view raw text
SOME REFLECTIONS REGARDING ORBY Vitalizing Influence of His Glencoe Blood Lines in PresentDay English Breeding I shall always think Orby was an extraordinarily good Derby winner and I have seldom seen a horse witli so much length and strength from hip to hock But the fact remains that under the present reg ¬ ulations he has no right to be in the General Stud Book Sir Martin is excluded for no other reason than that his dam was by Hanover a horse in faycr of which I have always asked the jurists including Lord Jersey to make an exception But Orbys dam had other American native blood in her so that her sires merit was by no means sufficient propitia ¬ tion for unknown ancestors in another line Any ¬ how Orby was a great horse though he was lucky to beat Slieve Gallion Could the latter have been ridden by a jockey say Maher who could have got him down to his bit instead of stargazing it would not have been Orby that would have won the Derby But perhaps the task was an impossi ¬ ble one and Orby certainly deserved extraordinary credit for winning at all under such abnormal dis ¬ advantages of training and traveling It was not to be expected that a horse with his backbreeding would get stayers and I suppose Diadiimenos is his best effort in that line but speed he was certainly able to transmit in full measure as Diadem and others have proved It is stated that he was in ¬ sured and this is correct 35000 as I understand having been underwritten at Lloyds but the total value is given at 150000 and may therefore be covered by insurance companies or other under ¬ writers if so the loss to Mr Croker excent in point of sentiment is not serious as 150000 for Orby in these days would be good value The rate of premium I am told was seven per cent On the other hand it is to be remembered that the horse died when the season was not one third finished and therefore the loss on that account alone may prove considerable considerableHIS HIS GLENCOE BLOOD BLOODI I am thankful that tho Hanover blood through Orby and one or two other channels is fixed in the Stud Book though later introductions of it are re fusfd Hanover was one of the most beautiful horses I ever saw and he was ideally bred to re ¬ vitalize certain great lines in England being a tail male descendant of Glencoes best son Vandal and closely inbred to him Moreover Hanovers dam was by Itonnie Scotland a son of Queen Mary which attained immense success as a sire in Amer ¬ ica through Bramble Ben Brush and others but so far as breeding in England goes represents a free line of Queen Mary It is to be noted too that Bonnie Scotland was a lirstclass performer in this country where he deadheated for second place in the St Lcger of 1855 and won the Doucaster Stakes from Manganese The double line of Glencoe in Hanover bringing in as it does the free line of Queen Mary Gladiator through Bonnie Scotland was almost certain to nick with the abundant Poea hontas and Queen Mary blood in England and this has in fact happened in the brief but brilliant stud career of Orby whose own merit was probably due in a great degree to close combinations of live Glencoe lines through Pocahoutas three times and Vandal twice also many other close lines of Herod through Thormanby Macaroni The Flying Dutch ¬ man Ion Pantaloon etc I only mention those in a pedigree of five removes Is it not tolerably cer ¬ tain that Orby thus bred and being what he was in consequence of being so bred was bound to makd a successful stallion where stock has been so madly inbred to Whalebone and Blacklock for so mam years Horse breeding is a slow job and needs ah infinity of i atience but ever since I saw him in 1887 1 have stood firm for Hanover and I much wish we had more Hanover blood in the General Stud Book W Allison in London Sportsman
