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That American Stain Again fly SALVATOR . t 1 I 1 1 i • 7, 8 j 8 ] I I j 7 j 9 j I 9 3 8 5 j 8 j t 9 9 5 7 7 7 8 3 7 ? 6 7 I 6 j 6 i 6 I ? j 5 7 | I I 7 7 ] 7 7 5 jj J j 8 3 6 5 6 5 6 b l j When on June 9, the historic Ei.glish« Derby was won in record-breaking fashion by Dante, it once again disfigured ? the records of "the worlds greatest horse race" with the "American stain." This "blot on the scutcheon of the most famous of all turf events is not, of course, the first one. No. 1 in the series was affixed when as far back as the year 1881, the American-bred and owned colt Iroquois won the Derby. He was by the English stallion Leamington pronounced Lemmington, by the way and out of the American mare, Maggie B. B. No. 2 came in the year 1907, when the winner was Orby. he by the English stallion Orme and out of the American mare Rhoda B.. by Hanover. No. 3 came in the year 1914. when the winner was Durbar II. He was bred in France and was by the English stallion Ra- belais out of the American mare Armenia. by Meddler English; grandam, Urania, by Hanover. Grand Parade and Mahmoud No. 4 came in the year 1919. when the winner was Grand Parade, he by Orby. the winner in 1907 and No. 2 in this exhibit. No. 5 came in the year 1936, when the winner was Mahmoud now a successful sire in this country. He was by the Eng-3 lish stallion Blenheim II. now a famous sire in this country and on his dams side ran directly back to Americus Girl, she be-1 ing by the American stallion. Americus better known in this country as Rey del Carreres, under which name he raced before being taken abroad. No. 6 is that of 1945: affixed, as afore-j said, by Dante. That colt, though Eng-J lish-bred, was sired by the Italian stallion Nearco. Though bred in Italy, Nearco goes directly back, on his dams side, to the American mare Sibola, she having been his great-grandam. By what is indeed a remarkable coinci- dence, Iroquois, the first of the six English Derby winners carrying the "American Stain," was bred by the late Pierre Loril- lard; while the sixth and last of them. Dante, carries his through Sibola. as noted, and that mare was also bred by Lorillard. Sibola, foaled as far back as 1896, was taken to England to race and there, under the colors of Lord Marcus Beresford, proved a very high-class filly, and a "clas- sic winner, taking the One Thousand Guineas of 1899. Being later on put to breeding, Sibola had a filly by Spearmint the Derby winner of 1906 that was called Catnip. This filly was taken to Italy and used as a broodmare and there produced a daughter called Nogara, that was first a brilliant performer and then produced Nearco. a horse that never lost a race. After winning all the great two- and »three-year-old stakes of Italy he was taken to Paris and there won the Grand Prix of 1938. in which he defeated both the Eng-season. He was then retired and soon after sold to England for 00,000. What is particularly interesting -to Americans is that after we reach Sibola, the great*grandam of Nearco, we strike a long chain of American-bred mares which stretches back for more than 100 years and a dozen generations. Sequence of American Mares Here is the sequence: Sibola 1896 1 , by The Sailor Prince. Saluda 1833, by Mortemer. Perfection « 1875, by Leamington. Maiden 1862 , by Lexington. Kitty Clark 1853 . by Glencoe. Miss Obstinate 1829, by Sumpter. Jenny Slamerkin «1823, by Tiger. Hannah Harris 1807, by Buzzard. Indiana 1 1802 1 . by Columbus. Jane Hunt 1796 , by Paragon. Moll 177-, by Figure. Slamerkin 1769, by Wildair. These twelve mares, all bred in America : and, as aforesaid, comprising over a cen-Itury of continuous time in the building up of Nearcos maternal line, go then to the I famous Cub Mare I she the dam of Slamer-Ikin, imported into New York City in 1765 I by James De Lancey and familiarly known I as "the grandmother of the American Stud Book, she being the ancestress of a far greater number of stake winners bred in this country than any other foundation matron recorded in that work. : Nearco Just Misses Exclusion The six Derby winners listed above all strain to American ancestors which, ac- cording to the "Jersey Act" enacted by the English Jockey Club in 1913. are not thoroughbred because, while recorded in I the American Stud Book, they are not .recognized as eligible for registry in the British Stud Book. Nearco, however, "creeps under the can-jvas" because his great-grandam. the American mare Sibola, was taken to England before the Jersey Act was passed and had I been registered in the Stud Book there as I thoroughbred previously. But today, and ever since 1913, if another American mare, bred on precisely similar lines, were to "be sent to England for breeding purposes, she would be denied registry and stigmatized as "half -bred." The glaring inconsistency and direct injustice of such juggling of basic facts and I truths is too apparent to require farther j analysis other than to say that it violates , all precepts of equity and puts sports-j manship to shame. So, while no less than six different English Derby winners have carried the I "American stain," the American thoroughbred remains, according to the "Jersey ! Act" and its perpetrators, merely a "half-l bred" — and his blood taboo the world ■ around. America itself alone excepted.
