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FAME AFTER RACING IS ENDED SPEEDY ENGLISH BRED FILLY OPHELIA RICH IN BLOOD PRESAGING GREAT SUCCESS AS A BROOD MARE IN THE DAYS TO COME By EXILE The time is at hand when more attention must be paid to the breeding of bloodstock than was formerly the. pase. In, bygone days the brood mare phase of the subject received but scant attention, and then only so far as performance was concerned. Breeders were , prone to. think good racing mares were most likely to reproduce in their; offspring their own racing excellence, to the neglect of breeding. For may part I am convinced that racing ability has little bearing on the good brood mare question, however essential it may be in a stallion. Many of the best of the brood mares, for instance, Pocahontas and Queen Mary, are maidens. St. Angela, dam of St. Simon, won -one little race of 70 as a two-year-old; Doris, dam of Sunstar and Princess Dorrie, scored a couple of times in small races as a two-year-old ; on the other hand, Beeswing, dam ofi Nunriykirk, Newminster and Honeysuckle, won an Ascot, and four Doncaster Cups; Alice Hawthorn, dam of Thormanby, won the Goodwood Cup and two Doncaster Cups; Lily Agnes, dam of Ormonde, won a Doncaster Cup; so it goes, performance either way does not seem to have much bearing on a mares success as a producer of winners of the best sort. I, therefore, am of the unalterable opinion that size, feminine traits and appearance and breeding are the only things that do count in a brood mare. All breeders aree that the medium size, l8 to 15.2, roomy mare is best, and a good one which looks like a stud horse the exception. From this time forward it will be more difficult than ever to win the best of the races. During the past few seasons, for cause, any number of highly-bred mares have been brought to this country, and in due course the influence of these will make itself felt. One of such is Ophelia," a bay daughter of Senseless and Ghent Azalea, by John oGaunt. Ophelia first attracted my notice as a two-year-qld at Saratoga when she finished second to Pigeon Wing, and a few days later beat Marchesa II. and Sea Spray in a good field, in which vvere Cirrus, Purchase-. and Mad Hatter. This season Ophelia was a trifle slow in stepping into her stride, but fell right into it at Pimlico when she set a new mark for the three-quarters distance, her time being 1:11, beating Valor, Tippity Witchet and others, and next took three more in a row, and it must not be counted against her if she failed to concede the six-year-old Slippery Elm five pounds actual weight when they met in a mile, race on .November 22. The pedigree of Ophelia suggests brood mare success. In the first place she is of Herod descent in the male line; her sire, Senseless, tracing back to Herod by way of The Rake and the Derby winner Wild Dayrell, -which also sired the. successful brood mare sire Buccaneer. The Rake, too, sired Enigma, granddam of William III. and Pepper and Salt sire of Ophelias grandsire, Grey Leg, and of Miss Pepper, granddam cf what I take to be the best race horse of last year George Smith. . Senseless is a gray winner of over 5,000, and is by the City and Suburban winner Grey leo- Senses, by the wavy-necked Raeburn, which was the only horse to beat Isinglass, a feat Leaccpmplished in the running of the 8,000 Lancashire Plate. Nerves, granddam of Senseless is by Berserker, which won sixteen steeplechases, and here another cross of the Wild Davrell-Herod strain, for Berserkers sire was Buccaneer. All good brood mare blood this, and. because of it and his Agnes foundation I am anticipating further success for Senseless as a orood mare sire. Strong masculine strains are introduced into Ophelias pedigree by way of her oam Ghent Azalea, a daughter of John oGaunt, son of Isinglass, and the stout, though perhaps a trifle slow, blood of Carbine is brought in by Yellow Peril. Speed has Ophelia in plenty. Of Herod descent m male line, additional Herod through Berserker her sire a member of. the Agnes family, Ispnomy, St. Simon, Musket, Bend Or, Scot; tish Chief on the dams side of the house, and a member, of the No. 14 famjly, I have every confidence when the time comes in Ophelias success as a brood mare. Here-is her pedigree : . , Pepper and Salt.23 J The Rake 1 J Wild Dayrell 7 H 11 1 K f Englands Beauty jggo f Grey "Leg .. 0 I " Oxford Mixture .. -J e V;;;;... S gray, 1891 1 , . ....... j Doncaster 5 E 3,, . Quetta ........ C J 15enu x Komje. Uose .......... 1 h 2 . I j Rosicrocian "1 E r I 2 .-.. Donranee :....-... "j Fenella 0E Sb r Raeburn 7 j St. Simon ..... .11 "Angela ". ll E and ;V bay, 1890 1 . j Scottish Chief 12 E w. I Senses .....lCj, Mowerina ......... stockings ....7BS 5? bay. 1890 I. , , j Buccaneer 14 H 3 d0 Nerves 1C Berserker Anxiety 3M j S . Dolly Agnes: ..... "..J. E s U f IsinKlnss z Ison6my "19 1 i-aineiia vli I - "-189 S John oGaunt 3 Dead Lock I S f 1901 1 I- Fleche ..... 3 i St. Simon .....11 -"yA I .2S Quiver J Toxophilitc 3E 1 Dau. of Y. Melbourne. 3 M It- f C-blne 2 Musket "w. Australian 1 $ 5 Yellow bay- 1885 I Alersev -j j Knowsley 3 E I Peril ....14 -uersey CJemence - E chestnut. 1903 Bend Or 1 Doncaster 5 E I 0 Orange J Bouge Rose 1 H I Strathfleet Scottish Chief ...12 E I Masquerade 14 E
