26 'The American Thoroughbred 



three straight races by Turf, Bay Malton (twice) and then wound up his turf career by 

 beating his old antagonist, Ascham, for .1000 guineas aside, over the Beacon course 

 (four miles) at Newmarket. Herod retired to the stud in 1770. He never got a Derby 

 winner but got two winners of the St. Leger and three of the Oaks. The best of his 

 get were Anvil, Phenomenon, Highflyer, Florizel, Bagot, Fortitude, Woodpecker and 

 Telamachus. Considered as sires, Highflyer, Woodpecker and Florizel were his best 

 three. His get were on the turf nineteen seasons, during which they won 201,505 in 

 money, seven cups and forty-three hogsheads of claret. He also showed himself a won- 

 derful broodmare sire, getting the dams of Waxy, whose male line has won more of 

 the classical events than any other sire; and of Aimator, Gohanna and his brother, 

 Precipitate, Gustavus, Beningbrough (St. Leger 1784 and sire of the great Orville) 

 Calomel, Coriander, Dungannon (winner of 26 races, 13 at four mile beats), Imperator, 

 Overtoil and Worthy, all more or less famed as sires. He also got the dam of Contes- 

 sina (by Young Marske) from whom is descended, in female tail line, the great Isonomy. 

 Herod's greatest fee was 25 guineas, but he obtained that in his third year. His male 

 line now exists only through three of his sons Woodpecker, Highflyer and Florizel, 

 whose son, Diomed, was imported to America in 1799. Herod died May 12, 1780, aged 

 22 years 



For the first two generations Herod's line was far in advance of all others through 

 Highflyer and his great son, Sir Peter, whose fifth dam was the dam of the two True 

 Blues, the founder of the No. 3 family in Bruce Lowe's system. The reader will also 

 note that- Sir Peter was conversely inbred to the Byerly Turk, that horse being his 

 fifth sire and the sire of his fifth dam. The great Australian stallion, Chester, and 

 the equally famous New Zealand stallion, Sir Modred, imported by Mr. James B. 

 Haggin, and premier sire of America in 1894, were both conversely inbred likewise. 

 But it was not through Highflyer and Sir Peter alone that Herod triumphed, for Wood- 

 pecker got Buzzard in 1787 and he got the Oaks winner Bronze and the St. Leger win- 

 ner Quiz. But. Buzzard's honors did not end there, for from a daughter of Alexander 

 (by Eclipse-Grecian Princess) he got those three great brothers, Selim, Castrel and Ru- 

 bens, ranking as sires in the order named. Selim got 152 winners of 55,253, beside 

 the Whip and 9 gold cups. Castrel was a "roarer" and was very much avoided by se- 

 lect breeders on that account. Nevertheless he got 42 winners of 11,726 and six gold 

 cups. Rubens was the youngest of the trio, all foaled in four years. He won seven races 

 out of eleven and, at the stud, became the most popular stallion of his time, getting two 

 Oaks winners and one of the Two Thousand Guineas. Castrel died at 26, Selim at 23 and 

 Rubens at 25. Rubens got 231 winners of a total of 73,031, besides thirty-three gold 

 cups. His male line became extinct more than twenty years ago, while Castrel's line sur" 

 vives through Pantaloon, Windhound, Thormanby and Atlantic in France and Sir Mod- 

 red and Cheviot in America. Selim's male line descends to us through Sultan, Bay 

 Middleton, Glencoe, Vandal, Virgil, Hindoo, Hanover and his great sons, Hamburg, 

 Handspring, Handsel, The Commoner and Buck Massie. 



The blood of Florizel was strongly exploited in the United States through Diomed, 

 the first winner of the Epsom Derby, who was imported into America in 1799 at the 

 ripe age of 22 years. Diomed, old as he was, managed to get two great performers 

 in Ball's Florizel (never beaten) and Sir Archy, the greatest sire of the first half of the 

 nineteenth century. Ball's Florizel's male line soon became extinct, Orphan being the 

 only good sire in all bis get. But Sir Archy was the great premier of his era, getting 

 forty odd good performers and ten or a dozen sires of whom several became premiers. 

 Timoleon, Sir Charles and Virginian, Sir Charles heading the winning sires' list as late 

 as 1839 when his son Wagner carried off the $20,000 Post Stake at Louisville. 



Duroc, the sire of the unbeaten American Eclipse, who raced till nine years old and 

 lost by a neck the fastest heat of four miles ever ran up to that time (7 :37^) was also 

 by imported Diomed. Eclipse got several good sires, the best of which was Medoc, 



