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* + SOME PREDICTIONS IN REGARD TO THE PROBABLE RATING OF SIRES YODNG IN STUD SERVICE By De. M. M. LEACH ■T. — — J. The year 1910 was rather ■ lean one, so far as 1 the production of great horses was concerned. 1 CragiiiHiur and Black Jester were the liest of the Kuglish lot. Bock View, Horron and Cock o the Walk for the 1 nited States. Craganour was a hors- : of tremendous sliced, but a non-stayer. I saw him i as a two-year-old win at Newmarket and lose at I Goodwood, a rather lump -shouldered, sl:;ck-loined bay. with perfect action, however. I dont envy Argentina her bargain. Black Jester is top-heavy 1 Eclipse and last season somewhat tarnished his i cheaply earned I.eger reputation, and his stud sue- cess is decidedly uncertain. Horron. a good, though ill-starred racer, the best of the McGces. is bred i Eclipse to Eclipse, but comes of the famous Magnolia line, so full of Herod blood, and his grandam. Elsie L . is a daughter of the Herod Prince Uoy.il. i and Horron holds a reasonable chance of success as as stallion. As for Cock o the Wall:, he is a member of tin- famous Maria West line, by Peep oDay. but. for the life of me. I cannot see where he is destined for much stud success. Rock View, however, is bred to succeed, a son of the overwhelmingly top-heavy Eclipse horse Hock Sand. Rock Views dam. Golden View-, is sister. ly Hastings, to Fair Ilay. which we know is of Matehem descent. Golden Views dam is imported Fairy Gold, by Rend Or. dam Herod, from Dame Masliam, by Galliard. dam Herod again, from iauline from that great broodmare sire Hermit, dam double Herod, and so to I*-idy Masham, dam of Ieter and Timothy, by I.rother to Strafford, son of Young Melbourne Matehem. This is the famous Maid of Masham family, and Bock Views stud sue -ess seems assured. Nineteen hundred and nine was another on" year. lYgalie won the One Thousand Guineas and Derby. bat disgraced herself in the Oaks, and was no sort of use to Stedfast and Prince Palatine in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. Outside of the half-fit Tracery. I suppose it was about as poor a field as ever faced the starter for the Derby. Tagalie, however, an Kclipse to Herod bred filly, was the lies: of a bad band and scored ouce siuce for the approved plan of mating. Mr. Relmonts Tracery made amends for his Derby defeat by taking the St. Leger and. as a four-year-old, won the 10,000 sovereigns Eclipse Stakes, but ran afoul of a maniac when runuing forwardly for the Ascot Gold Cup. Certain to have won, as was said afterwards, but horses are never certain of victory when some accident occurs and, I for one, have small idea that Mr. Belmonts horse would have gained the verdict over any such smasher as I know Prince Palatine to have been. Like father like son. Rock Sand was a wonder until lie took on Ard Patrick and Sceptre. Tracery later along rather liesmirched an otherwise good reputation by permitting Cantilever to beat him for the Jockey Club Stakes and I incline to the opinion that Tracerys liest course was one and one-quarter miles or thereabouts. Tracery stood last year at a 400 guinea fee — a rather exhorbi-tant charge and, taking everything into consideration, this charge is sure to be reduced, for Tracery will require the most careful mating if success as a stallion is to come his way. Rock Sand is all Eclipse, as is Ormes daughter. Topiary. Here, however, the Galopin strain is well mixed with the St. Simon of Rock Sand. Plaisanterie, a great race mare, is by Wellingtonia, tail male descent of Orlando, another strain more Eclipse, by way of Poetess, daughter of Trocadero. If Tracery were now doing stud duty in France, wher;; he would have access to some of those mares of Herod descent, I should entertain more hopes of him as a sire. Perhaps The Manag- r was the best of the native born — his autumn form was distinctly good. Son of an imported horse out of a native-bred marc, of the Maria-West line, the family is full of Herod blood and Voter supplies the Matehem leaven. The Kentucky Derby winner Worth, since dead, was bred Kclipse to Herod. Free Lance, winner of I-itonias big event, is by an imported horse out of a native mare, but I do not look for any stud success here. In 190K three really good horses first saw the light. They were Sunstar, Prince Palatine and Sledfast. The first two were something quite out of the ordinary and tin- latter had twelve straight victories to his credit, and only a Prince Palatine could take his numlicr down. Sunstar. half brother by Sundridge to the Oaks winner Princess Dorrie, was one of the really great horses foaled in recent years. Sunstar won the i Derby practically on three legs, and just think of tin- field he had behind him. Stedfast was a verit- i able flyer and Sunstar was the only one of the i field engaged bred on the Kclipse to Herod plan of t mating. Stallion honors have come quickly to Sun- ■ star and I was delighted to hear of Mr. Macombers extensive purchases of Sunstar stock, which, if only given time enough to become thoroughly aecli- matized are i ertain as anything to enhance this sires reputation. Prince Palatine, admittedly a great race horse, though he diil not ripen so early as Sunstar, was • -good" at St. I.eger time and better still the ful-" lowing year, when ha won the Ascot Gold Cup run- ning away. The Prince must have been an awful horse to beat Stedfast. the way the race was nil;. at his own distance, in the Sandown Park Eclipse 5 Stakes. Persimmon. Prince Palatines sire, is full of - Herod and Matehem blood. Lady Lightfoot, the I dim. is by 1-inglass, ull Eclipse, but this is offset . by the Herod of Ayrshire and the Herod of Foot-I lights, by Cremorne. The stud success of members of this Paraffin branch of the No. 1 family does I not compare with the success of its members as • rate horses. This must be attributed to lack of J Herod and Matehem blood. Ladas and Cicero well • illustrate this point. On the other hand. Prince Palatine is bred to accomplish big things. His . Herod strains by way of Ion. Flying Dutchman and Cremorne will save him from mediocrity. As for Stedfast. a gigantic, cow-backed chestnut I of most kindly disposition, the first foal his sire i Chaucer ever got. he assuredly was a flyer over i his beat course, which I take to be one and one-1 quarter miles. Twelve times did Stedfast go to ■ the bat before he met defeat at the hands of 1 Prince Palatine. Perhaps Maher was a bit over-t confident, any way the style in which he dashed up to and pas-ed the Derby winner Tagalie was . most convincing, and at the cud Prince Palatine . only did him by a short head, and that is the c finest finish during a somewhat varied turf ex-t perieuce, I have ever seen. Stedfast is bred Eclipse 1 to Kclipse, his sire, Chaucer, though is well tortile fied with Ilerod and Matehem through Wild Day- - raft, Cowl and Melbourne. Stedfasts grandam is J by Muncuster, whose dam, Windermere, was by Macaroni. The uext dam is by Hermit, double 1 1 : i I 1 i i i Ilerod on the dams side, then comes Pelion by Ion Ilerod. and so to the Oaks winner Cymba by Melbourne. Stedfast should sire much speed and may 1m- good ones as well if Herod and Matehem are found close up in his mates. Mares of the Hanover or Im Sancy lines should suit him admirably. Swynford was the best of those foaled in 1907. Though beaten in the Derby. Swynford came into his own at I oneaster, proving too much for his old antagonist Lembcrg, and, as a four-year-old. decisively asserted his superiority. Swynfords sire. John OGaunf, is probably the best of the offspring of I.a Fleche, but thunderstorm or no thunderstorm, John OGaunt, had be been a first-class horse, must have beaten St. Amant for the Derby of 1904. John OGaunt is another top-heavy Mpa Englishman. Canterbury Pilgrim. Swynfords dam. however, is bred on distinctly feminine lines, her sire. Tristan, was. by Hermit, and Tristan soon runs to Queen Mary. Canterbury Pilgrims dam. Pilgrimage, was by The Palmer, whose dam. Madame Kgl-ntine. was by Cowl Herod, and the next dam. l.ady Audley, was a daughter of Wild Dayrell Herod, from Secret by Melbourne Matehem, and I should say that the prospects of Swynford, as a sire, are decidedly encouraging. These were foaled A. 1. 1900: Rayardo. Sir Martin. Fitz Herlicrt and Maskette. Rayardo did not win the Derby, but he did win the St. Iceland Ascot Cup. Maskette won the Futurity from Sir Maitin. but the colt had his revenge in the Flatbusli — and Fitz Herbert was the liest runner on the American turf of his day and time. Rayardos first winning essay came about in the New Stakes at Ascot, not by any means a taking colt, sharp-eyed and peevish looking, not one at all times to be relied on, he could go when in the humor. Rayardos sire, Ray Ronald was. I am inclined to think, though not the best racer, the best stock horse his sire. Hampton, ever got. Mcdonald II. was a big feather in his cap, as were Rayardo and Dark Ronald. Ayrshire got no colts so good as these. Ray Ronalds dam was Black Duchess, by Galliard, hence wr get the Macaroni touch. Rayardos dam. Gnlioia. was by Galopin and Oalopins dam was Flying Duchess, by Flying Dutchman Herod. Rack of this but little Herod or Matehem is to be found until we get right away down to Rlink Ronny and Queen Mary. It is on account of his want of outside strains that I am apprehensive of Bayardos future as a stud horse. Sir Martin must be written down, despite his Futurity defeat, as the best American two-year-old of 190S. Sir Martin is bred Matehem to Herod. Ogden. his sire, though of Matehem descent in the male line, is strongly inbred to Kclipse in the other lines of his pedigree, or mares possessing Herod blood close up. Herod mares are the logical mates for him. This works out in practice as well as in theory. Ogdens best. Sir Martin. Star Jasmine. The Finn, Lady Bedford and Gillies are all bred on this plan, a point which must not be overlooked and is worthy of most careful consideration by those who wish to reap any advantage from the blending of the three great lines. Maskette in her two-year-old days was a powerful, robust, bold going brown filly, endowed with marvelous speed, but when the pinch came, like others of her tribe, she was inclined to cut it. Maskette is bred Eclipse to Herod and any lack of gameness on her part must not be attributed to her dam. but rather to her sire. The man in the best position of all to really know once told me that Maskettes sire was not always to be trusted to do his best. Maskette. however, should have something first class, for she comes of the Beeswing branch of the No. family. Fitz Herbert, a real good horse, handsome as paint, a fine stayer and a well-bred one to boot. Kitz Herberts sire, Ethelbert. is bred Eclipse to Herod, and lis dam. Morganatic, is Eclipse, by Enquirers son. Emperor, of course. There is plenty of Gl-neoo here and Morganatics dam was Iissie, by the famous Frenchman, Mortemer Herod. Next comes Wyandotte, by Leamington, and so on down to the Cub mare imported nearly 150 years ago. Much of the excellence of Fitz Herbert may be ascribed to his dash of Mortemer. Durbar II.. Delhi. Stalwart are eases in point: in fact, anything showing a dash of Mortemer is well worth while. The Mortemer in Fitz Herbert is ably seconded by the Herod ol" Maori, dam of his sire Ethelbert. Maori runs back via Poulet. Pent Etre and Ventre St. iris to Queen Marys sire, Gladiator, anil I see no reason why Fitz Herbert should not sire race horses. The j ear 1905 is made memorable, in this country, as the birth year of the unbeaten Colin. Celt was also foaled in 1905. as were Fair llay and Your Majesty, Dark Ronald, Signorinetta and Rhodora abroad. As we shall see later, Colins sire. Commando, was bred to get runners out of almost anything, especially out of high-bred English Eclipse mares. This is no hind sight prophesy. I wrote of this lie-fore a::y of Commandos get had faced the starter. The dams of Colin. Celt. Peter Pan, Superman, Ieter Quince, et. .. were all of them imported. Pastoreile. Colins dam. is much inbred to Eclipse ami is a daughter of Springfield, double Ellipse. from Grisclda. by Strathconan Eclipse |, from Per-•everance, by Volligeiir Kclipse. 1 know that Colin v as a niarvelously good two-year-old. perhaps the beat I have ever seen race, and 1 also know that llorane. a fair handicapper level weiglits. was right atop of Colin in the one and a quarter mile Tidal St kes at Sheepshead Ray as a three-year-old. Colin raced no more in this country and it wa - a great disappointment that he failed to stand a preparation in England. A run against the pick of the English brigade would have been worth going many miles to see, and all of us would now be in better position to judge of Colins true merits as a race horse. Colin made a couple of seasons in England before being returned to this country. Six living foals resulted from his first years service and he was put to fourteen mares the second year. A number of these must have produced living foals. Philip Cbinn brought back a couple of them in 1914. neither of which has as yet broken out of the maiden class and I fail to find where any of Colins Kuglish -foaled offspring have set the Thames on fire. Colin, since his return to the land of the Stars and Stripes, has stood for service at the Wiekliffe Stud, so there wont be any two-year-olds racing by him before next year. Speedy Colins offspring are certain to be. but it looks like tempting providence if his mates are chosen from the ordinary run of Eclipse-bred mares. However, we can do no more than wait and see, always bearing in mind Continued ou third page. SOME PREDICTIONS IN REGARD TO THE PROBABLE RATING OF SIRES YOUNG IN STUD SERVICE. Continued from first page. - that Colin already has been afforded a fair opportunity. Celts case is a totally different one. I have been , informed, and on good authority, too, that Celt , stayed the letter of the pair. However, this may be, Celt is best on lines more suggestive of success as a stallion. Celts pedigree discloses a double cross of Matchem close up, indicating Herod 1 mates and, what is more, the plan works. Coquette and her sister Celandria are out of Adriana by Hamburg Herod — Mr. Hancock may, perchance, , read this anil, I trust, profit thereby. . Fair Play, bred Matchem to Eclipse, a beautiful i golden chestnut, is now doing stud duty at Mr. 1 ] Belmonts Nursery Farm. Fair Play, though only , eleven years old, has already made quite a repu- 1 1 tatiou for himself as a sire and was, when in 1 1 training, returned the winner of many rich stakes, some of them over a fair distance of ground. Fair and 1 Play is a decided improvement on his sire. Hastings. i The get of both run, but Fair Plays bid fair 1 to outshine his parent as to class and, thanks to 1 him, the Australian line to Matchem looks like ] 1 holding on for a long time yet. Spendthrift, a | Matchem -Herod bred horse, got Hastings out of an J j imported English Eclipse bred mare. Hastings . j got Fair Play out of Fairy Gold, imported, by . ] Bend Or from Dame Masham, by Galliard, which 1 traces to Peters dam by Brother to Strafford. -This is an exceptionally fine pedigree. Daughters " , of Fair Play should in time, become noted pro- , 1 ducers, and some son of his must be well worth - while for the stud. Stromboli is good, but for some -reason 1 Mr. Belmont chose to have him cut. The sensation of the racing season in England was the victory of the outsider Signorinetta in the j Derby. Signorinetta is bred Matchem to Eclipse, j i Signorina, her dam, is by St. Simon from Star of Postici, by Heir at Law, son of Newminster. It . is remarkable how frequently this Melbourne -St. ! Simon blend results in the production of famous racers. The same sort of affinity exists between Bend Or and Macaroni. In each case their best : have been bred on this plan of mating. St. Simon : , stood in need of Matchem blood and Bend Or did 1 , best when Herod was found close up. As yet Sig- ■ norinetta has produced nothing of note. The obvious : mate, is of course, a sire of Herod descent, The I Tetrarch or his sire, Roi Herode, for choice. Richard Crokers One Thousand Guineas winner Rhodora is bred Eclipse to Herod, grandam Matchem. Rhodora was never properly trained as a three-year-old, and fell in the Oaks and, I think, never won another race. However, put to any first-class Eclipse sire of Bend Or descent, she should produce something of extra merit. Your Majesty, son of Persimmon, was quite high class in his three-year-old days — a trifle slow to come to hand. His victory over King Edwards Perrier in the St. James Palace Stakes will long be remembered and Your Majesty started off quite in the right way as a sire, getting the Oaks winner, Princess Dorrie, in his first season. Your Majestys pedigree shows a sufficiency of Herod and also the leavening Matchem by way of the grandam of Persimmon. Yours, dam of Your Majesty, is by Melton, grandam Herod. Your Grace was a daughter of Galliard — Mavis, by Macaroni, and the next dam, Grand Duchess, was by Ix zenge, son of Sweet Meat — Macaronis sire Herod. The thoroughbred folks down in the Argentine have purchased many a high-priced stallion in England. Cyllene, Diamond Jubilee, Pietermaritzburg and the like, but I doubt if they ever get a better one than the big bay son of Persimmon. j If it were not for climatic influence, how on earth could England keep her bloodstock up to standard? Of late years, in fact, all the time, as soon as a good horse is done racing he is sold off to some other country. Its a wonder St. Simon did not share the same fate. Your Majesty expatriated to the Argentine, Dark Ronald carted off to some continental nation. However, Dark Ronald remained in England long enough to prove that he is the best living male descendant of Hampton. Dark Ronald was a good race horse. He was not frequently seen under silks, but when he did put in an appearance lie made it count. His victory in the Royal Hunt Cup was a sensational one, as was his effort in the Princess of Wales Stakes at Newmarket. Dark Ronald is by Bay Ronald out of Darkie, by Thurio, whose accepted sire is Cremorne, and it is to this infusion of Herod blood that I attribute Dark Ronalds success at the stud. The special branch of the No. 9 family from which Dark Ronald comes has never before produced a great stallion. Juggler and Necromancer were all well in their way — more especially as broodmare sires — but neither of them got anything first-class. Yet here is Dark Ronald out with Son-in-Law, by odds the best four-year-old in England, as his victory over Lanius proves, and Dark Ronald is also the sire of ; Vaucleuse, winner of the One Thousand Guineas. There are others, too, which reflect any amount of credit on their sire. Bayardo, for all his ties, has done nothing like so well and when it comes down to sires, an infusion of Herod straight is worth all the names of the Derby winners put together.
