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i c t I 1 I i 1 [ v i | i I l • [ . , , [ i j | ! , , j i j 1 j , , , j j , . I i i , . , I , , , j j , • HIGHLY BRED HUNTERS OF ENGLAND. 1 I In the old days, long before the money annually given to race meetings for Kings Plates was di- l verted into another channel and appropriated to Kings Premiums, many good race horses, instead J of languishing for want of patronage at the stud nu the part of owners of thoroughbred mares, wore do- voted by their owners at the service of begetting I hunters and steeplechasers. In many cases they : were mated with mares of almost pure descent, but J more often than not their mates were either only thoroughbred on one side of their pedigrees, or short-legged cart mares. In the middle of last century, the fact remains that alliances of go xl thor- . oughbred sires of some renown with mares not in the "Stud I.ook" were much more frequent than is the case nowadays and. in consequence, both in the bunting held and the arena of steeplechasing. we bad a greater proportion of really good jier-formers than in more recent times. One has only to glance at "The Druids" work on the "liroeding of Hunters" to appreciate that all the best blood in the country, at all events at the first remove, was engaged some sixty or seventy years ago in the production of horses suitable for hunting or for hacks. Many of these hunters were transferred to steeplechasing. and in the same way, doubtless, nowadays, had the government only accepted Colonel Hall Walkers offer, a number of the embryo array remounts would have attained distinction under National Hunt rules. In order to show how intimately related the hunting field and the race course were a hundred years ago. it is only necessary to point out that Boadicea. the grandam of the leger winner and great stallion. Touchstone, was hunted for a number of seasons. Iteuvolio, an elder brother of Boadicea. was another brilliant performer in the hunting field. IVmdicea was nineteen wlien she threw Banter afterwards dam of Touchstone to Master Henry. Such well-known sires as Pantaloon. Weatherbit. Sandlieck and Humphrey Clinker were four stallions whose names crop up in no end of pedign-es of modern thoroughbreds, yet all the four were at times used to get hunters. Humphrey Clinker was the sire of Melbourne, through which all the present-day horses of the Matchem line trace back to the iodolphin. Arabian or Barb. Sandbeok is perhaps best known to fame as the paternal pmUa of Ellen Home grandam of • Bend Or, al-o as the maternal grandsire of The , llying Dutchman. Weatherbit became the sire of P.cadsmun. Drown I.read. Mandrake. Weathergage. etc.. while from the first of these sprang The Palmer, Kosicruciau. Peri Gomez, Blue Oown and ; others. Nowadays the male line of Weatherbit is but sparsely represented in this country, although at one time Tyrant. Telescope and Chvyd looked like carrying it on. Another descendant in tail-male from Weatherbit through Kosieru-ciant that was thought much of is Whittier — an Kpsom ;rand Prize winner — but seemingly he went abroad, and only the other day I noticed his name among the winning sires at. I think, a recent Vienna meeting. Pantaloon, although he himself failed to rival the feat of Beadsman in begetting a Derby winner. lH-cnme the sire of Windlc mid. From Wind-hoimd came ihormanby. whose line, after undergoing many vicissitudes, is now at last established on a firm basis once more, with such stud repre-cntatives in this country at Hoi Herotle, The Tet-rarch. Kildaro II.. Nabot. I.e Souvenir, and others. In the female line Pantaloon bb od has always ranked high, for out of Touchstones dam. Banter, he got Jocose dam of Macaroni 1. Then tlie Oaks winner. Chuznce. was alsi a daughter of Pantaloon. and other famous mares by him were Clarissa. Ixgerdemain. and Slander, just to mention a few of his many tiotahl, laughters. Pantaloon, of courre was a Herod line horse, as was Thormanby, but Weatherbit and Sandbeck were tail-male descendants of Eclipse. Herod mares have perhaps included more famous stud matrons than any. and the tendency t-.f Hie tribe of Herod is feminine, hence no doubt the temporary jH-tering out of the Thormanby line and the more complete disappearance of the male line of Hermit. The last named was not of course by a Herod horse his sire being Newniinsteri. but bis dam was a Herod maive. ami possibly en ugh he inherited and passed on her feminine eltaracteristics. In Ireland well-known sires of former days that begot hunting stock included Bob Booty. Sir Hercules, and Birdcateher. AH this goes to show that we should not be content :1 to limit the siring of half-bred st: ck for cither military or hunting requirements to stallions of comparatively minor merit, such as those that generally Lain Kings Premiums. — "Vigilant" in London Sportsman.
