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THOROUGHBRED FOUNDATION IN CUBA Owner Bowman Gives Service of Top Hat a Free Gift to the Cuban Breeders HAVANA Cuba April 0 Horse breeding in Cuba will be stimulated greately through the generosity of Mr John McE Bowman noted hotel man whose activities in connection witli the Blltmoru and other hostelries in the Inited States made his name well known here in Cuba long before lie purchased the Hotel Savllla and gave the tourist and local popula ¬ tion a home in keeping witli tin tastes of the pres ¬ ent day Mr Bowmans iid to the breeding in ¬ dustry comes in the gift of the services of the thoroughbred sire Top Hat a halfbrother to Tra ¬ cery recently sold by Mr August llclmont of New York to the Argentina sportsman S J Luzue for 2 3oo On his first visit to this is 1 Mr Bowman Bowmanwas was struck witli the appearance and quality of tin native or Criolhi horses which showed Andalitsian ancestry in Ihcir fine head and neck these having the characteristics of the Barb or Arabian in tin most uniform degree The tapering wellplaced ears luminous eyes delicate muzzle and fine face all bespoke qualities which generations of close inbreeding had failed to eradicate Nearly all were deficient back of the saddle however and Mr Bowman who is an acknowledged authority on the saddle type having been asked to serve as a judge at the coming International Horse Show In London determined to offer a thoroughbred sire to the re ¬ public in or er that a permanent foundation might be laid for the improvement of the horse breeding industry IU found that those in authority were eager to follow his suggestions and Ji s choice of a stallion fell on Top Hat a superb son of Hastings and the renowned English mare Topiary by Urine which be secured from Major Belmont chairman of The Jockey Club who had bred him at the Nursery Stud in Kentucky Mr Bowman was at ¬ tracted by the bone and substance of Top Hat quite as much as by his breeding and the fact that two of his halfbrothers had already achieved dis tinctiim on the race course and in the stud was an additional incentive incentiveTopiary Topiary cost Mr liclmont 1SCOO as a fouryear old and he was moved to purchase her because of the exquisite lines of blood in her pedigree She was by Orme a splendid son of Ormonde known as the horse of the century while her dam was tin famous French mare Ilaisanterie which had immortalized herself by winning the Cambridgeshire as a three year old witli 125 pounds up After producing foals to Bnshey Park and Melton Topiary was brought to Kentucky and threw in quick suc ¬ cession Trap Rock Tracery and Top Hat HatThetwo Thetwo former were by the Epscin Derby winner Rock Sand which cost Major August Belmont J123 000 while Top Hat was by Hastings sire of Fair Ilay which in turn has given the turf the reign ¬ ing sensation of IJlii Man o AVar AVarTRAP TRAP ROCK SUCCESSFUL SIRE SIRETrap Trap Rock performed well on the turf and then proved a successful sire among his children iRing Lucullite He is in the stud in Virginia and is regarded so highly by Messrs Ross and Walker that they recently refused to put a price on him Tracery was sent to Kngland a a yearling In the fiopo Kiat he would repeat the successes of his dis ¬ tinguished sire but while he failed to win the Derby he was generally conceded to be a hotter horse than Rock Sand and heat every good horse of his day winning the Dimcaster St Leger and other great races He was far in front in the field which included Prince Palatine in the race for the Ascot Gold Cup in 1SI1S when a fanatic opi opioscd oscd to racing leaped upon the course and seiz ¬ ing the horses bridle reins dung to them until he brought horse and rider to the turf turfIt It was Major Btlmi nts intention to bring Tracery home to take the place of his sire which had been sold to a syndicate of French and American spurts men for 130000 but the breeders of England were so eager fur his services that he was placed in the stud where his earnings have averaged 350l0l per year Several offers including one from Lady lane Douglass of 210000 wore refused for the horse but when Senor S 1 Inzue of the Argentine Jockey Club recently tendered mo of 3 000 guineas or 253000 in our currency at normal exchange it was accepted One of Tracerys sons The Panther winner of the Two Thousand Guineas had been already acquired by the Ojo de Agua Stud in the Argentine for nearly 100000 100000It It will be seen that the breeders of Cuba are fortunate in securing the services of Top Hat whose offspring are most promising Mr Bowman who purposes spending many mouths of each year in Cuba in his conference with General Eiigenio San dies Agramuntc Secretary of Agriculture Labor aad Commerce offered the services of the horse to the breeders of the republic for a period of five years stipulating that only approved mares be accepted and that the horse should be stood where he would be available to fanciers throughout the republic There will lie no charge for his services Already s me of the best thoroughbred mares on the island have been accepted by the governments agent The horse arrived recently in Havana and for the present season will be quartered at Juinta los Mulinos the beautiful botanical garden at the head of Carlos Tercero TerceroPresident President Meiiocal has personally approved of Top Hat as the proper type of sire to improve the Cuban horse and has through General Agrainonte expressed his gratitude and that of the breeders of of the island to Mr Bowman for his generosity and thought fulness
