The progress so noticeable in regard to the thoroughbred stallions forms
an important feature of the great spring shows. There was first of all a
better entry than those of the past three years, and it would appear
that the owners of horses have been educated into the exact ideas in
respect to the requirement. It was a movement in the right direction
certainly to give some evidence in the catalogue as to what horses had
done on the turf, and still more to empower the judges to act upon the
information provided. The net result of all being, that there was hardly
a stallion exhibited that was not perfectly suitable for the purposes of
the Commission. With but the fewest exceptions the horses had all been
winners; some that had been known on the racecourse for over seven
years, and others that had won very important events. There were 107 in
all, and as this did not include any from Ireland, we have the
satisfaction of knowing that we are very well off for useful sires at
the present time.
[Illustration:
LORD MIDDLETON’S STALLION WALES.
Winner of a King’s Premium in District Class E (Yorkshire).
_Photo by F. Babbage._
]
There were some splendid classes brought into competition on March 13th,
the one scheduled D perhaps being the best, as here was the beautiful
horse Battlement by Enterprise, out of Ivy Mantle by Mask. He is the
winner now of four premiums, and has done a great deal of good. When the
property of Mr. A. O. Haslewood, of Buxton, he travelled in Derbyshire
and Staffordshire, and since his owner has been Colonel Jago Trelawny he
has done service in Cornwall and the South of Devon. The farmers of
these western counties swear by him already, and there will be great
rejoicing round Plymouth, as, besides Battlement, there was a very good
four-year-old called Rockaway, by the good Australian Trenton, son of
Musket, belonging to Mr. Bickell, of Tavistock. So clever did the judges
think Rockaway that they gave him one of the four premiums. Mr. Bickell
also showed the well-bred Mon-Roy, by Orme, out of Mon Droit by Isonomy.
And another Devonshire candidate was Flaxby, quite a hunter-getting sort
by Barcaldine, out of a Palmer mare. So Devonshire is evidently well off
in hunting stallions. Then, still in this D class, too much cannot be
said of Rightful, improved into quite a charming horse. Rightful comes
from such a handsome family by Rightaway, out of Repletion by Satiety.
He is one, too, for whom racing merit can be claimed. Kano, another
Trenton, and a good winner, had also much to admire about him, and as
one of the reserved, he became available for one of the classes not so
overstocked with merit. It is always well to see Yorkshire to the front,
and really there was little to surpass the magnificence of Wales in the
whole show. Big and powerful, with plenty of timber, and blood-like
withal, besides the knowledge that he was a right-down good horse on the
flat and over a country. To show what he can get, too, Lord Middleton
made a great hit in the group of young hunters by Wales; they were quite
away from the stock of other stallions, albeit very good ones by Red
Prince II. and Pantomine were shown. But to the Yorkshire class: There
was also Frobisher, a very nice horse by Mr. H. Waring’s Buccaneer, made
a premium winner: and although he did not quite get into honours, save a
reserve, I thought there were few better than the Manchester Cup
dead-heater, Roe O’Neil, by Sweetheart, who used to get almost as many
jumpers as Victor, out of a Ben Battle mare. The Yorkshiremen are sure
to take to Roe O’Neil. Garb d’Or was also unlucky to get a reserve only,
as he is a very handsome son of Bend Or, and quite in the family type,
Birdcatcher spots and all. In the Gloucestershire, Herefordshire,
Warwickshire, Worcestershire, &c., Class it was a treat to see the long,
low level Curio win again, after knowing full well the good he has done
in Warwickshire; and a charming young horse was shown here by Mr.
Haslewood, of Buxton, and that gentleman invariably picks up the best,
as Red Eagle once belonged to him, then Battlement, and now Landsman, a
son of Ladas, and a Gallinule mare; and so what blood for a hunter!
Another that kept haunting me with his blood-like outline and quick,
sharp action, was Mr. C. M. Prior’s Rathburne, a winner of the Brighton
Stakes in his time, and the judges rightly took to him. The executive
was very wise to get Sir Charles Nugent and Mr. J. M. Richardson on
their bench of enquiry, as they were not likely to make any mistakes.
[Illustration:
MR. DRAGE’S KING EDWARD.
First and Champion at the Hunters’ Improvement Society’s Show.
_Photo by F. Babbage._]
]
After much had been seen in regard to the hunting sires themselves, it
was all the more interesting to follow in the steps of the Hunters’
Improvement Society, and at no show has the results, in the shape of
produce, come out so satisfactorily. The four-year-old winner, Splasher,
bred and shown by a tenant farmer, was by Burnock-Water, four times a
King’s Premium taker, and the three-year-old filly, and champion of all
the young hunters, namely, Watercress, belonged to the same owner, and
was by the same sire. This was precisely what the Royal Commission has
aimed at, to enrich the tenant farmer. There were many other results to
observe in the same direction, notably in the case of Battlement,
presented with two Premiums in the past career for Staffordshire,
Shropshire, Warwickshire, South Wales, &c., and from Shropshire came the
beautiful Bandetta, by Battlement, who was unlucky not to have won in
her class. Then there was Havoc, well known at the Royal Commission
Shows, and the sire of Destruction, a winner in this; and the second to
the champion filly, Watercress, was Paleface, by Ringoal, who was
introduced into Huntingdonshire by the Royal Commission. Added to this
also, there was stock of great value seen by Wales, including four in
the group, and the second and third in the three-year-old class, won by
Destruction. The champion of the show, Mr. Drage’s (now Mr. Cory
Wright’s) King Edward, had unfortunately no pedigree given, though
doubtless extremely well bred, and the question arises as to whether all
the societies now are not strong enough to insist on pedigrees at entry
_pro bono publico_.
One might go on writing in BAILY for ever about these shows, as they
have taught us a great deal in the last few weeks; and something might
be said to the Government about the horse-breeding industry, and of its
vast importance to the British empire.