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BEAUTIFUL ERDENHE1M FARM »_ , Much to Attract Horse Lovers at G. D. Wideners Famous Stud. ! ■■ ■ ■ i i There Lexington Once Reigned1 ■ j Supreme and Pierre Lorillard I i Bought Iroquois and Parole. . ; j KV C. I. KIT/. HKKAI.D. I PIIII.ADKI.PHIA. Pa.. January 22. IVd nliim. tin- Ih-ii lit if ill f:irm :il Chestnut Hill, where limit 1». Widener makes liis lioinc. hns much to attract tin- lover of the thoroughbred. I* area then- thai L Leamington reigned at the bend of the stud of Aristides Welch, ami gave to the turf a family whose distinction was not confined to this eoiintr.v. J i ! hut renped tiie highest honors abroad. It was the i birthplace of Iroquois, the only American-bred win-I ne" of the Kpsoni Derby: of Parole, a gelding whieh ; : eleetrified the British b.v his speed, and of ■ host of f [ j other sons and daughters of Lea mint; ton whose fame is spread over Hie pages of turf history in 1 :| | this eoiintry. There is no more lovely situation for a thoroughbred " I nursery than Krdenheim. whose 000 aeres are ? i watered b.v the beautiful YYissahickon Creek. The f ! land is gently undulating. The buildings are home-, " I like and substantial, fashioned in the main from 1 | I limestone quarried on the plaee. The quarters f, r J] | stallions and mares are ideal. Fences of post and ! rail divide the paddocks in which brood m..res s I rough in coat, but vigorous in health, were disport- I ; iuu Ihow-eves in t In- brilliant sunshine of u Jan- i uai.v day recently. Most of the mares are in foal to the beautiful young French horse Trompe la Mort. winner of the e j Metropolitan Handicap and other good races as a 1 I three year-old. and now a stallion of majestic proportions. " ! While a large horse. Trompe In Mort has ■ an abundance of quality. His temper is perfect I and he emi hardly escape being a success in the p -Hid. In showing the mures Dr. McCloskey. superintendent of the place, said there were no evidences s of the trouble which caused seventeen of the mares s| on the farm to slip their foals in 1! 20. Hidden II Itose. by Coldfinch. from La Trappe. hy Hermit, • the grauddam of Inchctipe. is a conspicuous member I of tin- brood mare group at Lrdenheim. She is ! with foal to Trompe la Mort. Mr. Widener bid 1 ; | S12."i.000 for Inchcape last spring, but failed to " secured him when S. C. Hildreth offered a like P sum. and a contingency in the Futurity. Other fine mares seen were Coiirtisane ;ind ■ , Topusctile. daughters of Meddler — Correction, and 1 Striken -Light respectively. There was also " LOrpheliiie. tin- first of the progeny of Prince e Palatine to come to the Iuited States. Her dam. • Sunshine Jiri, is by Sundridge. and she. too, is s with foal lo Trompe la Mori. Another fine young I mure is At Once, an Knglish daughter of Simon -tntilt — Tout Suite, the dam of that good horse P! Hurry tin Half of the Widener mares are in n Kentucky, to be maied with Fair Ilay. Pallet, and other sires .,f ilmi region, but there are sufficient in number at home to keep their owners appetite keen for the ple;1sures of breeding and ii to furnish trainer A. .1. .loyner. with promising mnterial for metropolitan racing. MR. WELCH S OLD HOME INTACT. The only buildings of the days of Mr. Welch ii now in existence in the old home, which is in a excellent state of preservation, and the small 1 wooden structure, half barn, and half domicile, hard by the broad porch in which they sought to i, keep Leamington after he became famous. Leamington would have none of it, and fretted until il returned to his more familiar surroundings. Only y one of the famous magnolias, under which Leamington. - Maggie K. B. and Flora Temple, the one e lime queen of the trotting turf, are buiied remains, •- and t h.-il -hades Ike granite slab which marM the grave of the stallion. There is a tablet t to the memory of lima Temple, but none to the e glial thoroughbred dam which earned undying H lame for le isell by the number anil quality of f! her produce, giving the lurf no fewer than sixteen n foals in eighteen year*. Her ton* Mm were by y I. ea mi tig ton. and in the number were Iroquois. i. Harold mid Jaeoaet, the latter the dam of Sir r Dixon, P.elvnlcrc and other great racers. Surely y Maggie It. B. la deserving of a memorial. . It was beneath these magnolia trees anil Hie p pines, which line the roadway leading to the house, ._ thai Ihe great turfmen of that day gathered annually to bid on the yearling produce of the farm, witli Col. Sander- I. Bruce as auctioneer. Tables . with lefreshnienl- were alwajra spread anil it was s a function which the ohl-linie sportsmen looked 11 forward lo wilh eagerness. It mi- there that 1 1ierre Lorillard bought Parole and Iroquois nnd. according i,, Frank Cray Hriswolds interesting -I memoirs, losi the Megara filly. Inter known to " fame as Ihe flying Spinaway. when he agreed to ° draw lots :i» in who would hne Ill si choice for :l a hand of fourteen taken after Parole had triumphed • in Kngland. It araa there, loo. that August Bel inont Is light Siisipiehanna. a daughter of that groat matron Susan Keanc. the dam of Onoudago ami d Stratford, which was destined to throw the Futurity j winner Potomac when mated with St. Blaise. 1nder r these same trees the Dwyois bought Harold and I Ihe breeders of Kentucky vied with each other in n their eagerness lo buttress their stuiN with .laugh i lers of Leainingt. n. I A volume might be written about the kereei that « I went from Kr.lcuhcim. Pa rait served to enlighten II the BafliaB as to the quality of American thoi oughbredh. Prior to his advent in 1H7SI foicign bred hataaa wen- allowed seven |H uuds in some a Meaa, notably the Cooilwood Cup. Parole made his s first appearance in the spring of that year on n Knglish tucks. He carried lit. pounds to the great Isononiy s p_ 4 ami won the Newmarket Handicap i- iit odds of UN to IS. He then won the mile a and a quarter City and Suburban Handicap with h ll!i iHuiuds up and the Cleat Metropolitan Handi cap at two and a quarter mile-. U4 ]niiiuils. but was beaten for the Chester Cup. The following day y he won won the Cheshire Stakes, carrying 134 4 pounds, and shortly afterward won the Kpsom Cold Cup with 120 ill the saddle. lsoiiumy beat hiiii n d j r I in n i I « I II a s n i- a h y 4 n for the Goodwood Cup and the next year the ■ I Jockev Club abrogated the allowance for foreign i bre.ls. Iroquois was one of the next taken over b.v Mr. Lorillard. He won four races out of eleven starts as a two yen r-old but improved ■really during the • winter, nnd after running second to Peregrine for the Two TIioiismiiiI Juineas won the Derby, the • ; Prince of Wales Stakes and the St. Lcger. He won i seven firsts. . second and a third out of nine ■ starts that ear and was considered a first class s horse by tin Kritish experts. There are three interesting photographs at Krden-e heim. Hue is of l.eamington. It depicts him as a horse of great individuality. He was a trifle high on the leg. but lioautifully made, without any lumber. His shoulder was superb, and his s hind leg could not have been improved upon. An-I other picture is that of Lexington, taken when i the horse was blind and infirm A pathetic figure i" of a once mighty race horse and amazingly pre-I | potent sire. The third photograph is of Flora J I Temple. All three will live in history.
