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PREMIER THREE- YEAR- OLDS OF YEAR I SIR BARTON PICKED BY AN EXPERT AS TEE CHAM- PURCHASE IDEAL TYPE OF THE THOROUGHBRED ONE I PION OF HIS AGE-- HIS RACING AND OF THE BEST LOOKING HORSES ON THE I BLOOD LINES DISCUSSED AMERICAN TURF TODAY I B y EXILE I Here we are in tlie autumn days of the year, and the question of three-year-old supremacy not yet definitely decided. Always an advocate of a Saratoga St. Leger, I presume to think a Saratoga St. Leger will some day be a racing feature. Sir Barton, Purchase, Over There, Eternal, Vexatious to which of them shall be awarded the laurels? My personal preference is for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner, Sir Barton. In all the history of the Kentucky race there are only two which have won the Kentucky Derby and gone right on through their three-year-old form, meeting and defeating the best to be sent against them, and these Hindoo and Omar Khayyam. Sir Barton, however, now bids fair to emulate the feats of either. Wisely and judiciously it was considered expedient to rest the son of Star Shoot at Saratoga, and the invigorating climate of that northern health resort has apparently restored the horse to all his former vigor, as witness his recent successes in the Potomac 19 j Sterling 12 J f?r1 J2 E . 1 Whisper 12 E Day. 1S7- wo j Jsola BeHa j gtockn 3,jj flsonomy Isoline 19. E Wenlock 4 J Lord Clifden 2 E Dead Lock J Mineral 4 E g ; j Malpractice j Chevalier dIndustrie. . 2 E 2 J j Dutchmans Daughter. U H I I f Hermit 5 J Minster .... 8 .".T"."" I g Astrology . .. I chestnut. 18C4 Beclusion 4 iSS?aKi-V;": "" g o chestnut. 1SS7 s strafford g J Young Melbourne 25 M o Btella J Daughter of Gameboy. 8 M O 1 1 Gilberts dam ... j Toxophilite 3 E H -g J. Maid of Masham .... 0 E 5 s . , 24 , Virgil 20 j Vandal 12 H M f n!nao0 1 Uymenia 20 E M Hanover ...15 bay, 1878 Florence j Lexington 12 H S S I chestnut, 1884 1 . . I Weather witch 21 E 5 , - Bonnie Scot- j lago : 11 E g Bourbon Belle ... J ianU 10 Queen Mary 10 H - Ella D j Vandal 12 II o A I Falcon 15 H w -5 .,.,,!. to I Oxford 12 J . Birdcatcher 11 E y, S r Sterling 1- j Honey 12 E ? " bay Whisper J Flatcatcher 3 E n -a auil-i 9 ui -j . sileneo 12 M chestnut. 1S91 Phenix 25 J Cymbal 17 E t Eagle J Belle Etoile 25 E j Au Revoir j See Saw C H I Dauh of Yng Melbourne M Imported. Unbelievers as you are, is the worth of the blending of the blood plan of mating ever to be appreciated and better understood? Here is the best of our 1919 three-year-olds bred Eclipse to Herod, infusions of Matchem brought in by way of Young Melbourne, twice, Brother to Strafford, sire of Stella, grandam of Star Shoot, and the unnamed dam of Au Revoir. The blood of Melbourne, too, comes in through Lord Clifdens dam, The Slave, Silence,- grandam of Sterling, twice, and Brocket, sire of Margery Daw, See Saws dam. Star Shoot, four times already the leading American sire and which appeared for a time to hold a safe lead for the sire premiership this year. In his two-year-old days Star Shoot was quite in the front rank in his Lome land, winning the British Dominion Two-Year-Old Race. Hurst Park Foal Plate and dead-heated with Ian for the 5,000 pounds sterling Natonal Breeders Produce Stakes. His wind gone, Star Shoot could never as a three-year-old reproduce the form of his first season on the turf, and now, though of voting age and sightless, still holds on .at Hamburg Place. Strange, too, is it not, that Star Shoot, as a sire, should have sent forth his best, Sir Barton, in the sunset of his career as a sire?. Isinglass, Star Shoots sire, was only once defeated, and this by Raeburn in the running of the Lancashire Plate. An idle, lethargic horse was Isinglass. He would make a race of it with a donkey. I saw the horse at Cheveley Park in 1904 and was much struck with his equable temperament. Isinglass is a son of the greatest cup horse of them all, Isonomy, and a descendant of Bird-catcher via Oxford and Sterling. Astrology, dam of. Star Shoot, is a chestnut daughter of the Derby winner Hermit, a great brood mare sire indeed and one whose color controlling ability is nothing short of remarkable. Any time the name of Hermit appears in a pedigree look out for the chestnut coloring. Star Shoot is a member of the Maid of Masham branch of the No. 9 family, as is Sir Barton himself. Here another point in favor of the blending of the blood plan "of mating. Young Melbourne and his sons practically made the Maid of Masham family. Whether by accident or design it is hard to determine, but tabulate as I have, all of the various families, including the Maid of Masham, and you must come to see the and Maryland Handicaps. Bear in mind. Sir Barton was not raced to excess in his Juvenile days; in fact, it was as a maiden be faced the starter in the Kentucky Derby. Only this summer was the question put, "In your opinion are not the heavy weights carried by penalized two-year-olds responsible for their all too frequent retrogression the following season?" My answer: I prefer to think not, the reason of the failure of so many of our nowadays three-year-olds to reproduce their juvenile form is excessive racing, not poundage. The constant grind without let-up or relaxation is the cause of their three-year-old failure. Sir Barton was not raced to exces9 as a youngster. Take .the other side of the question, the pecuniary side. Which is now the most valuable, the judiciously raced Derby winner or those which were raced to excess in their two-year-old days? Some day a halt will be called on this excess of two years old racing. How long, O Lord, how long. Here is the pedigree of my champion three-year-old: remarkable success that follows the introduction of the Matchem strain. Lady Sterling, Sir Bartons dam, could race to some purpose herself, and though now in the sere and yellow lives on at Hamburg Place and is also the dam of the Flatbush and Epsom Coronation Cup winner. Sir Martin, and is a daughter of the best brood mare sire there ever was in tills country, Hanover, which is pounding away right near to the toil of the winning brood mare sire list, the youngest of his daughters now twenty years of age. Dont tell me breeding race horses is a mere matter of chance. Horses of the Glcncoe line, of which Hanover is a most illustrious member, ever have been noted for their success as brood mare sires. And why? Because of .their Herod descent and therefore a direct outcross for both Eclipse and Matchem. Hanovers dam. Bourbon Belle, a daughter of Bonnie Scotland, which was by lago, out of Blink Bonnys dam, Queen Mary, and by the Herod horse Gladiator. Ella D., grandam of Hanover, was by Glencoes best son, Vandal. This is all good brood mare blood and Hanovers success as a brood mare sire was antieinated. Aquila, grandam of Sir Barton, is by Isonomys sire, Sterling, and her dam, Eagle, by Phenix, son of Nuncio, by Plenipotentiary, and so runs the pedigree to Au Revoir by the Herod horse See Saw to an unnamed daughter of Young Melbourne, which was out of Maid of Masham herself. Looks! Isnt he a grand looker? Such the oft repeated salesring remark. I often wonder what price Sir Barton would have brought had be been offered as a yearling. Just a good, hardy, wear-and-tear colt, sound and strong. His trainer tells me he requires more work than most, as is the habit of these good ones, and here he is again brand new after a few weeks spent in recuperation at the Spa. Do I think Sir Barton is billed for success in days to come as a sire? Of course I do. Nay, I am certain of it. He is just the make and shape to achieve success in tills particular. These wavy neck fellows are all well in their way for show ring purposes and the like, but as a rule no good as progenitors. The blood is there, too, in Sir Barton. Of Isonomy descent in the male line, dam a daughter of Hanover, and besides there are strains of Hermit, Wenlock, Rataplan, bis brother, Stockwell, and Toxophilite, sire of the stout-hearted Musket, and Quiver, dam of La Fleche, to add strength to the pedigree. There is . no such thing as failure for Sir Barton as a sire. On the morning of Cup day at Saratoga I was asked to pick a hoi? in the conformation of Purchase. My reply was, "He does not quite carry a stiff enough tail for me. Some day they will ask him a question he will be unable to answer. Sure enough they did that afternoon, and Exterminator was his examiner. For all this Purchase is one of the best looking, best proportioned horses I have ever looked upqn. Full sixteen hands, a golden chestnut, a diamond star in his forehead, near hind fetlock white; the best hind leg you ever saw, balanced to perfection, of symmetry superb and nigh unto as good as he looks. Purchase is what in racing parlance is known as a bad post actor. One would never suspect it from his paddock behavoir, but when lined up at the gate the handsome chestnut acts sour and surly. However, . once the field is under way the racing manners of Purchase, from an onlookers viewpoint, are perfect. True enough the horse takes hold a bit, but is none of your tearaway, lunging sort and is easily rated and placed to make his run when called on. As a two-year-old Purchase won three races and in all started but ten times and Is yet another not raced off his feet in his first season on the tnrf. This year the son of Ormon-dale has taken his part in ten actual contests. On his last appearance in public none had the temerity to oppose him. Only twice this season has the horse been beaten. First by Eternal for the Brooklyn Handicap and afterward Exterminator proved too good for him in the running of the Saratoga Cup. Either Eternal must have been an awful horse on Brooklyn Handicap day or Purchase found something not altogether to hia liking. I myself witnessed his defeat in the Cup and am rather inclined to attribute his defeat to inability to maintain his speed over so far a distance as one and three-quarters miles. When racing, however, over his own course, one mile and one-quarter, the style of his running is magnificent. Rating along well in the Saratoga Handicap, the big chestnut did not really put forth hl3 best efforts for more than one hundred yards, swinging past Fairy Wand and War Cloud then not at his best in splendid style, coming on to win handsomely in the style of a real good one. This much all of us know. Purchase, up to one and one-quarter miles, if? a smasher, and his lack of stamina, despite ills defeat by Exterminator, suspected but not proved. Doncaster 5 Stcekw.ll .... ... . . . . . 3 E -f "end Or 1 J j Ormonde ..10 J cllest"ut- 1877 Rouge Rose ...... J Thormanby 4 H f I. Ellen Home 1 E bay. 10C 1883 Sweetmeat 21 II m Macaroni 14 J 0 I Lily Agnes J Jocose 14 H f ";i"J j Polly Agnes j The Cure O E 1 . Miss Agues 10 E I St. Simon 11 j Galopin 3 E s ,fit anderl gferf 8 Bt" f J Flying Duchess 3 II Santa Bella 3 j br0WU 18S7 I Feronia J 10rm3nly t S ?o L 1 Woodbine 8 E j iijy. 1Ho lOJJ , Beau Brummel..l7 J George Frederick 13 B S ,. . , I Maiden Belle ... J j Ma Belle 17 E I Maidenhair j Broomielaw 10 E j 1 Fern 3 M. W -K . .. . , , , Muncaster 10 j Doncaster 5 B 14 . g 2 f Saraband Windermere 1C H 5 o . , Tanzmcister 4 chestnut, 18S3 j Highland Fling ... j Scottish Chief 12 E P4 Pn ,i,av isgft A 1 Masquerade 14 E 2g Macgregor 4 j Macaroni 14 H I Mizpah J Necklace 4 II I -f r j Daughter of J tTnderhand 43 E S "j I The Slayers Daughter. 4 H 5 . . - . , Billet 2 J Voltigeur 2 E n,Tn 4 K 1 Dixon 4 2 S- f Sir f Calcutta 2 E O -5 Last- Cherry. 37 Bay, 1885 J jaC0net J Leamington ...14 E chestnut. j Maggie B. B 4 M 1903 1 Powhattan 4 J Leamington 14 E I Cherry Blossom . . J - Maiden i. 4 II j Atalanta J Asteroid C H Target 37 E Imported. Ormcndale, sire of Purchase, himself a Futurity winner, is a really well-bred horse, by Ormonde. The success of-horses of the. Bend Or line as sires in this country is as remarkable as is the success of the St. Simon Bend Or union, which before this has resulted in the production of Sceptre. Zin-fandel, Pommern and many ethers. Santa Bella, Ormondales dam, is by the St. Simon horse St. Serf, whose danu Feronia. Is a daughter of the great brood mare sire Thormanby, and this the immediate family of Omar Khayyams sire, Marco, and of the Russian Derby winner Irish Lad. Chcrryola, herself a more, than fair performer on the race course, is by Tanzmeister, winner of two Ascot Biennials, Michaelmas Stakes and Machell Stakes at Goodwood, and is by that fast horse Saraband- Mizpah, ancestress of Man o War, by Macaronis son Macgregor, Hanover and Macaroni, the greatest brood mare strains. in all the world. Last Cherry, grandam of Purchase, is by that good brood mare sire Sir Dixon Cherry Blossom, by Powhattan, son of Leamington Maiden, by Lexington; next in line comes Atalanta, by Asteroid, a bay son of Lexington Nebula, by Glencoe, which was foaled as far back as 1801. So runs the pedigree to imported Target, by Rifleman, son of Touchstone Campfollower, by The Colonel. Target was the first produce of Melrose, by Melbourne, coming to .this country. Melrose also bred Eliza Davis, by Knight of St. George, and Eliza Davis is 1 the grandam of Eon, Eole and St. Saviour, and this the extreme outside No. 37 family, a family now obsolete in England. Outside of Eon and his brothers I am unable to now recall any famous horses, bar Little Red Rover and Dr. Syntax, whicli are members of the No. 37 family. Little Red Rovers fame lies in the fact that his unnamed daughter produced Buccaneer, but Dr. Syntax is ever to be remembered as the sire of that great cup mare Beeswing, dam of Newminster. Some day Purchase will be retiree to, the stud and so handsome a horse, whose record is so good, will, in the natural course of things, receive liberal patronage as a sire, with what result I am unable even to guess. Tho No. 37 family must not be condemned because in recent years no really great sire has come from this line. Numerically it has ever been a small one. In Volume 10 of the English General Stud Book only eight mares are to be found which trace to the Makeless mare and none at all in Volume 18. It will, therefore, be the more interesting to note what success attends the career of Purchase as a sire.
