MR H. ROBINSON’S BREEDING ESTABLISHMENT AT TE AUTE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VIII, Issue 409, 26 May 1898, Page 11

MR H. ROBINSON’S BREEDING ESTABLISHMENT AT TE AUTE.

[By our Napier Correspondent. - ]

The ownc of that brace of good racers, Te Hapuka and Pistol Grip, whose black and gold jacket they have carried well to the fore lately, invited me up the other week to have a jaunt round his premises, an invite which I was only too happy to avail myself of one day last week. “ Send me a note when you are coming, and I will met t j ou with the trap at the station,” was the homely way he put it. 1 sent the note, and • he met me all right, and we were soon en route. The first port of call, was a good roomy paddock, which bore evidence pf the extra fine weather that we have been favored with in this district fpr months past, and which has had a detri- " mental effect upon stock generally. Owing to this the mares and youngsters did not look any too brilliant upon it. Located here were A. chestnut y earling colt by Burlington from .Jessie, a inare by Baldswortfi, who won a few races for Mr W. Broughton, the Oriiafiu breeder,' two or three years ago. The colt has a hard wear-and-tear look about him, though he has a lot of daylight under him. His sire has stamped him in his white markings like another son. of .his in Vogehgang. Music, the foiir-year-old full sister to Pistol Grip, whom she greatly resembles in color and conformation, is accompanied by a chestnut filly by the Albany sire, who should develop into a good sort of mare, as she has heaps of pleasant points about her. Burlington has also another descendant present in.a yearling bay colt out of a full sister to the steeplechaser Coastguard. He is one of the chunky sort, with legs and feet that look as if they would stand a lot of working upon. His dam is one of the roomy description, with a rather coarse appearance. She has been mated with Orion’s Belt this season, and ought to throw something nice to Castor’s gen-tlemanly-looking son. A two-year-old bay geld; ing from her by a trotting sire does not strike the eye as anything marvellous—that is to say, from a racing point of view—but he will doubtless be able to earn his oats in some other vocation, and that’s more than soine of the present racepath competitors could do if they tried. A chestnut horse by Patriarch from a Pacific mare, ' is looked upon favorably by her owner, for Pistol. Grip’s dam, who unfortunately last year went the way of all flesh, was bred on somewhat similar lines, and in the fullness of time her pairingjwith Maitini-Enfield may, so he fondly hopes, result in something like the big, determined, game, and speedy Pistol Grip. I sincerely hope that results will turn out as he anticipates them. First Flash threw a good one in First Blood, and here is a half-brother to him by Musket’s grandson, Mystical. He ii a rising two-year-old bay, with black points, and favors his sire a good deal. His granddam on his mother’s side, Luna, was a veritable sheet’anchor when she was racing in the genial Patsy Bvtler’S colors in years gone by, and as he combines two strains of the Musket blood, with Traducer and Yattendon interlaced, he ought to prove a source of profit to his owner. Mystical has another eon here in a whole bay, rising two years, from a mare by Ingomar. He does not display so much quality as qhe other representative of Mystical, being 'decidedly plain in comparison with him, but oft times the ugly ducklirig turns out the best at the finish. That may; perchance be his lot, but J have my doubts about it, and I will stand First Flash’s son to be the best of the Mystical brace. Robinson Crusoe’s son, Quilt, is responsible for an evenly-made, well-put-together, two-year-old chestnut filly from the Painter mare Scylla. The Robinson CrusoePainter nick in the first degree gave us Boulanger, and it is only reasonable to anticipate that, with an extra strengthening of this strain, favorable results should ensue.; that is why I lean to the chances of this good-looking filly, who would be greatly improved had not her fore legs got a nasty sort of twist in them. Having got through with the lot depastured here, a ride of a couple of miles brought us to the home paddocks, where I was introduced to another Quilt filly, likewise a chestnut from the Albany mare, Watercolour, dam of Te Hapuka. This filly is cast on much larger lines than the other offspring of Quilt, and should be able to gallop, possessed as she is of all (he attributes that go to form the essential points of a mover. A diminutive son of the Apremont horse General Thornton (whose half-brother Lochiel has not so far produced a bad one) from the Traducer mare Virginia Water, next -claims consideration. He is a rising two year.old bay, with black points, and is a nice little, picture of a horse, but the worst of it is that weight does tell its tale very rapidly on these small fellows as a general rule, and you can’t always expect to get at the tail end of the handicap. Still, he may prove useful if properly placed, which I contend is the main essential in racing matters.

‘‘A look at, Ma'rtini-Enfifeld and then-we'will have dinner,” is my companion’s next remark, This double has rather a pleasant sound, for when you are not used to the fresh, appetising country air you feel as if you could hardly remember when you had your last meal, and besides, I was anxious to see Musket’s son. He is certainly not a whole team and a dog under the waggon to look at, but it must be remembered that he is no juvenile, and the stress of age has a depressing effect upon all grades of nature; still, he has proved his ability to get a go d one in Pistol Grip, and with judicious mating he may, ere he passes in his checks, produce others of a like nature.

Having satisfied the inner man, a look at Turquoise filled in the time till the mares from an adjoining paddock were brought into close qu <r ters. Tubal Cain’s twenty-year-old black son, who by the way does not form a part of Mr Robinson’s stud, looks hearty and well for an ancient, and as he is being well fed and carefully attended to he should be in good form by the time next season arrives. A good combination of blood he has permeating his veins, for - his grandsire, Tredagb, was a son of the famous Wild Dayrell, while through his dam Fireworks, Maribyrnong, and Stockwell strains crop up Close at hand were now the other brood mares. Watercolor, Scylla, Tauhei (by Henchman, Robinson Crusoe’s brother), and Kie Kie, all in foal to Somnus, the former of whom, though nearly twenty years old, ' looks as if she was good for several years to come. Attended by a chestnut yearling colt by Burlington is a chestnut Gladiator mare, whose visit, to Martini-Enfield has not been without effect ’judging by her appearance. Her son is not a bad stamp of a youngster, despite the fact that he has got those ragged-looking hips that are emblematical of Gladiator’s produce. Situated in another paddock about a mile distant, which had to be negotiated on foot, were Petrel (by MartiniEnfield from Watercolor), who is in foal to Orion’s Belt, and Ripple (by St: Leger from Foam, whose half-sister, Fame, gave us that good one, Dudu, to Somnus), who has also formed one of Orion’s Belt’s harem this season with beneficial results. This daughter of St. Leger is the beau ideal of a brood matron, and her acquisition

by Mr Robinson should prove good business. A two-year old gelded son of Ripple, by Mystical, gives promise of developing into a good stamp of a horse, endowed as be is with splendid quarters, back, fore-arms, and rattling good legs and feet, surmounted by a strong, masculine, determined head. Te Hapuka’s half brother by the Traducer sire Le Loup finishes up this lot. A five-year-old chestnut, he showed good promise upon the training track, but" he had to succumb to the ordeal of "preparation. He gave me a taste of his qualify by spurting round the enclosure in great style, and from what I saw of him I should ■. imagine it. would be quite possible to get him to stand up to his toil again. Castor’s bonny son, Orion’s Belt, was the last item on the bill of fare, and right well he looks, having thickened out greatly since his retirement from the race track. He has been very successful in this (his first) essay at stud life, all of the mares who have paid their respects to him being in foal. He, like all the other inmates of the establishment, shows the

kindness and care of their guardian by exemplary conduct, none of them showing the ’ slightest particle of fractiousness. With many wishes for good luck and future prosperity, I hade my kind and obliging host good-bye, with a promise that when the produce of Orion's Belt came to light I should again pay a visit to the e Aute breeding quarters.