62 



The American 'Thoroughbred 



us see what Springfield's get won after he once became thoroughly established in the 

 stud : 



1882 

 1883 

 1884 

 1885 



1891 4.72.3 



1892 9,170 



1893 8,415 



1894 9,972 



1895 4,987 



Total for 14 seasons 137,799 



Springfield's best year was 1887, when he was third and the only time he was ever 

 better than fifth. In that year Hampton was first with 31,454 and Hermit second with 

 25,733, Isonomy being fourth on the list with 18,294, the once great Rosicrucian being 

 twentieth with 5,145. His son, Watercress, has only had, if I am correctly informed, 

 about half a chance at Rancho del Paso; and there seems to be a sort of "hard luck 

 story" about him for he was a very hard horse to train and could not be gotten fit to . 

 race early in the season. I pin my faith to Watercress, once and for all, and if I can 

 get hold of him, Sir James Miller may keep Sanfoin. 



ST. ALBAN'S, the sire of Springfield, had very bad legs (something unusual for 

 a son of Stockwell) and many breeders were afraid to patronize him on that account; 

 and while his full brother, Savernake, was not so bad in the cannon-bones as St> 

 Alban's, he was none too good, so he was sold to Hungary for a very low price. And 

 my idea is that many people were likewise afraid to mate their mares with Springfield, 

 lest he should breed back to his defective sire. If Stockwell, the heaviest boned 

 horse of his day, got two bad-legged horses like St. Alban's and Savernake, why 

 should not Springfield do the same? So I sometimes think Springfield was one of the 

 neglected sires of England. St. Alban's was third in 1867 with 17,601 to his credit, 

 as against 42,521 for Stockwell and 31,083 for Newminster in that year. I now 

 give the correct list of the premier stallions of Europe who have held that position 

 more than one year since 1850, together with amounts won in those years : 



ORLANDO 



1851 , 12,181 



1854 i6,974 



1858 15,283 



NEWMINSTER. 



1859 17,3.38 



1863 22,465 



STOCKWELL. 



1860 l8,20I 



1861 24,029 



1862 33,336 



1864 28,708 



1865 33,302 



1866 61,391 



1867 42,521 



HERMIT. 



1880 



1881 



1882 

 1883 

 1884 

 1885 

 1886 



1852 

 1856 



1870 

 1871 



1853 



1857 



BIRDCATCHER. 



KING TOM. 



MELBOURNE.* 



.30,907 

 . 27,223 



47,311 



. 30.406 



. 29,4l8 



. 30,737 



. 22,8l7 



.l7.I49 

 . 17,041 



. 20,376 



. 18,116 



.21,299 

 . 18,206 



BLAIR ATHOL. 



1872 14,5.37 



1873 18,362 



1875 19,704 



1877 28,830 



GALOPIN. 



1888 30.211 



1889 43,5l6 



1898 21,699 



ST. SIMON. 



(Up to end of 1896.) 



1890 32,799 



1891 26,890 



1892 53,504 



1894 42,092 



1895 30,469 



1896 59,734 



'Melbourne was first in 1846, but I have not the figures. 



I have not the figures for the later years, but St. Simon was ahead again in 1900 

 through "the triple crown" won by his son, Diamond Jubilee ; and again in 1901 with 

 a few pounds in excess of 60,000 without one single classical winner to his credit. 



