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, ; j . BARGAIN OF OTHER DAYS How Mare Was Saved From Death to Produce Filly of Great Worth. The sales of yearlings at Saratoga are. always wrought with interest not only to breeders and horsemen, but to the general public as well. In connection with them come forecasts and oftentimes wagers as to the success or failure of some of. these purchases. Bargains in horseflesh has always been a popular topic and some picked up in years gone by provde interesting reading. Here is the narrative of a veteran sportsman, who tells of a mare racing at New Orleans which was saved from an untimely death and lived to produce a filly that proved a sensation on the turf. Here is the story: "The first and only time that I ever saw her was at the old Fair Grounds track at New Orleans. She was a starter in a sprint at three-quarters of a mile one January afternoon and, while running in a prominent position, she was carried into the fence and her shoulder was torn fearfully. As she stood trembling and bleeding, unable to walk, her owner with tears in his eyes removed the saddle and bridle and was about to shoot the mare when a young man stepped up and begged for her life. " Ill put her in slings, he said, and I think I can save her. Dont kill her. "The Kentuckian who owned the mare wished the young fellow good luck and walked away. The best veterinarian in the Crescent City was consulted and a temporary house was made out of boards only a. hundred feet away from where the accident occurred and for two months the mare hung suspended in slings. She could finally walk, but was lame. "She was so well bred that she was valuable as a brood mare, and her young ownT, whose father was an official of the track, was on the lookout for a chance to mate her with some of the fashionable sires of the thoroughbred region of Tennessee or Kentucky. One day a man who owned a good son of the English horse, St. Simon, came to the course and while in conversation with the father of the young man who owned the mare the youngster plucked up courage i enough to say that the blood lines of his mare would match those of the premier j stallion of the Tennesseean. GltAXDDAUGHTER OF HERMIT. "A few questions developed the fact that the mare was a granddaughter of the great English horse Hermit, and an invitation was extended to send the crippled mare to j Tennessee. A year later a handsome chestnut filly walked by the matrons side. She was perfect in contour and was considered j one of the choicest weanlings on the place, i "When the foal was about six weeks old a magnate of the turf, whesa name is known i wherever thoroughbreds have raced in this country for the last thirty years, came to New Orleans on a yearly pilgrimage. The young chap obtained an introduction to this man and told him about the mare and foal he had in Tennessee. Would he seem them? A few minutes conversation brought an offer ot ,000 for the pair provided the million-, aires stud groom approved of them, j "A wire was sent to Lexington that after- noon and two days later word came from ; Nashville that the mare and foal were as ! represented and the youngster felt mighty proud when he pocketed the check for ,000 which closed the deal. "You all know that the Astoria Stakes at Clravesend was one of the sportiest events of the year. It was a special stake for two-year-old fillies and besides the money value i there was a handsome piece of plate for the I owner of the winner, who gives a dinner to j the other subscribers and some friends. It I was modeled on the lines of the famous Gimcrack Stakes at York, and 1 think there , it scarcely a man who has ever won it who doesnt consider the honor of being host on the occasion of much more moment than the mere winning of the plate or money "This was especially true of the milltoraire who bought the crippled granddaughter of Hermit and her filly. The season at Graves-c-nd was yet young that year when it was rumored that the race for the Astoria Stakes was at the mercy of a certain chestnut filly in the stable of a western owner, and when the day on which the race was to be decided came around the westerner was on hand in his private car, accompanied by a party of friends, among whom was the fair-haired girl after whom the Astoria candidate had been named. It was only an easy gallop for the handsome youngster, whose mothers life had been saved by the Louisiana boy, and she went right along picking up other stake races until in the autumn upward of 0,000 had been placed to her credit. "She broke down before she was a three-year-old and was sent to the Kentucky Stud of her owner, where she remained until his death.
