112 The American Thoroughbred 



there would be five crosses of Touchstone and four of Birdcatcher, two horses now 

 nearly fifty years dead. There would be three crosses of Gladiator, the best horse ever 

 sent to France ; and eight of Blacklock whose male line is now at the head of the 

 English turf, through Galopin, St. Simon and two sons of the latter, each of whom has 

 headed the list of England's winning sires. There would be a horse inbred to my 

 liking because, outside of their descent from Blair Athol, nothing could be more unlike 

 than Esher and Meddler. Who will be the first one to try this experiment? 



BEN STROME, imported, headed the list of Winning Sires in America for 1903 by 

 a very narrow margin but has already shown himself an exceptional sire of spee<1. 

 His get are mostly partial to short courses but he got that great colt Highball, owned 

 by Walter M. Scheftel, of New York, who won the American Derby at Chicago with 

 him. Highball broke his leg, a few weeks afterwards, which necessitated his being 

 killed. This was particularly distressing as Highball was the only really game horse 

 that Ben Strome ever got. Ben Strome was by the Derby winner, Bend d'Or, his dam 

 being Strathfleet by Scottish Chief, she being a full sister to Highland Fling, dam of 

 that good horse Saraband. This is the No. 14 family of Bruce Lowe's system, being 

 also that of Touchstone, Leamington, Macaroni and Darebin. Therefore I regard Ben 

 Strome as the most eligible horse in America for mares having a double cross of the 

 well-beloved Leamington. He is an old horse, just twenty, for which reason the early 

 death of his only good staying son, Highball, must be regarded as a public misfortune. 

 The fact that Ben Strome never got a decent selling-plater in England ; and that he 

 rose to be a premier sire in America, only serves to emphasize more strongly what I 

 have already said about American breeding being more or less of a lottery. 



KANTAKA, by Scottish Chief out of Seclusion (Hermit's dam) carries on his first 

 two crosses, the impress of a good broodmare sire but nothing more. He got Meadow- 

 thorpe, Time Maker and a great many more exceedingly useful horses, but nothing 

 that can be called great. As both his sire and his dam's sire were good broodmare 

 sires and distinctly female-line horses, I have no hesitation in recommending daughters 

 of Kantaka for the foundation of new breeding studs throughout the United States, 

 especially where a male line descendant of Galopin is installed as premier sire, Galopin 

 having gotten Donovan (largest money winner up to 1892) from a daughter of 

 Scottish Chief. Several sons of St. Simon from Scottish Chief mares, have also per- 

 formed well. 



We have been both fortunate and unfortunate in our importations of foreign-bred 

 horses. We got the best son of Sultan in Glencoe ; the best of Faugh-a-Ballagh in 

 Leamington ; the best son of West Australian in Millington, afterwards called Aus- 

 tralian and the best son of Compeigne in Mortemer. On the other hand, "the enter- 

 taining fact remains" that we never got a really good son of Tramp, Touchstone, Stock- 

 well, Rataplan, Birdcatcher or Newminster, six truly great stallions whose fame as 

 sires covered a period of over sixty years. Look over our successful horses in America 

 Billet, Bonnie Scotland, Glenelg and Buckden and then go back to England for the 

 female tail lines of those horses. Just see how many sires you will find. Take even 

 Sir Modred the greatest horse ever imported if you count by the number or races 

 won, instead of money values and what do you find in that No. 17 family, for sires? 

 Only Pantaloon in England, Yattendon in Australia, and Verneuil in France. Hence 

 the intelligent reader will coincide with me that breeding in America is a great lottery 

 and the selection of yearlings for stake entries, a still greater one. This kind of read- 

 ing may not be pleasing to some of my readers, as I am already aware, but it is "the 

 frozen truth" and I would rather be considered a candid man than a great one. People 

 may affect to dislike you because you are plain and blunt in your utterances, but they 

 are sure to have a certain amount of secret respect for you when your back is turned. 



The importation of Derby winners in the United States has been, generally speak- 

 ing, disastrous to all concerned. The only exceptions to the rule were Diomed, 



