view raw text
Exploding the Oriental Blood Myth No more interesting problem has engaged the attention of turfmen, both in England and America for generations past than that which relates to the relative speed and stoutness of the thoroughbred and the Oriental horse, says a writer in The American Turf, published in 1898. The question seems to have been finally well settled, with undoubted evidence in favor of the great superiority of the English thoroughbred and his descendants of the American turf. It may be safely conceded that two hundred or more years ago the Arabians were undoubtedly the fastest runners in the world. About the middle of the nineteenth century the English and American thoroughbred demonstrated beyond the shadow of the slightest doubt that he -was as far superior to the horse of the east in his qualities and powers as he was in size, bone, strength and ability to carry weight. While the Arabians remained in practically the same condition that they were centuries ago there has been a vast improvement in the character of their English progeny. The best old English blood, which had in it a part of the Spanish stock, when mixed with the true Arabian or Barb race in the beginning of breeding the thoroughbred in England, brought about infinitely better results than it had ever been possible to secure from the unmixed and unstudied breeding of the Arabians in their native land. WHERE RACING HAS HELPED. The intelligent breeding that has followed since that time and the selection of the choicest animals to breed from, a measure that has been largely made possible by the tests of the race course, have brought about this result. Upon practical test it has been found that with an allowance of as high as forty-eight pounds the Arabian has never been able to win an English race. In the early part of the nineteenth century the subject was regarded as a matter of such supreme importance that discussion was rife, both among English horsemen and those of the East, each of which patriotically supported the claims of the respective breeds of their countries. The Viceroy of Egypt even went so far as to challenge the English Jockey Club to run a cerain number of English horses against the pick of his stables. The ma-tch was declined, first because the English Jockey Club in its corporate capacity never owned any racers, and, secondly, because to run a dis-tace race over broken desert ground was considered a greater risk of destroying valuable animals than the circumstances would justify. ENGLISH AND ORIENTAL STOCK MEET. Subsequently, however, as a result of the challenge, a race was run at Cairo between the English mare Fair Nell and an Arab horse belonging to Aaleen Pacha and the result has been regarded as of the greatest value as a clear demonstration of the relative prowess of the two equine families. The length of the race was eight miles, over a rough, gravelly, sandy road, and the English mare won, covering the course in minutes, beating the Arabian by a full mile and pulling up fresh. Aaleen Pacha, who owned the Arabian horse, was a son of Abbas Pacha, the Viceroy, who had challenged the English Jockey Club. The sire of Fair Nell was the celebrated Irish horse Friney. She was called a "raking Irish devil" and frequently traveled thirty-two miles in the course of a day at an easy canter, carrying 168 pounds without showing the least fatigue. She was in low condition when she was shipped to Egypt, yet ran and won her race within two months from the time of landing. In her first trial before the race she did five miles in 10 Va minutes. Although the result with a single thoroughbred might not be considered as absolutely conclusive, yet when we consider that Fair Nell, which was not in the Stud Book, was not incontestably proven to be a pure thoroughbred and that her rate of speed, both in her recorded five-mile trial and her eight-mile race, was less than that displayed by many English and American thoroughbreds of her time, the conclusion that the latter must be superior to their Arabian rivals may be considered as fairly settled. At any rate, the Egyptians were then convinced that their Arabians could be beaten by English horses and few turfmen since that time have questioned the speed and endurance which were the peculiar inheritance. It is beyond all doubt that no Arabian horse ever lived which could in any respect challenge such great thoroughbreds as Flying Childers, Herod, Eclipse, Diomed, Glencoe, Sir Archy, Boston, Lexington and hundreds of other heroes of the English and American turf in days gone by. An interesting experiment was carried out by the distinguished early American breeder, A. Keene Richards, which seems to settle conclusively and finally this question in favor of the thoroughbred. Few turfmen in the United States gave themselves up more unreservedly to the promotion of the interest of the thoroughbred. He was a native of Kentucky and his death occurred upon his town, Ky., in March. 188L CARRIES OUT A3IBITIOUS PROJECT. After visiting all of the prominent studs, breeding and training establishments in England and France, he proceeded to carry out a project that he had long before matured to make a tour of the Barbary states and the west of Africa and study the thoroughbred in the countries where his progenitors were considered to have originated. Traveling through Spain, where he made himself familiar with the Andulasian breed of horses and the royal stud of Madrid, he then made an extended journey through Algeria and Morocco, accomplishing the greater part of the tour on horseback. Next he went to Egypt and Arabia Ietrea. His party made the journey through Arabia on dromedaries and there he commenced that thorough investigation into the Arabian horse that made him particularly conspicuous in his generation. He pushed his investigations far into the Anazeh country whence, generations before, had come the great Darley Arabian and other parents of the English thoroughbred family. He bought several of the choicest Arabian horses that could be procured. These he shipped to England and thence to America and then returned home himself, ready to carry out the experiment that he had planned and in which he had the fullest confidence of ultimate success. RATES ARAB BEST NATURAL HORSE. Completely informed now regarding the horses of the Orient and his English thoroughbred descendant, their origin and history, he was confident that the best horse in the state of nature was the Arab. His new possessions, the pure Arabian stallions, Mas-soud and Mokhladi, and the mare Sadah, arrived at his Blue Grass Park home in 1S53. He also made handsome additions to his stud of American-bred horses and the following year, in a second trip to Arabia, he purchased the mare Nulie and the stallions Sacklowie and Fysaul. He also brought from England, about the same time, Knight of St. George, the St. Leger winner of 1854; Australian and his dam Emilia, with her foal, Frazzoletto, Jr., and the brood mares Spiletta dam of Spinola, Fenian and Ro-setta, Melrose dam of John Porter and Melbourne, Jr., and Target dam of Creed-moor. Although Mr. Richards experiment with the Arabians attracted a great deal of attention at the time, it was not generally looked upon as giving much promise for the improvement of the American thoroughbred. Mr. Richards was not convinced of this, but, after a few years, when it was found that his imported Arabians made no distinct impression upon the American stock, he was gradually forced to the conclusion that after all nothing in the world could surpass the best bred English and American horse. He spent a great deal of time and money in putting his theories to test and some of the finest blooded mares in the country were bred to his Arabians. The outcome was a practical failure and, since his time, there has been little talk about the value of the Arabian stock for the improvement of the thoroughbred, and breeders have ceased to give it further attention.
