STALLION LACKHAM

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 42, 17 August 1935, Page 22

STALLION LACKHAM

SIRE WHO STAMPS STOCK

. Numerous high-class stallions are to be available for the owners of thoroughbred mares in the districts adjacent to Wellington in the coming breeding season, which begins early next month, but there are few who have better claims to notice than the Roi Herode horse Lackham, who has convincingly'proved his ability to get good winning stock and who will again be standing the season at his owner Mr. W. T. Bailey's stud at Ashhurst. While he had Musketoon on lease for a time to provide suitable outcrossings for his own mares, many of whom were progeny of Lackham, Mr. Bailey leased Lackham to his son in Taranaki, but with the continued success •: of Lackham's stock he has again established him at the Ashhurst stud.

Lackham, now fifteen years old, at what is generally recognised 'as the best age for a stallion, was bred by Lord Glanely arid was imported to the Dominion from England by Mr. E Riddiford in 1924, when he was four years old. He was lightly raced in England as a three-year-old, and he was placed in good company, including a second in the Hurst Park Paradise Three-Year-Old Handicap, 1} miles, beaten half a length, and a third in the Newmarket Dullingham Stakes, 1£ miles, beaten by Hurry Off and Gretna Green. In the Dominion Mr. Riddiford started the horse twice as a five-year-old (New Zealand time) for a win at Woodville, then disposed of him to Mr. Bailey, who desired him for the stud. However, after doing several seasons in his new sphere, he was still so full of vitality that Mr. Bailey decided to give him some more racing, when he was ten years old, and to general' surprise (at least this is the inference from the sensational dividend near three figures he paid at Pahiatua) he quickly collected a couple of winning stakes, the other being at Wairarapa. In these races he fairly worried his opponents out of. the money, as one would expect a horse of his class I to-do. His stock at 'this time were beginning to show their worth, so after his Wairarapa racing his brief term back among the gallopers was closed. NUMEROUS LACKHAM WINNERS. The Lackham winners have been so numerous in the first few seasons and are so well known that it is unnecessary to enumerate them all. They include Golden Wings, Golden Chance, and' Golden Treasure (three full-brothers, the two last recent winners in Sydney), Lack (W.R.C. Wellesley and C.J.C. Welcome Stakes), Mahora (W.R-C Whyte Handicap). Persham, Arvada,. Beacon Fire, Brown Betty, Gibraltar, etc. Golden Wings, in winning the Great Northern Guineas, set up record time for that race, and a little over twelve months ago he was beaten only byUhe shortest of margins in the A.J.C. T>oncaster Handicap by the great Chatham, a decision that met with a mixed reception, popular though Chatham was with Sydney crowds. The L-ckhams have been highly serviceable horses, witlvtheir best distance a mile, though a mile, and a quarter is also well within their range.

Lackham is a truly handsome light! chestnut horse, and he transmits his colour and markings to most of his progeny, though a few of his good winners have been browns or blacks. His gets are usually powerfully conformed with plenty of bone, and they are for the main part clean-limbed and very easy to train, the few who have been otherwise owing their disabilities chiefly to accidents in their early preparation or during racing. There are few sires in the Dominion at present who stamp their offspring with greater precision than Lackham does, and this is always a desirable characteristic in a sire. THE HEROD MALE LINE. The male line to which Lackham belongs is the Herod, tracing back to the Byerley Turk, one of the three famed progenitors of the English thoroughbred. For fifty years the descendants of Herod ran neck-'and neck with those of Eclipse, but then came a time when-the Herod line began to fade in England, though it was still a very potent force in France, America, and Australia (through Fisherman). It had seemingly almost gone to the wall in England, when/suddenly and sensationally it was restored in Ireland by the grey horse Roi Herode, whose death, after the line had been revived to its pristine glories, occurred a few years back. Roi Herode became the sire of many.great horses, but none among them was greater than The Tetrarch, the "Spotted Wonder" as he was called, who carried everything before him over the shorter distances and left the Turf unbeaten. Incidentally his death was reported from Ireland last week. AmOng the other familiar. horses sired by Roi Herode were Lackham, Chrysolaus, and King John, who came to this part of the world; and horses sired by The Tetrarch (who commanded top price among serving stallions for many years in England) included Tetratema, Chief Ruler, Tea Tray, and Magnus, the last' three tat the stud in the Dominion. The line is thus well proved in New Zealand, and it is recognised mainly for speed, though already two of the' Chief Rulers, Admiral Drake and Gold' Trail, have won the Auckland Cup. ;. : \ ' lXckham'S female line. Lackham's dam, Jeuriesse, was also dam of the year-younger Grand Knight, whom /Mr. Riddiford imported to the Dominion ;at the same, time as Lackham, and who performed with marked distinction on, the Turf and then had a short and promising career at the stud but unfortunately- died in his third season.1 Jeunesse, v who was a half-sister to Mimetic!s dam Joyeuse, was by Polymelus ?; (son .'. of Cyllene and five times .premier sire of England) from Joie deViyre (a brilliant two-year-old and dam of Alan Breck, winner of the' New Stakes, Ascot), by Galiriule (son of Isondiny) from Melinda, by Melton (son of Master Kildare) from Fame" (third dam of Serempnd, sire of Mollison), by Statesman (son of Young Melbourne) from Quest, by Speculum (son of Vedette) from Solitude (half-sister to the Derby winner Hermit, to Steppe1, and to Chanionesse, third dam of the Derby .winner Minoru and fifth danr of the Derby winner Grand P,arade),,; by Blair Athol.

The Bruce Lowe family from which Lackham descends maternally is the No. '5., This family ;is described by Lowe as being most cosmopolitan in its pliability to mate with:other families. One needs only-to mention that it is one of the strongest families \in the present New Zealand Stud Book. The great taproots here' V have included Steppe, Agitation, Vanity (ancestress of'Stepdancer, VWarstep, etc.), Rupee (ancestress: of Spade Guinea, Nelson, etc.), and Lady Helen (ancestress, of Reremoana, Golden Hair, etc:). • •; It is the family' of course to which Stepniak and Grand Knight belonged, and so did Provocation, (Elevation, Demosthenes, Merry Moment, as. well as Magnus, Mimetic, and Shambles in the present Stud Bo.ok,: so! that it is a thoroughly welL-proven imale as well as female line in the Dominion. Besides this Lackham has the particularly valuable sire figure 3, and also plenty of the running figures 1 and 2 in his top removes, so that he should appeal to those who desire to mate their mares on the Bruce Lowe plan. s Lackham, ; without; the full opportunities that many of the Dominion's sires have ; received in high-class mares, has got some splendid performers, indeed Golden Wings is one of the most brilliant horses the Dominion has'ever had, arid many more . first-class racehorses promise 'to be got by him in coming yearsr He is-the'right type of sire for owners . desiring good-looking arid speedy stock, arid; in addition his progeny stay well "up to middle distances, with the possibility that soms will yet successfully negotiate the very longest journeys: