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r ; 1 t j T l t J v t a a t t 1 5 j 1 r j c t 1 . 1 : t , ; ! , REVIVAL OF MATCHEM LINE Derby Winner, Captain Cuttle, Brings to Fore Line Almost on Verge of Extinction. BY SAL.VATOR. Ill writing: from England of this years Derby and its winner. Captain Cuttle, for Daily Racing- Form, Mr. Coussell took occa-tion to remark that in advance he had not liked the colts breeding: and that his victory-was a strange one from the standpoint of blood, as it once more brought to the foro line that was apparently almost on the verge of extinction that descending from Matchem through Melbourne, West Australian, Solon and Barcaldine. Subsequent events have shown that Captain Cuttle is not the only trump card of the year, for his sire. Hurry On, and it is not improbable that there will be a rush by breeders in that young horses direction. Than which worse things might happen, possibly, in so far as "improving the breed of horses" the British thoroughbred breed is concerned. There has always been something attractive to me about the male line from which Captain Cuttle comes. To begin with, vest Australian is one of the Homeric heroes of turf history, of which deeds, as narrated by those who "were there and saw em did," the devoted reader can never tire. CAItHKltS OF SOLOrf AI BAIlCALDItfH. and something of this romance was carried over into the histories and careers of Solon and Barcaldine. especially the latter. It is an Irish horse, one of those which, like several others bred up in the Emerald Isle, has left so deep a mark upon the thorougbred breed, the world over. Barcaldine was not a classic winner. But he was an unbeaten race horse and, by general consent, one of the most puissant of that scarce genre. Again, he is a shocking sort so far as "figures" go, coming from one of the most declasse oi all the Bruce Lowe families that No. 23, so destitute otherwise of any claim to enduring celebrity. Curiously enough, Solon, Barealdines sire, was also a No. 23 horse. The pair, with Hagioscope, are ibi only saving clauses in Britain, though hero in these "hybrid-American." non-thoroughbred latitudes, it has produced the far-famed Gallopade family, which includes a Domino; while to Italy it lias given its premier sira of Derby winners, Signorino. The blood of Earcaldine has done much, in recent years, for America. We now have a first-class representative of it at the stud hero In Omar Khayyam, whose first foals aro due to make their two-year-old debuts iti 1023. On the distaff side we owe a great deal to one Barcaldine mare alone Ma-vourneen. She produced Voter, also Maid of Erin, which in turn produced Celt. Another Barcaldine mare. The Task, gave America that good horse Sain, the most successful representative of the SL Simon male line that we have had. In France and in Australia the strain to Barcaldine has also displayed its potency distinctly. The ancestry of Captain Cuttle is, however, to me most interesting because of the fact that it comprises no less than four crosses of the blood of Hermit, two through his siro and two more through his dam. We expect, almost as a matter of course, to find tho name of Hermit in most fashionable English pedigrees of the present day. In fact, we are not surprised if we find it more than once in the same tabulation. But four times that indeed is a large order ! Captain Cuttle is by Hurry On. he by Marcovil, he by Marco, son of Barcaldino aud Novitiate, by Hermit. Again, MarcoviSs own dam. Lady Villikina, was from Dinah, by Hermit. Incidentally Lady Villikins was by Hagioscope that other off-bred No. 21! horse that family having been drawn on id less than three times in rapid succession and through fresh crosses, to produce Marcovil. Yet previous to Solon, Marcovil3 grcat-grandsire, it had never produced a sire of any account, and had absolutely no license to ever do so ! On the maternal side, Bella Vista, dam of Captain Cuttle. 13 by Bona Vistas son Cyllene, and Cyllenes dam, Arcadia, was from Distant Shore, by Hermit ach. dose lofely, boetical names! Lastly, the Captains own fourth dam. Burgundy, was still another Hermit mare. SINGULAR HERMIT CROSSES. The peculiar thing about thi3 genealogy, the striking thing, is that while, tabulated to the fifth generation, it shows the name of Hermit four times, that of no other sire appears more than once, with the sole exception of Speculum, and he is a doubtful factor in one of these instances the granddam of Captain Cuttle is Emotion, by Nunthorpe, and Nunthorpe is or was by either Speculum or Camballo ; Camballo, however, being tho "accepted" sire. It may be noted that a second case of double, or disputed, paternity, occurs in this pedigree, as the granddam of Captain Cuttles sire. Hurry On, was by Thurio, he a son of either Tibthorpe or Cre-morne Cremorne "accepted." Pedigree "experts" ofteh refer to Cremorne as "a failure as a sire," yet crosses to him keep cropping up ; showing that the horse so mighty as a performer did not fail entirely at the stud. The four Herimt crosses of Captain Cuttle are each to a daughter, and a different daughter, of that horse. We hardly expect nowadays that it will be otherwise, so much stronger has his influence proved through his daughters than through his sons. Tat is. in England. Here in America, through the Voter branch, .it is different and in Ilaiy. Melanion, son of Hermit was an amaatngly successful sire. An interesting study might be written of the different ways in which different strains have developed strength in different countries ; thereby, as it were, giving the breeder the, rather than n, "double cross." It is. indeed, a fascinating subject, but in the end might teach us nothing except the old, old fact that it is the unexpected that usually happens.
