Larkspur Has Half- Brother In Waikato

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29843, 8 June 1962, Page 4

Larkspur Has HalfBrother In Waikato

Larkspur, winner of the English Derby, has a halfbrother at stud in the Waikato, and a close relation at Te Parae Stud, Masterton. Larkspur’s half-brother is Alcimedes, which was imported by Mr L. S. Otway for his Trelawney Stud at Cambridge. Agricola, the property of a syndicate, and bought for a five-figure sum to join Sabaean at Te Parae, is closely related to the Derby winner.

Agrioola is by Precipitation from Aurora by Hyperion, and is a half-sister of Woodlark, the second dam of Larkspur. Larkspur's dam, Skylarking, is also by Precipitation.

Aurora is also the dam of Alycidon and Borealis, the latter the sire of Freelight, which recently arrived from England to join the Hampton Lodge Stud at Invercargill. ■Never Say Die, the sire of Larkspur, also has a relative at the stud in New Zealand. This is We Don’t Know, which stands at the Inglewood Stud, Kaiapoi. We Don’t Know’s dam, Marie Galante, is a half-sister to the granddam of Never Say Die.

Larkspur brought top price of 12.200gns at the Dublin yearling sales in. September, 1960.

As a two-year-old he raced four times, winning the seven-furlong Laragh Stakes

at Leopardstown by three lengths.

In the National Stakes at the Curragh a month later, he finished a close third to Mystery and Richmond in spite of losing some ground in running. He was unplaced in his final race as a two-year-old. On his first outing this season, Larkspur did not go well in the mud, finishing a long way behind My Proxy in the Madrid Free Handicap at the Curragh. Leopardstown was the scene of his second triumph a few weeks ago. He came from behind to win the mile and a half Wills Gold Flake Stakes by a length and a half.

As late as last Thursday, Larkspur’s trainer, Vincent O’Brien, had little cause for optimism, as there was still some swelling around one of the colt’s hocks.

A writer in ‘‘Racehorses of 1961,” published before the Start of the present English season, earned high marks for his judgment when he wrote the following about Larkspur: . “It seems safe to dismiss him as not having the pace necessary for the Two Thousand Guineas, but it may be a different proposition by the time the Derby comes around. He is reasonably certain to improve on his two-year-old form when he races over a distance of a mile and a half, and he will be suited by .the end-to-end gallop at Epsom.”