STAYERS AS SIRES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22197, 26 August 1935, Page 9

STAYERS AS SIRES

THE EFFECT OF RAIDING CAREERS NOT PREJUDICED ASCOT GOLD CUP AS GUIDE BY SPEARMINT Mr. M. H. Benson has raised & storm of controversy by his statement that he would not run Windsor Lad for the Ascot Gold Cup because win- ,~ ners of that race during his experience y had not for the most part been sueeessful as sires, and the obvious corollary, whether long-distance racing, and > the necessary preparation for it, are » prejudicial to a horse's stud career, has - since been engaging the attention of breeding experts all over the world. The first note of protest was struck by Lord Hamilton of Dalzell in a letter to the Times, and the general con- " sensus of opinion is decidedly adverse - to any such contention. The question is of interest and im« ~ portance, as such a belief, if widely entertained, would strike at the root of the theory of the transmission of " J stamina, as it is only by applying tho acid test of the racecourse that tho breeder is ahle to determine whether - the animal which he proposes to breed from is the possessor of this highly desirable quality. Because a certain proportion of Ascot Gold Cup winners have failed at the stud, it is perfectly illogical to argue that their failure is due to any undue strain which may have been put on them in contesting \ this event. They probably possessed inherent qualities which would have 1 doomed them to failure in any event. Greatest Staying Families

The records of the Ascot and the other long-distance cups do not, however, lend any support to the suggestion. Nor is it borne out by the family history of the great staying lines. Take, for example, the greatest of these in modern times, those of St. Simon and Son-in-Law. The former comes down through Voltaire (Doncaster Cup), Voltiguer (Doncaster Cup), Vedette Doncaster Cup twice), Galopia (Derby), St. Simon (Ascot Gold Cup), and Persimmon (Ascot Gold Cup). Sfc. Simon was the greatest 6ire of modern times, who made Tristan, a very good horse, look like a hack in the Ascot Gold Cup, and Persimmon was his besfc ■son, both on the turf and at the stud. The latter went on to win the Erlipse Stakes after the cup, and his vitality at the stud was not in any way impaired by the effort.

The great progenitor of the Hampton line was Touchstone, who won the Ascot Gold Cup in two successive years. ' From him came Newminstor (St. Leger), Lord Clifden (St. Leger), Hampton (Great Metropolitan, Goodwood Cup, Goodwood Plate, Doncaster Cup and Northumberland Plate), then Bay Ronald, a middle-distance performer, Dark Ronald, who ran third ? in the Doncaster Cup, Son-in-Law (Goodwood Cup, Jockey Club Cup and Cesarewitch), Foxlaw (Ascot Gold Cup), Foxhunter and Tiberius (Ascot Gold Cup). Son-in-Law also sired the '? Ascot Gold Cup winners Bosworth and Trimdon, and I do not thing that breeders would be chary of using any - of these great horses for fear tbafc ■- their efforts may have been prejudical ' to stud success. . ?■ Great Australian Sirus

Other Ascot Gold Cup winners who have been successful at the stud were West Australian, Fisherman, Thor- " nianby, Doncaster, Isonomy, Isinglass, Cyllene, Santoi, William the Third, ' Bayardo and Solario, while the substitute Newmarket Gold Cups were won by Gay Crusader and .Gainsborough, .«• Among the winners of the Doncaster and Goodwood Cups, in addition to those already mentioned, were Monarque, Speculum, Rataplan. Maca- ~ roni, Martagon, Rabelais, Radium, Buchan and St. Germans. In fact, 'I there is hardly a great progenitor of staying blood that does not figure as the winner of one of these three races. 7 Nor has it been much different in the colonies. The great Fisherman, one of the fountain-neadß of colonial blood, was k dual Ascot Gold Cup winner. Among Australian-bred sires Chester won the Melbourne Cup, which is about as severe a tax on a ihorse's powers as any race in the world, as a three-year-old, and became the sire of Abercorn, Camoola, Dreadnought, Cranbrook, and a host of other win- ; ners. Grand Flaneur was another three-year-old Melbourne Cup winner and he sired the Ascot Gold Cup V winner Merman, as well as Bravo, Patron, Ruenalf and others. Darebin j won the Sydney Cup, and, after siring ~ The Australian Peer, was a great stud success in America. Fireworks won the V.R.C. Cham- "J pion Stakes, three miles, and sired Goldsbrough, Robin Hood and Dante, sire of the great steeplechaser, Red- ~ leap. Wallace won the Champion Stakes • and Sydney Cup, and holds the record as the sire of Australian Derby and Sfv Leger winners. Comedy King carried on the line of Persimmon by Winning the Melbourne Cup, arid proving tbe best Australian sire of stamina of the century. Pantheon, Windbag, Rivoli, Spenrfelt, Heroic and Manfred were all raced in strenuous two-mile handicaps, and all are doing well at .'J the studMusket and His SOll3 ' In New Zealand we have the mstance of grand old Musket, who won at all distances from two to three miles, including the Ascot Stakes, two and a-half miles, as a three-year-old. His stud career needs no embellishment. Nor is it necessary to expatiate on his son Carbine, whose career gives the lie to the whole argument. Tren- V-i ton was placed in two Melbourne Cups and was for years the most success- ,!. ful sire in Australia, while. his blood is still eagerly sought after in England. Nordenfeldt won the Randwick Plate, three miles, as a three-year-old. and was fourth in the Melbourne Cup. a v length away from the winner, after '.Vi being badly interfered with, and it would be ridiculous to sugges* that his stud career was not brilliantly successful.

Lochiel won tho Auckland, New Zealand and Australian Cups, and went on siring winner after winner for years afterwards. Multiform won the Canterbury Cup, two and a-quarter miles, twice, and proved one of the groat- ~ rtst sires New Zealand ever produced. Stepniak, almost as great, won tho same race, while Martian, our greatest sire of stayers of the present century, won the Canterbury Cup and tho Randwick Plate, two miles. Sea ton Delaval, sirp of Nonette and Gladsome, ivon tho Northumberland Plate, two miles, and was beater a head in the Great Metropolitan, two and a-quarter - miles, while Kilhroney and Catmint' > both won the Goodwood Cup, two miles live furlongs. If Mr. Benson had set his heart on winning the Eclipse Stakes, he was * no doubt wise in foregoing the Ascot ;,i Gold Cup, especially with the bogey J. Brantome in the way, but no apology <•< was needed. >•<