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BELMONTS SOUND IDEAS c Master of Nursery Stud Favors Fair Play Rock Sand Blend. How and Why Man o War Was Sold Champions Weanling ! Brother Named My Play. I i . . When one thoroughbred stud furnishes the chain- pion two-year-old of the year, a top-notch three- year-old, and tlie best handicap performer of tlie , neasnn. the attention of the racing world is chal- ; a longed, and there is a general desire on the part , f tlie public to learn something of the -judgment j which brought about such results. It was no hit-and-miss plan of mating which gave to the turf , Man o War. Mad Hatter and Lucullite. Let Major : August Belmont tell the story: ! "I wanted Rock Sand, the sire of the dam of Man o War, for the Nursery Stud, and William ; Huston, who had charge of the American Tatter- . sails, was commissioned to buy him for me, which , lie did at a cost of 25,000. I was also eager to own a good daughter of Oram, which I wanted to breed to Melton, in the hope that I would get a , ttysonby, that horse being by Melton, dam a mare by Orme. Topiary was the selection, and she had a foal at foot by Rushey Park. She was also booked to u fashionable sire of the day, but I sold the service and bred her to Melton. A filly was the result, but it died. When bred to Hock Sand she threw in successive years Trap Itnck and Tracery, the former the sire of Lucullite and others, and the other one of the greatest horses the English turf lias known, and whose book has been full for several seasons past. "I have long h:td my own ideas," resumed tlie c-hairman of the Jockey Club, "about untried mares in the stud. Many great race horses bred at Nursery have been produced on this plan. Man o War and Lucullite are two of the latest out of such dams. Mahubah and Lucky Lass were deficient in constitution to commence with, but they had the speed and the blood, and in time they developed that constitution which every race horse must possess, and they passed it on to their offspring. Musda, the first foal of Mahubah, was a nervous filly. Man o War is an exceedingly rugged type, and their weanling brother which I saw at the Nursery recently is a stout rugged fellow, but at the same time iossessing a wealth of quality, lie is the pick of my flock of tweny-four youngsters, fourteen colts and ten fillies, and I cannot find a flaw in his makeup. I have named him My Play. His brothers and sister arc in other hands, but this one will le My Play in the great sport of which we are all so fond. WHY AND HOW MAN 0 WAS WAS SOLD. "Do vou know the history of Man o War?" queried the Major. "1 was so in love with the colt that I could not bear to part with him in 191S, when I entered the service and resolved to offer ray yearlings at auction. I had planned to keep him out. but a few days before the sale at Saratoga, fearing that mv action would not be understood, lie was sent along with the rest. He brought only ,000, us against almost thrice that amount for home of the others, and I marveled at the time that he had sold so low. . "When it came to selling last years crop of weanlings I determined to sell the get of each of mv horses separately, and Mr. Hancock got the Fair "Plavs. among them the brother to Man o War. which, like My Play, is a bay m color. I mil eager to see how he will turn out. Mahubah Is still a young mare, and she is safe in foal again to Fair Play. . "Had Lucullite, which is out of the untried Or-mondale dam Lucky Lass, not boon kicked at the liost at Saratoga in his two-year-old form, we think he would have won the Hopeful and Futurity Stakes of 1917 A sister to this horse called Lucky Catch lias a sutierb bay colt by Hourless, and Mission, by Rock Sand, has a colt by the same horse, which, by the way. has developed greatly since going to the stud. The dam of Hourless recently arrived from France with a yearling and weanling brother to him. the former much like his distinguished rCThPesoundness of Major Belmonts judgment in crossing Fair Plav on Rock Sand dams will not have to rest on the activities of My Play, as there are three other smashing colts in this seasons crop or weanlings at the Nursery. They are the chestnut Chutterton. dam Chit Chat, whose dam was Chin-knra, by Gallopln; the bay Honorable, dam Haute Roche, n half-sister to Hourless, and the brown Draft, dam Dragnet, the dam of Drastic and Duchess Lace. . . , . , , , In commenting on the racing season which closed recently on the New York courses. Major Belmont lind the following to say: "It has been a remarkable vear for tin; fcport, and the public lias shown its lovaltv to the horse in no uncertain fas.non. The prices paid at various sales should encourage breeders to produce the best. I am glad to see so manv additions to the ranks of owners and breeders. It will all help the cause of horse breeding. When asked when his own colors would Ik seen again, the chairman of the Jockey Iub remarked after a pause: "I am too fond of racing to remain nwav from tht; sport long." And when the opinion was ventured that My Play in his two-year-old form would sport the famous Belmont silks theie was no denial forthcoming. There is an abundance of splendid racing material to keep them in the van in the Blue Crass pastures of the Nnrserj Stud under the watchful eye of Mrs. Edward Kane who succeeded her husband as superintendent of that great breeding establishment.
