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GREAT RACE MARES OF THE PAST. Blink Bonny, Crucifix, Achievement, Sceptre, Vir- ; ago, Pretty Polly and Other Stars. The Epsom Derby was established as far back as 17S0; vet. strangely enough, in the long list of equine winners only six fillies have been success- fill. The first to win the blue ribbon of the turf was Eleanor 1S01; then cine Blink Bonny 1S57. followed bv Shotover 1SS2. while the sensational outsider. Signorinetta. won in 190S. Tagalie in 1912 and Fifinella the 1910 winner completes the select list. Not one of the sextette can compare with other famous mares that have been unsuccessful when running in Epsoms chief classic; notably Lady Elliznbeth 1S0S, La Fleche 1S92 and Sceptre 1902. Neither will the above-mentioned heroines go down to posterity as the best of all time. That unique distinction opens, up a topic of much argument when each decade seems to bring forth a famous mare whose admirers at once cliim for her the highest pinnacle of fame and class her as "the miire of the century." In the earlv part of the last century the famous Chifneys stood fast to Fleur de Lis. Then came Crucifix, whom both John Day and John Kent each favored as the best of a very long era. John Porter, the late master of Kingsclere. and George Hodgman. our oldest race course follower, each stand bv Virago. Racing men of the sixties in a large majority swear by Lady Elizabeth. The late II. distance, who was riding in a great age, would hear of no mare to lie the equal of Achievement, while the renowned F. Archer, who rode in no fewer than S.0S4 races he won 2.740 always declared in favor of Wheel of Fortune. There an? many other famous mares one calls to memory that have each a host of admirers, but to include another dozen, each with high claims, they would be Beeswing. Alice Hawthorn. Queen of Trumps. Cobweb, Apology, Hannah. Marie Stuart. Formosa. La Kleche. Sceptre and Pretty Polly, not forgetting the famous French-bred Fille de lAir. Eleanor won both the Derbv and Oaks in 1801, a double which Blink Bonny 1857, Signorinetta 190S and Fifinella 1910 afterwards completed. Shotover did not run in the Oaks, but she had previously won the Two Thousand Guineas in a canter, but failed in the St. Leger to Dutch Oven and Geheinmiss. That, year the fillies won the five classic races, the only occasion on record. Fleur de Lis won two Goodwood Cups in the royal liverv. on the first occasion for King George IV. and the following year. 1S30. for King William IV. She was a remarkable mare over a distance, anil won twenty other races. At the stud Fleur de Lis produced Sovereign, which, when imported to America, sired Prioress the mare which won a sensational Cesarewitch after a dead heat between three in 1S57. Then, after a lapse, came the wonderful Crucifix in 1839. During that, year she won nine races, including the July Stakes, Chesterfield Stakes and Criterion Stakes, which brought her owner. Lord George Bentiuck. 2,835 in stakes a poor comparison to the 1916.sh7,480 which Pretty Polly won in the same number of races during 1903. As a three-year-old Crucifix started but three times, winning the One Thousand Guineas, Two Thousand Guineas and Epsom Oaks. In the latter race the horses were delayed an hour at the post through no fewer than sixteen false starts. "She can afford to flirt with the best of them for half a day," her owner remarked as she eventually got left fully fifty yards, a distance she could have given four times, so supreme was her superiority over her rivals on that day. On the Oaks her owner won 00,000. and about three times that amount during her brief racing career. At the stud Crucifix gained further celebrity through her son. Surplice, the Derby and St. Leger winner of 1810. The famous Virago came on the turf as a meteor in 1854, after having run uiiilaced in a selling race as a two-year-old. As a three-year-old Virago won both the City and Suburban and Great Metropolitan Stakes on the same afternoon; then the Great Northern Handicap, Flying Dutchmans Handicap. Nassau Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks and Doncaster Cup; not a bad sequence for a filly that originally cost but ,500. The Virago boom had hardly died out when the marvelous Achievement made her debut on the turf in 1800. As a two-year-old Achievement carried off in quick succession the Woodeote Stakes, New Stakes. July Stakes. Chesterfield Stakes, Champagne Stakes and Criterion Stakes, after having suffered defeat but twice. In the Clearwell Stakes she succumbed to Plaudit, then The Rake lowered her colors in the first Middle Park Plate. After winning the One Thousand Guineas the following season she was beaten by Hippia in the Oaks, but, regaining her form, she won the Great Yorkshire Stakes. St. Leger and Doncaster Cup; in the two latter races she defeated the sensational Derby winner. Hermit. Strangely another wonderful two-year-old was defeated in the second Middle Park Plate, namely, the flying Lady Elizabeth, which won eleven races during 1S07. She was. perhaps, the best two-year-old that ever carried silk. It was in the race just mentioned that she showed how harshly she had been worked. Her downfall was a bitter blow to her owner, the Marquis of Hastings, who lost 50,000 over the race, although but half the amount he had earlier in that fatal year lost on Hermits Derby. As a three-year-old Lady Elizabeth, which was all but a cripple, started at a ridiculously false price in Blue Gowns Derby. About that decade the fillies in some years were exceptionally smart. It was in 1808 that Formosa, which ran a dead heat with Moslem for the Two Thousand Guineas, carried off the fillies "triple crown" by winning the One Thousand Guineas, the Oaks and St. Leger. a "treble" that has since been won by Hannah 1871, Apology 1874. La Fleche 1S92. Sceptre 1902. and Pretty Polly 1904. It was in 1S78 that Lord Falmouths Wheel of Fortune won the Dewhnrst Plate, having run through all her two-year-old engagements without once suffering defeat. As a three-year-old she won the One Thousand Guineas, the Epsom Oaks and Prince of Wales Stakes, Ascot; then unfortunately broke down at York, which prevented her from running in the St. Leger. Although not a winner of the "classics," Beeswing, which won the Champagne Stakes in 1835. was a marvelous mare. During eight seasons on the turf she won four Doneister Cups and six Newcastle Cups then an equally important race. In fact, she started in sixty-three races, winning no fewer than fifty-three. Then she added to her fame by producing Newminster, Nunnykirk and Honeysuckle. Another famous mare about that time was Alice Hawthorn. She ran in sixty-eight races during seven seasons, winning fifty and a dead heat. At the stud she bseame famous through her sons. Thormanbv and Oulston. The former, it will be recalled, ivon the Derby for James Merry In 1SC0, who won over 00,000 in bets alone. It Is worth i mentioning that the dam of old Beeswing cost but 05, while Alice Hawthorn came from a mare i which never had a bridle on.
