New Blood To Strengthen Royal Stable

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 94, 21 April 1945, Page 18

New Blood To Strengthen Royal Stable

yHOUGH the pick of the yearlings bred at the National Stud, leased by His Majesty, are sent annually to Fred Darling at Beckhampton, all those bred at the Sandringham Stud still go to Newmarket, where, since the death of Willie Jarvis in 1943, they have been under the care of Captain C. B. Boyd-Rockfort at Freemason Lodge. Of recent years the Royalty - bred yearlings have fallen below the usual standard, and last season only one member of the team, Kingstone, was successful. The sequel was a weeding out last October and the acquisition of new blood—the first purchase of a yearling for many years. The most interesting newcomer is Terra-cotta, a bay filly by Turkhan— Terre-Rose, which has only to do as well as expected to be a decided acquisition both as a racer and dam. Her sire, Turkhan, is well known, for after running second in the Derby, he won the Irish Derby and the 'Yorkshire St. Leger in 1940. Turkhan was much below the class of his sire, the unbeaten Triple Crown hero, Bahrain, but few, if any, of his contemporaries were his superiors as stayers.

Terra-cotta's dam, Terre Rose, bred in 1935, had her racing career in France, where she won three races worth nearly 463,000 francs in her two seasons' activities, these including the Grand Prix de Deauville and the Grand Prix de Marseille.

The grandam, Terre Feme, won in England, and is the dam of winners, as is also the grandam Terre de Sienne. The last-named is halfsister to Bruleur (sire of four French Derby winners). Terre Rose's paternal grandsire is Rose Prince, which came over from France to win our Cesarewitch in 1923.

Terra-cotta has some of the best staying blood of both England and France in her pedigree, and so may succeed in a sphere wherein so many Sandringham - bred animals have failed in recent years. She was bred by Mr. Bailward, who secured her when she was being carried by Terre Rose for only 370gs from the Winter Paddocks Stud at the December sales of 1942. Less than two years later— last September, to be precise—that produce, Terra-cotta, realised 4100gs as a yearling.