view raw text
MOST FAMOUS HORSES IMPORTED INTO AMERICA FROM THE BRITISH ISLES ISLESBy By DK M M LEACH In so short a space of time as seven years 185158 there were foaled in the British Isles no less than half a dozen of the most famous horses which have ever been brought to the United States The lot is made up of Knight of St George ISM Leamington 1ST 3 Bonnie Scotland 185 York ¬ shire 1S54 Eclipse 1854 and Australian 1858 1858The The pedigree performances and influence of Knight of St George have already been gone into along with the other imported winners of the St Leger so 1 shall lead off with Leamington a dark brown star and offhind pastern white bred by Mr Halford and imported by U W Cameron of Staten Island Soon after his arrival Leaming ¬ ton was sent to Kentucky where he stood for service at General Abe Bufords Bosqne Bonita Stud in Woodford county Leamington however only made one season 1SGO in Kentucky and was the following year sent to j AVelehs Erdeuhelm Stud in PennsylvaniaThe Pennsylvania The form shown by Leamington on the race course though good was not quite first class Starting in five races as a twoyearold he wpn two of them taking the Woodcote Stakes at War ¬ wick aad the Chesterfield Stakes at Derby The brown was out ten times as a threeyearold and scored three brackets including a plate at Warwiclr a favorite course of his and Leauiiugton must have been a locallybred horss for Lealnlngtpn is a town in Warwickshire Another meritorious vlcr tory was that of the Stewards Cup at Shrewsbury A year later Leamington was twice successful his most creditable win being that of the Goodvrcod Plate then two miles over the velvety turf of the Duke of Richmonds Park in Sussex Leam ¬ ington afterwards won the Chester Cup over his ¬ toric Roodee and these races would indicate that Leamingtons forte was distance running Minv of his get took after him in this particular I never saw the horse myself but his pictures in ¬ dicate a Muckbrown with an intelligent head beautifullyarched neck ipt into Eloping shoulders high over the withers deepchested showing great lung capacity wellcoupled carrying a brave Hag great length from hip to hock perhaps a bit pinched in about the quarters with the flat lianis one Is so accustomed to see in great stayers and his feet and legs vere as near perfection as could be Anyway this is the type of horse Leamington bred Leamington was not Imported until lie bffil made six seasbns in England His stiid career in his home land however did not bespeak the success Hint awaited him In the land of his adoption Leamington was by FaughaBallagh brother to Irish Birdcateher out of an unnamed daughter of the first gentleman of Europe Pantaloon she cut of Daphne l y Laurel and so on down to the Oldfield mare the tap root of Bruce Lowes sire famiiy No 14 Moreover Leamingtons dam is the sixth dam of that wonderful race marc Pretty Polly Faughaballagh does not appear to have met with any great success in the stud though he got Fille de LAir winner of the Oaks and Ethelbert winner of the City and Suburban aild sire of Isollne granddani of Isonomy Of course Leamington is but another instance of the success that attends the Eclipse to Herod plan of mating Pantaloon sire of his dam lieing a direct male descendant of Herod Change of climate and scene apparently had a most beneficial effect oh Leam ¬ ington and once fairly installed in the United States he proceeded to make the most of his opportuni ¬ ties though they were but few in the only season tho horse stood in Kentucky The breeders of the bine grass somehow failed to appreciate Leam ¬ ingtons excellence and General Buford I under ¬ stand presented free seasons to John Harper for Nantura and Fanny Holton dams of Longfel ¬ low and Lyttleton Enquirer Lynchburg Miss Alice and Anna Mac also resulted from Leaming ¬ tons one small season in Woodford county In Pennsylvania Leamington added to his fame as a sire by begetting Eolns Iroiiu s the only horse foaled on American soil which ever won the Epsom Derby and in Iroqnois year Leqipjngton stood second to Hermit on the Englishwinning stallion list Besides the abovementioned Leamington got Onondaga Straford Sensation Keform the gelding Parole which once beat Isonomy and most of these attained in after years to much success as sires Any numlwr of the get of Onondaga were returned winners and bis daughter Victorlne pro ¬ duced the famous Ornament Sensation emulat ¬ ing the feat of his sire came out second to Orme on the Englishwinning stallion list the year Demo ¬ crat won the Middle Park Plate Eolus is famous as the sire of Eon Eole St Saviour Morello etc the Longfellows were grand race horses and stayers too and comprise such as Linden Wads worth Longstreor Long Taw RJIey Thora and anv number of lesser lights lightsLeamingtons Leamingtons daughters were well nigh as famous as his sons few better mares than Jaconet dam of Belvidere and Sir Dixon and sister to Iroquois ever lived Spinaway was a grand race mare and foaled Handspun the dam of Tanya and Tangle and of this years Derby eligible Spun Glass Spark another good one is ancestress of the Fu ¬ turity winner Artful Perfection is the dam of Henry Young Susquehanna sister to Sensation and Onondaga is the dam of Potomai and so on but I fear the sands of the line of Leamington tire running down in the male line This seemed hardly possible when Enquirer Longfellow Iroquois anil Falsetto were at their best Fadstus son of En ¬ quirer showed a Hash through that early speed sire Cesarion Falsetto dill splendidly and I thought at one time that there was a great chance of tlie line being kept going by the Derby winner Sir Iluon but the Bashford Manor stallion has as yet sent nothing to the races approaching his own clans Iroquois did well enough and his son Tammany got Tokalou a Brooklyn Handicap win ¬ ner but one hardly over hears of Tammany now ¬ adays G W Johnson apparently gave up the ghost when he got the Derby winner Lieut Gib ¬ son Morello and Eon got some fair winners for the Eolus branch but as mutters now stand it looks to be certain much as we mar regret it that the Leamington line in tail male is done with for good and all allBonnie Bonnie Scotland is however one of the few horses which have established a line of their own as demonstrated by Broomstick which has topped tii imericanwinning stallion list for the past two reasons The importation of Bonnie Scotland was a decided gain to breeders of this country Bred by ilr Win IAhsou on his Yorkshire estate in 1853 he was halfbrother by Ingo to Blink Bonny one of the few mares which ever won the Derby and which foaled to the cover of Stock well tlw mighty Blair Athol Another one of hers was Borealis ancestress of those equine celebrities Lemberg and Bayardo BayardoBonnie Bonnie Scotland after his Importation made eight seasons In the state of Ohio and then coming to Kentucky stood for one season at Gen Abe Bufords Bosque Bonita Stud where lie got Frogtown But Kentucky breeders were slow to appreciate his mer ¬ its and the horse was sold to a Mr Parks and taken to Illinois where he cot Nathan Oaks and Ex ¬ perience Oaks Gen Harding of the Belle Meade Stud near Nashville Tenu purchased the horse when nineteen years of age and it was at Belle Meade that Bonnie Scotland made his great reputa ¬ tion as a stallion and he died there in 18SO aged twentyseven years yearslago lago Bonnie Scotlands sire was no slouch of a race horsey himself lie won the Column Produce stakes and the Welcome stakes and Racing stakes at Ascot ran second to Sir Tattou Sykes for the St Leger and beat him for the Grand Duke Michael stakes at Newmarket lago wasby Don John said to have been imported to this country by Waverly son of Whalebone one of the mainstays of the house of Eclinse Queon Mary Bonnie Scotlands dam was one of the three greatest mares known In history and was by Gladiator son of Partisan and so on back to Herod Curious is it not how many of our really great hordes are bred on this Eclipse to Herod plan of mating1 mating1Bonnie Bonnie Scotland is also half brother to Bonnie Doon granddam of the late Jas It Kcenes Jockey Club siakes winner Disguise and also grauddam of the Elmendorf stallion Watercress and dam of Bella Donna dam of Mr August Belmonts Bel ¬ dame Braxey another half sister is the granddaui of Tristan winner of an Ascot Gold Cup and sire of Canterbury Pilgrim winner of the Oaks and dam of Swynford and Chaucer Brasey is also ancestress of Poseidon an Australian champion which won un Australian Jockey Club Derby and a Melbourne Cup La Roche another descendant of Braxey won the Oaks in 1800 and yet another granddaughter of Queen Mary is Lady Langden dam of Hampton in ¬ deed this Queen Mary family is hard to beat beatThe The tnrf career of Bonnie Scotland was only a short one but he lasted long enough to show that he was nearly if not quite first class Mr I Ali ¬ sons horse did not sport sik as a twoyearold and his first race the following season the one and threequarter miles Great Yorkshire stakes could only get fourth to the Two Thousand Guineas winner Fazzoletto Bonnie Scotland however won the Liverpool St Leger one and threequarters miles but Warlock proved one too good for him in the Doncaster St Leger Bonnie Scotland and Artil ¬ lery making u dead heat of it for second place Merlin the probable sire of Plenipotentiary and the Derby winner Ellington were in the field Bcn uie Scotland won the Doncaster stakes one and one half miles from the Oaks winter Manganese but broke down close to the finish and did not start again However the colt had done enough td be considered one of the best of the year As yearAs a sire Bonnie Scotland scored his greatest successes at the Belle Keade stud near Nashville Tenn where lie had gone from Ohior Ills get In ¬ clude Luke Blackburn the cup horse Bramble and his sister Brambaletta Geo Kinneyr Bourbon Belle Hanovers daui Kelpie dam of Duke of Montrose Bandana Brunette dam of G W John ¬ son and Iluon Brocade Glidella and hosts of others It is through Bramble however that the Bonnie Scotland line is being perpetuated Two sons of his Clifford and Ben Brush were both famous as race horses and developed into excellent stallions The former however did not have the best chance in the world for he stood up in the frozen north at Mr Sanfords Ilurricana stud Ben Brush on the contrary was afforded every opportunity for he stood at Mr James II Kcenes famous Castleton stud under the watchful eye of the late Major Dalngerficld Ben Brush has given lis Broomstick Delhi and Sweep and just at the present it is through Broomstick that the house of Bonnie Scotland is gaining its gueatest notoriety Broomstick has sired Whisk Broom a good winner In England and winner of the Metropolitan Brook ¬ lyn and Suburban Handicaps in one season in this country Meridian a Kentucky Derby winner Buckhoru and last seasons unbeaten twoyearold filly Hegret Whisk Broom is now at tho stud at Mr IL P Whitneys Red Bank establishment New Jersey and Mr It F Carmans Meridian has just arrived to do stud service in the Blue Grass and as Broomstick himself is now only fourteen years of age the line should continue to thrive and gain in strength and there appears to bo but little dan ¬ ger of the Bonnie Scotland line in tail male being snowed under for some time to come comeThe The star of the house of Eclinse has been for some time past decidedly in the ascendant due more than anything else to Castleton opportunity Eclipse was a bay foaled in 1855 bred by Mr Greville and was imported by that lucky though venturesome turfman Richard Ten Broeck of Prior ¬ ess fame Eclipse was afterwards acquired by Frank Morris and passed most of his stud life n the state of New Jersey From all reports h was never accorded such extensive patronage as would have come to a stallion of such exceeding merit if standing in Kentucky Eclipse was by Touchstones son Orlando out of Gaze by the Herod horse Bay Middleton sou of Sultan GlencoeS sire and I firmly believe much of the excellence of the Eclipse line is due to the infusion of the blood of Lord Jerseys Derby hero of 1830 In addition to his top crosses Eclipse was a beautifully bred horse all the way through His second dam was a daughter of Godolphin son of Partisan Herod again out of the famous sister to Cobweb and on down to Web sister to Whalebone and Whisker The Orlando line in England has practically passed out of existence Albert Victor grandson of Or ¬ lando got that famous handicapper Victor Wild whose dismal failure as a sire Is well known to us all Tho Count Schotnberg Aughrlm Canary line of Orlando occasionally shows a Hash and Frontiu a Grand Prix winner and son of George Frederick brother to Albert Victor should have some male descendants doing stud duty in France but on the whole tin Orlando line is a losing propositon abroad Teddington Fazzoletto Din phautus Fitz Roland and the rest have simply rusted out and we must look to the American descendants of Orlando to carry on the line lineEclipse Eclipse as a race horse had some pretensions to classic form As a twoyearold he won the Clear well stakes and the following season dead heated with Beadsman for the Newmarket Stakes and won the Third Sale stakes was placed fourth to Beads ¬ man for the Derby won an Ascot Biennial Iveating the Two Thousand Guineas winner Fitz Roland but was unplaced to the famous Sunbeam for the St Leger and I take it that spued rather than stamina was the forte of Eclipse At the stud Eclipse became the sire of Alarm whose blood has proven so potent a factor in the make up of many of our swiftest horses of recent years and the brllliancv of out ¬ last years Kentucky Derby winner Old Rosebud was largely due to his double infusion of the fly ¬ ing blood of Alarm Alarm is also sire of Luminous second dam of the Derby winner Sir Iluon of Red and Blue of Albla Ben Brushs dam and of Himyar a great race horse and sire of Domino and Correction larni also got Ann Fief Tremonts dam and Plaything dam of Tournament Domino became the sire of Disguise the Oaks winner Cap and Bells and Commando which got Peter Pan Superman Celt Peter ulnce and the unbeaten Colin Peter Pan got Pennant winner of a Futur ¬ ity Celt has some Mali class winners running for him Disguise got Ilarmonlcon Iron Mask and Maskette Peter Quince is the sire of two of this years Derby candidates in Chalmers and Luke and the get of Colin are said to be exceedingly promis ¬ ing I was on the point of omitting mention of Ultlmns another son of Commando whose Luke McLuke was I think the best threeyearold out lost year arid Ultlmus is also the sire of Last Coin unbeaten as twoyearold whose chances of winning this years Kentucky Derby are second o none Truly a marvelous record for the house of Continued on second page MOST FAMOUS BRITISH HORSES IMPORTED INTO AMERICA Continued from flrst page Eclipse and as his male descendants are extremely popular and well patronized by our breeders this line perhaps holds the stronest hand of all allDaughters Daughters of Eclipse too have achieved much success as stud matrons Mayflower the dam of Yo Tambiens sire Joe HooUer was one of them Fanny Ludlow granddam of Foxhall was another Lady Blessiugtou was a famous producing daughter as were Naptha Nemesis Ecliptic and Marguerite and Megara is ancestress of Handspuu Tanya and Tangle So reads the history of Eclipse which as a progenitor of extreme speed has few equals uud no superiors superiorsYorkshire Yorkshire another bay was bred by Mr Mose and sometime after his importation became the property of the Hon Henry Clay who Jiuade a present of the horse to his son John M Olay of Ashland Yorkshire as far as my researches go was a nonstarter in England neither did he race iir this country lie was by St Nicholas son of Eiuillus out of Miss Hose by Tramp sire of Glen coes dam Triimpoliiie Yorkshire traced to the Burton Barb and his sire St Nicholas was a No i horse out of Seamew by Scud and it is note ¬ worthy that horses carrying the blood of Linmus have succeeded admirably in this country Lu like Bonnie Scotland and Eclipse Yorkshire has failed to set up a house of his own and is chteny known to fame through the excellence of his daughters Hymeiiia is the dam of Virgil Han overs grandsire Balloon is tho dam of Ballet ancestress of so many really good race horses one of which Regret if on the spot lit and well will receive strong support for this years Kentucky Derby Parachute Balloons sister is the maternal ancestress of Ben Brush so should Regret and her way flrst past the post next Derby Day it will be quite a triumph for the doubling up of the York ¬ shire blood Skedaddle was another of Yorkshire s Koodproducing daughters and a whole tribe of famous winners descended from her Then there is Magneto dam of that superlatively good race horse Duke of Magenta Miss Morgan was famous as a producer Tokay Is the dam of St Martin and King Lear Maria Innis was yet another good one and Bay Loaf is the ancestress of Bramble mid his sister Brambaletta and just why the Eiuilius line in tail male has played out it is hard indeed to say especially as such famous horses as Iliddlesworth Sari edon Sovereign and Yorkshire were brought across from England The Emiliits line moreover has completely faded out in England and I cannot make out that a horse of Einilius descent is standing for service in either country countryThe The last of the illustrious sextette is Aus ¬ tralian Hrst called Millington a rich chestnut so tho stud book tells us but I have been informed that the horse was so dark in his coloring as to be almost black Australian was imported along with his dam Emilia in 1S5S by A Kccne llicbanls of Scott county Kentucky and won the Doswcll Stakes at New Orleans and the Produce Stakes over the Kentucky Association course and was soon purchased by Kobert Alexander who changed his name to Australian He stood until his death iii 1ST at the Woodbnrn Stud Aus ¬ tralian was a son of that equine celebrity West Australian the first horse in history to win Eng ¬ lands Triple Crown a feat he accomplished in 3S5G Australian was foaled just two years later Conseiiiiently he must have been one of the flrst of the get of that famous horse and had it not lioon for The West the Matchem line would have been as dead as Queen Anne West Aus ¬ tralian is the sire besides Australian of Joskin Hire of Plebian and Solon sire of the unbeaten Barcaldinc which got Sir Visto winner of the Derby and St Leger and Marco a Cambridgeshire winner and now a successful sire and Freemason and his brother Oddfellow which sent many a good winner to the races in this country countryTlie Tlie English it would appear have been par ¬ ticularly unfortunate in disposing of many of tlicir best horses of Herod and Miitcheni descent Fly ¬ ing Dutchman Mlantic and Gladiator of the former line were taken by the French Buccaneer was sent to Hungary Fisherman was transported to Australia and Glencoc came to this country Of the Matthems West Australian went to France while Oddfellow and Australian were bought by American breeders Kmilia Australians dam was by Young Eiuilius frpm Persian by Whisker and a member of Bruce Lowes sire family No 11 This is the family of Uegnlus Lottery Venison Birdcutcher Faiighaballugh Fisherman Koyal Hampton His Highness St Simon and Orme Fortunately enough the line of Australian still car ¬ ries on in tail male in this country and Hastings I suppose must be regarded us the head of the house of Matchem in the United States and surely his son that lioaiitifnl golden chestnut horse Fair Play has a bright future Infore him in the stud and has out in For Fair a prominent candidate for th Kentucky Derby DerbyHastings Hastings is of course by Spendthrift which also gut Kingston sire of Kings Courier which lias found favor In the eyes of the English as a sire md Novelty is receiving patronage from the breeders of France In this country Frontenac and Hurst Park arc found doing stud duty and n few of the descendants of Wildidle are stand ¬ ing for service In California From all this it would appear that there is little danger of this line of Matchem playing out for some time to come comeAustralians Australians daughters were good indeed and one of bis sons Fellowcraft got Lady Keel Ham ¬ burgs dam Numbered among Australians daugh ¬ ters are Blanche J Crescent Mctella Tarant ¬ ella Perhaps Ueckons dam Lizzie Lucas grand dam of Morello Ivy Leaf dam of Hnunhlc and Brambalctta Farfaletta dam of Falsetto and Maggie B B dam of Iroqnols and his sister Jaconet Yop may search the stud book through and you will not lind live bettor mares credited to one horse than Perhaps Lizzie Lucas Ivy Leaf Farfaletla and Maggie B B and Aus ¬ tralian holds the proud distinction of being the wily horse which sired the dam of the one Epsom Derby winner foaled on American soil soilIn In the course of this article I have gone into the pedigrees of five of the most famous horses ever imported into the United States and find that three of them Leamington Eclipse and Bonnie Scotland are bred on the Eclipse to Herod plnn of mating and that one of them is of Mnlrhcm descent in the male line and that one the weakest of nil Yorkshire returns Eclipse to Eclipse Is all this due to chance I much prefer to think it a vindication of the happy results which at ¬ tend the balancing of the blood Hues and the out cross plan of tuatiuj
