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PRODUCTIVE AMERICAN BLOOD j : : Maria West and Aerolite Families Supreme in Our Breeding. Much Quality in Several Collateral Branches of the Bellair Mares J Descendants. i i BY EXILE. As racing of significance and importance for the : time being has ceased and the presidential heat definitely decided, tliere is nothing, bar the bel-- ligerence of the Bolshevik and the schemes of the Sinn Feiner, to absorb your attention, therefore . those of you who are interested in the best develop- rnent of the thoroughbred horse, turfmen and breeders alike, may perhaps have a little more time at your disposal these long winter evenings to devote to the study of the manner in which the best of the horses are bred. In the first place I may write that all that I ; have to piit before you is founded on facts gleaned from a study of tnrf history and of the bloodstock breeding industry of the world. It seems as if the breeders of the United States have at last come to appreciate the value and necessity of pedigree. The value and necessity of breeding is just as essential in mares as it is in sires. The latter, however, can be more or less left to take care of themselves. "Without breeding, sire success is not possible, as witness the fact that only one sire, Ben Brush, since before Lexingtons day to head the American winning sire list but what is a member of a Bruce Lowe family. Ben Brunto is a member of the best American family there is, that of Maria "West. One .reads, a...dealjuur.adaxscnncerning. tha jiQgd: old American families, but the truth of the matter is that there are only two really worth while, the Maria West and Aerolite families, which trace to an -American source. These two families have proved their worth, not only because of the race course success of their members, hut also because of the sire success of their sons. The Maria West horse Ben Brush in 1909 headed the American winning sire list, and it is because of Ben Brush that the house of Bonnie Scotland best carries on. Man o Wars ancestor. Spendthrift, is a member of the Aerolite family and Aerolites maternal ancestress, a daughter of Medley, dam of the Bellair mare, which was certified by Mr. T. I. Ownings to be thoroughbred. Some years ago, in a fit of amazing energy, I numbered all of the Bruce Lowe family mares, which make their appearance in the first four volumes of the American Stud Book, also designating by a "special mark those which are without that distinction, only to find a huge number of mares which trace to an obscure tap root. As time progressed and other volumes of the Stud Book made their appearance I continued to add these signs, with the result that I found the non-figure mares, on account of inability to produce either many race horses or sires of ability, are fast climinatng themselves. MARIA WEST AND AEROLITE FAMILIES. Success succeeds in bloodstock breeding as in everything else, and the success of the figure mare is the cause of this gradual extirpation. Mind you, I am not writing of special cases in contradistinction to the failure of the non-figuro mares. I have.no desire to laud the horse of any one particular breed at the expense of another, but only to inform both buyers and breeders that the odds are against them in their attempt to either race nr breed with success horses which do not trace, with but few exceptions, to a figure tap root. As before written, the two really good families, supposedly of American origin, are those of Maria West and Aerolite. Another good racing family, however, is the family which, for convenience sake, may be termed the Julia by Glencoe family. To Julia trace such as Wanda, and her descendants, Urania and Armenia, whose son. Durbar II., wonin 1913 the Epsom Derby. Ail this is good, but so far no member of the Julia family has attained to lasting success as a sire. The eyes of the turf world are nov turned toward Durbar II. to note his success or "failure as a sire. The sire ability of this family is in quest ion, and if found wanting the reckoning of the Julia family as a sire line cannot bo highly classed. Members of the Maria West family have proved their worth, not only on the race course, but also as sires. Ben Brush led the way, and is now followed by The Manager, which stands thirtieth on the winning sire list. Maria West, a chestnut mare, was foaled as far back as. ISL7 and was a daughter of Marion, and traces in the female line to a daughter of imported Janus. Maria West became the dam of the celebrated four-miler Wagner, but Wagner, good race horse though lie admittedly wns, failed to set up a house of his own. Maria West also bred two good producing daughters of the Fleur de Lis and Heraldry. The Flour de Lis branch of the family lias never, until quite recently, been so productive of high class horses as the Heraldry branch. This season, however, the Fleur de Lis branch has sprung into special prominence on account of the performance of two of the best two-year-olds of the season, Leonardo II. and Rangoon. Democrat, too, some years back created quite a stir as a two-year-old in England. Maria Wots daughter. Heraldry, bred to imported Yorkhire. the sisters Balloon and Parachute, ancestress of Ben Brush. Balloon foaled the. famous Ballet, and to Ballet trace by far the greater number of the best of Maria West horses. That sound, hardy and genuine campaigner. Exterminator, traces to Ballet, as do David Garrick, Ilegret, Thunderer and The Manager. So it goes. No mistake can possibly be made in purchasing cither stallions, mares or yearlings which trace in the female line either to Fleur de Lis, Balloou or Parachute. Unlike the Janus mare Maria West family: there are in existence several collateral branches of the Bellair mare family, which are productive of recent good winners. The Melody Aerolite branch of the family is, of course, best, because of Spendthrift ancestor of Man 0 "War; of .Feyowcraft, sire of Hamburfs dam. Lady Reel; of Miser,, sire of Yorkville Belle; of Macduff, sire of McChesney; and of Queenlike II., dam of Kings Daughter.-Other branches of the Bellair mare family arc this year productive of the Lutonia Oaks winner, Busy Signal, and of the Frontier Handicap first. Slippery Elm. Therefore, the members of the Bellair mare family liave sufficiently jiroved their excellence for this family to be classed as good. As for the sire success of members of the many other tap root American families, I fear their case is less hopeful. Norfolk, a member of the Novice by Glencoe family, good race horse and successful sire of winners as lie was, failed as a sire of sires, as lias Ilermis, which traces to Nora, half sister by Sovereign to Novice, although lie was afforded every opportunity with the best of the Belgraviau mations of France. No really good sire from the Picayune family has come. Enquirer, which traces to a daughter of Tryall, was once a power in the land, but the line of Enquirer lias not proved strong enough to carry on and from all of this it must be apparent that the families of obscure American origin are in the main incapable of transmitting their own sire excellence to their sons. Years ago, when Bruce Lowes "Breeding Race Horses by tlii Kiguru System" first made its appearance, in a fit of energy, I made tabulation of all of the different families in their various branches. This I think was piior to the coming of the Herrmann Goos tables, and I, of course, as did Goos, found that it is only certain branches of the different families that are productive of the best of the sires and winners. For instance, are not the Sunflower, Ellen Home and Secrat branches worth more than all of the rest of the No. 1 family combined? In succeeding installments, which I trust you will do me the honor to iR-rustr, I propose to set forth, for the ln-nefit of those who are really interested in the better development of the thoroughbred horse, the best producing branches of the various families in an effort to afford both buyer and breeder a better return for their bloodstock investments.
