478 COLONIAL HORSES. 



impossible to trace the source of some of the best Aus- 

 trahan strains, as in the case of the well-known Sapho 

 family, from which has sprung many good race-horses, in- 

 cluding Merriwee, the winner of the Melbourne Cup. New- 

 haven, who won in England as Newhaven II., is another 

 great horse whose breeding cannot be traced, because a 

 pedigree was unfortunately lost. As a young three-year- 

 old, he won the Melbourne Cup with 7 st. 13 lbs. up, making 

 all the running and covering the 2 miles in 3 min. aS^- sec. 

 He ran well in England, but as the English Stud Book is 

 unfortunately closed to him, he stands at a trifling fee. 

 He and others in a similar position are no doubt pure-bred, 

 for ' by their works ye shall know them.' 



" There is a good deal of steeplechasing in Australia, 

 where the fences are of a very unyielding character, and 

 frequently pass sentence of death on horses which fail to 

 rise sufficiently high at them. These fences, which are mostly 

 posts and rails and a few walls, induce a somewhat ' sticky ' 

 style of jumping, as compared with that in England. This 

 difference in jumping is proved by the fact that several 

 excellent Australian cross-country horses failed to repro- 

 duce their Antipodean form when sent to England ; a 

 notable example being Daimio, a Grand National winner 

 in Victoria, who ' beat himself jumping,' when running in 

 England. On the other hand, Ebor, who was only a hurdle 

 racer in Australia, though good up to two miles, was a 

 successful steeplechaser in the Old Country. 



" Horses in the Colonies, taking them all round, have 

 more thorough-bred blood in them than English horses. 

 Unfortunately, Australia suffers from serious periodical 

 droughts, during which, horses and other stock fare badly. 

 A young horse that has been stunted during its first two 

 years, never attains the good development it would have 

 acquired under more favourable conditions. A great deal 

 has been written lately about the deterioration of Aus- 

 tralian horses, which is more or less true. One of the 

 chief causes of this deterioration is the fact that of late 



