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FROM HUMBLE ESTATE TO GREAT DEEDS Instances of lightly Considered Horses Rescued from Obscurity to Become Famous. As a set-off to the disappointments of the turf generally, some instances may he cited of owners having in their possession animals Avhose subsequent doings, either on the turf or in the stud, far surpassed the most sanguine expectations that could possibly have been formed of them by their owners. I may be permitted to recall one or two cases. There Avas first the mare Echidna, by Economist Miss Pratt. Echidna Avas owned by a Mr. Watts of Jockey Hall, Ciirragh, Ireland, and, having been found useless for racing purposes, AAas offered to a neighboring priest, who required a hack to carry him on his rather extensive parish rounds. The price asked Avas 00, but the reverend gentleman was unwilling to give more than 0. This price Mr. Watts declined, and the following season Echidna was sent to Birdcatclier, Avhich Avas standing in the vicinity. The result of this union Avas The Baron, famous first as a race horse and later on as a sire. He Avas the sire of StockAvell and Rataplan. Wild Dayrell Avas so Aveak and puny for some time as a foal that he Avas unable to follow his dam from the stable to the paddock she AAas turned into during the day and had to be brought down in a wheelbarrow; still he lived to win the Derby, and at the stud he proved himself one of the main pillars of the Herod line. At an auction sale of race horses in England the well-knoAvn trainer Tom Jennings was coaxed into buying, at a paltry figure, a son of Trumpeter named Plutns. Jennings AAon a good race shortly after with Plutns, which was later on taken to France .Uctherc., sired lFlagcolet,..one of ..the. greatest -siras CA-cr bred in" France. PreA-ious to her passing into the possession of Mr. IAnsoii, the owner of Queen Mary could not have held a high opinion of that great marc, as when Mr. lAnson at Icr.sth discovered her it is said he found her doing duty in a set of harrows. And yet from this mare are descended, to mention just a few. Blink Bonny, Blinkhoolie, Blair Athol, Caller Ou, Hampton, Tristan and the Australian Poseidon, as AA-ell as Bobrikoff. In recent years, too, several of the great horses raced Avith such success by the recently deccarcd sportsman Mr. A. W. Cox claim descent from Queen Mary. Deadlock Avas in the hands of an owner content to let her go for 00 to Captain Machell, Avho passed her on to Mr. McCalmont. In due course she foaled for Mr. McCalmont the great Isinglass. UNCERTAINTY OF BREEDING. One rather striking instance of the uncertainty of breeding that I cannot remember ever having seen comment cn is afforded by the daughters of Mermaid, imported to New Zealand years ago. Mermaid AAas by King Tom Waterwitch, and was a representative of one of the famous families owned by the Rothschilds. She produced several daughters to Traducer, Avhich stood head and shoulders above any other sire of his day in Ncaa Zealand. To two other English sires, namely, Ravensvorth by Touchstone, and Albany by Thormanby, she also produced a daughter each. Besides these, Mermaid had a .daughter Waterwitch by Camden, a New South Wales bred son of Calendar and Cassandra. For some reason or other a decided prejudice existed against Camden in NeAV Zealand so much so, indeed, that probably most breeders would have regarded his name as a stain in a pedigree. It AAas undoubtedly Lurline by Traducer that first made Mermaid famous as a brood mare. Her performances, first in New Zealand and afterward in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, proved Lurline to be something out of the ordinary. She was a A-critable queen of the turf, and just the sort of mare any real lover of the thoroughbred Avould have regarded as an ideal mare to found a family of great race horses. On going to the stud Lurline produced in Darebin a son in every way Avorthy of his dam. The rest of .her foals Avere, however, of not much account, the best of the others being the disappointing Prometheus, whose sister, Ringarcoma, produced the Caulfield Cup winner, Lieutenant Bill. This Avas practically the end of Lurline as a family founder. From the sisters to Lurline and from her halt-sisters previously referred to by Ravensworth and Albany more or less Avinners have come, but they have been of mediocre class and not in any Avay calculated to add to the fame achieved for Mermaid by Lurline and Darebin. It has been Waterwitch, by the despised Camden, that has carried this fame on down to the present day. While Mermaids other daughters have all shown a tendency to drop out of the running, at all events as far as the production of Avinners of note may be concerned, Waterwitch has gone ou in a remarkable manner. Generation after generation Avinners of important races haAe descended from her. Those Avinners coming from her, bred and raced by Sir George Clifford, Avould alone make a respectable total. But there have been many others. Mated Avitli Traducer, she produced that good horse Natator a Derby Avinner in New Zealand, and afterward a useful sire, and those two splendid brood marcs. Nautilus and Water-sprite, from Avhich a Avliole host of Avinners have come, and the same remark may apply in a lesser degree to another of her daughters. Cascade, by SIcdmcre. Visits to Albany, Apremont and other sires Avere also followed by more or less success in every instance. It would be interesting to know how many winners have actually descended from her and how many mares there are iu the Stud Book that can equal lier record. "Echo" in Australasian, j
