view raw text
* — s TWO GRANDLY BRED KENTUCKY DERBY CANDIDATES BROUGHT TO THIS COUNTRY FROM ENGLAND By Dr. M. M. LEACH On account of the exceptionally late spring, I am by no means overstating the case when I say that Kentucky -trained horses will be at a distinct disadvantage during the first few weeks of the now rapidly approaching racing season. However, what is one mans loss is anothers gain and horses which have had the advantage of a southern preparation, should have, this time, all the best of it. Lata autumn that enterprising and liberal buyer. Mr. Macomber. purchased in Kngland a number of the best of Mr. J. B. Joels youngsters. Mr. Joel lias met with far more than average success, both as a breeder and a turfman, and would never have entertained even the thought of disposing of so many of his royally-bred youngsters had it not been for the unsettled state of racing alTairs which now unhappily exists abroad. As it was, the outlay was no Inconsiderable one. anil it would indeed lie a fitting reward should Mr. Macomber meet with big success at the first time of asking. Mr. Macomber has entered three of his imported colts in the Kentucky Derby and. 1 supiiose. the two that racing men and breeders are most interested in are Star Hawk and Hesperus. Cnder the watchful eye of trainer Walter Jennings, the Macomber stable has been wintering in the genial climate of the Carolinas and, judging from the appearance of some of the recently arrived Charlestonians, the southern climate apparently agrees with imported horses and, if the condition of Phil T. Chinus horses be any guide, the Macomber horses must be well advanced in their preparation. Weather conditions down south seem better suited to the requirements of English-bred bloodstock than are those which prevail in this latitude and, if the Macomber horses have safely : •+. come through the acclimatization process and are once more their normal selves, nothing would surprise me less than to witness Mr. Macomber leading in a Derby winner at the outset of his turf car.-er. Star Hawk, a bay. one of the first of the Sun-stars, is no stranger to racing and won two good races at Newmarket last year and was placed in two others liesides. In the Free Handicap official Star Hawks weight allotment was 115 pounds, or only eleven pounds less than the top weight, Fi-finclbi. Star Hawk is placed eighth on the list, on the same mark as Argos. winner of the famous Middle Park Plate, and just ahead of Atheling. winner of the seven-eighths Dewhurst Plate. This goes to show that in Kngland a pretty high estimate had been formed of Star Hawks ability as a race horse and, should he show anything like the improvement made by his sire from two to three, the iKst of our home guard will have all their work cut out to Is-at him. Sunstar, Star Hawks sire, was a good but not a great two-year-old. However, tin- following year, after his stylish victory in the Guineas. Sunstar became a pronounced favorite for the Derby, his Newmarket outing having convinced almost every one that Mr. Joels horse— bar accidents was certain to win the Derby, and win the Deshy » did. on three legs at that, breaking down as they neared the ■winning post, beating such a grand race horse as Stedfast, which afterwards won twelve races right off the reel. I have myself seen Stedfast race and well know that Sunstar must have been something quite out of Uncommon to win from such company after his bg h.nl given way. Here is Star Hawks pedigree: Runstar. Star Hawks sire, is bred Eclipse to Ilcrod. Sundridge. sire of Sunstar. xvas a famous sprinter and is bred all Eclipse. Sundridge never got anything half so good as Sunstar, cither liefore or since, and I should much like to know if he has been afforded another efcaaea with mares of Herod descent. Sunstar is of Blacklock descent. Not, however, through the customary ialopin channel, but by way of Amphion, Kosebery and Speculum to Vedette, and in the female line Sunstar traces to Diversion by Defence, one of the mainstays of the No. 5 family. Diversion foaled three famous daughters — Crosslanes by Shine, ancestress of Sunstar: Miami by Venison, ancestress of Ard Patrick. Jaltee More. Marie Stuart and White Eagle, and Madame Eglentine. by Cowl, dam of Rosicrucian and The Palmer, and ancestress of Morion and Winkfield anil the Frenchmen Finasseur iran.l Prix, Nimbus and Nuage. Venison and Cowl were both Herods and the success of their daughters immediate. Shine, however, was of Eclipse descent and, though this branch of the Diversion family has been productive of any nmnlier of good winners. Gunfire, Trigger and stock Flint among the number, the crowning success did not come until the Herod blood was introduced by Koved One, sire of Sunstars dam. Doris. Petrarch, Camerino and Vedette, which follow in order, are all of Kclipse descent. Koved One, himself, was by no means in the first flight as a race horse, though lie won the Wokingham Stakes at Ascot and was never highly regarded as a sire. It is solely due to Koved Ones Herod descent that Sundridge scored such a big success when mated with his daughter Doris. Besides his tail -Baals descent. Koved One introduces an additional Herod cross by way of his grandam. Kady Audley by Ma.aroni. Kidy Audleys dam. Secret, was hy the Matchem horse Melbourne and Kidy Audleys daughter. Pilgrimage Koved Ones dam, won ImiIIi the Thousands and became also the dam of P.llegrino. the 100 to 1 shot Derby winn. r, .leddah, and the Oaks winner. Canterbury Pilgrim. Star Hawks dam. Sweet Finch, is a sister, by Koldfinch. to the Idle Hour premier Cuuard. Gosiftacfe was one of the first of the get of Ormonde and was half brother to the tripple crown winner Common and to the St. Leger winner Throstle, and got the One Thousand Guineas winner Chelandry. Chelandry l eeame the dam of Tra-«iuair, which sired a lot of speed in Australia, and Chelandrv is also grandam of the recently imported Wrack. Thistle, dam of Goldfinch, was by Scottish Chief out of Nettle by Sweetmeat. Lily Agnes. Ormondes dam. was by Macaroni, son of Sweetmeat a most admirable return for the Macaroni found in the dam of Loved One. Only a few days ago a casual breeder asked me. What about this horse Macaroni, his name seems to figure iu the ptdigree of so main good horses V Yes he does. 1 told my friend. Macaroni, a double Herod, is the prince of all broodmare sires and any pedigree showing a return of the Macaroni strain, or Thormanby either for that matter, is well worth while. Lucania, dam of Sweet Finch and Cuuard, is a daughter of the New Zealander Sir Modred. Again and again have I called attention to the value of this Sir Modred cross. Watreboy. Waterblossom, Bulse, all have it, and this llorod blood is backed up by the lierod of Pat Malloy, sou of Lexington, and that of Kute his daughter. Indeed this is a fine racing pedigree and many a good winner is descended from this Lulu Horton branch of the old time No. 0 family. However, as past history bears eloquent witness, horses whose pedigrees are contaminated with native or obscure strains do not succeed as sires and though Star Hawks pedigree is right enough for racing purposes, clean bred ones must be preferred for use as sires. Hesperus, on the other hand, exhibits a edigree of exceeding merit and Mr. Macoinlier was well advised when he purchased the son of Sunstar and Our Kassie. Hesperus is just the sort of horse I have lieen hoping to see brought across for some time past. There is no doubt about it. Hesperus is a decided acquisition and his value for the stud cannot well be overestimated. Hesperus, I am informed on the ln-st of authority, is an exceptionally good looking horse, quite outshining his stable mate Star Hawk in this particular and only bad link prevented him from earning brackets on the Knglish turf last year. The colt was troubled with splints, not necessarily a serious ailment, and one that usually responds readily to treatment and, for all anyone knows to the contrary, llespern-. as his breeding suggests, may yet prove his superiority on the race course. Son of a Derby winner, out of an Oaks winner, surely this is good enough to start with. In writing of Star Hawk I have pretty thoroughly gone over the ground for Sunstar. but omitted to mention the fact that he has no Galopin in his makeup and is therefore an obvious mate for mares of Galopin descent, or mares carrying the Galopin strain close up in their pedigrees ami of this strain Hesperus has two crosses. Our Kassie is a half-sister to that good horse Your Majesty, sire of the Kutonia Derby winner. Royal II. . and of Princess Dorrie, winner of the Oaks in his first season at the stud. Our Ijissic is by Ayrshire, which is famous for the racing qualities of his f illes and the excellence of his daughters as producers. Besides Our Kassie. Ayrshire got Airs and Graces Oaks, dam of .lardy. Glare, dam of Flair, ias. dam of Cicero, etc. Ayrshire was by Hampton — Atalanta, by Galopin from Feronia. St. Serfs dam. by Thormanby. Yours, dam of Our Kassie. was by another Derby winner and great broodmare sire. Melton. Violet, grandam of Melton, was a sister to Feronia, grand dam of Ayrshire, both of which trace to Beeswing, dam of Newminster. Meltons sire. Master Kildare. was by Ixird Ronald out of Silk by Plum Pudding, son of Sweetmeat. Yours was out of Your Grace. by Galliard. son of Galopin and Mavis by Macaroni, and then comes Grand Duchess, by Lozenge, son of Sweetmeat, giving us three crosses of this Sweetmeat blood by way of Macaroni. Plum Pudding and Lozenge, to return to the Macaroni in Sunstar. All this Herod blood is well backed up by a double infusion of Thormanby, re-enforced by two crosses of Galopin and, as Galopins dam was Flying Duchess, by Flying Dutchman, Hesperus is supplied in abundance with the best strains of Herod Uss4 to be had. I consider the pedigree of Hesperus as one of the most attractive 1 have analyzed for a long time. Hesperus is a member of the outside family No. 22. St. Friisqiiins family, but no one pays any at- Coutiuuetf on second page. TWO GRANDLY BRED KENTUCKY DERBY CANDIDATES. Continued from first page. tention to the figures nowadays and I have no hesitancy whatever in predicting the future success of Hesperus as a sire. If Mr. Macomber has in view the formation of a stud farm of his own, he may search the world over and not find a horse so admirably adapted for stud use as is Hesperus. It is to be hoped there will be no recurrence of the splint trouble and that the acclimatization process is over and done with. Such being the case, it would not be at all surprising to see Hesjierus eventually turn out to be the best race horse now quartered in Mr. Macombers stable. Here is his pedigree:
