AN AUSTRALIAN RACE HORSE FOR THE ENGLISH TURF.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 838, 26 March 1867, Page 3

AN AUSTRALIAN RACE HORSE FOR THE ENGLISH TURF.

Wb learn from the Sydney " Sporting Life," that Mr. Tait is contemplating sending his colt, The Barb, to England, in order that the "best colt ever bred in Australia" may try his speed against the best horses in the old country. Every person who takes an interest in the colonial turf will be glad to see Mr. Tait carry his intention into effect, and will heartily wish him success. No horse bred in Australia has ever yet been raced in Great Britain, and should The Barb be shipped at Sydney, and landed safely in Eegland, his appearance on the English turf would be an event of no inconsiderable interest in the sporting world. The only Australian-bred horse, so far as we know, for which a similar honor was 1 ever contemplated, was Sir Hercules, the sire of The Barb ; and his breeder, Mr. C. Smith, in Sydney, had gone so far as to take a passage for his colt, when two years of age, and had his box made and fitted for the voyage. The death of Mr. Smith prevented this intention being realised, as, just | previously to the departure of the vessel that was to have conveyed Sir Hercules to England, Mr. Smith expired suddenly, and the whole of his valuable horses sold in the colony. Seeing the good service Sir Hercules has done as a sire, both in New South Wales and this colony, we need not regret that the experiment of sending an Australian colfc to England was not made at that time, but we shall be exceedingly pleased to hear of Mr. Tait sending home a son of Sir Hercules. The following extract from the Sydney " Sporting Life " furnishes the information of Mr. Taifc's intention : — - Within the last few days people have been talking about The Barb being sent to England, and from what I can learn there appears every likelihood of such an event coming off. Sending a racehorse from Australia to England suggests many considerations which at first sight do not appear to the racing man who is conversant only with the colonial turf; so that what looks on paper a very good thing may turn out very much otherwise, and vice versa. Some people quite scout the idea of taking The Barb to race in England, and think, or say they do, that he would have no earthly chance with the English horses; while others rush just as wildly into the opposite extreme, and declare tbat no English horse could touch our Champion colt. I believe both these are wrong, for I

f can see no reason why The Barb shoulc fc not arrive in England in such good order as j would enable his owner to bring him tcftht 3 post as fit as ever he was in his life ; arid, p although time is by no means an infallible f test, I believe that The Barb, in the same ■ condition as he was on the Champion day. f would be as dangerous as he was amongst t the would-be champions afc Flemington, The Barb is a really sound colt, of good constitution, and a temper not likely to be ruffled by a voyage ; for which reason I think he could be landed in England without tbe t least trouble or accident. That his legs [ are of the very best may very safely be inferred, even by those wbo never saw them, from the fact of his having been continually . in work during the last twelve months, . without ever being shin-sore for a moment. , Since his first appearance at Home-bush he * has been trained to run at all distances up to three miles ; and when accidents happened to older horses of the string, the duty of pulling the stable through devolved > upon the three year old. For all these reasons I have no sort of doubt that he would stand a preparation in England quite as well as he bas in his own country. Good ground may easily be got to work him on , 4 and it will not be difficult fco find a good trial horse to get his measure. Then the question arises as to what races there are in England for which The Barb could run upon pretty fair terms with the English bred horses, for it must not be forgotten that in England horses take their age from the Ist January, aud consequently a horse going from here must run at a great disadvantage in weight-for-age races, at all events until he is five years old. The Goodwood Cup, in which foreign-bred horses are treated to great allowances, affords the most certain opportunity for a colonial horse to do a good thing, and the distance will well suit The Barb. Arabs and foreign horses have been tried over and over again in this race, since the Duke of Orleans won ifc with the English bred, but French naturalized, Beggarman, in 1840 ; but the Arabs have been a dead failure. The French horses have held their own, Jouvence and Baroncino having won it at three years old, and Monarque afc five ; while Mr. Ten Broeck pulled ifc off with Strake, six years old, an American bred. In the great handicaps of the year a horse from Australia would surely get a light weight on his back; for the handicapper must take into account his disadvantage in age, independently of other things likely to tell against him ; and after tbe way in which The Barb ran his race for the Melbourne Cup, and afterwards that for the Champion, we cannot doubt his ability to travel in good company over any distance from two to three miles. The Chester Cup, the Goodwood 1 Stakes, C»3arewit.h, Great Yorkshire, City and Suburban, and other great handicaps are all open to The Barb ; and on any of these races there are forty or fifty thousand pounds of good money to be won. The English turf doesn't possess a better bred horse than The Barb ; and if the trial is ever to be made of taking an Australian horse to try conclusions with the cracks of the old country, ifc will most likely to be long indeed before New South Wales ia in a position to make the attempt under such advantageous circumstances. I look upon The Barb as the best colt tbe colony ever produced ; and although ifc is the fashion to say he won't finish gamely when he's caught, all that I can say is the catching of him is by no means an easy matter. It was no want of heart that lost him his race with Bulgimbar, although I confess to having been very sceptical about it at the time : but the Melbourne Cup race satisfied me completely on the point. I never fancied The Barb's chances for the Molbourne great races, because I feared he wu.__J. knocked up as other three year olds had before him ; and I am very glad I was wrong in my opinion. I am quite of opinion that, if he goes to England, there will be good money to be won by backing him some day. I see no reason why The Barb should not make his own running in a field of twenty for the Chester Cup, as well as in a field of twentyeight for tbat of Melbourne: and I will venture to say that if ever he does so he'll be a very ugly customer when they come to the ** Castle Pole," in the second round. Those who laugh at the idea must bear in mind that we never saw another Barb, and that we have no correct line as yet to tell us how good this one is. For my part, I hope the aftair will come off, and The Barb be taken to England, and I have no fear of Australia being disgraced.