yearlings. A few of them, at least, should in time develop into first class stallions, of which we have just now only too few and I sincerely hope no one will ever attempt to induce Mr. Livingston to un-sex any of the better bred ones. Geldings are both iwpular and reliable racing tools, but there aro some colts in this lot which should never be scarred by the veterinarians scalpel. I hold no brief for Mr. Livingston, and my only excuse for writing if his colts is that I see vast possibilities ahead, when the time comes to retire them to the stud, where some of them are certain to meet big expectations and do much towards the improvement of American blood stock. To lead off I shall .trike the bay colt by Poly-melus out of Lacronia, by St. Simonmimi. loly-melus was a really good race horse, winning many rich stakes, including the Cambridgeshire, for which he started a hot favorite at the short price of 11 to 10, and how Cliallaconibe ever caiuo tp beat him for the St. Leger is .past-comprehension, Some few years ago "I mad? an effort to interest one of the wealthiest: of our breeders in this horse, got a price on hiin too, but no sale was effected. What if chance was inissed can be realized when we know that Folymelus stands at the head of the English winning stallion list this season, and is the sire of Maiden Erlegh, Polkerris, Pommern, a splendid two-year-old winner, and of Black Jester, which carried off the St. Leger n record time this year. Polymelus is by the champion Auglo-Argentinian sire, Cylleue, the only stallion to get four winners of the Derby since the days of Waxy and Sir Peter. Cylleue was a smasher as a. race horse, the best of his year, and is by Bend Ors son Bona Vista, out of Arcadia, by Isonqmy, apd stallions of the Bend Or persuasion havp iuvuriably done well in this country. Maid Marian, Polymelus dam, is also the dam of that good winner Ercildouue. and of Grafton, a champion sire iu Australia, and is by Hampton, sire of three Derby winners, and also the next dam is Quixer. dam of those wonderful sisters, Memoir and La Flecjie, by Toxaphilitc. Indeed, Polyhielus is possessed of a splendid pedigree, built just right to nick well with a mare of St. Simon descent, as is Lacronia,, a daughter of St. Siinonuiinii, injured and Incapacitated from racing iu his colthood days, but a brother to a topnoteher in St. Maclou. The brothers are sons of St. Simon out of Mlmi. an Odks winner by tlie unbeaten Barcaldlne. Lavello, the next dam, is by ho 1wby winner. Ladas, by Hampton, thus returning to Polymelus this popular strain, just in the right place, in the center of the pedigree. Caserta. the third dam. is a producing daughter of Mr. Houl.dsworths mighty racer, Springfield, which has sired the dams of Sundridge and Colin, and Caserta is a sister to Pouza. dam of Positano, the only horse which ever got four winners of the Melbourne . Cup. Next in order comes grand old Napoli, dam of Raveno. Orvieto and Neapolis, gue of the flrs.t stallions purchased for the Argentine, vf-here he made an enviable reputation for himself as a sire. The late Mr. J. B. Haggins imported Rapalo was another of NapoHs sons and I doubt if the master of Elmendorf ever imported a better horse. Napoli was by that prince of broodmare ,s.ires. Macaroni, and the family runs o:i down! toStihtlower, by Bay Middleton, a stout staying branch of the No. 1 line, and to Sunflower trace, such successful stallions as Voter and Peep oDay. I cannot imagine anything much better in the way . of a pedigree and to my way of thinking no horse, not even Glencoe or Sain, is better bred. Another of Mr. Livingstons colts Vvhlch presents a most attractive pedigree is the bay. by Dark Ronald, out of Sunkiss, by Sir Geoffrey or Sundridge, presumably the latter. Dark Rona!d is young in tlie stud, but has already sent out that good horse, Son in Law. which won the Goodwood Cup this year. Dark Ronald is by Bayardos sire, Bay Ronald, son of Hampton, out of Dnrkie, bv Thurio. by Cremorne, and therefore a Herod and this Eclipse to Herod mating has borne such good fruit in the past that it is only reasonable to suppose that it will continue to do so in the future. Dark Ronald is a member of the No. 0 family and was a thundering good race horse. The style iti which he won the Royal Hunt Cup fairly startled the placid Ascot racegoers out of their wits and ho followed this up by a clever win over His Majesty In tlie Princess of Wales Stakes at Newmarket. Sunkiss, the dam of the youngster In question, is a sister to Absurd, winner of the Middle Park Plate, and to Jest, winner of the One Thousand Guineas and Oaks, and half-sister to Black Jester, winner of this years St. Leger. Sundridge, sire of Sunkiss, was rated as an A No. 1 sprinter and has become famous as the sire of the classic winners Sunstar and Jest, but unfortunately for England, Mr. Joel tome time ago sold the horse, for a huge sum. to go to France. Just to show how this blood is appreciated in England. t may lo mentioned that Sunkiss was sold, at tlie Newmarket December Sales, last year, for no less a sum that 5,000. Absurdity, the second dam, is by the Derhv winner Melton, Sysonbys sire, and is n niemlier of a great winner producing branch of the No. 1 family. Truly this is a remarkably well-bred colt, for which a bright future, both as a race horse and a sire, can be confidently anticipated. There is much to commend iu the breeding of the bay son of St. Amant and Speckle Breast, by Missel Thrush. St. Amant won the Derby In a tempest, defeating Swynfords sire, John O Gaunt, aud has sired a number of good ones and is by St. Frus-quin out of Lady Loverule, by Muncaster, and is a member of the she line No. 14. Speckle Breasts sire, Missel Thrush, never raced, but has attained to much popularity as a sire and is by Orme out of tlie St. Leger winner Throstle, half-sister to Common and the recently defunct Goldfinch. Amazon, the next dam, is by Tarporley, son of St. Simon, out of Andromeda, dam of that good fillv The Gorgon, by Minting. This is the No. 10 family. A good racing pedigree, this, but from my viewpoint it falls far short of those of the Polymelus and Dark Ronald colts. The next really good one I came across was a bay by White Eagle, out of Canuera. by Seanus. White Eagle was a big winner on the turf and is the sire of six whining two-year-olds this season, amongst them being Let Fly, one of the best of the year and winner of the Dewhurst Plate and Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. White Eagle was bred in Ireland, at Col. Hall Walkers Tully Stud, aud is by Irelands pride, Gallinule, out of Merry Gal, by Galopin, and comes from tho same family which gave us Sunstar. Ard Patrick, Galtee More, Gunfire, Rock Flint, Rosicrucian, etc., and there Is every reason to suppose that White Eagles get will rank up with the best and the importation of this son of his confers a real benefit on the American breeders, for so far as I can ascertain there is no available Gallinule stallion standing for service in this country. Canuera is a daughter of the well-bred Seanus, son of Trappist, by Hermit, and the next dam is Simplify, dam of that natty little stayer Turbine, and of Tressady, which Sam Darling once told me was one of the fastest libraes-ha ever trained. The third dam is the The Sphyux. Then comes Madame Stodare, ancestress of William the Third, Amiable, Florence, Tact. Gravity, etc. This is a really good branch of the No. 2 family and a first-class pedigree all the way through. A better or more fashionably bred colt It would be hard indeed to find than the bay sou of Trout-beck and St. Natalia, by Common. Troutbeck won the St. Leger and stands at the Eaton Hall Stud, the former home of such world-famous stallions as Bend Or and Orme, and the birthptaee of the horse of the century, Ormonde. Troutbeck is bv Ladas from Royal Mount, by St. Serf, and a member of the famous No. li family, the latest recruit of which is Sardanapale. winner of the Grand Prix de Paris and French Derby, In both of which races the son of Prestige met and easily defeated the English Derby winner, Durbar II. St. Natalia is a half sister to tlie Oaks winner. La Sagesse, and is by that Triple Crown winner, Common. St. Mary, the next dam, is a daughter of Hermit, out of that good mare, Adelaide, winner of six races, and dam of any number of winners, by Melbourne. This is the wonderful Maid of Masham branch or the No. 9 family, a lino which lias so rapidly forged its way to the front in recent years, on account of the deeds of Cylleue. St. Damien, Timothy, Peter, our own Svsonby, Star Shoot, etc., and though written down by Bruce Lowe as a non-sire line, I think he, if alive today, would be compelled to qualify that statement now that Cyllene has sent out four winners of the Derhv, and Star Shoot lias done such big things at the stud The Cicero Fleurette II., by Florizel. colt is another nicely-bred youngster. His pedigree in the maternal line, however, traces to a rather "off" branch of the No. 8 family. The Cicero part is right enough, but I fail to find any really good sires or race horses which trace to Albatross, ancestress of this colt. Cicero won the Derby for Lord Roseberv. and is by Cyllene, from Gas, by Ayrshire, from Illiiininata. Ladas dam. This is a grand racing family and Cicero now blossoms out as the sire of Englands champion two-year-old of this season. King Georges Friar Marcus, which still retains his unbeaten certificate. The Florizel cross, too, on the dams side makes for good, for Florizel got Gemma, dam of the absolutely best three-vear-old of 1914, the Frenchman Sardanapale. The importation of sons of Colin into the United States smacks something of carrying coals to Newcastle. However, Mr. Chinn saw fit to purchase, while abroad, two sons of the late Mr. .Tas. R. Keenes unbeaten champion. They arc both out of grandly bred mares which trace to Sterlings dam. Whisper, and to Moorhen, dam of Gallinule. Certainly these colts should race to advantage, and tlie fact of their both being out of English-bred marcs Is additional reason why they should race to some purpose. Commando, sire of Colin, scored all his successes off imported mares, which onlv goes to show that the best results in breeding bloodstock come by way of the out cross. In the course of this article, I have dealt only with tlie pedigrees of the best bred of Mr. Livingstons colts, those which I consider strong enough to warrant the belief that In after life thev wil attain to success in the stud, but that froin the rest other good race horses will be developed seems certain. Judged, however, on their ultimate value as stallions. I think I have picked out the cream, and would place them in the following order of merit: 1 Polymelus Lacroma. 2 Dark Ronald Sunkiss. :S Troutbeck St. Natalia. 4 White Eagle Cannera. r St. Amant Speckle Breast. 0 Cicero Fleurette II. In future days it will be interesting to see how all this works out. At any rate. Herman Brandt has some first class timber to work on, which has been shipped across just at the right time to get the best result, plenty of time being given for these colts to become thoroughly acclimatized be-! fore the racing season opens up again next spring. M. M. Leach.
