THE USE OF THE WHIP AND SPURS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13485, 11 May 1907, Page 8

THE USE OF THE WHIP AND SPURS.

.; In referring to the controversy .on the use and abuse of the whip arid "Milroy," of the Sydney Mail, pen's the following: — "It .is hardly fair to throw all blame on tho jockey for a too-liberal use of ,tho whip. If ;ho docs not' show blood, the fools around declare they have been robbed, and the lynx-eyed (?) handicappe'rs niake a note of its absence. \ The owner, too, generally wants some gore for his outlay; ■: and, therefore, according to ;,:the bitterness of the owner's need for money, l the poor horse is too often stimulated by what r jockeys term "a good hiding." hockeys hit hard, moreover, in a desperate finish; their uso of ■; the spur at such a crisis is not necessarily dictated by motive's of tenderness. Thus it will, .perceived that the > life of a racehorse '■" is not exactly a- bed of roses. : His temper often becomes affected' at: an 5 early 'age. He does much of his galloping on the same ground and, learns to; acquire '--a loathing of the . scene. i ; : He..is. jumped, off: now and then and is expected to go-very .fast indeed! When ho is not galloping ho is cantering, as it were, and he is not required to do much trotting, which may be more to his taste. .The "punishing set-to's "and incidental "good hidings" rankle in his mind. When he sees a racecourse ho knows what it means. An eminent English authority : ; writing on , tho effect ; punishment has x on tho average horse, said:—" Thus, as time goes on, he may turn rogue, or, in 'keener expert phrase, ' welsher,' / and rofuse 'to struggle on ma race when the real fightin"begins. Experience; has : taught; him, doubtless, that although, when he wins, ho does I not get more ho ; has to do more, and that ! ; from his point of view, the /game is not worth , the candle. y No wonder that he often acquires a •strong distaste for racing, before he has been running long. ; ' Two-year-olds " said an eminent' Newmarket trainer, ' bociii to turn it up now, while some of them seem to know where the starting-nost is as if bv instinct, and don't want to go there.' Roaring, is also developed in the training-stables in addition to inevitable leg and other troublesr it is often a, sort of wreck that goes to the stud. - How many brood mares and stallions would be found to bo sound we wonder, if completely examined, and how perhaps half, ,v according to one authority— make a noise if galloped a short way across a field? While racing improves the breed of horses, it has a curious effect on some individual horses, I and does not necessarily tend to: soften manners or sweeten / tempers. • Yet there are thoroughbreds who,. after the ordeal described, ■■ continue;: to be of a* pacific, ; tractable disposition, even though they may be virtually broken down all round, and without a single leg to stand at ; ease upon when they have nothing else to do." ..-•.-■ , ' THE THOROUGHBRED OF TO-DAY. If anyone doubts the.'superiority of the thoroughbred horse of to-day over bis predecessors of a generation or two ago (says : the Westminster / Gazette), the records of the Grand National ought to remove his scepticism. /, Nearly 70 years agoin 1838 / the race was won by Lottery, a wonderful horse in - his day, in 7s. under 15m. Nearly I 13m. was the average time until 1844, when j Ourcall won in 10m. 475.;//In the /." sixties " I and "seventies ''/there/ was a;marked improvement in speed,' although ' tho average duration 'of the race /was about 11m.; up to 1890 tho time never./ fell below - 10m/,; and often exceeded 11m;; but since that> year the time has seldom been outside 10m. In 1893 Cloister 'simply.;romped in, winning by 40 lengths in a canter : in/9m. 42 2-55., although :he carried - tho * extraordinary weigh . of 12st 71b; and six /years \ later Manifesto equalled Cloister's record by carrying 12st 71b to : victory. t > Thus,within 55 /years the duration of / this race was reduced by well over 5m., 'so that Cloister ought to have been able to give a: start of a mile/'and ahalf and have beaten Lottery over the Grand National course. ' / STOUT-HEAETED MUSKET. .•■.-. In : . referring to Musket an English writer "James Gallon, in/whose hands the big brown son of Toxopholito did most of his work, ; j was always heard declaring him to-be- .a veritable glutton. In bis exercise work Musket .would;have two suits of heavy clothing on, and go 'three/times round 1 /tho downs—that. is. ,seven; miles—at a.slow; pace. ; This; is .what. "Mr. Taylor 'used to call -•■. a sweating/gallop. After he, had pulled /up '.■ and been allowed to get his wind he would be rubbed dry and walked about the, downs • for half or throe-quarters of an/hour-' then he would have to go a two mile and a-half sharp gallop' with a -light: suit iof / clothing on. There would be two /horses to lead him; /one to bring him along the first 5 mile • and a-half and ■ tho other to jump in for the'last mile. V. He was one of the best-tem-pered horses I ever knew; I don't/think he was ever knOwn to kick." Musket's docility was; always v subject of pointed remark; and to. see the great; towering fellow as I often did at Glen/ Orchard and Sylvia Park ipicking^his;steps so that he would .not tread on tho ' tiny /terrier /that was invariably his box .mate was -a very fine study/ Musket Will Ave .ever see his like-again ''in-New Zealand? - . . - - • -' .LEAVES FROM MY NOTEBOOK. . The Wellington. Mr. J. H. Brosser, being of opinion that Marguerite had .been ;• unfairly s treated ;;' by ;' Mr. Henrys in : casting the ; weights for the Hawke's, Bay Cup, 'sent a Tetter to the committee of the Hawke's Bay Jockey . Club on: the matter," and, according to a Napier telegram,; i the - weight-adjuster has been -requested to : furnish: an cxDlahation. The letter sent /to the committee by Mr. Piosser; is stated to have been ;', couched in .strong, terms, /, butfurther than that we are; left, in/'blissfuL ignorance. //'lt will 'be'interesting to note in what terms •Mr.- Henrys couches his reply •on the subject 'at issue, and whether there will /be; anything; outside- the. mere fact of I Marguerite's impost'to; answer. ■:•■ ■ ■■:•' •■■■-:..: j The French /sportsmen engaged thin sea- j son; in bearding the \ British 1 lion in his j den are making a very successful assault, at len • t ye r far .as the big handicaps are con- j • ned.- M. Michel Ephrussi furnished the j vuiinoi of the. Lincolnshire ; Handicap with his ; horse Ob, and, judging from the'-'re- ] marks of ithe English writers, /a/ good deal . , of British ' gold found its way across the channel thereancnt. A cablegram to hand i this ■'week* states "'that' Chester Cup fell j to M. M." Caillault's/Querido, and we: may ', expect to learn , that the British rin'gmeu j have once again'been' called upon ;to contribute a large amount of gold to French | quarters.:■':>,;,• .'-■'• v ' /:■/ . ' / ../" It" can be.: said /'that the New Zealand/jockey 'L.'Hr; Hewitt", went ".to. England'- to j try his fortunes jin the Old. Country with a. solid ring: ofhearty .good''wishes from : ; the whole /of the colonial press* ; Though, so; ! far as we know,/■'!'; the boy; from Maoriland!' I ] has not yet-steered the winner of an im-.] rjortanfc 'event ;in'/' the Motherland,,.it; 'is j pleasing to /learn that early ; ; in his ■ career] across the sea he struck winning form. The i first .horse to win .in-Hewitt's hands was; J Major /Edwards' five-year-old Rarer Sort (by- Laveno), who won the Maghull' (Plate, run over a mile and; a furlong, at Liverpool. Though .It was / a big loss to Mr. Stead to lose the■ services of so ; talented a horseman as Hewitt, that did'/ not ' stand in, the way : of- the Canterbury sportsman penning a strong letter /of recommendation ; for the bright-spirited little"', horseman that has gone to England, and 1 = in a letter' to the.Special Commissioner of the Sportsman ho singles out the leading light of the presentday jockey profession (M. Mahor) as a man with whom Hewitt will hold his own. . . • From Tasmania comes news of the/death of the stallion Arsenal. Two decades back, Arsenal was hailed as a .winner..of ',, the Melbourne Cup,- and as ho beat ; the Auck-, land-bred Trenton : ; a - neck when he won th© great Flemington race, there area, good; : few New Zealandors who : retain / unhappy • recollections of his ' sensational '".triumph.; Though Arsenal's victory over Trenton unj, doubtedly ;. ranked ; as a surprise,, his party; were, on the :'strength'. of a great trial he showed them at Kandwick, most sanguine: of his prospects when he left New South ,Wales to fulfil his Cup engagement. However, after arriving at .Flemington, Arsenal did so badly that the hopes of his party fell pretty well to zero, and hedging money J being thrown in from all quarters, the Sydney horse drifted to 20 to 1. It is a popular belief that Trenton : (who ' had 291b1 the worst of- the- weights with Arsenal) ; had bad luck' to lose, just as he had the previous year, when Sheet Anchor and Grace Darling beat him, by the narrow margin of heads. Arsenal won his' Melbourne Cup in tho colours of . the/late Mr./ William ■ Gannon, who was.one of tho best of that good band of ; sportsmen - that raced in Australia in'vtho eighties; and nineties. f//At Hastings on Wednesday last/Lady Annie made an- effort to extend her winning I record, when she was saddled up to contest ! the Porangahau Handicap. The 9st 31b I which she was called upon to carry proved' I just a. little too much, and she had to strike■ j her colours to/.Contender,/to' whom she was . conceding'9lb. •

The acceptances received in connection with.' the f Takapuria Jockey ; /Club's & Win-/ ter Meeting augur well for a most successful - • gathering ... jit tlio' North Shore on tho 18th " and '24th / inst., / and ; the fact: of-a good sprinkling of, candidates for, Great Northern_honours being engaged will servo/to invest~the racing with a deal'of /interest. The Takapuna Steeplechase has a capital field engaged, and with Haydn, Inni&killen,/and Lady Hunb in the list of probable [contestants ; there is material ' for .one of the best races that .;has ever/eventuated; at the marine suburb. ;'■■'-.ln the':' running of the Bourke Memorial Stakes at Hastings on Thursday King Billy managed* to interrupt the somewhat .big spell of ill-luck that has followed him during the present, season. < The race in question was over a mile, which, it would seem, .■is"'/ the son of Merriwee's limit. , On the day preceding his victory King Billy made another-; effort to /win at a mile and aquarter, but' he _ faded out of it when/ it came to real business. ; ■.. ,1 : Sunglow (by Multiform—Otterden), the yearling " full-sister •to the ill-fated .Sungod, who forms one of the batch of highly-bred 'yearlings that R. J. Mason has in hand/at Yaldhurst this year for Mr. G. .G. Stead, is stated to carry a very; promising appearance. If looks are any criterion, Sunglow should certainly, it is said, achieve something: for the high family to which she owes her descent. : : ■' / ' . "' '. :...•'■ .'. '■#■ The colonial-bred sires had the best of tho battlo. at- the Hawke's Bay Autumn Meeting, descendants' of eight different. horses winning 10 of -the 16 races which formed the programme. S;:= Mevriweo (by Bill of Portland) came out level at '■ the: head"/.ofj the list with the imported Gold Reef; (by Bend/Or), each being responsible for three winners. ■ Birkenhead ' (by/ Ormo) secured second place ( with two winners. ' The victory of Elevation in the Hawke's Bay Stakes further, emphasises the fact that the Wellington sportsman, 'Mr. _ W. E. Bidwell, secured r a 'great/bargain: when 'he bought the Nordenfeldt mare Stepfeldt. J at the dispersal of the. Sylvia Park Stud for 400gns. : At the time Mr. Henry • Nolan quitted the little black: maro under the hammer in the December of 1903 she was carrying Elevation, who has this season won more than double the sum; which Mr. .Bid-. well paid for the lot. , At the sale of yearlings held at Glenora Park in January, a shapely bay colt by Soult from Lady/ Hester ■ came in ' for a deal' of; inspection, and at '150gns.'.' he was secured by Mr. .R. , Thorpe. /The colt in question has thriven splendidly in .the in-; terval, and ho can be referred to *as one of the most promising youngsters that" has carried the breaking-in tacklo in Auckland this season. ■■/''■■■ . If Noctuiform be still engaged ho will have a chance of retrieving his laurels under silk in an important race sot ; down for decision in -the Old Country to-day. The race/ in - question is. the Kempton Park Great Jubilco . Handicap of 2000sovs, tho distance of which, is a mild* and a-quarter, and; in which the son of Multiform: is weighted at Bst 51b. * A gelding that /at one time was expected to." gain distinction, and on -.i whose ' future career many '/writers some years ' ago variously speculated, : may' now bo occasionally \ seen drawing.a: trap through! the streets of j ■ Invercargill (says "Sir Modrod") when his ! master has : a mind;. to .visit /town.--' The J animal in question.was sired by the English horse Bendigo from the ; Muskets-Sylvia I mare Engagement;, and was unsuccessfully tried on the- turf under the name of Sandhurst. /Engagement 'was Sent to Britain on a visit to Bendigo, and /her son was; afterwards raced in Canterbury. While Sandhurst has fallen from ' tho /high' estate /of a' racehorse, great things are anticipated from the; future of; En Garde, a /younger halfbrother; now/at .the/stud- in England;.; Eni Garde is/. a son of St. Simon, seven: years ! of . age, ; and;a leading English writer;states that his present modest : fee of 18 guineas 'is: likely to. tindery a/rapid rise when 'oncehis early .stock have passed under the ordeal of the racecourse. _ t ■ : In an out-of-the-way corner of the world like British North Borneo gambling /lias gained a footing, and its spread there is occasioning some anxiety: Tim local Herald has the following on tho subject-:—"Gam-bling ought,' theoretically,' to be "'suppressed and .abolished :by/ r the Stare. In practice; even those who; now propose to strike it out of official existence in- yet another part of tho British "Dominions must admit that by so; doing they ; are merely covering up the sore, and hiding', it, on the principle of 'out of ; sight out of nurid.' ; As; to the , wisdom of this it is riot for/us/ to criticise. Tho ; question has only ' newly been mooted, and possibly it is not yet clearly recognised at; Home, that licensed gambling is itself ■■ the: most -powerful restriction on gambling. It ensures, to ; a great extent, fair play, and play for/ ready money only. -It also confines play to certain; approved places, -under the ' constant supervision ;of tho police, . places which are 'bound, to keep certain hours and conform to certain regulations.: The ; admission of children, is ' prohibited,, as ;is the carrying 1 of weapons. The doors must bo kept /open, and,, in fact, everything is done to keep/: tho vice within reasonable bounds.": MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. ■ j / Nestator has been allowed to drop out.of the Takapuna Steeplechase. ] '•-.: Tho Pakuranga hounds meet to-day at noon at St. Ann's bridge, Great South Road. The Egmont- Racing Club 'their winter -meeting"on Wednesday and Thursday next.- ~ r ;/•_ ■•; _ ,' : - ". The Leolantis mare Uranium is being boomed in the South for the Great Northern Hurdle Race. •Eremon,. who -won - the; Liverpool.- Grand National Steeplechase" this -■ year, started favourite at 8 to 1, and led Trom start to finish. : "-. • . Westwind, who won- the Maiden Handicap at/ the Christchurch Racing -Club's meeting on Saturday last,' is-a half-brother to Spalpeen. ";;; : ,_ : A report • from . Melbourne states - that ■ there is not much chalice of the So lilt mare Solution;- winner, of the last Metropolitan, ever racing again.; ' /:• ■■,- Kurawaka, the" three-year-old half-sister (by San Fran) to Mahutonga, won the Autumn Handicap on'the-opening day of the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club's meeting. ■The Now .Zealand Loan and Mercantile. Agency Company", Limited, will hold a sale of blood; stock, etc., at J. , E. Thorpe's stables, Eilerslie, on Wednesday next, at three p.m. ', ;.- ' • - . Carhpfire, who is the only descendant, of Carbine on the turf in New Zealand,; figured; amongst the also ran .division; in the Ponga-< kawa Hack-Handicap', decided at Hastings, on Wednesday last. •.":..- It is stated that up to the present season the King's stallion Persimmon, has earned £112,000 in stud'fees;-Tho amount to tho credit of- Persimmon's sire (St. Simon) in stud fees at the end of last season ran out at £236,617. — , ; ■ J. B. Williamson left for New Plymouth ; bv Thursday's steamer, en route for. Wanganui,, with Irish, Engraver, and, Aqua Regia, all of whom are engaged at the Wanganui 'Jockey , Club's. Winter,; Meeting. . ,', ; ;- : -~ ';. "... ■;■.,:.' ~.„-:;.-...:.?.,-/■;;, \ //: Tho New Zealand-bred mare 'Nightfall j was engaged in the Chester' Cup, run on Wednesday last, with Bst, tho same weight as carried by the winner, Querido. The cablegram announcing the result, did not state whether :" the Multiform . mare; figured amongst the, starters. ; \ , ,_ -Messrs. Bucklarid-and Sons inform me that they will '/bo- offering after the June ! meeting, on account of Mr. 1 11. Hannon, the -1 whole of his horses "in ; work, viz., Miss Winnie, Miss Crispin, Hautapu, Nape Nape, Millie, Glasgow, Crispinot, and Forth. ; At a meeting of th© Otahuhu Trotting Club a gold medal, suitably inscribed, was presented to S. Hamilton, the driver of Specialist, "who broke the mile record for tho North Island 0f... New Zealand at the • summer meeting of the 0.T.C., viz., 2m. 21 3-ss. ,The Conqueror gelding Ability,-who was sorted out a little while back as ono of the most; likely to distinguish . himself during the forthcoming jumping campaign; has gone amiss, and advices; .from Canterbury state that he will not fulfil his engagements at Wanganui. ~ The Takapuna Jockey Club intend ,to havo tho double-event totalisator installed at their winter , meeting. - On the opening : day the Empire Handicap and Royal Handicap will bo bracketed, and on the second day tho Britannia Handicap and Victoria •Handicap 1 will form the double. / The contractor for the alteration and renovation /of the new offices : for the Auckland Racing Club, at . the - head, of Shortland-strect, is, making good progress with; the work, and, all going/ well, the secretary (Mr. Hartlarid) and his staff/will be installed therein at an early date. -,

STUD NOTES. The "Stud Notes" penned'by"Milroy," •in > the . Sydney Mail, are invariably most? interesting reading.- :; In .a recent articled on -"Scientific Breeding," 'the, Sydney writer says:—There are numbers of men interested in the turf, either as owners 'or 1 onlookers, :■; -who profess / beliefs ' that '•', re not-/ able only., fop :their absurdity. "The. breeding of/ racehorses is a -subject upon which all racing,men hold ''views." -Some'openly; regard racehorse-raising as 'a mere lottery, and they deny the value of any system, and even go* so -far- as .to' assert that practical / knowledge, /combined 'with acquaint--ance of the : history of horscracing, and the breeding of -racehorses, -will -not help; the breeder a whit towards success. The pessimist of : the: turf generally/ trots out the time-worn argument that brothers too often differ. For over 20 years it has been customary for these people to refer exultingly to' Chester, 7 and- enlarge upon his, greatness, and the comparative failure of his brothers, as ; racehorses ■ and sires. Chester _yahd - his brothers, Roodee, Monmouth,':,St.'..George, and Clieveden provide , us ;with//a. splendid object lesson, and an, excellent; rod. : %ith which to convince the sporting.*- agnOstio of his errors. To begin with, Chester's dam was i bred from every . year, - therefore each' foal as it - came helped the natural trend of degeneration;; and left her so. much the weaker. Chester ' -was her? first, foal, born' when the mare was in the very prime of her strength. He was far and away the best of Lady Chester's rather large family. The second foal ? was Roodee, who was next to ; Chester for ■ merit, both- on the racecourse and at the stud. Her third foal was: St. . George, " bought 'Specially for a New Zealand stud, who was never trained. He was a better stallion' than Roodee, but • perhaps he had better chances. Then came Silver Bell, who was no good for racing, and was an indifferent brood mare. ."-A •year later followed Monmouth, a fair, but comparatively weak, racehorse, and a stud failure. The " next-foal,' Grosyenor, was hardly as good as Monmouth and Clievcr den, who followed,.. about the equal of Grosvenor. i Thus, in seven consecutive seasons, from 1874 to 1880, Lady Chester produced six 'colts and a filly, to Yattendon. Sho then went ■■" to .Chandos, and in 1881, the year following, she had a colt and a filly, Buckingham and Lady Granville, neither of whom was /worth a rap, but her next mating was with Grand Flaneur, a Yattendon horse, but a very youthful one at that, for he was but five years old. and her. foal was Chesham, a ,real good, horse,* and much- better than anything she produced, after Roodee. This goes to prove : that the youth of Grand Flaneur on the fast degenerating Lady Chester - was the required corrective. Chesham was her last foal. ' Now, had Lady; Chester been managed by such a far-seeing and experienced horse-breeder as the late Hon. James White,.; she would -not:" have been called upon to provide his-stud, with a foal for nine successive years,* and instead of departing from this world worn out at the comparatively early ago of fifteena year after the birth of her. last foal—she would probably have been alive and vigorous till well into ,the twenties. Mr. White's sys.tem "was a good one..A mare was never' asked ■to breed successive foals. She -was ; allowed to rear her/ foal : without molestation till the autumn, -and from thence until September, when she returned to the horse.;. after 12 ; months' absence, she had time to recover some of the strength she naturally lost in the bearing and rearing of ! a foal. y Under .'«this.fsystem - a" mare .was ; never called upon to/carry a -foal and feet' i one at foot. Small wonder that Mr. White bred i the -best horses -of his time, and was the most successful racing owner we have? ! known south "of ; the > line. .He set higher j store on first,.second, and third foals than <■ upon those that came-'later, holding that a first foal -had better chances of inheriting a I full storage of ' vitality than those that fob: j lowed it, and the statistics "of his'stud are proof: of 'the ' soundness'of - his system and, this "-■contention". He. went to England in the eighties,' \ and purchased 'a number 'of mares of the Stockwell .strain to mate withChester, who -was by a Sir Hercules horse out of a Stockwell mare. The results he obtained from the first, matings of this; band of mares was little else than marvel-; lous. ; Briefly, first foals out of this lot were Uralla,; Rudolph,- Acme, -Volley, 'and Cran-i brook. -..>.. / • • . - —". • » ~,.., -.:,.-Aborcor'n ami Dreadnought, the two best horses Mr. .White- oyer "bred, may be de-( scribed as first foals, for the first- efforts of their dams was a dead foal to each, .and they each missed the following year, tlieije-i fore, it was two yeaTs from the date" the / premature births, before - the ; cracks named came to light. / Camoola, Carlyon,' Singapore, and " Projectile - (who .each "fob; j lowed a dead foal—-two years later), Trieste ! . (who was two years younger than her-fa-! I inous brother,. Titan), Stromboli, Donation; ; Spice, Lava, , Warpaint, Acmena, Monto ! Cristo, Litigant, and Phillip / Augustus,' ! famous racers all, were second foals, raised j at-jKirkham./ This subject, even in so far as it relates to Australians, is very/ much'■! too largo for the columns' of the newspaper '< to adequately deal, with the question of . value of first, second, or third foals. The : /space of a,; very large volume, is- needed.) In respect to the English Stud Book it- is, bigger still. If wo go hack a bit into; tho": English Stud Book, to the starting-points of the present great lines of descent, we must first stop at; Whalebone, unquestion- i ably- the greatest- staliion of 'the middle ages of sport, and, if valued by the number of descendants ou deck to-day, die has fair claims to"! bo considered the greatest of "all stallions, ' for,despite the wonderful success in v recent times of the . Voltigeur line, through Galopin and St. Simon, the Whale-, bones, through Birdcatohei; ami Touchstone,' are in stronger force, and are larger win-' ners in. stakes than the Voltigeurs; but,: probably, in 20 years' time the latter line will be in front.":•■ It found its strength comparatively recently, certainly : a long time after the Whalebones ; ; were establislied;' allover the world. Whalebone himself'was'a 1 .second foal, and his famous direct ancestor,; Eclipse,, was a-\ first. Of all Whalebone's great_ sons -two .were invested with; sufficient strength (or, perhaps, it v.'its the' luck of environment) to carry on tho lino. These.' two sons were Camel and Sir Hercules. .The'former was /a fourth and -Sir Hercules a first, foal. The latter begat Bird-: catcher (the ..fifth produce of Guiccioli), , who established two great lines of Whalebone descent—through Oxford and Stockwell. The line from Camel devolved on ; :. Touchstone, who was ;' the 'first/ foal of is '■. 'dam' -Banter, as were such landmarks of Stud Book. ..and calendar /in ,old • and '* recent times as Melbourne, -Liverpool,"•■ Ton, Wild/ Dayrell,: The Baron; :(sire of Stockwell),; Pocahontas (dam of Stockwell), : Buccaneer, Ormonde's dam, Vedette (sire of Galopin),) Brown Bread, Bendigo, . Foxhall, Prinqe ? Hampton, Surefoot, Child wick, Uactau'tius," Tyrant, Flying Fox, Amphion, Augi-im,' -and Ayrshire. . './'A. ' . : ;.; . ' , % 'Touchstone was bred the.Marquis of Westminster, -who had a strong .■ urejudico' against first; foals,- but plaoed "great store' upon, the second ; produce of his mares. \ Touchstone was a weakling when he- firstarrived, and it was almost decided to boil; i him down for' foxhounds, but he was al-"| lowed to livo on, and in time founded the' -Musket, "Lord Clifden (Hampton); ; and ! i Hermit \ lines, sources from which the: world has drawn some •of its best race-, , horses during the past quarter of a cofi : !. fcttryi Other . great English fathers "of "the far-off times that came tinder the" category of first foals are Pot : Bo's. (grandsire ' of' Whalebone), Sultan, Sorcerer; Castrel, Cat-' ton, The Colonel, Filho da Puta, Conductor, Regulus, and Gimcrack," whose memory is still-preserved in.Yorkshire. Among second. foals of the old school '; whose blood lias' helped to build,up the great structure called thoroughbred are Sweetmeat, Ha mbletonian (grandsire of Blaeklcck), Orville, Sir: Paul, Phantom, and Whalebone's immortal dam, Penelope.' , Tramp, Buazard, Cer-: vantes, . and Matchem, old historical ; individuals of great worth, were third foals, as were Springfield, Crafron, 1 Despair, Donovan, Blue. Green, Florizel "-,II." Gallinulo, Prisoner, St.u.Serf, and Victor Wilde; while- such horses .as Flying Dutchman, Weatherbit, Walton, Herod, Bob Booty, Harkaway, Newmiuster, Trumpator, Paulowitz, and Whisky were fourth foals; but, as a :■ set-off against this brilliant array, Galopin and his great son, St. Simon, were each the tenth produce of their dams, Isinglass, was' an eighth foal, Ormonde a fifth, Persimmon a fourth, and Orme a fifth; while- hero in Australia one of the.; greatest sires we "have produced. Yattendon, was the eleventh produce of his 'dam. '-'>•> ;;;'"'.; Another largo stud is to be dispersed in Victoria at an 'early i date. , The latest establishment to be placed in the hands of the auctioneers is the Pranjip stud, consisting of 23 highly-bred mares and the English sire Friar Tuck (by Friar's - Balsam). Victoria , must suffer very seriously by the disruption of the largo studs within her borders, ; and, with breeding of bloodstock ever increasing in - New South Wales, it may not be long ere the Mother State will have the load iu a racing sense. - - . . ' -.'. |