view raw text
* + PROSPECTS OF LUKE McLUKE AS A SIRE OF THE FUTURE j By Dr. M. M. LEACH v The anonncement that the Memphis turfman, Mr. J. W. Schorr, and J. O. Keeue had come to an agreement, some time back, whereby Luke MeLuke is to stand for service at the Keeneland Farm, must lie a source of gratification to all breeders In this section, and it g M*s without saying that Luke MeLuke is assured of a full subscription list. Apparently our breeders here are at last waking up to the fact that Kentucky is lamentably short on stallions, but iu Luke MeLuke and Great Britain we have now something well worth while and. what is more. Hal lot has also In-en retained for the blue grass anil Mr. Arthur Hancock was kind enough to inform me. the other day. that his new-English purchase. Wrack, is to stand for service in the County of Bourbon. The Domino line, of which Luke MeLuke is a member, is a deservedly popular one. but the every- lay breeder of the blue grass has been, up to the present, afforded but scant chance of patronizing stalli.ius of Domino descent, for though there are four or five stallions of that descent now-located in this region, in most cases no outside mares are taken. Surely this is a short-sighted policy. How many of Hanovers best were Mc-Gratbiana bredr Was it the Wcllieek mares that made St. Simon? The fact is outside mares are usually responsible for the success of any stud hor.-e. and I am pleased to learn that tlie Keeneland combination have decided to pursue tlie advanced policy of permitting outside breeders to avail themselves of t Ih- services of Luke MeLuke. The newly-formed combination is. 1 should say. a particuhirlyhappy one. The Memphis brewer has tin horse. Mr. Keene is. himself, the possessor of some ex- _ , Himyar ll *?— ■*■ -Domino 2°. „„ 1 Ilira II | Br. lsiil J Mannie Gray Enquirer E . Commando .12J Lizzie G 11 ,;r- XH™ The Peer 2M I Darebin 14 I Lurhne II L Emma G | .. 15r 1W2 I J Flood II I ,..t. ltimus ....14, I Guenn Guuin 1 f Glendew 11 oi - . I Himyar 2 i -V«rm **J „ Domino „„ 20 J Hira H ~- , nuuug -,,„, . Ur- ,N1 Mannie Gray f ■ ijUlj E 1 Mzzie G M S - Ch. ltfflS. d £ I _, I Isonomy 19 J Sterling 12 E 2 g L Dancing Wsiter...J Isola Bella E 1SS7 Z ™« nan- Fling:5.! Q HiS„dr 5 f *•*£ M Toxophilite 3 j Snain . .fl I TTrenton ....J "" "-- of j J 3 i Br-lssl j . s °— — •• iM vrfes:.:::::10.H Midge Frailty " Flora Mclvor ....] New Warrior.. .24 H Br. 1«H»2 "j I Lo E I 1 Sterling 12 i Oxford 12 E r Isonomy 19 J Whisper E „ j „. 1 Bay 175 J Isola Bella i Stocltwell l Br lis6 "i Isoline E I I I oncaster o ■! Stock well i K l Sandiway • 4 1 Marigold ■ I Clemence i Newminster 8 E Eulocv ..... E E— Eclipse. II— Herod. M— Matchem. I have, ere this, drawn attention to the almost phenomenal success that attended the imported-hred tastleton mares, and just what induced the late James R. Keene to forego his original plan of mating and switch to doubling up the Domino line. I am at a loss to understand. Two double Domino stallions. Iltimus and Hippodrome, were s.dd at the Keene dispersal sale — both of them maidens. Iltimus has to his credit, besides Luke Mcl.uke. the goml winning two-year-old Last Coin, a non-winner through the year. Hippodrome. I fear, has met with but little success as a sire. Luke MeLuke and Last Coin are both out of iui|iorted mares. Commando scored his greatest triumphs off im-|M»rted stock, as witness — Colin, Peter Pan, Celt. Superman, etc. Domino got Disguise and the Oaks winner Cap and Bells from daughters of Galopin. All this points to imported mares or mares of Imported descent being the most suitable mates for Luke MeLuke. special attention also being paid to soundness and constitution. The Keeneland stallion. It may be noticed, does not in coat coloring take after his sire, the chest-nut lined Iltimus. This was to be expected, and 1 take it that Trenton is the dominant factor in the make up of Luke MeLuke. as was St. Simon in the production of Rock Sand. Luke MeLuke iu looks and conformation is a Trenton all over, a fine upstanding horse, but his dam. Midge, was. if memory serves, rather on the small side. I well remember her as a yearling, racing over the OsMktN naihlocks along with a score of others of her sex — always in the van, but Midge, though returned a winner, did not earn for herself a D. S. O. as a race mare. Perhaps she was hamiMTcd by the weight of her rider. However, her paddock speed and the courage and sterling worth of her parents Trenton and Isonomy. which Midge has undoubtedly transmitted in no small degree to her son, Luke MeLuke. The more I study Luke MeLuke* pedigree, the more I am convinced that he will need careful mating. Iitiinus did not race: Commando retired early: the Musket trilie. though game and honest as tlie day is long, are notoriously unsound: Golds-braugh mares, t«»o. were weak in front, and trans- - I ■!■ ceedingly well-bred, producing mares and Is a horseman of wide and varied experience, having trained horses in Russia, wliere the won the Warsaw and Moscow Derbys with the Galtee More colt, Irish Lad. and. if I recollect aright, won no less than eight races in one day. After his return to the United States, Mr. Keene met with much success racing in California, and from there sailed for Japan and raced horses successfully. Tlien besides, of late years, Mr. Keene trained the winner of the Kentucky Futurity three years in succession for Senator Johnson N. Camden, and in Mr. Keene the Memphis brewer has found a partner well fitted to make a success of any activity he may undertake. I was so fortunate last year as to witness Luke McLukes splendid victory iu the Kentucky Handicap, a fine jierformance for any three-year-old so early in the year, and I must class the son of Ultimus as one of the best American-bred three-year-olds 1 have ever seen race. Luke MeLuke, good race horse as he undoubtedly was. was not destined to enjoy a racing career of any length. Horses of this particular lhie do not, as a rule, long withstand the strain of hard galloping. Brilliant as is their speed, they are not possessed of that niggeduess of constitution and toughness of fibre which are usually associated with the production •if a irreat campaigner. However, speed is the gresit desideratum iu this country. Juvenile racing is all tlie go — niores the pity— to the neglect of long-distance racing, and his double infusion of the flying blood of Alarm should serve Luke Mcl.uke in good stead when he assumes liis new role as a stallion. Here is his pedigree: mitted this defect to their offspring. Isonomy though, of which Luke MeLuke has a double cross, was as sound as they make em. and stood training long enough to win two Ascot Gold Cups ami other long distance races under heavy imposts. Doucaster. too, though beaten by Marie Stuart for the mile and three-quarters St. Leger, proved the lietter stayer and lM at her for the two and one-half miles Gold Cup. The special branch of the No. 2 family of which Luke MeLuke is a menilicr is one of the" best to 1m? had. Carbine was a member of this immediate branch, as was Voltigeur. Galopins grandsire. and Voltigeur also holds the proud distinction of having beaten tlie well-nigh invincible Flying Dutchman for the Ddncaster Cup. Fltimus is well fortified by Herod and Matchem strains. Himyar is full of Herod blood. Darebin, sire of Commandos dam, Kmma C. is a Matchem, Flood and Glengarry are both Herods. but Isonomy and Doncaster are "all Kclipse." Trenton is a thorough outcross for Domino tliough. Touchstone is the common ancestor of iMith. Muskets dam was of Matchem descent, Goldslnirough hriugs in the renowned Fisherman Herod strain, and theu we have Isonomy and Doncaster again. No St. Simon blood appears in Luke McLukes pedigree and mares of St. Simon descent, or mares rich in tlie blood of the Welheck. champion, should suit him admirably, daughters of Sain for instance. Sain, by St. Serf— The Task, by F.arcaldine Match eml, St. Serfs dam, Feronia. by Thormanhy Herod, and Sain has this year eighteen daughters which have produced the winners of forty-one races. Mares, too. by St. Frusquin. son of St." Simon, out of Isabel, by Plebeian Matchem. Parma, by Par-. mesan Herod, are adapted to the requirements of Luke MeLuke. Mares of the Hampton line, especially through Ayrshire, should give gi* d results when mated with Mr. Schorrs horse, and mares o." the Hanover line should also give good results, as should those carrying the bloml of Sir Modred. However. I should fight shy of another infusion of the I omino strain and eschew the blood of isonomy and Doncaster.
