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"HALF-BRED" WINS CLASSIC Irish St. Leger Falls to a Colt Ineligible to English Stud Book. ODempsey, Son of La Paloma, by Prospector, Beats "Thoroughbreds" by Wide Margin in Historic Bace at The Curragh. Another classic has resulted in victory for a horse which, because of its "stain" is ineligible for the English Stud Book. ODempsey, a son of Flying Orb and La Pa-loma, a daughter of the "half-bred" Prospector, won the Irish St Leger at The Curragh September IP. The following account is by Blackthorn in the London Sportsman. Confusion among the three-year-olds was worse confounded when ODempsey, a stable-companion of Soldumeno, cantered home for the St Leger on Wednesday, with Darragh eleven lengths behind him. Early in the season, when Darragh came over to Ireland for the Two Thousand Guineas, having beaten Pharos afterward second to Papyrus at Epsom and made no show against Soldumeno, we wrere induced to think and reasonably so that our three-year-olds were good, more especially as in the One Thousand Guineas Tetragon, fresh from an easily gained victory over a mile at Warwick, was pronouncedly trounced by Glenshesk. ANOTHER FORM UPSET. But all that form was knocked awry when Waygood won the Irish Derby, beating Soldumeno though I am unalterably of opinion that Soldumeno was unlucky to lose that race; moreover, I think that if it were run over again at the same weights that is, Soldumeno conceding his rival seven pounds the son of Diadumenos would start favorite and win. My reason for writing in that strain is because at Doncaster Waygood made no show, whereas Soldumeno after experiencing a rough crossing, and a round about journey, necessitated by the dockers strike in Ireland ran really well and finished fifth. Darragh, on his spring form with Pharos, could be made out as good as Papyrus, but cn the occasion of his three appearances in this country Darragh has run badly. We accepted as an excuse for his failure in both the Two Thousand Guineas and Derby the hard state of the ground, but this week he had mud to go through, yet he ran worse against inferior horses than he had done in either of the first-named events. AN UNCONFIRMED BUMOB. It is said that he has "gone in the wind" which statement I make with all reserve, and I mention only that which has been noised about. Rosewing, which is not by any means a good-looking colt, ran sourly, and after half a mile he was being "ridden" to keep his place, but the greater the pressure the more ground he lost, and he came in at the tail Cnd of his field. ODempsey is a good looking colt; he was a long way the pick of the five starters, but was entitled to be good looking, for his sire, Flying Orb, is a splendid type of high-class sire, while ODempseys dam. La Paloma so called half-bred as she is was a fine mare when in training, a rare stayer, and game to the core. She was got by Prospector, hence the "stain" in her pedigree ; and, strangely enough, she won the first Irish St Leger, and now comes her son and triumphs in that same classic. Prior to producing ODempsey she had foaled ODonoghue and ODorney, both of them winners, but neither as good looking nor as good as the three-year-old. ODEMTSEY BBED TO STAY. By the way, a colleague of mine has expressed surprise that ODempsey should be such a good stayer, having regard to his sire being Flying Orb and his dam by Prospector. But my friend obviously wrote in a hurry, for he missed the fact that La Pa-lomas dam was Marcionite by Marcion, an Ascot Cup winner, from Mint Sauce, by Young Melbourne, her dam Sycee, by Marsyas. Mint Sauce was dam of that great performer Minting, as well as of The Lambkin, winner of the English St Leger, and Hinthe, winner of the English One Thousand Guineas. ODempseys pedigree is therefore beautifully balanced as regards speed and stamina, and I recall that my friend, the late William Fallin, rigidly insisted that "three parts of the chicken belonged to the hen." He gave one part in four to the sire. It is the weakness in the theory of Bruce Lowe that descent through the dam is stressed, small notice being taken of the sires side. The Mendelians of whom we hear little or nothing nowadays tried to tell us how to breed race horses by laying stress on the "color," but their ship was scuttled when some practical breeders told them that without exception a mating of chestnut with chestnut produces a chestnut
