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dkA REFLECTIONS — — — — — — — By Nelson Dunstan — — — ■ — — — Airborne, a Gray Horse, Wins Epsom Derby Prejudice Against Gray Horses Vanishing The Tetrarch, Spotted Wonder/ Was Fastest Mahmoud Making Good at Stud in U. S. A. NEW YORK, N. Y., June 6. So Airborne, a gray horse, won the Epsom Derby at 50 to 1 on Wednesday. When we read the cable we could not help but think that not so many years ago gray race horses and stallions were not popular. This has always puzzled us, for the reason that gray horses are so few in number compared to those of other colors. True, Stefan the Great, Royal Minstrel and other gray stallions came to this country, but eventually were shipped back to the other side. But, on the other hand, lets take a look at the success of Mahmoud since he has been in this country. Mahmoud, as you know, is a son of Blenheim II. out of Mah Mahal, and she in turn is a daughter of Gainsborough — Mumtaz Mahal. Mumtaz Mahal was one of the fastest fillies ever sired by The Tetrarch. i I i i i I ► ► ► I "the spotted wonder," who often is said to have been the fastest horse the world has ever known. At least that is what the late Steve Donoghue said, his exact words being: "The fastest horse I ever rode was The Tetrarch, and in some ways he was the greatest horse I have ever known. He was the nearest thing to a bullet in animal shape that I ever met." Donoghue, during his long career in the saddle, rode many of Englands greatest horses, and it often has been said that he was one of the best judges of a horse ever known to the British riding ranks. Blenheim II., sire of Mahmoud, certainly needs no introduction to the American racegoing public. Before he was brought here he was sire of the Italian champion Donatello, the French classic winners Drap dOr and Blue Bear, and from a mating with Mah Mahal he begot Mahmoud, who duplicated his own feat of winning the Epsom Derby. Blenheim n. is a brown stallion, so the gray of Mahmoud had to come from Mah Mahal, and hers in turn came from Mumtaz Mahal. Probably there has never been a sire and son brought to this country who has had such splendid success in stud as Blenheim II. and Mahmoud. Blenheim II. led the sires of America in 1941, and in this country he begot Whirlaway, Mar-Kell, Thumbs Up, Nellie L. and Miss Keeneland. This year he has the best two-year-old to show to date in Jet Pilot, who just last week won the National Stallion Stakes from Peace Harbor, Noble Creek and seven other high-class two-year-olds. Jet Pilot has yet to prove that he has the promise of Whirlaway and other sons of Blenheim II., but to date he has done all they have asked of him, for he has been undefeated in all three of his starts. Mahmoud, the last gray horse to win the Epsom Derby before Airborne, was brought to this country by C. V. Whitney, at whose farm in Kentucky he now stands. While Blenheim II. is the sire of stake winners in four countries, his son, Mahmoud, has gone him one better by siring stake winners in five countries. Over here, he has been the sire of Alabama, Jeep, Olympic Zenith, Greek Warrior and other good ones. Just as Blenheim H. has he best two-year-old colt to date, so has Mahmoud the best two-year-old filly in First Flight, a bay out of Fly Swatter. First Flight is due to run in Aqueducts Astoria at Belmont Park on Saturday, and a victory for her would be another feather in the cap of the gray stallion Mahmoud. If you were to check the gray coloring of Mahmoud, you would find that it has not missed a generation since 1723. In fact, the gray thoroughbreds of the world today derive their color in the vast majority of instances, from two horses, these being Alcocks Arabian, sire of Crab 1722 and the Brownlow Turk, grandam of Miss Belvoir 1719. In the majority of breeding journals, gray is mostly referred to as a color. Actually, it is the absence of color and this was deeply gone into by the late J. B. Robertson, who was — until his death two years ago — a veterinarian, a professor on thoroughbred breeding at one of Englands leading universities and also the most prolific writer on breeding during his years. It was his claim that "gray is not a true color, but a lack of it due to an inhibitory factor carried in the germ cells of one or another of the parents, which prevents the passing of pigment into the lumen or central channel of the hair of the individual." True, the average person is puzzled by these scientific explanations of coat color, but the fact remains — and it is a proven fact — that the gray coloring of a horse passes from generation to generation. Although there are some instances in the stud books where this could be denied, they are mistakes in registrations, rather than in the facts as proven by science. There has never been a gray horse whose sire or dam, or both, were not gray. Pure gray is extremely rare, for it can only come through the mating of two grays and these instances are very rare. As stated above, the gray race horse was not popular with trainers for many years, but, every so often, one pops up to confound those who disliked them. Why Royal Minstrel was ever sent back to England has ever been a mystery to us, for his record as a sire shows that he deserved a better fate. But the feeling against grays has slowly worn away in this country. At the Keeneland sales last summer there was a gray colt led into the ring who was by Mahmoud, out of Nadushka. After a spirited bidding duel, he was knocked down to Mrs. M. E. Whitney for 5,000. A chestnut filly by Mahmoud out of Witchcraft went to the Brookmeade Stable for 2,200. Still another colt by Mahmoud, out of Richmond Rose was sold to J. A. Kinard, Jr., for 8,000, and, with all that, a gray horse has once again won Englands great three-year-old race. In proportion to other colors, not many gray horses are seen but there are times when one of them shows so much brilliance as a race horse or a sire that it is difficult to realize how the prejudice against them ever came into existence.
