88 THE RACING WORLD 



mares. I should myself like to breed for pre- 

 ference from a mare who has won races, but has 

 not been trained too long or too severely, and 

 whose dam has won races — as, for instance. Rock 

 Sand's ; but here again we have notable exceptions 

 to this theory in the cases of Beeswing, Alice 

 Hawthorn, Lily Agnes, and Mowerina — names 

 that will be remembered as long as the thorough- 

 bred horse exists — all of whom were severely run, 

 yet produced winners of classic events. As to the 

 mare herself, I should select a long, low wide 

 mare, with, of course, quality and good breeding, 

 rather than a large mare, and should choose a 

 stallion of suitable blood and conformation. Some 

 .sires seem to get everything to race, whilst others 

 are failures at the stud ; some, again, may get one 

 good horse and then prove a consistent disappoint- 

 ment — facts which tend to emphasise the luck and, 

 it may be said, accident of producing racehorses. 

 Many sires are put to the stud at absurdly high 

 fees, consequently are shunned by breeders ; when 

 their fees are reduced their performances are more 

 or less forgotten, the horses are out of fashion, and 

 their opportunity has gone, possibly to be revived 

 by a good performer, but more probably never to 

 return. It would be much better for owners if 

 they would demand a fair fee and give the horse a 



