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LA FLECKE AS A. BROODMARE. Among the notices of the death of La Fleclie there of course appears the statement that she was a failure at the stud. People have heard this so often that they have conn; to believe it. and I suppose it will be repeated as long as interest in bloodstock breeding remains, but. it is untrue all the same. It may be said correctly enough that La Floche had an unlucky stud career, inasmuch as her best stock wen; prevented from doing themselves justice, .but no one c:In pretend that John oGaunt and Baroness La Floche were not in the highest class; indeed. Rock Sand was lucky to beat the filly by a head at Ascot, when Martin, who rode her. took the blame of her defeat on himself and declared that Rock Sand would never beat her again. The vicissitudes of John oGaunt form a familiar story, and he was really the best colt of his year, but cursed with the most villainous bad luck. There were several other winners out of Ii Floche, and her daughter. Sagitta has proved to be a good broodmare. Opinions differ as to which was really the best daughter of St. Simon. Some good judges swear by Siguorina. and I have heard the late John AVatts declare his belief in Memoir as having been superior to her sister, La Fleche. This may possibly have leen so, but on the principle of judgment by results we are, I think, bound to give the award to La Fleche. which won a Cambridgeshire and an Ascot Cup, besides her classic races. That she was a very great mare Is certain, but at the same time she was not quite so good as her stable companion, Orme, as was proved to demonstration twice over when they were four-year-olds. Nevertheless, wide m Fleche has been placed on a pinnacle of fame by turf enthusiasts, they have never given Orme his due, though they all rose at him when he struggled home, for his first Eclipse Stakes. It was Memoir and La Fleche that first gave the idea of combining St. Simon or Cnlopiu blood ami Musket, and the Duke of Portland was no doubt acting on that idea when he purchased Carbine to mate with the AAclbeel: marcs. Carbine, however, scored his greatest successes with mares devoid of St. Simon or Galopin. AVallaee, AVargrave and Spearmint are cases in point. lie sired a good horse, however, Carbine, from a St. Simon mare, and the reverse cross of St. Simon on Musket has again and again "made good" sin-0 the time when Bill of Portland went to Australia, to be followed by other Galopin and St. Simon horses, notably Grafton, which was himself out of a half-sister to La Fleche. The St. Simon horses, Positano and Simmer, did excellently well with this system of mating: so. too, did llaut Briou, but as yet the cross of Musket on St. Simon or Galopin lias not been sufficiently tried to let us judge of its full effect. Probably Spearmint and Torpoint will before long give us something really worthy of this blood and combined character. La Fleches son, John o Gaunt, has done enough for fame if Swyn-ford should be his only great son. and it is evident that Swynfonl himself will do. great things as a stallion: s; not improbably may Bowman whose dam. Sagitta. is a sister to John o Gaunt, and whose sire. Chaucer, is half-brother to Swynfonl. The lame of the old mare is, therefore, not likely to die out. especially as there is another line of her through Baroness la Fleche to maintain the family. These have not as yet done quite as well as might have been hoped, but there is time enough yet. It was after slipping twins to, I think. Ladas, seven or eight years ago that La Fleche went wrong, and did not breed again, but she had up to that time been a much better broodmare than her sister, Memoir, which was a shy breeder, instead. AVhat a beautiful yearling Li Fleche was. 1 remember her well at the old Hampton Court Stud, and I then wrote about her that if anybody could buy her privately for 4, 0011 guineas and take his chance of a profit at the sale he would find it profitable business. So he would have done, for she made 5,00! guineas and would have made more had not a cable from the late Mr. Marcus Daly to buy her arrived too late. Two years before that Memoir and Sainfoin had been sold as yearlings at the same stud, which never had more than about eighty acres of land, and was crowded with bloodstock year in and year out. Yet I think no stud has ever reared a Derby and Oaks winner for sale on the same day. Nor was La Fleche the last of the Mohicans, for the year following her they sold Best Man and also Sierra, the dam of Suiidridge. It is a great pity that this stud was then dispersed, when at the very zenith of its prosperity, but its extraordinary success should always prevent US from dogmatising too freely about horse-sick pastures. limestone land and so forth. "Tin; Special Commissioner" in London Sportsman.
