6i8 



A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



proved the greatest matron of the famous Maribyrnong stud, which realised 

 80,000 guineas when it was dispersed. Among winning descendants who claimed 

 Fisherman's blood were Navigator, Martini Henry, and Sylvia, who won the 

 Sydney Cup (2 miles) under gst. ;lb. in 3 mins. 28 sees. Her sire is the Musket 

 horse Trenton, now in England, whose dam, Frailty, is of Fisherman blood. 

 Mares by Trenton, Patron, Aurtim, and Abercorn have their good share of this, 

 as have Brag mares. But The Victory, who won the Melbourne Cup of 1902, 

 is a direct descendant in tail male, for he is by The Admiral out of The Charmer, 



and Fisherman was ancestor both of 

 sire and dam. It is through him, 

 therefore, that this die-hard strain 

 should be brought back ; for of the 

 other Herod lines we can only get 

 The Flying Dutchman and Gladiator 

 from France ; Glencoe through a son 

 of Hanover ; and Buccaneer through 

 the Hungarian Talpra Magyar, a son 

 of Kincsem. 



I wish I had space to say more 

 of Thomas Parr, whose name will 

 always be connected with Fisherman, 

 with Rataplan, with Saucebox, Mor- 

 timer, Avalanche, and Weathergage, 

 whom Admiral Rous sold after he 

 had been beaten fourteen times. Mr. 

 Parr's transactions were not always 

 so lucky. Weathergage won the 



Goodwood Stakes and the Cesarewitch in the same year ; but Mr. Parr sold 

 Fernhill and Isoline (ancestress of Isonomy], and with them lost his chance of the 

 Northamptonshire Stakes, the Metropolitan, and the Goodwood Cup. It was 

 perhaps lucky that Mr. Parr's horses were mostly hard-bitten stayers ; for he would 

 run them every day in the week if he could at any distance, and the training arrange- 

 ments at Letcombe Regis were not always all they might be, in spite of the fidelity 

 of George Hall, whose " Noah's Ark jacket " was always sure to be cheered lustily 

 as he led his quiet old friend back to the stable. It was a favourite expedition with 



rmission of 

 " Country Life." 



Mr. Edmund Tattersall. 



