RACING NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1936, 8 May 1880, Page 3

RACING NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

By an Eye Witness. Now that the list of sires advertised in Messrs Weatherby’s sheet calendar for tho forthcoming season is somewhat complete, I purpose making a few remarks on the various stallions that the English breeders are invited to patronise to perpetuate the thoroughbred of the future. In so doing 1 think that no animal, however good he may have been as a youngster, can be looked upon as a sound animal who failed either in his legs or wind to stand a preparation after his two-year-old year, and I should look upon such as little calculated to enhance the prestige of our celebrated and once almost invincible race horse. The demand, however, in England is so great for speedy horses rather than for stayers that any horse who has shown extraordinary speed is thought good enough to breed from, and all defects, such as bad legs and roaring, are overlooked, if only the sire has fashionable blood in his veins, and could do wonders over a five-furlong course. Let us hope that before long this state of things may alter, and that soundness and stoutness may be more sought after than speed alone. Now that Adventurer is no longer offered to the public, although I believe he is still alive, I must begin with the first on the list, the gigantic Ambergris, by Hermit, out of Frangipani, by Longbow, is bred more for speed than stamina, and it is wonderful that so large a thoroughbred of the coach horse order should have stood sound up to his sixth year; his form on the turf was only of tho handicap class, and he may be said to come under tho denomination of the useful racehorse. A mile was the utmost he could compass with anything like case to himself, but being sound , and of a good constitution I should not be , surprised if out of certain mares he got , animals to run, and ha is certainly not dear at j 10 sovs. Prince Soltykoff’s two are next on , tho list, the neat little Balfe first coming under notice. His career on the turf ex- , tended until his four-year-old season, and by ( his performances he just missed being of the first class. Although never a stayer, he very nearly proved victorious in the St. Leger, as { he ran a good second to Craigh Millar. He j also showed other very creditable form, win- ( ning in all thirteen races for his noble owner. , He is a dark rich brown, by Plaudit (a son of - Thormanby), out of Bohemia, by Weather- ( bit, and his services cannot be deemed dear at c 10 guineas; but for getting really first-class s racehorses I should consider his diminutive , size is against him. Now Holland, his com- , panion at the stud, is on quite a different ] scale, being as fine an up-standing horse as ( one could well wish to see. He is a dark bay, ( by Young Melbourne, out of the flying mare . Bounceaway. His performances until he ] became four years old were very moderate, but ] in winning tho Great Metropolitan Stakes, ( the Goodwood Oup, and sundry of Her Majesty’s Guineas, besides running Freeman j to a head for the Alexandra Plate, over a j three-mile course at Ascot, he proved himself a good stayer, and when five years old ho retired from the turf to the paddock, where, from his fine size and power, he ought to make a good name for himself, and his services at 10 guineas must be accounted cheap. Beauclero, who on account of his unsoundneas was obliged virtually to retire ’ from the turf at two years old (although t brought out to run for the St. Leger, in which 1 race he broke down), cannot be accounted cheap at 25 guineas, as although his form as a ( two-year-old was good, it must be a dangerous thing to breed from an animal with any malformation about the forelegs. Therefore, t beyond his breeding, by Eosicrucian, from t Bonny Bell, by Yoltigeur out of Queen Mary j (Blink’s Bonny’s dam), there is little to re- £ commend in him. Bertram, by The Duke, 1 his dam Constance by Faugh-a-Ballagb, has 1 already made his mark at tho stud, as Bobert-the-Devil claims him as his sire, and although he could not really be termed a thorough stayer, he showed some very good form over all sorts of distances, and having some real f staying blood in his veins,! cannot but predict 1 a very successful career at the stud for Mr ] Barclay’s horse, who must be cheap at 25 c guineas, especially as he won many races t when six years old, which itself testifies 1 to his thorough soundness. The five c sires standing at the resuscitated Cob- i ham Stud Farm includes the celebrated ( Blair Athol, who has been so many years at £ the stud that the doings of his numerous 1 orogeny speak for themselves. I may mention, 1 however, that as a rule speed, and not stamina, is their characteristic, although the pale faced chesnut is credited with the paternity 1 of such animals as Prince Charlie, Craigh c Miller, and Silvio. His fee is 100 guineas, at 1 which I have little doubt that his subsorip- t tion will soon be full. Wild Oats, by Wild £ Dayrell, from Golden Horn by Harkaway, ] was a very uncertain customer when in train- 1 ing. He is the sire of that beautiful filly ] who, I am much afraid, takes after e her sire, as she has on too many occasions 1 given evidence, and as nothing is more die- c appointing than a race horse that can go but will not, I should think twice before putting e into requisition tho services of the son of c Wild Dayrell at 50 guineas. Mr Cartwright’s t Darby winner, George Frederick, is ad- t vortiaed at the same sum. Ho has j already produced throe winners, but un- c luckily, his best son, the Duke of Cumberland, is e dead. His beautiful daughter Frivola, however, 1 did sufficient to prove that this young sire’s s stock can gallop, and I fully expect to see t him high up in the scale of winners before t many seasons are over. Kaiser surely ought 1 to bo cheap at a charge of twenty guineas, as ( his form when on the turf, throughout his 1 long career, was first-class. Ho was unfortunate enough to have to compete in the 1 classic races with such animals as Gang Forward (whoso exact equal he was), Marie t Stuart and Doncaster, otherwise ho would 1 have won the three big events, nine years out of ten; and was this stout little son of 1 Skirmisher and Eegina only a size bigger, I know of no horse at the stud more likely to I get good race horses. Cadet, who has won races in Austria, I know nothing about, but if i breeding goes for anything he surely ought to make his mark, ss nothing can be better than . his pedigree, by Buccaneer, out of Dahlia by Orlando : ten guineas is the charge made for his services. At Maiden Deer Park, Surrey, several equine celebrities have found a home, amongst them being Sir Joseph Hawley’s celebrated Derby winner Blue Gown, who, although, I believe, sold to the Germane, has been leased for a number of years to serve in England, we have yet to see how his stock turn out here, although they have done well in another country. His performances on the turf are too well known to need recapitulation hero, but as he won races from half-a-milo up to two miles and a half, he fairly proved that ho could go both fast and slay, and few will ever forget who witnessed it the grand way in which, when a three-year-old, he carried his stupendous burden of nine stone in the Cambridgeshire up that severe hill, where he ran second to Sec Saw, giving him 121bs, therefore, if looks, breeding, and first class performances go for anything, surely the success at tho stud of Blue Gown ought to be a foregone conclusion. Curiously enough his companion at the stud is his Cambridgeshire conqueror See Saw, who although an excellent performer, was not of tho same class as his illustrious associate, but his doings on the turf wore more than creditable, his best distance being about one mile, as his victories in tho Boyal Hunt Cup, October Handicap, and Cambridgeshire will point out, ho is already the sire of somo fairly good animals, omongst them being Cradle, Lady Lumley, Japonica, Abbaye, and Discord, all of whom are nonslayers, like their sire, who, however, can boast of havirg most fashionable blood in his veins, being by Buccaneer from Margery Daw by Brocket by Melbourne. la another box at the same stud is located Mr Orawfurd’s St. Leger and Doncaster cup winner, Craigh Millar, byßlair Athol out of Miss Boland, who may be looked upon in the light of a fairly good horse, but certainly not at quite the top of tho tree, as, although he won two important events, he quickly went down when opposed to such a horse as Galopin, and from his rather in and 1 out running I should look upon him as one not quite to bo trusted when the pinch came. I hear that his stock, which have not yet had . time to appear in public, are very good, so I

; hope that the impression I hold of him, that his heart is not quite in the right place, may not be transmitted to them, but I do not consider his services cheap atSOgs. Soapstone, the last son of grand old Touchstone’s left in the country, also stands at the same stud, but, as his price is forty guineas, I am afraid that few owners of brood mares will be tempted to send to him at that figure. He is the sire of a few winners, but nothing of note has yet sprung from his loins, although he has now been at the stud, both in England and Germany, for some years. He, however, ran on until a good ago, but his legs, like many of Touchstone’s get, were none of the best. I should, therefore, not recommend Soapstone as a sire calculated to produce either stout or sound animals. At Moorlands Stud Farm, near York, stand Mr Yyner’s Two Thousand Guineas’ winner, Camballo, whose fee (twenty guineas) does not seem excessive. Although not a horse calculated to suit every sort of mare, with many he might nick well, but I should expect his stock to bo rather delicate in constitution, as he was himself, although, when well, I think he was decidedly the best horse of his year over one mile. Ho was never in proper trim after hi a victory in the Two Thousand Guineas, and as he was sadly abused by running him in the Darby, the Grand Prix at Paris, and afterwards at Ascot when dead amiss, it is hardly a matter of surprise that ha took leave of the turf at the expiration of his three-year old season, and I hope the handsome eon of Cambuacan and Little Lady may meet with more consideration at the stud than he did at the hands of his owner when on the turf. At Finstall, Bromsgrovo stands the Cesarewitch winner, Cardinal York, by Newminstor, from Licence, by Gameboy, whoso blood alone ought to recommend him to the notice of breeders. He has now been at the stud for some seasons, and I am surprised he has got nothing better than such animals as Deacon, Fortitude, and Eminence, but being himself a grand horse I hope his stock may improve, which is more than probable, as I have often noticed that horses do not get their beat sons and daughters during their early years at the stud.