TWO GREAT RACING MEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 40

TWO GREAT RACING MEN.

Whether the late Lord Falmouth or the late Duke of Westminster was the more successful breeder would be a good subject for debate, though I dare say the glamour of Flying Fox would induce most people to decide in favour of the Duke of Westminster. So .^writes Mr Allison, and he adds : — i hardly think they__wxmjd be' right all the same, though it is not suggested that Lord Falmouth ever bred an Ormonde, Ofnie, or Flying Fox. There was more uniformity about the results attained by Lord Falmouth, and in all his later period, which culminated with his great sale, he never had a bad year with his horses. That he acted on far more definite principles than those which guided the Duke of Westminster is certain. His mares were all from the best running families, and themselves almost invariably good winners. He was strongly .opposed to mating them several seasons in succession with the same sire, and he had great faith in Partisan blood, so that he would, when changing a mare from one sire io another, always look out for a horse with a dash of that blood to keep a double line of it going. On the other hand, the" Duke of Westminster was capricious in his views, and some, at any rate, of his suc--oesses were due rather to good luck than good management. Thus, after buying Vampire, the dam of Flying Fox, he was very anxious for her previous owner to take her back, but fortunately for his Grace this was not done. For some reason or other he would never keep a daughter of Angelica, and Blue Rose, the last filly out of that mare, was disposed of for a paltry 500 guineas, notwithstanding that she was in foal to Bend Or. Yet Blue Rose was an own sister to Blue iGreenj and a very fine mare indeed. SHe is dead now. but Dingle, Mezzotint, and Angola, the other daughters of Angelica, are alive, and all dams of winner?. Sometimes it was thought thatthe Duke drafted mares because* they were not good winners, but such as Rydal and Ornament did not make a name on the turf, yet they were retained. In selling Doneaster to I the Austriaus, a strange mistake was made, but the disposal of Ormonde could not be regretted, for " the fever " in his second stud season left that great horse practically unfertile. That it was wise and patriotic to sell him because he was a roarer is, of course, absurd, for if fiat was the view of the Duke why did he use Ormonde for one ceason, and why did he have such boundless faith in Orine ? Again, why did he buy Throstle, who made a noise when she won the Leger, to mate with Orme? As to Lord Falmouth, 1 have stated that he achieved a greater uniformity of success, and if the Duke. of Westminster bred Rome individually superior colts, the other raised incomparably the better fillies.