Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/57

 TUKF 49 ope produced for the duke of Grafton in six suc- cessive years, beginning with 1807, Whalebone, Web, Woful, Wilful, Wire, and Whisker. All these were great race horses, winners at four- mile heats with heavy weights. Whalebone, Woful, and Whisker were great stallions. Web and Wire were famous brood mares. The latter, after winning many races for the duke of Grafton in England, was sold by him to Mr. Bruen for 4,000 guineas. He took her to Ireland, where she won, the first season, the lord lieutenant's plate, four-mile heats on the Curragh of Kildare, 4,000 guineas in stakes, and 20,000 guineas in bets. From that time the Irish turfmen got hold of all the Waxy and Pot- 8-os blood they could secure. They bought Waxy Pope, who was by Pot-8-os out of Prunella, and being unable to purchase either Whalebone or Whisker, they eagerly seized upon their best sons, Sir Hercules and Econo- mist. The former got Irish Birdcatcher and Faugh-a-Ballagh, whose son Leamington is now highly prized here. Economist got Hark- away, and also the dam of the Baron, by Irish Birdcatcher. The Baron, thus in-bred to the brothers Whalebone and Whisker, struck the blood of their sister Web in Pocahontas by Glencoe, and from her produced Stockwell and Rataplan, two of the best horses that ever lived. This brings that line to our time, for Rataplan's daughter Mandragora is still produ- cing, and is the best brood mare in the world. Her dam was Manganese, daughter of Irish Birdcatcher, Rataplan's grandsire. Mandra- gora belonged at the time of his death to the late Rev. Mr. King, vicar of Launde, for whom she bred Apology, winner of the Oaks and St. Leger in 1874. One other great line in which the blood of King Herod, Eclipse, and Snap is mingled, should be mentioned. Highflyer's best son was Sir Peter Teazle, whose dam was Papillon by Snap. Sir Peter, a splendid race horse, a great four-mile-heat winner, and a stallion whose excellence was only surpassed by that of Waxy, was owned by the earl of Der- by. Papillon had the blood of both the Chil- derses, she had that of the Godolphin Barb, and also of the dam of the two True Blues, which mare was by the Byerly Turk. Out of Arethusa by Dungannon, son of Eclipse, Sir Peter Teazle got Walton in 1798, and William- son's Ditto in 1799. From Walton and Para- sol, by Pot-8-os, came Partisan, sire of Veni- son. The latter got Kingston, whose grand- sons Kingfisher and Glenelg are among our young stallions in the United States. Partisan was also sire of Gladiator. Gladiator was sire of Queen Mary, dam of Balrownie, Bonnie Scotland, Blink Bonny, Caller Ou, &c. He was also sire of Miss Gladiator, dam of the great French race horse Gladiateur. Web, by Waxy, was grandam of Glencoe, the best horse that ever came to America. Being bred to Tramp, a horse closely descended from Eclipse in the male line, and from King Herod in the female line, Web produced Trampoline. Trampoline was bred to Sultan, a horse taking from Eclipse, King Herod, and Snap in sev- eral different lines, and she produced Glencoe. Glencoe was third in the Derby. He won the Goodwood cup and other races when three years old. When he was four, Lord Jersey challenged for the Whip and named him. But though he was only a colt and it was even weights, 140 Ibs., Beacon course, nobody would run against him, and it was delivered over. Glencoe was foaled in 1831, at a time when the mischievous influences which have since affected the English turf and jeoparded the excellence of the blood horse had not obtained great sway. The running of two-year-olds, though common enough, was not the rule as it is now. The system of handicapping, by which in theory the worst horse in a race is put upon a level with the best and all the rest, through different weights, had then hardly begun. It has since attained huge dimensions, and there are now run in England at least ten times as many handicaps, generally over short distances, as of all other races put together. It is believed that this system, with its multitude of short dash races, has had a pernicious effect on the throughbred horse in respect of stamina. Handicapping afforded a chance for a middling horse to win much more money than the best of his time could, especially if the latter did not attain to his greatest excellence until he was four years old. It secured very large en- tries and big fields, and enabled professional betting men to extend their operations vastly. Up to the time when Glencoe was on the turf, there were a great many local country meet- ings in various parts of England, especially in the midland counties, where fox hunting was most delighted in. At these races there were no very large prizes to bring the great horses from Newmarket, Epsom, and Yorkshire, and there were no railroads to afford them ready conveyance. The consequence was that the running horses were mostly those bred and kept in the neighborhood, and as a rule they were fast, stout, and honest horses. Many of the races were heats. The courses were chiefly staked out upon heaths, which were partly overgrown with gorse. There were no stands. The ladies viewed the races from carriages drawn up outside the foot people, who stood along the cords which roped in the home stretch. There were always a great number of mounted men. So popular were these gatherings that all the neighboring gentry, yeomen, farmers, and tradespeople made it a point to attend with their families. The coun- try meetings have nearly all ceased, and few farmers now breed the blood horses which formerly ran at them. The great three-year- old race of England is the Derby, which was founded in 1780, and first won by Sir Charles Bunbury's Diomed, who was imported to the United States. He was the sire of Sir Archy here, first American ancestor in the male line of Timoleon, Boston, Lexington, and Monar-