314 A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



Touchstone was a brown, foaled in 1831, and you may see his skeleton to this day, 

 near old Bend Or's loose box at Eaton. His dam Banter was by Master Henry who 

 was by Orville, grandson of King Fergus. He was scarcely 15-2, with rather coarse 

 roots to his ears, and galloped wide behind, ' as many stayers do." He did not run 

 for the Derby, but won the St. Leger like his brother Launcelot, and became the sire 

 of Cotherstone and Orlando, winners of the Derby, of Surplice who won the Derby and 

 St. Leger for the first time since Champion (by PotSos) did the trick eight and forty 

 years before, of Mendicant (Oaks, 1846), of Blue Bonnet (St. Leger, 1842), and of 

 Newminster (St. Leger, 1851). In the breeding of nine-tenths of our present horses 

 we find the influence of Touchstone, who traces to PotSos through Waxy, Whalebone, and 

 Camel ; of Birdcatcher who goes back to the same source through Waxy, Whalebone, 

 and Sir Hercules ; and of Harkaway who is also descended from PotSos through 

 Waxy, Whisker, and Economist. On Touchstone's descendants I must not linger any 

 further for the present, though I cannot refrain from two remarks, on the Newminster 

 and the Ithuriel branch respectively. In 1880 that marvellous mare Kincsem (who 

 was by Cambuscan the son of Newminster} was sent to the stud after a career on the 

 Turf which will never be forgotten in the annals of Hungarian breeding. She ran 

 in fifty-four races over every kind of ground, in any weather, and at any distance, and 

 was never beaten. Even Crucifix, who ran twelve times unbeaten in twelve months 

 and won over ,10,000 in public stakes alone, will not stand beside these famous four 

 years of untarnished excellence. Mr. Burrow's bay mare Catherina (by Whisker out 

 of Alecto] ran her first race in the Oaks of 1833, and her last in 1841 at Hednesford ; 

 but though it is true she competed one hundred and seventy-one times between these 

 dates, her victories numbered seventy-five, many of them over a distance of ground, 

 and several in heats. Some of her stout blood was in Kincsem, but infinitely 

 improved by the Newminster strain. As to the Ithuriel branch of Touchstone, which 

 comes to us through Musket, the Duke of Portland has done well to bring back the 

 strain from Australia in Carbine ; and Trenton is another sire of the same stock whose 

 produce are bound to be of service to the English Turf. The house of Orlando only 

 preserves the blood of Touchstone in 1902 in Diakka, Victor Wild, Xury and Golden 

 Crown. It will be remembered that 7bnchstom's direct line produced three Derby 

 winners in his sons Cotherstone, Orlando and Surplice ; three more in his grandsons 

 Teddington, Musjid and Hermit ; and seven more in his great-grandchildren Pretender, 

 Shotover, St. Blaise, George Frederick, Merry Hampton, Ayrshire, and Ladas ; it must 

 be obvious therefore that the blood is of the best, and deserves not only to be 



