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A ROMANCE OF BREEDING , « How a 25 Yearling Established a Leading Thoroughbred Line. — ; — « Rinovata, Sold In 1SS7 for Insignificant Sum, Was Ancestress of Diophon Cos nn«l Others. ♦ BY K. E. COUSSELL. , LONDON, England. May 10.— At Newmarket In October, 1887, Lord Scarborough paid 25 for a filly foal bred by A. W. Savile and sold in consequence of his death. This transaction was destined to exert a remarkable influence upon British thoroughbred history. The foal which made such an insignificant price was a bay filly sired by "Wenlock Stinger winner, from Traviata, by Cremorne. The last named mare was offered at the same time as her daughter. A French "breeder bought her for ,500. Next year Lord Scarborough sent the "Wenlock filly to IDoncaster, where she was knocked down for ,500 to the famous trainer Matthew T awson. Subsequently she was named Rinovata, and from her have descended in recent years such high-class race horses as Diophon, Cos, Diadem. Donnetta, Diadumenos and Eos. A 25 filly foal truly made history. As a two-year-old Binovata ran once unsuccessfully. The next year she competed in eleven races, being placed third at Lincoln in the opening week of the season. Later she was second twice and ran third at Don-caster over the St. Leger course in the Great Yorkshire handicap. • Rinovata as a four-year-old won her sixth Tace, the one mile Heath stakes at Newmarket, in which, carrying 92 pounds, she defeated eleven others by three parts of a length. Sir S. Lockhart thereupon retired his filly to the stud. RINOVATAS WINNERS. Straightaway Rinovata commenced to produce winners. Six of her produce had been successful on the turf, ere Donnetta was foaled when her dam was thirteen years -old. Rinovatas winners include Faute de Mieux won six races worth ,095 ; Fiume won Ascot Trial Stakes and five other races, and Renaissance won Babraham Plate, Newmarket, one and one-half miles. Donnetta was, of course, bred by Sir S. TxckharL Summarized, her racing career Teads that up to six years old she won thirteen races and stakes valued at 4,170. Donnetta was a high class mare, for her ■victories include the Duke of York handicap "with 113 pounds as a five-year-old at Kemp-ton Fark, "where six months later she triumphed in the Jubilee Handicap, carrying 123 pounds. These races she won under the colors of Lord dAbernon then Sir E. Vincent, who had acquired the filly from her breeder, Donnetta has proved remarkably successful at the stud. It is noteworthy that the great successes of the family have come "when crossed with Orby blood, DONNETTAS THIRD FOAL. The third foal of Donnetta was Diadumenos, by Orby. He won the Jubilee handicap just beating Wrack after a desperate race, Liverpool Autumn Cup and over 5,-000 in stakes. He of course was at the stud In England until this season when Lord dAbernon sold him to a breeder in Germany, in which country the president of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association is the British Ambassador. Diamdem, by Orby, one of the fastest mares of her time, was foaled in 1914. Her racing career terminated in 192L During six seasons Diadem won twenty-four races and stakes worth over 0,000. She won the One Thousand Guineas, and ran second in the Oaks and also second in the Cambridge-Bh ire-Having done so well with Orby, it was only natural that Lord dAbernon should use that sires best son. Grand Parade, when the Derby winner of 1919 went to the stud. Donnet*a in 1921 produced Diophon to Grand I;irade. This good looking well grown chestnut colt -was sold at Doncaster in 1922 for 0,000. As a two-year-old he won four races and 0,700 and was moreover officially handicapped as the best colt of the season. The ■victory of Diophon in the Two Thousand Guineas stakes enriched his owner by a further 1,575, TIARA BROUGHT 0,009. Before going to Grand Parade, Donnetta had visited Flying Orb, to which she bred the filly Tiara. The Aga Khan also paid ,000 for her. Tiara was disfigured by her hocks which she inherited from her sire whose hocks are away from him. She was placed in numerous races but never ran up 1 to her home trials. Another daughter of Donnetta was Dona Sol. She had bred successful animals in Aragon. Lady rhoebe and Solicitude, as well as Sombra, by Sunstar, which was in Mr. Arthur B. Hancocks Stud, but is, I think, now owned by Frederick Johnson. At the same time as the Aga Khan purchased Tiara, he had bought the previous I lot, for which he gave 5,000. This brown | filly by Flying Orb — Renaissance, was later on named Cos. Renaissance, which is half-sister to Donnetta, has bred about half a dozen winners, among them being Eos which won the Cambridgeshire, Falmouth stakes and other high class events. In 1919 Eos was sold at the 1 December Sales for 5,000 to Sir Gilbert Greenall. She had been bred to Tracery but proved barren. Lord dAbernon of course is the breeder ■ of Cos, which was a flying two-year-old I when her six victories, which were worth 0,135, included the Imperial Produce Plate, the Queen Mary stakes and Newmarket Stud I Iroduce stakes. Last season Cos ran second to Tranquil in i the One Thousand Guineas. Later she won i the Fern Hill stakes at Ascot, but next day ■ had to bow to Golden Boss and Suryakumari. Her fourth start was at Leicester, where she captured a breeders stake over ten furlongs from two other runners. It was then i announced Cos had been returned to the stud. She had won 8,020 in stakes. Six fur-lungs was her best distance. It may be that Diophon will be able to i say the twelve furlongs of the trying Derby • course. At any rate Grand Parades dam i was by Desmond, which often transmitted I staying qualities. At the same time no member ■ of the immediate family we have been i I | 1 ■ I I i i ■ considering has shown ability to stay successfully more than one and a quarter miles. It is worth recalling that Traviata the granddam of Donnetta bred one winner in England and two in France. Her dam, The White Lady, produced one winner in each of the countries named. The line goes back to Lady Blanche, whose daughter, May Queen, was the ancestress of Teddy, Gainsborough and Rosedrop. A note may be made that Donnetta was twenty-one years of age when she produced Diophon. This year Donnetta unhappily proved barren to Orphus. She has again been mated with Grand Tarade. Sir H. Cunliffe-Owen, who owns Orphus, has given Lord dAbernon a free subscription for Don- netta in 1925. Her half-sister. Renaissance, has a big and finely made bay filly by Or-i pheus, which was foaled on April 25. Itenais-i sance has returned to Orphus. Of course everybody knows that Grand Parade sired Diophon in his first stud season, which was also the record of Hurry On In the case of Cuttle. Grand Parades "book" is full for 1925.