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TRIBUTE TO AMERICAN THOROUGHBRED $ J. E. Maddens Interesting and Timely Praise for So-Called American Thoroughbred. John E. Madden has recently issued an elaborate catalog containing the tabulated pedigrees in full of horses foaled in England, France and America, now at Hamburg Place and lie lias prefaced his book by the following interesting and timely tribute to the American Thoroughbred: In the present period of numerous importations of English thoroughbreds, the terms "English thoroughbred" and "American thoroughbred" are frequently employed more or less as though they represented two distinct breeds of horse. Is it not a fact, however, that the American runner of today is the exponent of practically exclusive English blood lines?. When the American Stud Book was first launched, owing to the absence of definite records pertaining to the Revolutionary period and several preceding and succeeding decades, the lines in the pedigrees of certain American horses could not be authentically traced to their English sources, but their race course and paddock achievements leave no room to doubt the purity and excellence of the strains that dominated our early turf and which hold their own today, thereby establishing, beyond doubt, the purity of their ancestry. Beginnin; more than a century ago, Americans of wealth and discretion were purchasing the best-class of English thoroughbreds and it is "uite possible that the importations of those earlier days averaged considerably higher in class than has liecn the case with our imiKirtations of more recent years. England has seen fit to exclude certain of our strains from its Stud Book on the plea of impurity of blood, but this charge has been refuted by race track performances on both sides of the Atlantic. The race course is the true test and, by that test, our breeders have no reason to apologize for strains which have in recent years come to be known as "American." SIRE OF POCAHONTAS AMERICAN. The paddocks of America harbor some of the greatest and most valuable English blood. The English will, never tire of sounding the praise of Pocahontas, which they well term the "immortal," and yet her sire, Glencoe, was to all intents and purposes an American citizen. Glencoe camo to this country when ho was only five years old and it is doubtful if, including Pocahontas, lie left more than a half dozen broodmares in England as the" result of his initial stud season of 1830 there. As we all know, in America, he begot a veritable army of performers, sires and producers, and his blood remains potent. The English have Glencoe blood through Pocahontas only America has it in abundance. The value of Herod blood is hardly appreciated in this country. In England, however, shrewd breeders are beginning to realize that they need it. When The Tetrarch pursued his undefeated career, a few years ago, the English lauded his Herod blood as if he were saving that line to the English breeder. Today, America has a generous supply of the best Herod blood in the world through our various lines from Glencoe. What the English crave, we have in abundance. We can rescue their "lost line of Herod" and our broodmares can give their stallions the benefit of that potent and strengthening of Herod through our Glencoe descendants. Orme has sired two Derby winners in all his stud career one of them was from probably, the only American mare to which he had access and this mare was by a Glencoe-line sire. Despite the large number of English mares covered by Orme, their aggregate efforts resulted in the production of only one Derby winner, while a single American mare equaled their success in that respect. I mention this to show "what might have happened if more such mares as Richard Crokers Rhoda B. had gone to England for their stud life. HOW ENGLISH STALLIONS BENEFITED. The late John A. Morris sent a small group of American mares to England, for brief stud careers and these mares lost no time in furnishing the scarlet banner with The Friar and Bowling Brook. There is no telling what great results might have followed had the English breeders come to America and exported good American mares, for everything indicates that our American broodmare strains greatly assist the English-bred stallions. Many an English stallion which has succeeded in America would, in all probability, have failed in England. Such sires as Meddler, Rock Sand, Watercress, Star Shoot, etc., would have succeeded in either clime, for they were among Englands best. It must be remembered, however, that few really first-class English horses have been brought to this country. Ninety-five per cent of the importations were from the least desirable ranks and those which have succeeded in the stud have had the excellence and suitability of the American mares to thank rather than themselves. The famous Leamington, whose dam was by a Herod-line horse, found our Herod heritage, through Diomed, a great advantage in his mates. Another feature that has operated tremendously in favor of the American runner, both on the race course and in the paddock, is our climate. While certain portions of our land may be subject to protracted winter conditions, which render it hazar dous to undertake the rearing of good race horses systematically, the recognized horse-breeding sections possess conditions of climate, soil and water, which compare favorably with England. Our ability to rear race horses which, despite the disadvantages of exportation, can win the greatest events abroad, is well "demonstrated by the English and French Racing Calendars, while the American successes of imported stallions are more attributable to the superiority of the American man. than most thoroughbred devotees realize or appreciate. Many an American turfman has marveled at the stud success of a mediocre foreign stallion the American broodmare is the answer.
