BRUCE LOWE'S FIGURE SYSTEM EXPLAINED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2318, 4 August 1898, Page 34

BRUCE LOWE'S FIGURE SYSTEM EXPLAINED.

THE BREEDING OF THOROUGHBRED BLOODSTOCK.

tßy the Australian Sporting Scribe " Wanior.")

No. IV.

HIE FIGURE SYSTEM SUMMED UP IN A

NUT SIIEIJ,.

I intended this week quoting from letters I have received from one of the very best bloodstock Students— Mr Arthur Hooke, jun., of Turee, Cassilis, New South Wales, owner of The Jeweller and True Blue ; and, also calling to my nid the able assistance of " Milroy," of the Sydney Mail, one of the greatest students of Bcieutific breeding this south of the line. 'Ihese E«ntlemen have proved practically and Uieoreti-

cally that Bruce Lowe's Figure System is the only correct one for breeding thoroughbreds. Air Ifooke bred Jeweller to figure?, »nd "Aiilroy" pom's out in the Sydney Mail haw Eussley might well be mated with a maie by C.irlyon O 1 ) from a maie by Trenton. Next \v3lk, when I rurpose biinaing these articles to a close, I intend expresting the opiuious and writings of both gentlemen, I cannot do bettor (han supply my leaders with a short Eiimmaiy of Jlr Btuce Lov. e's siguments in favour of the system :— I'irstlv. That out of about 100 oiiginal mares constituting the fouudatio 1 of tho English thoroughbred, only about 50 are represented to-day. Secondly. That r,ut of the puiviving families uot more about 20 play an important part in modem pedigree?, and only about nine or ten cf the 20 appear to be indi-pensabl<3 in liist-clasn pedigrees. Thirdly. That the progeny of three families hava piactically ran a dead heat in the Knglwh clastic winnings of Dei by, Oaks, and L°ger— mirntlv, NOl. 1, 2, and S\ ali-o that these three, with Nos. 4 nnd 5, rc-ptiiaeiit the rvnning elemeot, vital force in pedigree*, but (with the exception of 3) are rot .snec-fful as she line?, winch arc con fined to Nn«. .'»', S, 11, I°., and IU. JFouithly That id hoi^e has been .1 maikcd (.ncceps an a fire unleis du-cene'ed directly from the S, S, li, V., aid lh familii-p, 01 iubred strongly to them. 'Ihat where there h-as been any exception to this mlo, as iii Ulacklock's cafe, he has only succeeded by having the sire element strong in his mates.

lifihly. That nn p^digr^e of any great horse of nif.dt'in 0:15s can be found wifhout some cf the )uaning and idrc lines in the three t< p removes. Hixlhly. That g~cl malei are brtd l>y rtturj.inft strongly ihe best strains of J^ood on d.iiaV side of stallion's pedigree, aud the reverie rule holds g^Gd if good fewah'S are desired. iseventhly. That the bulk of evidence is in fivour of comparatively outbred stallions being Eupriorto inbred ones, wh'le the leverte holds gocd of mares, because in a ttate of Nature the females of a heid must cf nectSiity be more inbied than the malp, h»nce the natural law of compensation. lightly. That phenomenal horses most have ir.cuvtiious inbreeding at three or fuiir removes on side of dam or sire, \\itn a sliain of similar blood on opposite side of peuigree to nick with paruc. Ninthly. That if the first mating of sire and dam pioduce a high-ebf-s racehorse, ai in Isonomy's ease, the mare at once should be bred to some other houc of an opposite strain of blood for a couple of seasons, and th-n put bsck to original stallion. In like manner if the nVt le.-ulfc is promising in appearance, but not a high class performer, the mating should bs_ continued for three or four yeaiv, as in Carbine's case— i.c , provided other conditions as mentioned above are complied with.

BIIUCK LOWi''S FEMALE TAPROOTS,

As I have neaily u*ed up all the luading arguHunts iv Jlr Bruce Lowe's valuable work, thero is \ery little more to be quoted. Perhaps it would be as well, if I g.«ve a brief sketch of the taproofs of Ihe running and the five s're families. Austialian and New Zealand h.uses stand out p.oininently iv several of thi figure', and I jjitead placing them under their d.ffereui headings : — No. I —Natural Barb Mare (Tregonwelt/s).

" Ibis is essentially a running, as d'stiuguished fiom a sire Sins. It is veiy pit miuent ts a winner of the thiee classic events (42)— 14 Derbies, 16 Oiks, and li Legers. It has figured more largely than any line as a winnf r of the One Thousand and Two Thousand Guinea?, and the filliej have piovcd thenue'ves high-clas^ prolific biood m ires. The cailiest horses of note in the family were old hn*n and his son Goldfnuley. Very few great sin & have sprung from this line iv proportion to iU winners The best aye Partisan, Melbourne. B.y Middletcn, G'lencoe, Whalebone, and Whitkfr. The above, except Whalebone and Whisker (b^th good all-round hor.es), ate mostly esteemed through their female progeny. The members of this family possess gieat quality, biilliancy, and good looks as a rule." In Australia and New Zialand— pjst aud pre-sent-this figure is upiesented by Wellington Gibraltar Titan Tenipe Algerian - I'osifano Sir Oliver Euidspord Kelpie Melbourne Ifaut Briou Kingston The Drummer. No 2.— Brujon's Baku Mare. "This family, lika its rival line, is a very valuable dam stiaiu, and has furnished a 1-nge coptingent of Oaks winners. Forty-tour ctas<-ic j events luve fallen to its sbaie— o Derbies, 16 Oaks, and 10 Legcri?. In the last-named iaea it nearly doubles No. J, which would point to its being better staying blood, though it is somewhat behind No las a Derby winner. As a sire line it is distinctly ahead of its fiivat rival. In Austialia it has been woithilv upheld by Carbine, son of Munket; The Admiral, Sandal, and Jeweller. The best living representative of the family is Carbine." Besides the above horses I must mention Hotcbkiss Count jyman Cambria I'rojtjctile Sr. Albans Twwton Bay Camerton Fishhook Gang Forward Angler The Marquis. No. 3.— Tin; Dam of Two True Blues. " This is perhaps the most valuable family in the Stud Book, because it po&swses the dim. Qualities of both a runnin.q aud a sire .family I'R desetndants have now 4.i gi^at das&iu i.a es (15 Deibies, 14 Oak?, and 13 1 egors). As a sire line it stands neaily, if not quiie, at the U.p of the tree, acd mates well with all the other families, being very pliable in its nature, and improving every other strain of blood it is ci'vssed with. It is only v.ecefsaiy fo mention the following namea to show how in'clific of winners i's pens have invariably been when put to Stud woik." The number is too large to iL-sert in this aiticlc, and I will only quo'.e our own horses : — Musket Sir Heicule.s Melos St. Ls>gcr Peter Wilkius Abercorn Pi?cator Maribymong Dtbwaie Malua I'orinth Ntwininster Tasnian Sliest Anchor Ilichmond Boswoith Tim WirfHor Dreadnought Gosfooii Ayie Laddie B^yMiddletou Sweet William Grafton ifas.). No 4 —The IiAVTON P>aht3 Mauk. This family is proMfic both in numbers and classic winners. It conies from a pure B.irb raaic, and is distinctly feminine in diameter, llous' Emigrant The Barb Corsair Common (Eng.) Gsmos Kisber Thormanby Gulnare Iroquois Barbarian Artilleiy. No. 5 — Daughter ov Mapse^S Biack Baku "The hor-es of this family which stand out conspicuously, are Gladiateur, Ilei mit, and noncaster. As a runuicg line it is mmt valuable, and from ith pliability mates well with mobt strains, prefeiring &ire blood. Great sires in the family are few and far between as compared with some of the eire lines." Kussley Rucnalf Hindoo Stepniak Cap a-pie Gjhauna Y. Patron Yelveiton i No. C.-Old Bald Pj:g. "This family played a conj-picuour, part in the eaily and middle oges of classic races. ToDiumeii, one of its members, was accorded th.' honoui of j winning the first Derby, run in 17S0. Diomed } was imported to America, where his blood was highly esteemed, seeing that his stock (thioujjl) Lexington) were dominant for many years on the American turf. No. f5 has always been a poor sire family. The best horse it ever produced was Priam." Pride of the Hills Phantom Plenipotentiary Oaraclacus. NO. 7.— BLACKLKaCKD lIOVAI. MaHK. "This line is familiar (o pedijace ivaclera through Wett Australian, its best repichcutative." Nobleman (N.S.W.) Donovan Wisdom Wild Dayrell Cothcietone Beningbrcugh. No. B.— BihSiLEit Mare— Dam ov Byerly Turk

One of the most valuable sire families in the Stud Book, not excentiug No. 3. Next week I

will spsak more fully on this line. This number is well represented in the colonies by Chester Medallion St. George Ntwminster The Colonel lloodee

Treuchant.

(To be continued )