view raw text
i : : . . t f J lj : 1 j I " r 0 S a Y. Y. Z. VICTOR WILDS GREATNESS I Rise of Prince James From Selling 1 Plater to Stake Horse Eecalls Case of English Horse. Prince James meteoric rise from the selling plater class to a stake horse with a $ record of six consecutive victories recalls the case of the noted English horse Victor p "Wild. He was one of the most popular s; horses the British public has ever known, v In the middle nineties he occupied as warm a place, if not warmer, in their affections than Ormonde had filled a decade earlier, or Man o War did in this country two years . aS- v Victor "Wild was undoubtedly one of the best handicap horses to emerge from selling plate class. A blazed-faced, white-legged chestnut, he stood 16.2 hands with eight t inches of bone and he girthed 75 inches. Altogether he won fourteen races. Most of these were in the neighborhood of London. In 1894 Victor "Wild brought off a sensational success in the Royal Hunt Cup, start- r ing at 40 to 1 against him. The next spring he captured the Jubilee 1 Handicap, starting at 20 to 1. Tens of thousands had supported their idol and his success gave the small bookmakers prob- c ably the greatest reserves they had ever known. Hosts of them could not pay their I clients; consequently there was much lamentation. Victor "Wilds win in the Jubilee as a 1 six-year-old caused him to receive one of the biggest popular ovations in the history of the turf. He made a most gallant attempt to secure the prize for the third successive year, I but was beaten into third place, naturally conceding lumps of weight to the horses which finished in front of him. j VICTOR "WILDS BARGAIN PRICE. Victor "Wild was foaled in 1890. He was bred near Oswestry in Shropshire by Mr. A. c "W. Mostyn Owen. That gentleman sold him k to his trainer, C "W. Goldlng of Newmarket, and Victor "Wild won the second race in which he started, carrying Goldings colors. ; This was the Brockhurst Two-Year-Old Plate at Portsmouth, August 20, 1892. The Ports- mouth Park race club eventually went bank- j rupt and could not pay winning owners. Victor "Wild started favorite at 7 to 4 and won by a couple of lengths. Mr. "Worton ! bought him for ,650. A month later he j knew he had secured a bargain when Victor j "Wild ran away with a ,500 Nursery at , Leicester. Altogether he won over 0,000. 1 J From this time onward Victor Wild was in the charge of trainer Hornsby at Wantage 1 in Berkshire. As he was such a famous race horse in his day it is worth while giving ; his turf record. It may be mentioned that when he won the Jubilee for the second time Victor "Wild gave 37 pounds to Kilcock, which ran second, and, with the exception of Clorane, all the other runners were receiving J from 9 to 46 pounds. That year he ran in the Ascot Gold Cup, but was outclassed, finishing fifth to Love Wisely. He was also unplaced in "Winkfields Prides Cambridge- " shire, in which he shouldered 135 pounds. As a two-year-old Victor Wild won the Brockhurst Selling Plate at Portsmouth and the Mildland Nursery Handicap at Leicester. As a three-year-old he won the Alexandra Plate, Alexandra Park, 1 mile ; Rothschild Plate, Windsor, 1 mile ; Regulation Plate, Portsmouth, 1 mile; Palace Plate, Alexandra Park, 1 mile ; September Handicap, Leicester, 1 mile ; Hurst Park Club Cup, 1 mile. 1 GREAT "WEIGHT CARRIER AND FAST. In his four-year-old form Victor Wild won the ,700 Royal Hunt Cup, Ascot, seven-eighths mile 166 yards ; he carried 105 pounds and won by half a length ; and the ,050 Summer Handicap, Hurst Park, one mile ; carried 117 pounds and won by one and one-half lengths. Prior to winning at Ascot he ran fourth in the Lincolnshire Handicap and in the City and Suburban Handicap. At five years old Victor Wild did great things. He won the 3,250 Great Jubilee Handicap, Kempton Park, one mile ; carried 116 pounds and won by six lengths ; started at 20 to 1 against. He was second giving nine pounds to Clorane in the Royal Hunt Cup of 2,300 at Ascot; he carried top weight, 132 pounds, and twenty ran. He won the Subscription Stakes at Newmarket, As a six-year-old he was first in the Great j Jubilee Handicap, Kempton Park, one mile, worth 3,250; carried 133 pounds and won by three-quarters of a length ; started at 5 to 1 against In his seven-year-old form Victor Wild was third in the Great Jubilee Handicap, Kempton Park, carrying top weight, 135 pounds, and was beaten a neck and three parts of a length, giving thirty-three pounds to the winner. He was second in the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot with top weight, 13S pounds, giving thirty-five pounds to Knight of the Thistle, the winner. He won the Cor- onation Cup Handicap at Kempton Park, one mile ; carried 139 pounds and conceded from thirty-two pounds to forty-two pounds to the other six runners. In all, Victor Wilds winnings amounted to 0,010. FAILURE AS ENGLISH SIRE. Naturally after such a brilliant career on the turf Victor Wild was sent to the stud. He was at Lordship, Newmarket, at a fee of 50. Four years later he was at Burn- aby House, Lambourn, Berks, at 0, an even at that figure lacked patronage. Truth to tell he was a dreadful failure as a sire. His offspring raced for nine years, 1901 to 1909. In that period they managed to win forty flat races of the total value of 5,285. Victor Wild died on June 22, 1904, when fourteen years old. Judging by the record of his progeny his death at this comparatively early age was no loss to the British turf. At the time the newspapers thought many people had lost a friend, for they brought out special bills announcing his death. Victor Wild was an oddly bred horse. One need not be a profound pedigree student to realize why he failed. He was by Albert Victor Wild Huntress, by Remorse Rio, by Plum Pudding Rio, by Melbourne. This is an extremely feeble branch of No. 4 family. No doubt Victor Wilds own individual excel- leirce was something apart from the Indif-. ferent family characteristics which he trans-l mitted to his offspring. In no other way can his lack of success at the stud be explained.
