6 RACEHORSES IN AUSTRALIA 



named Rose, by Sweet Briar out of Merliton, by Snap. She passed through 

 several hands, but uhimately ended up in the ownership of old Dick Goodis- 

 son, an eccentric fellow, and the favourite jockey, as well as companion of 

 the Marquis of Queensberry, better known as "old Q.," and worse known 

 in the lines of the Poet Wordsworth as "Degenerate Douglas." Dick Goodis- 

 son bred a filly by Buzzard from Rose in 1 800, a full brother to the same- 

 named Lyncaeus, and two more sisters, one in 1802, and another in 1803. 

 These mares were simply known, after the slack method of the time, as 

 "sisters to Lyncaeus." The last foal of one of these same sisters to Lyncaeus, 

 by Soothsayer, the individual dropped in 1802, was this Manto of ours, and 

 Mr. Wanklyn, the erudite keeper of the "New Zealand Stud Book," and a 

 prolific author in the matter of "Stud Book" lore, believes that it was the 

 fact that she was the youngest born foal of her mother, and that she was 

 sold as a youngster to go abroad, which accounted for the non-appearance 

 of her name in the recognised official records of the day. 



Before leaving England, Manto had been served by Young Grasshopper, 

 by Grasshopper, who was by Windle, a son of Beningborough, by King Fergus, 

 by Eclipse. Young Grasshopper's dam was a daughter of Sorcerer, and as 

 Manto was by Soothsayer, by Sorcerer, we have an early illustration of the 

 value of close in-breeding. Manto dropped her foal a few days after setting 

 her feet on Australian soil, and the little thing was christened Cornelia. 

 Unfortunately, Mr. Icely, unappreciative of the excellence and value of his 

 importations, failed to keep anything like accurate records of his stud. He 

 did not even take a note of the colour of his foals. We do know, however, 

 that Manto, subsequent to the birth of Cornelia, also foaled Chancellor, to 

 Steeltrap, Lady Godiva to Rous' Emigrant, Lycurgus to Whisker, and Emilius 

 to Operator. 



She also produced a colt named Jupiter, which was sent to South Aus- 

 tralia, but he is returned without the name of his sire attached. It is to 

 Cornelia that we must look for the tap-root from which nearly one thousand 

 racehorses in Australia have traced their origin. She threw a colt named 

 Emancipation, by Toss, a bold experiment in still more extensive in-breeding 

 to Sorcerer — a filly. Lady Flora, by Whisker, a full sister to her, named Besom, 

 a colt, Euclid, by Operator, a filly. Old Moonshine, by Rous' Emigrant, and 

 Flora Mclvor, also by Emigrant. Moonshine's name still crops up through 

 Coquette, Speculation and Progress — Grand Flaneur's understudy, but Flora 

 Mclvor had an enormous family. For Mr. Icely she threw the fillies Fatima, 

 Florence, Faultless, Emily, Zoe, Flora and Chloe, and five colts, Figaro, Cos- 

 sack, Nutwith, The Chevalier and Bay Middleton. Mr. Icely then disposed 

 of the old mare to Mr. Redwood, of Nelson, New Zealand, and for him she 

 produced at the age of 26 and 28, or possibly, for Mr. Icely's lack of stud 

 records causes much uncertainty, at 27 and 29. lo and Waimea, Flora 

 Mclvor's pair of New Zealand children, and her children's children, from these 

 two famous mares, rose up and called her blessed, lo and Waimea were 

 dropped in 1855 and '57,, and then, full of years and honours, and with 

 no further offspring, the grand old mare died in 1861. The list of great 

 racehorses which claim her for their ancestress is too long to quote, but the 

 names of even a few of these will tell you what a very cornerstone of our 

 pastime Flora Mclvor has proved herself to be. There was Bloodshot. I 

 can see him in the Cup chasing Newhaven home now, when my eyes are 

 closed. And then there were Chicago, Churchill, Circe, Cissy, Cremorne, 

 Cuirassier, Euroclydon, Frailty, The Gem, Havoc, Manuka, Newmaster, 

 Niagara, Nonsense, Oudeis, Parthian, Progress, Siege Gun, Trenton, Wakatipu, 

 Wild Rose, Zalinski, Beauford and Zoe, whilst the brood mares that trace 

 to the same source run into hundreds. 



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