CHAPTER XVII 



THE ARAB AND THE ENGLISH 

 RACEHORSE 



Unusual interest attached to the Newmarket First July 

 Meeting of 1884 by the introduction of a new item into 

 the programme — to wit, a race between pure-bred Arab 

 horses. Mr Wilfred Scawen Blunt, whose enthusiasm for 

 the Arabian horse is well known, was mainly responsible 

 for the race. In the previous month he contributed a long 

 article to the Nineteenth Century on the subject, in which 

 he took the opportunity of ventilating his views on the 

 superiority of the Arab over the English thoroughbred in 

 staying power, and the importance of strengthening and 

 improving our breed of racehorses by a fresh strain of pure 

 Arab blood. The race, however, was a somewhat tame 

 affair, and certainly did not convince English breeders that 

 there was anything to be gained by an infusion of that 

 Arab blood which no doubt originally helped very largely 

 indeed to produce our modern racehorse. 



There have always been persons who declare that our 

 system of breeding racehorses sacrifices stamina to speed, 

 and who hold up the Arab as the ne plus ultra of equine 

 perfection. But the experience of English experts on the 

 Turf has led them to adopt the contrary view. 



Some years ago I received a letter from a well-known 

 sportsman in Sydney containing some very interesting 

 particulars of the Arab strain as it has affected the breed 

 of horses in New South Wales. Some of these were new, 

 and therefore I make no apology for quoting them here. 



Sir John Lackey, one of the greatest authorities on horse- 

 breeding in Australia, in the course of a paper read before 



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