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! | C j i, , „ J] ;i a ,. „ I: i r e ! I. t BACK FROM THE STUD INTO RACING. — ,. A remark in a contemporary that the well-known h race horse. Amerieiis. had been at the stud before he ran second to Royal Flush for the Stewards Cup of 1!»00 recalls other instances of the kind. Americus. I believe, had done stud dutv in the States before Mr. Richard Croker imported him into this country in 1X99. and he distinguished f himself at his first appearance by hanging on to in ii Eager at the finish of that years Steward* Cup tl to such an extent as to badly hamper Mr. Fairics r. good horse. But for this Eager which finished fifth, just behind Americus might have established « record for the race by winning it under 142 pound*, -n As matters w -re Mr. Boitoinleys well-tried Northern Farmer succeeded in getting home first by a S| neck in front of Nun Nicer. The record established in the opening year I1S40 by Epirus. which scored under 1"" pounds, therefore remained ltndis-lurhed. Only once in all the long history of the race. :t- a matter of fact, has it been approached even, when Sw clbivml scored under 129 pounds in p 1SN4. Americus won only one race in England, y but in doing t!ii he set at naught the old belief ii that stud life altogether unfits horses for a further *» : term of racing. "The Druid" pointed out that such previously almost invincible race horses as s Sammy King and Cation failed when they essaved 1 it. He added that Jerichos "revival" in The Flying - Dutchman s Ascot Cup was the best performance of the kind in the middle of last century In i finishing second Jericho certainly ran well for he b l hud Canezou and others behind him, but reference • i o the "Calendar" shows that "the Dutchman" won l ti.v the handsome margin of eight lengths In i more recent times Houndsditch was put into train-tug - again in UN after a brief sojourn at the stud , I anil he ran well several times, also winning a decent t i race. He had had few, if any. mares, breeders for r I some reason or other fighting shy of him. It might t he asked in this connection if Laureate II. did not t win the Royal Hunt Cup after a season at the stud . I I hat he was advertised as a stallion is true enough , 1 but. if I remember rightly. Mr. John Hammond, his 1 owner, sul sequently told me that there had been no , mares on his visiting list. As a rule, however , horses that have done stud duty cannot l e depended I 1 iqion to race afterwards, and Houndsditch. if he . » happened to be running next to a mare, would never • pass her.— "Vigilant" in London Sportsman I
