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Bitalli and His American Stain BY SALVATOR. It wanted only the performance of Bitalli, in the Melbourne Cup. Australasias premier turf classic, to complete the sweep of the "American stain" for 1923. Previously it had asserted itself ineffaceably in England, France, Italy and Spain, as well as elsewhere , ir. Europe : here at home it has had a great j season and the Antipodes "tops the basket." . It is. moreover, quite likely that were the blood lines of all the important winners in the Argentine available, it would be found that there too it had "come out." But England is the clearing house for what little information fdters to the outside world anent doings in the republic south of the La Plata, and it is not to be expected that she will play up anything of so objectionable a nature to her that might occur there. The result of the Melbourne Cup race, which was run on Tuesday, November 6,-over the far-famed Flemington course, on the banks of the Maribyrnong, near the city of Melbourne, was duly announced in the news columns of Daily Racing Form. The cable advices, however, misspelt the winners name and were otherwise not very informing. I have not seen the complete summary of the race in print in the American press thus far, so it will be of interest and is as follows: SUMMARY OF RACE. MELBOURNE Flemington, Australia, Nov. fi, 1923. The Melbourne Cup. a handicap sweepstakes of 75 each, with 0,000 added, of which 0,000 to second and S5.000 to third, with .1 trophy worth ,000 to the winner; three-year-olds and upward. Distance, two miles. Sixty-second renewal. Closed with 299 nominations. Gross value, ?G7,410; value to winner, 2,410. A T. Craigs Ritalli. br. g. 5, by October Miss Phillina, by Ruenalf, 100 pounds; A. Wilson. 1 J. II. S. Rarnes Rivoli, b. c, 4, by Repartee Lady .nibble; 127 jvmiids; .7. Munro. ...... . 2 R. Chaffers Accarak. 1. g. 5, by Woorak Tol- acca; 9-1 pounds; I. Zcally . 3 Comique, four years, 101 pounds Lewis; Frances Tressady, three years, 101 pounds Dcmpsey; Even Song, five years, 107 pounds Zchan; Paratoo aged. Dt pounds A. Lewis ; Vnlwync, three years, 94 jxvunds Harris; Fred Power, five years, 122 pounds Wood; David, six years, 136 pounds Too-liey ; Harvest King, five years, 131 pounds Daniels; Purser, aged, 128 pounds Cairns; Stare, five years, 128 pounds Pike; King Ingoda, five years. 12S pounds Duncan; Rapine, four years, 320 pounds Reed; Rackwood, five years, 124 pounds Jones; The Cypher, four years, 124 jvonnds Sleigh: Sister Olive, five years, 320 pounds OSul-livan; Mirthmaker, four years. 102 pounds Garrard; Englefield, six years. 101 pounds Livy ; Comptroller, four years, 93 pounds Sullivan; Happy Queen, aged. 99 pounds Alford; King of Mirth, three years, 91 pounds Medhurst ; Drongo, three years, 94 pounds Simmons; Penshurst, five years, 91 pounds Rastain, and Yacamunda, six years, 309 pounds Cracknell, also ran. Time, 3:24 f-4 new record for the event. Retting Ritalli, 4 to 3; Rivoli, 7 to 1; Rapine, Englefield, Drongo, 10 to 1; King Ingoda. Frances Tressady, Comique, 16 to 3; Valwyne. 20 to 1; David, I.ackwood, 25 to 1; Harvest King. The Cypher, Sister Olive, Comptroller, 33 to 1; Even Song, Purser, Happy Queen. Fred Tower, 50 to 1; Stare, Mirth-maker, Paratoo. Accarak, 100 to 1; Penshurst, Yacamunda, 200 to 1. TWENTY-FIVE IX FIELD. "While the number of entries for the race was the largest on record, 299, the field of twenty-five horses that went to the post has often been exceeded in past years, the largest ever starling having been thirty-nine in 1S90, when the great Carbine achieved his greatest of all handicap performances by winning under 145 pounds in the record-breaking time for that date of 3:28Vi. The Flemington course is a mile and three-eighths in circumference. Accarak drew the rail position for the start. Comique second, j Fred Power third and Bitalli fourth. Soon after the fall of the flag, Lewis took Paratoo to the front and led past the stand, with Mirthmaker second and the others all close behind. Paratoo maintained his lead around the turn and in the run up the backstretch. l.ut Bitalli, which had been far back in the ruck during the first mile, now moved up and had taken the lead before the stretch was reached. This he never relinquished and won by three parts of a length from Rivoli, which ran a truly superb race, having been absolutely last passing the stand. His jockey, Wilson, took the overland route with him, bringing him home on the outside of the course, and he made a brilliant finish, but could not quite connect. Accarak was a close third and Comiquo was a good fourth. A feature of the race was the showing of the three-year-old filly Frances Tressady, which only a few days before had won the Victorian Derby in the record-breaking time of 2:33 VS. she finishing fifth right behind the first four. A FAVORITES RACE. It will be seen that it was a favorites race, the first and second choices running one-two ; but Accarak, third, was at 100 to 1. Though Bitalli went to the post the publics "pick," his victory was not really a popular one, excepting only to those who held winning tickets. The great body of race-goers and players could not believe, despite his favoritism, that he possessed sufficient class to win such an event. In fact, despite the big play that he received, one of the foremost Australian turf journals, on the eve of the race, declared him an impossibility and ad , j . j vised its readers not to back him "at any price." " Which goes to show what wide dif- ferences there are among the pundits in Australia as elsewhere. -The reason so many turfmen could not accord Bitalli serious consideration was because he had never won but one race in his life before coming out forthe Melbourne Cup. Last July he captured the Tattersall Cup with 119 pounds up, two miles in 3:34. This was his sole victory in nine essays and on that occasion hp beat nothing of consequence. He ran but once at two, being unplaced. At three he started five times and was once sec- ond and four times third, all stake races. At four he was once second and once third. In more than one of these essays he had gone to the post well backed; but had failed to "deliver the goods," though invariably finishing in the first three. He was known to possess great speed and to be a real stayer, but was a lathy, loosely made gelding that seemed not to find himself, floundering around helplessly at times and appearing to be at a disadvantage in a big field. The rea- son of his starting favorite for so tremendous a test as the Melbourne Cup was the brilliant work he did in his preparation. It was of such a character that it convinced many turfmen he could not be beaten with ordinary racing luck. Rivoli. which a year ago won the Austra- lian Derby and just on the eve of the Cup had won the Melbourne Stakes, running a mile and a quarter with 12G pounds up in 2:04 record for the event, stamped him- self the best horse in Australia at weight- for age. The ride given him by his jockey, Munro. was severely criticized, but owner, J. H. S. Barnes, stated that he was perfectly satisfied with it, as the colt was difficult handle and had to be allowed to race about as he liked and not otherwise. An interest- ing fact about Rivoli is that his owners wife rode him as a hack for some time when he was coming three years old. BITALLIS LINEAGE. Here is the tabulated pedigree of Bitalli, of unusual interest to American turfmen, see- ing that his sire, October, was bred in the Nursery Stud at Lexington, Ky., by Major August Belmont: Sainfoin f Springfield X Sanda 1 f St. Simon Roquebrune.. j St. Mar- oi r 1 I guerite . "" o T Hastings... J Spendthrift to i Octoroon....- Cinderella Ortcgal Rend Or , . Grand j Lizzie Agnes . Ruenalf..... Flaneur... Yattendon First Lady s Olga........ f Piscator j5 2 Beatrice 5 f Prince n L5 rLoehiel Charlie Parapet I Rradamantc 1 Paraphrase. . Chester I Phillina Rrcd in America. The main facts about October have recently appeared in Daily Racing Form. He was foaled in 1910, sent to England, became the property of Lord Cadogan, for whom he won the Liverpool St. Leger and Newmarket Southfield Plate as a three-year-old and the Xewmarket Biennal at four, and in the fall of 1914 was sold for export to the Antipodes for the trifling sum of 500 less than ,000. He had had little chance as a sire there, owing to his having the "American stain," but had sired, previous to Bitalli, a number of winners, including Yvlrraway, winner of the . Bosehill Guineas and Tatter-sails Nursery Handicap. Octobers dam, Octoroon, was a blood-sister of Fair Play, sire of Man o War and Mad Hatter, she being by Hastings from a Bend Or mare, Ortegal, which was own sister in blood to Lily Agnes, the dam of Ormonde. AN INTERNATIONAL PEDIGREE. On the dams side, Bitalli represents some of the oldest and hardest bottomed Australian strains, superimposed upon an English foundation his fourth dam, Phillina, was English bred. Miss Phillina, dam of Bitalli, is almost a sister of Parameter, dam of Wish Wynne, one of the fastest mares raced in Australia in recent years, both these matrons being by Ruenalf and from daughters of Paraphrase, by Chester. Hence Bitalli gets the blood of two Melbourne Cup winners maternal 1 Ruenalf was by Grand Flaneur, never beaten, and the Cup winner of 1880, while Chester, sire of Paraphrase, won the event in 1S77. Both Grand Flaneur and Chester were by the famous Yattendon and both of them won the Victorian Derby as well as the Melbourne Cup. Chester, among others, sired Abercorn, the horse that thrice defeated Carbine, and was by many Antipodean turfmen considered even a greater horse than the latter. Bitalli was bred by Joe Burton, a trainer, at the Randwick, Sydney. N. S. W., course, who brought him out and raced him several times with disappointing results. He was sold later on for about ,000 and considered uncommonly well sold, too, by the knowing ones about Randwick. He was trained for the Cup race by J. Scobie and ran in the "royal blue and white hoops, red cap" of his owner, Mr. Craig, for whom he won a neat I 7 I 7 t j 7 I !. i : " i i I I ; ; " " J I I 1 i ; 3 J toj.! 1 ; j ; . . fortune in bets aside from the over 0,000 first money. There is still another fact about Bitalli making him of interest td Americans. His granddam, Parapet, was a daughter of Lb-chiel, a son of Prince Charlie, the sire of Salvator and grandsire of Imp. Lochiel was bred by her late majesty. Queen Victoria, and foaled in 1S77. He- was a grand stayer himself and a splendid sire, heading the list for Australia twice 1899-1900 after being placed in the stud there. This was another proof that Prince Charlies throat affection was the sole reason for his inability to get a distance and that but for it his fame would not have been that of Englands greatest sprinter. His blood has bred slayers wherever used and Bitalli is the latest example.
