Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/58

 50 TURF chist. The Derby, a mile and a half, is ran on Epsom downs, generally in the latter part of May. The Oaks, also a mile and a half, and run for at the same meeting, is for fillies only. It was founded the year before the Derby, and was first won by Bridget, daughter of King Herod. The Derby was called after the earl of Derby. The Oaks was named after a coun- try seat in the neighborhood belonging to Gen. Burgoyne. The third of the great three-year- old races is the St. Leger, a mile and three quarters, run for at Doncaster in autumn. It was founded in 1778 and named after Col. St. Leger. Hollandoise, a mare by Matchem out of Virago by Snap, was the first winner. It was then two miles. Prior to the Derby and the Oaks, the Two Thousand Guineas and the One Thousand Guineas are run for at New- market. They are each a mile. The former is for three-year-olds and the latter for three-year- old fillies. Besides these there are sweepstakes for three-year-olds called Derbys at other places. The great cup races are at Ascot, Goodwood, and Doncaster. These are two miles and a half, weight for age, but winners of the Derby and Oaks are penalized, and at Goodwood there are so many penalties for winning horses, and allowances for poor ones, that it is practi- cally a handicap. The fields are small for the cups, for many people do not know what to do with a grand classical trophy of silver, about three feet high, even if they could win it. The royal plates are still run for. They are now commonly from two to three miles, and very few enter. The other cup races are mostly handicaps. The handicap races, from the Great Metropolitan, Goodwood stakes, Oesarewitch, Chester cup, &c., which are all two miles or more, range down to half a mile, and there are immense numbers of them. Those which are only a mile or less than a mile vastly out- number those in excess of it. Over 2,000 race horses ran in England in 1875. The thorough- bred horse of England and America is practi- cally identical in breed, and in all probability there is no difference in quality where the treatment while young and the training and riding are the same. The noted training fami- lies, such as the Dawsons and Days, have been at it in England for about a century, and son succeeds father in the profession. The most successful breeder in America, for the number of mares he has kept, is John M. Clay of Ken- tucky, and he was always noted as the most generous and careful of feeders. He had much success with Magnolia and Topaz, daughters of Glencoe, and with Balloon, daughter of York- shire, and he preferred Lexington to all other stallions. His father, the great Henry Clay, established him as a breeder in some sort by making him a present of imported Yorkshire, a very fine race horse and excellent stallion. Nothing in this country ever surpassed the cross between Lexington and the daughters of Glencoe. It produced Kentucky, Norfolk, and Asteroid, all in one year; and more recently ! it was represented by Monarchist, a magnifi- cent race horse. In the male line Glencoe is now represented here chiefly by Virgil, son of Vandal. But upon his daughters his towering fame chiefly rests. The progeny of his English daughter, Pocahontas, are numbered by hun- dreds, perhaps thousands, and their fame is world-wide. The greatest breeding establish- ments in this country are those of Mr. Alex- ander and Mr. Sanford in Kentucky. At the latter there are 5 stallions and 75 brood mares. Mr. Grinstead and Mr. McGrath are also emi- nent breeders in Kentucky. Capt. Cottrell of Mobile breeds largely. Near New York there are the large and well appointed breeding es- tablishments of Mr. Belmont, Mr. Cameron, Mr. Withers, Mr. Welch, Mr. P. Lorillard, Col. McDaniels, and Mr. Morris. At the great es- tablishments the produce are mostly sold when yearlings. Mr. Backman, Mr. Robert Bonner, Col. Russell of Boston, and many other gentle- men breed trotting horses. The race courses of England are all greensward, and few of them are quite flat. In this country they are of dirt and generally flat. The usual shape is two straight parallel stretches of a quarter of a mile each, with curves at the ends a quarter of a mile in radius. Some are faster than others, a condition largely depending upon the soil ; loam is the best. When dry and moder- ately hard on the surface, with a damp sub- soil, the track is fast. The harder the track, the faster it is, provided it is not hard enough to make the horse sore and unwilling to extend himself. A soft track to train on and a hard one to run or trot on conduces to speed. Sand is slow. The Saratoga course is the fastest in the country, and that of Jerome Park, New York, is one of the slowest. The best four- mile performances have been by Lexington, 7 min. 19| sec., at New Orleans; Lecompte, 7 min. 2 sec., at the same place ; Idlewild, daugh- ter of Lexington, 7 min. 26J sec., at Centre- ville course, Long Island, with 14 Ibs. more weight than her sire and Lecompte carried; Fellowcraft, son of Australian and Idlewild's sister, 7 min. 19^ sec., at Saratoga; and Wild- idle, son of Australian and Idlewild, 7 min. 25J sec., at San Francisco. Among the best horses of the last 15 years have been Light- ning, Daniel Boone, Planet, Albino, Idlewild, Jerome Edgar, Blackbird, Thunder, Norfolk, Kentucky, Asteroid, Harry of the West, Long- fellow, Kingfisher, Harry Bassett, Monarchist, True Blue, Tom Bowling, Wanderer, Spring- bok, Preakness, and Foster. The last two are very tough veterans. They are both by Lex- ington, both out of daughters of Yorkshire, and their grandams were both imported mares. Out of those mentioned 15 were got by Lex- ington, who died in 1875. As a stallion his value was enormous, and he succeeded best with mares having much English blood, such as the daughters of Glencoe, Yorkshire, Albion, Leviathan, &c. Steeple- Chasing. About 1830 annual steeple chases were organized in the vale