Recalls Famous Sale: Speculation as to Probable Disposition of Belmont Horses, Daily Racing Form, 1924-12-28

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RECALLS FAMOUS SALE Speculation as to Probable Dispo- sition of Belmont Horses. Revives Memories of Record-; Breaking Dispersal of His Fathers Thoroughbreds. NEW YORK, N. Y., Dec. 27. Speculation as to the probable disposition of the breeding stud and racing stable of the late Major An-, gust Belmont revives memories of the dispersal sale of his fathers bloodstock in 1S90 and 1SD1 when 131 head brought a total of ,-150, of which the brood mares and weanlings were responsible for 70,000; the yearlings, 19,450 ; the stallions, 17,400, and the horses in training, 23,000. It was a worlds record and American breeders and fanciers united in - paying a tribute to the ripe judgment responsible for the acquisition of such a superb aggregation of thoroughbreds. The previous record was that of Lord Falmouth in England in 1881. when 79 head brought approximately 59,400 in our money, when that famous breeders horses went to the auction block after his death. . . The outcome of the? Belmont sale, which had occupied three days the race horses having been sold at Babylon on December 27, 1890, the brood mares and weanlings at tho Hunts Point paddocks of Tattersalls of New York and the stallions and yearlings at tho city repository of the same company challenged the attention of bloodstock breeders and turfmen everywhere, giving foreigners :i. knowledge of the quality of American horses and of the substantiality of the racing fabric; of the United tSates. While the sale was a success from every standpoint, there is little doubt that the race-horses and yearlings, sold at Babylon, would. have brought higher prices had the weather been favorable, and William Easton, officiating as auctioneer, as ha did at the sales on October 1G and 17, instead of Col. S. D. Bruce, A heavy snowstorm kept many away from the Babylon offering and that sale will always be remembered, for the bargains secured by those who braved tho stinging blasts of December in order to be present. NOTED HORSES SOLD. Among the lots sold on that occasion Avcro Potomac and La Tosca, by St. Blaise, tho former out of Susquehanna, by Leamington, and the latter from the French dam Toucques, by Monaique. They were the best colt and filly of the year and had given Mr. Belmont great joy in the closing days cf his life by winning the richest prizes of the year. Potomac had taken the record Futurity of all time and La Tosca had won the Fashion, Belles, Select, and July Stakes. Raceland had won the Suburban Handicap and "other prizes of note in the maroon and scarlet, and the gallant littlu , Prince Royal, so dear to the heart of his own- cr and breeder, had finished first in five, im- portant races. It is a matter of history that Potomac, bid in for 5,000 by Michael F. Dwyer, won- the Realization Stakes and other great races and retired with 15,885 to lus credit. La Tosca, bought for 3,000 by the Hough Brothers, won thirteen races for them as a. three-year-old and three more for the Ran-cocas " Stable, Mr. Lorillard having acquired her in September. Her earnings exceeded 0,000. Raceland, sold to M. F. Dwyer for ,000, went on to still greater conquests and when he retired had placed 1G,391 opposite his name. Prince Royal, bought by Philip J. Dwyer, won much more than the , GOO hu cost, and the same is true of practically every one of the horses in training sold on Decern- ber 27lh at the farm. HIS HIGHNESS INCLUDED. Conspicuous among the yearlings offered on the same day was His Highness, by The HI Used, from the noted English mare. Princess, by Great Tom. James Rowe was his purchaser at ,100, but the colt raced -as tho property of Gideon and Daly. He captured the great stakes of the turf, including the Futurity as a two-year-old and retired with a, record of having won 13, 0S0. Another juvenile in the same lot to achieve fame was St. Florian, by St. Blaise Feu , Follet, by Kingfisher. He cost Messrs. J. A. and A. H. Morris. , GOO and was the highest priced yearling of the . sale. His-winnings at two and three totaled more than 0,000. He began the year of 1S91 with five straight victories and won five out of six starts at three. Victory, by Brag Viola, by Kisber, bought by William Lakeland for ,600, was a stake colt at two, when .he defeated His Highness at even weight in" the Double Event, while Fidelio, Regina, Tarantella, Caliph. St. Carolus. St. Mark, Bel Demonio, Schuylkill and King Cadmus all won races. Magnolia, by The 111 Used-Magnetism, bought by Baron Leopold de Ro.hschild for ,100, "gave the sale a sen- tContiuueil on sixteenth pngi;. RECALLS FAMOUS SALE! Continued from first page. timental touch as Mr. Belmont had made i importations from the Rothschild stud at frequent intervals. It was good judgment on the part of the executors of the estate to postpone the sale of the other holdings until the autumn, when the foals had been weaned. The Hunts Point paddocks were thronged when the sale bogan on the morning of October 1". The jHagginT Sanford, Lorillard, Young, Daly, : . Ruppert, Reed, Morria, Fleischmann and other breeders from all parts of the Union taking part in a way that made previous records for bloodstock look commonplace. Representatives of the Belmont Brothers August Perry and O. II. P. were also after some " of the choice mares whoso names were linked with the history of the Xurscry Stud. t General Stephen Sanford of Amsterdam igave 520,500 for Viola, by Kisber, dam of iVictory; the late Major Belrhont bought the j nineteen-year-old Princess for 4,100; O. 11. P.. -Belmont paid 513.G00 for the eighteen-j year-cld Susquehanna, by Leam.ngton, that ! had thrown Potomac, while General Sanford j secured Lady Primrose, by The 111 Used, for 3,000. .Other sales were 512,100 for Fides, by The 111 Used, which fell to the bid of August Belmont; 0,500 for the twenty-;three-year-old Toucque-S by Monarque, dam cf La Tosca; which fell to the bid of James Rowe, and ,200 for Filette, by Kingfisher, dam of -Fides, which was taken by the .Messrs. Morris. - The competition for the stallions and yearlings, the night pf the seventeenth was equally as keen. Those who were present on that occasion will ncver?f orget .the picture, as the Derby winner St. Blaise, then in his eleventh year, entered the sales ring. The arena resembled a first night at the opera. Men and women in evening dress surrounded the ring in which the animals were paraded, while the gallery was fringed with eager faces. "William Easton, than whom "there was never a more finished auctioneer, drunk with the success of the previous day, was at his scintillating best. . As the gorgeous horse halted for a moment to give back the admiring glances that were his due as a Derby winner, as a sire and as a superb individual, the throng broke into a salvo of applause. The horse plunged affr.ghtcdly and Mr. Easton- begged for silence lest .the animal should harm himself. When quiet was restored St. Blaise stood like a statue, the light glistening on thj irridesccnt gold of his coat. Accounts differ as to the manner of bidding on St. Blaise. Some say the first offer was 3,000, but 0,000 was bid in almost the same breath and the echo had not died away when Charlie Reed, noted soldier of fortune and owner of the Fairview Stud, half rose in his chair and called: "One hundred thousand dollars!" Mr. Reeds course had been carefully planned. He knew that half a dozen breeders wanted the horse and as he subssque-ntly i"emarked, lie "earthquaked" .them by going to the limit of what he considered the horse was worth at a single bid. It was characteristic of the man and his calling. Magnetizer, the besfof the other sires, went to Thomas W. Shrcve for 0,000. The order of sale had been personally arranged by the late chairman of the Jockey Club, and he sent the chestnut colt by St. Blaise, out of Lady Primrose, into the ring after the stallions. This youngster sold for 0,000 to Jacob Ruppert of New York. James Rowe, who had trained the Belmont horses for several years, paid 1,000 and 0,000. respectively, for a bay filly by The HI Used-Lady Rosebery and a bay filly by St. Blaise Clara. Foxhall I. Keene gave 0,000 for the chestnut colt by St. Blaise Bella Donna, that subsequently raced as St. Leonards. Ther. were numerous purchases between ,000 and ,000, and a distribuion of the material to nearly every breeding center in the Union. Stake and purse awards were much more meagre in 1S00 than today. It is a safe prediction that an equally well-bred consignment of blood stock would sell for more at this time. What the holdings of the late Major Belmont would bring, should the executors decide to offer them en bloc, is a matter of surmise. There is much that is most desha-ble in the way of racing material, with Ordinance and Ladkin the bright particular stars of the older horses and half a dozen potential luminaries among the juveniles. Most of them carry the blood of those that made history a generation ago in the Xur-sury Stud. , The decision of the executors will be awaited With interest.


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Local Identifier: drf1924122801_1_9
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800