The Country Gentleman s lilagazine 



2^y 



THE WARESLEY STUD FARM. 



THE special commissioner of the S/or/s- 

 inan thus writes : — 



Every trade, profession, or pursuit opens, 

 in its own pecuHar circle, a distinct subject of 

 study, and the production of thoroughbred 

 horses for racing purposes requires deep 

 thought, great experience, plenty of money, 

 and a very large share of common sense. As 

 a rule there are itw men who realize a profit 

 by the breeding of racehorses, except those 

 who are in possession of the means and capa- 

 bilities above named. In some countries I 

 believe that it is considered derogatory to the 

 position of a gentleman to engage in any pur- 

 suit with a view to making a profit ; but in 

 Britain it matters not wli ether a man be a 

 duke or a dustman, a baronet or butcher, his 

 nature prompts him to make money when he 

 has the opportunity of doing so. To gentle- 

 men especially, there is, of course, something 

 more flattering in realizing a profit upon 

 horses than trading in any commercial com- 

 modity, and to my thinking there is no oc- 

 cupation so well suited to the mind and 

 means of a country squire than breeding for 

 the turf. If a gentleman can realize a profit 

 on his breeding farm, it proves that he is not 

 only a good judge of horses, but that he un- 

 derstands their production both in theory and 

 practice, and that he has also the means of 

 pursuing a liberal system in their purchase, 

 maintenance, mating, and care. 



Mr John Watson, proprietor of the ^^^ares- 

 ley stud, is in every sense of the word a 

 country squire, as his father was before him. 

 He keeps a stud of hunters— the majority of 

 whom are thoroughbred— and rides them three 

 or four days a week during the season. A\'ith 

 this fine old British sport he unites the breed- 

 ing of both hunters and racehorses, and he has 

 faised several of the latter whose prowess on 



the turf has tended to bring the Waresley 

 stud into repute. He bred The Drummer, 

 who Avas third for the Derby, and Avon the 

 Metropolitan Stakes the same season, and it 

 was from Miss Hawthorn, now in his stud, 

 that Captivator, who won the same race last 

 year as a four-year-old with 8 st. 6 lb., was 

 bred. Cecil, Avinner of the CesarcAvitch, is 

 the son of Selina, and this mare, Avho is also 

 the dam of Lady Salisbury and Catherine, is 

 still in the Waresley pastures, with a remark- 

 ably fine yearling filly by Blinkhoolie, and a 

 strong and symmetrical filly foal by the same 

 horse. Waresley is situated about i mile 

 from the Hartlebury station on the Great 

 Western Raihvay, a. {t\^ miles bevond Kid- 

 derminster. The house and part of the 

 stabling are surrounded by what is known as 

 the Bastage farm, consisting of rich pasture 

 land laid out in large fields, some of which 

 are more than 20 acres in extent. This part 

 of the Waresley estate is 300 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and about 18 miles from 

 INIalvern. The view from the house com- 

 mands a fine range of the Shropshire hills, 

 and the Abberley and Woodbury hills in 

 Worcestershire, with the river Severn flowing 

 through the A^alley about 11,3 mile distant. 

 Hartlebury is distant about 12 miles from 

 Worcester, and Waresley is in the same county. 

 It Avas, I believe, from somewhere in this 

 neighbourhood that Mr Terret, about half a 

 century ago, took his horse Sovereign, a very 

 fine son of Rubens, to Newmarket in his 

 bullock van, and after a lot of jeering from 

 the crack riders of the time, his rural jockey 

 Ben Moses Avon the NcAvmarket St Leger on 

 the horse, after a rattling finish Avith one of 

 the most impudent of the clique. There are 

 thirty-two brood mares and tAvo stallions now 

 in the "Waresley stud. 



