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Lord Hirst, English Owner, Has Crossed Great Divide Late Sportsmans Diolite Won 2,000 Guineas in 1930 By Special Correspondent. NEWMARKET, England.— Another well known owner of horses, Lord Hirst, for years a martyr to rheumatism, recently has joined those of the Great Majority. He enjoyed his racing and always considered the sport of kings a bond between his employes and himself. He relished having his men come to him to talk about his horses. Coming to England at the age of 20, Lord Hirst built up a small business into the General Electric Company, employing thousands of workers throughout Great Britain. He paid his employes some of the highest wages in the industry and gave them every consideration. His one great success on the turf was winning the classic Two Thousand Guineas Stakes at Newmarket in 1930 with Diolite, who scored over Paradine, Silver Flare and others, including the subsequent Derby Stakes winner Blenheim, now at stud in America. Diolite ran his best race here, but, being deficient in stamina, he failed to show to advantage in the Derby or St. Leger Stakes. He also disappointed at Royal Ascot and in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket. Diolites sire. Diophon, a son of the Derby Stakes winner Grand Parade, out of the great race mare and winner-producer Don-netta. also won the Two Thousand Guineas in 1924, the first classic to fall to the chocolate and green hoops silks of the Aga Khan. Diolite was bred by Col. Charles W. Birkin. and was out of Needle Rock, by the 1903 "Triple Crown" hero Rock Sand. Before leaving this country for Australia in 1928, Sir Hugo Hirst, as he then was known, authorized the Lambourn trainer Fred Templeman to buy him a yearling for any sum up to two thousand guineas about 0.500 . At the Newmarket October sales that year Templeman paid only ,260 for Diolite, who won 9,735 by his victory in the Two Thousand Guineas Stakes. Another cheap purchase in recent years to do well for Lord Hirst was Hyland Brume, a consistent bay unsexed son of the French-bred Brimeux, out of Hylands. by Golden Boss, that cost his owner only 50 and was the last horse to carry his Oxford blue with white hooped sleeves and white cap silks to victory. He won two races last season. When Lord Hirst was asked why he became a peer, he replied, "To show what opportunities England offers to a penni- I less lad who is not even British by birth."
