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— — *t" •Ja — MODERN ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SUCCESS OF THE ECLIPSE, HEROD AND MATCHEM BLENDING PLAN By Dr. M. M. LEACH . — — _ *J. I omitted to state in my previous article that "11 sires wen UUtiaaahfd List year by mares wliieli produced the winners of one or more races. Of these .".11 sires. S8t of them were of Eclipse de-M-ent, eihtv six Berods and twenty-six Matehems. This is it ii exceedingly strong point in favor of tlie blending of the l.lood lines plan of mating. The premier Hamburg is dead, as are Hanover, a good third. Exile ami Hindoo, and daughters of 1 he Commoner also made a brave show, as did daugh-ten of the Matchem horse. Kingston, which place their sir.- sixth in the winning list. When it is lik. -ii into consideration that the odds are almost .. to 1 in favor of stallions of Eclipse descent. It -.,.-. a long wav towards proving my assertion that Herod blood is ab-.olnt.-ly essential to the successful breeding of bloodstock. . Now. then, let us get on to the best of their respective years, leaving the successful stallions to 1,.- considered as they were foaled. During the past six months I have run out the pedigrees of the fleetest of last years two-year-olds, the best ot which, as 1 think will be generally admitted, are Dominant, Bulse. George Smith. Thunderer, Bromo. Gillies, the Englishman. Colonel Venule, and the fillies Pass iii l.oots and Celandriu. ihose who have read mv notes on the breeding of these, now thr.-e-vear-olds, are well aware that every one of them is bred, more or less, on the approved plan of mating. Perhaps the best bred of all in this select little party, is George Smith— here s a lip for the Derbv— whose sire. Out of Reach, is intensely inbred to Eclipse, but whose dam. OH-sm-lo II., is bv the Matchem sire. Bradwardine. -on of Barcaldine. and whose grandam. Miss Pepper a daughter of Pepper and Salt, which strains to Herod bv wav of The Rake. Wild Rayrell. Ian, Cain, Paulowitz. Sir Paul and Sir Peter. What is more. George Smith, in the female line, runs straight through by the way of P.raxey to Queen M.irv. and this Braxey branch of this celebrated family is responsible for the production of Tristan, the Australian champion Poseidon and that really nod filly La Roche. I.ulse and Thunderer are both by Eclipse horses .,ut of mares of Herod descent. The pedigree and performances of the former are perhaps to be pre-ferred to those of the brother to Regret, for Bulse introduces the Matchem blood by way of his sire, Disguise, close up. Disguises dam. Ronnie Gal. is out of Bonnie Doon. by Rapid Rhone, son of Young Melbourne. Bulse, on the dams side, traces 1.. the special branch of the Xo. 2 family which came into prominence by the production of the Derby winner Cremorne. Oremornes sister, Ma-belle was one of the greatest stud matrons ever foaled and was a daughter of the Herod horse Parmesan. Mabilles half-sister. Patronage, by the Matchem horse Prime Minister, foaled imported Salience, from which both Stromboli and Priscillian descend. Mabilles best daughter. Mazurka, was by tin- Herod horse See Saw. and is ancestress of Peter Pan, Fairv Slipper and all her tribe of winners, also of Maiden Krlegh, and of that really good French mare Clyde. Mazurkas half-sister, lie echo, bv Reverberation, is ancestress of Pieter-raaritatmrg and Thrush. Another half-sister. Eg-lentine, bv Hermit, is ancestress of The Tetrarch. What a wonderful collection of really first-class horses, to say nothing of innumerable lesser lights, all tracing to one mare foaled less tlian forty -fire years ago. Thunderer must always be held in respect, more especially on account of his breeding than his rather slovenly nerfornianee in the Futurity. I l.uii. I.rer represents and is inbred to the best family which traces 1o a native American source. the Maria West line, but Thmnderer will be eesa-lielled to put his last foot foresnest and more than rival the deeds of his doughty sister if he is to be acclaimed the champion three-year-old of 1916. Bromo is bred Eclipse to F.clipse, but his grandam. Suspension, is by the Lexington horse, Lncas Herod, and her dam. Suspense, was by the Herod horse. Bee Saw. Bromos Futurity effort was ending, but his show in the P.elmont Park Homebred IToduco Stakes was not so flattering. Dominant is also double Eclipse, but here again the Herod is not so far away. Dominants sire. Delhi, is out of Vera by Mortemer, the next best to ;iencoe-Herod horse which has ever come to us from across the seas, and Dominants dam. Dominoes, is by Domino, which is abundantly supplied with Herod strains. The grandam imported Editha is sister to Melton, son of Master Kildarc. whose .lain. Silk, was by Plum Pudding, a Sweetmeat horse, and further Herod is introduced by Thormanby, sire of the grandam Editha. However, perhaps on account of the Domino blood of his dam I incline to the belief that Dominants forte will prove to be speed rather than endurance. Gillis shows the Matchem grafted onto Herod. Sir Plato, winner of a Derby and a St. Eeger. was bred this way. as was in the early days Siiuilensko, Hie only black horse which ever won the Epsom classic, but the most famous instance of the Mat. heiii-l bind mating was Blink Bonny, winner of bath the oaks and Derby, and dam also of Blair Athol. Strange to s;iy. Gillies, as dues Bulse. trace to Rigolbacbe, indeen mares of this special branch Of the N . 2 family are invaluable, and the reason for their success is that they are so strongly fortified with Herod blood. I am undecided just how 1.. class Gillies. He had begun to show improvement when retired for the year and for all anyone knows to the contrary he may he the best of the entire band. For an Englishman Col. Venuie is well supplied ■ with Herod and Matchem blood. Ovieto. his paternal grandsire, is out of the famous Napoti. daughter of Macaroni, and dam also ofl.aveno, Mr. Haggina Papallo and Ponza, dam of that g.Kid I Australian site. Positano. The grandam of Ayrshire, sire of Shy Missie. Col. Venules daui. was ; Feronia, by Thormanby Herodl. and Shy Missie is out of l.isd wney. by the Matchem Kilwarlin. which von the St. I.eger. and is the sire of Ogden besides. Puss in Boots has gone abroad and the filly Celandria is a daughter of the Eclipse horse Celt, from Adriana. by Hamburg, from Kildeer by the j Matchem Darebin. From all this it may lie judged | that the blending of the blood lines, for the time | at hast, has all the best of it. and we will now drop hack a vear and see how the good ones foaled in 1*12 wen- bred. Kegret. Waterblossom. Pommera, Occurencia and 1 Patn.bas were all foaled in 1912. Here they all are • - England. North and South Asneriea. and Australia. Patrobas. down under, won both the Australian i Jockey Club Derby and Melbourne Cup, carrying a i ten-pound penalty successfully home in the latter " race, a feat never before excelled, even if it has 1 been equalled. Patrobas is by Carbines best son, • Wallace, which is full of Herod blood, showing a 1 d.nible cross of fisherman in his makeup. Oe.-ur-eneia, tin- flying Argentina filly, is a daughter of • that good Preach horse Val dOr. which was by Flying Fox out of Waiidora. by Bruce, son of our old I Herod friend, See Saw, which but for incompet.-ney ■ in the saddle should have won the Derby. Moreover. Val dOrs seeond dam is Windfall, by the Herod. laonius. Regret, as we all know by this time, is l the result of an Eclipse to Herod mating, and the diminutive heroine of the Kentucky Oaks and I I ui.i.liaii Derby. WaterbtoasoSB, is bred on the plan of returning the best blood of the dam to the beat bfcttd in the dam of the sire, which, in this case, happens to be ll.-rod. Ze-alaiielia. dam of Waterhlu-- s. .ins sire. Waterboy, is by Sir kfodred, as is . Sus. al. grandam of Waterblossom. As for Pommem. ..• is outhr.d. but. like many another Britisher, is j brad a bit away from Herod and Matchem. Pom-in.-rn is a member of the all-coniueriiig Agnes family and his sire. Polymelus, is a sou of Cyllene. Boat Vista, CyUesjea sire, is out of Vista, by Macaroni I Herod and Cyllenes dam traces to Faraway. . by Voung Melbourne. Matchem and his third dam 1 is another daughter of Voung Melbourne, also grandam of I.a Floe-he and Memoir. Pommerns dam. Merry Agnes, is a daughter of St. Hilaire. son of : St. Simon, which also traces to one of Maid of , afaahama, Melbourne bred, daughters. Thus in , Pommem we have the same combination of blood — . Young Melbourne, Macaroni. Bend Or and St. Simon i --which resulted in the production of that grand I mar.. Sceptic. Besides, both Sceptre and Pommern i trace, in the female line, to Agnes, daughter of ! Clarion, son of Gle-ncoes sire. Sultan. At least two colts of exceptional racing merit, ■ Bardaaapale and The Tetrarch. were foaled in 1911. Besides. Princess Dorrie. winner of the Oaks and tin.- Thousand Guineas, was foaled in this year, as well as Darker, Koamer and Luke McEuke. English form must have been distinctly below par . in 1914: otherwise Durbar would never have won i the Derby and he was afterward beaten, iiointless. by Bardaaapale in both the French Derby and Grand I Prix de Paris. Durbar is by the Eclipse horse Rabelais, a sulky brute which did his best to lose a Goodwood Cup. but on being sent to Fiance did well indeed as a sire. Durbars dam. Armenia. is by Meddler —first, second and third dams Herod — and Crania. Armenias dam is by Hanover Herod. as was the n«t dam. Wanda, one of the best race mares we ever iiad. and back of this again comes l Minnie Minor, by Lexington Herod out of Julia. SJ .l.-ncoe Herodl. For once I have run into a pedigree which possibly shows a too great abundance of Herod blood, and for choice 1 bhould sajgd as I . ■ I ; mate for Uranias daughter some well bred horses of Matchem descent — Ogden and Fair Play in this country: Marcovil or Neil Gow in England. Ike pedigree of Roamer, the best American, discloses Musket and St. Simon grafted onto the Bend Or and Macaroni of Bona Vista, backed tip by the Voung Melbourne of Mintings dam. Mint Sauce. Luke MeLukes winning effort in the Douglas Park Kentucky Handicap was about the best performance put up by a three-year-old I have ever witnessed in western racing: not that the four and over division he defeated included anything grand, but three-year-olds, so early in the year, seldom get tin- best of it when pitted against their elder rivals. Luke McLuke, a horse of fine size, great speed and, I should say. capable of negotiating a long distance as well. is. on the dams side, much inbred to Eclipse. His double Domino sire. Vltimus, supplies any amount of Herod blood and this Domino is an absolute otitcross for the Trenton blood of his dam. To meet with much success Luke McLuke must have his mates selected with exceeding care, Herod blood and soundness being essential |ualif ications. Daughters of Meddler should fit in first rate and mares by little Handsel, Hanover and Hermit blood should do well by him. The Frenchman. Sardanapale, was by odds the best three-year-old of 1914. Durbar could do nothing with him, and he won, just before hostility s commenced, the French Derby and Grand Prix, which marked his last outing in public. I am sure I do not know What has become of Baron Rothschilds colt. It was mooted, eighteen months ago, that he had been sent to England. It is sincerely to be hoped that Sardanapale has not been torpedoed, or anything of the sort, for he is a remarkably well-bred horse and one which comes of an Eclipse line I had thought almost extinct. Sardanapale is by Mr. W. K. Vanderbilts unbeaten Prestige, which traces in the male line to Whalebone by way of Defense and, if this Defense line exists, anywhere outside of France, I do not know-where to look for it. Defense, though he never won a race, did remarkably well in the stud, his daughters being especially good and he got The Emperor, sire of Monerejue, which got Gladiateur. Trocadero and the French Derby winner Consul, ancestor of Sardanapale, which is yet another fine advertisement for the No. 16 family. Gemma, Sardanapales dam. is a sister, by Florizel, to the Two Thousand Guineas winner, Vedes, and whose dam. Agnostic-, was by Rosicrucian from Bonnie Agnes. Not much Herod here, yon may well say. Defense into St. Simon, however, is a radical out-cross and this is the main advantage of the Eclipse to Herod matings. Another equine celebrity, which was foaled in 1911, is Princess Dorrie, winner of the One Thousand Guineas and Oaks, and half-sister to that splendid race horse Sunstar, which made such an auspicious beginning, as a sire, last season, and Mr. Jennings will, I sincerely hope, show us that the get of Sunstar are equally as much at home over the dirt as they are on the turf. Princess Dorries is by Your Majesty, a clinking good race horse, one of Persimmons best sons. Hes away to the Argentine now — why not North America? I saw him win the St. James Palace St ikes at Ascot and he afterwards won the St. Lager anil fetched a pot of money when he was sold, but such horses are not to be had, at any price, every day. The Princess dam, Doris, is by the Herod horse Lansdowne, son of See Saw. Oh, yes, this highly successful plan of mating is ever to the fore, even in England, despite the shortage of mares of Herod descent. Doris comes of the same branch of the No. 5 family to which trace Gunfire, Rock Flint, Trigger, Morion, Ard Patrick, Rosicrucian, etc.. and now we will look into the pedigree and performances of one of the most talked of colts foaled in England since the days of St. Simon, namely. The Tetrarch. Tin- Tetrarch is bred on the Herod to Eclipse plan. Vahren. his dam, had, before being mated with Rio Herode, been bred Several seasons to BcHpse horses without any startling result. Vahren herself is inbred to Eclipse and I really think it was for convenience sake as much as anything else that she has sent to Roi Herode a good but by no means great race horse. Of course the blend is an admirable one, and it is a thousand pities that The Tetrarch failed to stand a second seasons preparation. This grey must have been a marvel, judging from his published training trials and the reports of eye witnesses. I lest heard of the phenomenon in far-away Melbourne. Some keen Australian si ortsman had gone "home" and sent back glowing r;"ports of the gray prowess. He was never beaten, but his leg failed two-thirds of the way through his first racing year. However, he is in good hands and it wont tie long before we all shall be reading about the excellence of his offspring. Hoi Herode, The Tetrarch s sire, is a grandson of Le Sancy from Roxe-lane by War Dance, and Roxelanes grandam is Rouge Rose. Bend Ors dam. by Thormanby. Vahren. The Tetrarcks dam. is by Bona Vista-Bend Or-Macaroni, from Castania, by Hagioscope, and so on through to our old friend Mabille. by Parmesan. Everything points to the success, aer *s tin- pond, of The Tetrarch as a sire. The English-Eclipse soil is ready and waiting for the Herod seed and lie is really certain of success wheal mated Willi those Eclips-bred English mares. However, all of The Tetrarchs mates wont come from England for the gray is now doing stud duty in Erins Isle, where he is sure of an oecasi mal infusion of Matchem blood, which would suit his requirements admirably. When the time comes I trust BOase of our enterprising American breeders will see to it that all of the youngsters got by The Tetrarch and offered for sale in open market are not grabbed up by the English racing men. for some day we are certain to need Herod blood to bolster op fainting Hanover, for this thoroughbred preparedness is just as essential as the other sort. Tin Tetrarchs speed was phenomenal and s[ eed is the sine qua non in this country
