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OLAMBALAS STUD SUCCESS ♦ R. T. Wilsons Stallion Conspicuous Example of Prepotency. , » Practically a Prirate Sire, but Nevertheless Achieved Remarkable Results — Camp fire His Greatest Contribution. — — ♦ ■ NEW YORK, N. Y., April 15.— The history of the thoroughbred of the United States contains no more conspicuous example of prepotency on the part of a sire than is evidenced in the case of Olambala, a race horse of quality himself, but a still greater success in the stud. Whan it is remembered that Olambala has been practically a private stallion, having had access to only a few mares outside of those of his owner. Richard to Wilson, his showing is remarkable. The records of the Jockey Club reveal that up to the close of 1922, a period of eight years, Olambala had less than 100 living foals, yet he has invariably stood high in the list of winning sires, and two of his sons were the largest money winners in 1910 and 1922. Campfire. from .Nightfall, by Voter, held the pride of place in 1916 with 9.7:55 to his credit, while Pillory, whose dam. Hester lTynne. was a daughter of Disguise, was the biggest winner in 1922, with a total of 5,654, largely gleaned through his taking both the Preak-ness and Belmont Stakes. Experts in bloodstock breeding have long maintained that one of the greit tests of a sire is to produce as good or better horse than himself. In the case of Olambala this was answered when Camplire was born at Kirklevington in 1911. This horse, whose second dam. Sundown, by Springfield, produced that fast horse Peep oDay. was a brilliant two-year-old, possessing dazzling speed and unflinching courage. His victories included the Futurity ; Hopeful, in which he carried l.!0 pounds to 110 on Omar Khayyam ; Saratoga Special, San ford Memorial and Great American Stakes. That the line is prepotent to an unusual degree is indicated by the success scored by Campfire at the very outset of his career in the stud, as he sent to the races last year a pair of two-year-olds in Widerness and Tall Timber that were conspicuous for their speed : in fact, the former is reckoned in the first flight of three-year-olds now in training for the big fixtures of 1923. ENHANCED BY COMPARISON. Olambalas merits are enhanced by comparison with the records scored by horses iiaving for consorts more fashionably bred dams and a larger number of them than those at Kirklevington : though it must be acknowledged that Mr. Wilson has either been lucky in his choice of mares or is possessed of a knowledge of blood lines suitable for the grand son of Bend Or that verges on the uncanny. The American Racing Manual accords sixth place to Mr. Wilson among American breed- Coutinued on tliird page -» l i : • : 1 I | , » ■ : ; : . | » J I ; 1 , I : t - 0 f Q 0 0 * 0 !. • t E OUMBALAS STUD SUCCESS Continued from first page. ers, taking the records since 1917 as a basis for calculation. John E. Madden, whose stud is the largest in the United States, produced in that period winners of l.»61 races. Harry Payne Whitney, with an establishment not as lb.rge as that of Mr. Madden, but one of the most pretentious in the United States withal, bred winners of 1.077 races in the six years, while August Belmont is third with S37. The late Henry T. Oxnard bred winners of 713 races at his Blue Ridge Stud. Then comes A. B. Hancock with 637. B. T. "Wilson, with Olambala as his main reliance — the first of the Campfires appeared last year — turned out winners of 576 races at Kirklevington. As Olambala is only 17 years old the end is not yet. One of the best looking two-year-olds at Belmont Park at present is a son of Olam- bala in Tom Healeys charge. He is from Sunburst, by Banastar, and the next dam the great mare Sundown, already referred to as the dam of Peep oDay. and the grand-dam of Campfire. He is a counterpart of Olambala at the same age and is a brother to Setting Sun, which has been so successful in Maryland this spring and which, by the way. was sold for ,800 last fall. The im- provement scored by Setting Sun is charac-, teristic of the get of the Wilson sire. Olambala began life obscurely. He was bred in Tennessee by J. G. Greener of Nashville and his sire, imported Ornus. a son of Bend Or — Ashgrove. by Albert Victor, was a castoff from the Morris stable when it contained such stars as Bowling Brook. Kus-" sell Ambulance, Correction. Mars. St. Glorian and Reckon. Mated with the eighteen-year-I old mare Blue and White, by Virgil, whese dam. Madame Dudley, was by Lexington, the produce was Olambala. As a two-year-old the colt raced inconspicuously, winning two small races, but he had the germ of greatness in his composition and blossomed out as a three-year-old in a way that commanded the attention of Mr. Wilson and his trainer, Tom Healey. He could beat all the three-year-i olds but Fitz Herbert, and it was after running second to the great son of Ethelbert for the Realization Stakes in time that surpassed the then American record for one mile and five-eighths that the transfer was made for 0,000. Olambala had already won the lair tonia Derby and he showed his quality by capturing the Saratoga Cup. the Twin City and Municipal Handicaps and other races for his new owner, displaying that liking for a long route which was a distinguishing char- acteristic of his career on the turf. As a four-year-old Olambala was a great horse, though he was not the equal of Fitz Herbert, the latter being a lion in his path-0 way on more than one occasion. That he was able to win the Suburban, Brighton and Saratoga Handicaps and run second to Fitz Herbert in the Brooklyn Handicap made him an outstanding figure among the thorough-0 breds of the period. He also won the Com-0 nionwealth Handicap and set a new Ameri- can record for a mile and a quarter. From the very outset of his stud career Olambala has been a success. The fact that he has the blood of Virgil so close up in his pedigree is claimed by many to be one of the reasons for his prepotency. That it is one of the quickening influences in the American thoroughbred cannot be denied. It as-j similates with foreign strains in a manner that has long ago attracted the attention of the experts on both sides of the water.
