view raw text
FERTILITY AND LONGEVITY La Fleche bred her last foal when she was 18, and Sceptre when she was 17. Both won the Thousand Guineas, Oaks and St. Leger, and both ought to have won the Derby. And against Sceptres Two Thousand Guineas La Fleche can place the Ascot Cup. Platina, which won the Oaks in 1795, bred nineteen foals, her last being born when she was 27 years, and she died the next year. Eleanor, winner of the Derby and the Oaks in 1801, bred a foal at 25 years, and died at 26 years. Theophastia Oaks, 1803, Shovel-er Oaks, 1819 and Catherine Hayes Oaks, 1853 each bred a foal when 25 years of age and survived two years longer. Green Mantle Oaks, 1819 bred a foal when she was 24 years and Queen Marys daughter Haricot had offspring when she was 25 years. Queen Mary herself was 27 years old when Bonny Doon was born, and she lived to be 29. The last foal of Pocahontas was Araucaria, born when her dam was 25, and Pocahontas lived to be 33. Catherine, a "mare by Whisker, foaled in 1830, won 1TC races and produced a foal when she was 27. Mankato in English Sporting Chronicle.
