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SHAUN SPADAHS ROMANCE Bred by a Slap Dash Irishman Under Queer Conditions How the Champion Chaser Was Trained and Soundly Edu ¬ cated for the Sport BY E E COUSSELL COUSSELLLONDON LONDON England April 4 Some interesting stories of the early days of Shaun Spadah have been revealed by Mr Patrick McKenna who is naturally feeling proud to have bred the winner of the Grand National NationalIt It appears that Rnsialka the dam of Shann Spadah was the first thoroughbred mare owned by McKenna The latter is one of the best known men in Irish politics He was an ardent supporter of the late Mr John Redmond whom Mr McKenna nominated for parliament parliamentMr Mr Redmond was returned to parliament for AAestmeatli in 1909 During the election campaign after a dinner given to Mr Redmond by his sup ¬ porters Michael Cleary a wellknown Irish veter ¬ inary surgeon and horse breeder mentioned that he was thinking of selling some of his mares and suggested that McKenna should buy one of them He was not then greatly interested in bloodstock but eventually McKenna on the recommendation of Cleary bought Rusialka unsight and unseen for a moderate price remarking at the time Maybe I will breed a National winner yet yetThe The mare was then in foal to Crathorne and in 1910 she bred the brown filly Dorothy Perkins A stipulation in the deal was that should Rusialka produce a filly foal Cleary should have her herIn In 1910 Mr McKeuna sent Rusialka to Easter Prize which is now dead At that time he was owned by Richard Cleary of Bishopstown Streams town AAcstmeath He is a wellknown trainer of steeplechasers and resides iinitc close to Mr Mc ¬ Kenna who bred Shaun Spadah at Kilgarvoii House Farm Moate Streamstpwn StreamstpwnAs As a foal Shann nearly died through eating a poisonous weed which in some parts of Ireland grows under a hedge and closely resembles a stalk of Indian corn Careful attention and i robust constitution pulled him through From that time he was mostly reared in a stable and as a result became a great pet with the family especially with the youngsters who taught Shaun to eat raw eggs as they loved to hear him crunch them The National winner developed such a taste for eggs that as a yearling the children of his breeder would give him as many as ten or so a day dayMcKenna McKenna himself ran as a parliamentary candi ¬ date and in an election was only beaten by thirty seven votes by Colonel Plunkett The tale is that if McKenna had only spent his evenings canvassing instead of yarning at the local hotels he might have won the election His expenses about that time were heavy and he was more or less broke He sent Rusialka to Easter Prize which was stand ¬ ing at a fee of 5 a mare This was for farmers mares in Ireland and in the majority of instances the owner of Easter Prize never collected thet fee He did however collect the 5 from McKenna The produce was Shaun Spadah McKenna had some horses in training witli Dick Cleary and he began to back horses outside the stable with the result that ho was practically financially crippled and Cleary bought Shaun Spadah from McKcnna for 375 which went to liquidate his training bill billODD ODD IRISH RACING CHARACTER CHARACTERMcKenna McKenna is a character He has a houseful of children and he frequently makes the remark when he is leaving his friends Well I must be getting home to count the children What a happygolucky business it all is These thing are only possible in Ireland IrelandMcKenna McKenna himself is an extremely witty man In the time of the war1 he was at the head of the pig control board in Ireland and used his eloquence and efforts to such good effect that the Irish mem ¬ bers of that board presented him with a money testimonial of 15000 Also out of pig breeding and dealing in the war time he has made a great deal of money but as someliody who knows him well remarks it is quite possible that it will all go again againA A man who knows McKenna well says that when the mare was mated with Easter Prize he asked the blessingc of the saints on the union Apparently in this case it was efficacious efficaciousDick Dick Cleary bought Shaun Spadali as an early twoyearold from McKenna He was then a prom ¬ ising colt He ran once when he finished sixth in a CurraghCleary field of twentyseven at The Curragh Cleary afterward took him home as he thought he would make a steeplechaser and often rode him to hounds as a threeyeacold The result was Shaun became acquainted with all manner of ob ¬ stacles He made a perfect jumper always steady and reliable at his fences As a fouryearold Mr Cleary entered him in the Dnfferin Plate at Down patrick which race he won in a canter The same year he carried off a maiden steeplechase at Gowran Park Kilkenny At once several Irish sportsmen were anxious to buy him Eventually he was bought by Pat Rogers the best known horse dealer in Ire ¬ land and owner of the young and wonderfully suc ¬ cessful sire Honey Bee Mr Rogers passed him on to Mr Frank Harbour the master of the AAest ineath hounds For him Shann Spadali won some steeplechases He was then acquired by Mr H M Benson who as previously reported sold the Na ¬ tional winner privately to Mr McAlpine last Oc ¬ tober The price has not transpired but it is un understood it was about 10000 10000As As regards the dam of Sliann Spadali she is at present in foal to Happy AAarrior son of Sundridge and now due to foal Rusialka produced dead twin foals in 1919 so Mr McKenna gave her a rest that year She will return to Haniy AVarrior again after foaling Mr McKenna has one of her daugh ¬ ters at the stud and although he has received several tempting offers for his mares he has stead ¬ fastly refused because he wishes to breed a few more smashers like Shann ShannEaster Easter Prize by the way sired few thoroughbred mares but almost every one bred winners He was a handsome horse and won the first prize for thor ¬ oughbred yearlings at the Dublin show AAhen in training he belonged to John James a famous Irish bookmaker Easter Prizes form on the turf was moderate which is doubtless the reason he lacked patronage at the stud
