The Austro- Hungarian 'Thoroughbred 755 



whether considered as a performer or a sire. July occasionally got a good one. Be- 

 trayer got Grip, who won the Canterbury Cup, and the same race was won by Sir 

 Modred and by Cheviot also. 



DONCASTER, by Stockwell, won the Derby at three and ran second to his stable mate, 

 Marie Stuart, in the St. Leger. He made three seasons in England and was then sold 

 for 13,000 to go to Austria, where he was placed under the charge of Count Lehn- 

 dorff, justly considered the greatest breeding authority in continental Europe. He got 

 some good horses in his new home, but nothing to compare with Bend d'Or, Muncaster 

 or even Town Moor.. Two of his sons, Derwentwater and Rossington the latter a 

 full brother to that good filly, Farewell, who also won the One Thousand Guineas, 

 were imported to America. I consider Derwentwater much the best sire of the two, 

 though his opportunities have been very limited, because he gets good fillies which is 

 not true of every sire, however good. Doncaster was a horse of great size and substance, 

 resembling Stockwell more in that respect than other of his sons excepting, possibly, 

 Thunderbolt. 



That they breed good horses in Austro-Hungary may be inferred from the fact 

 that Matchbox, who ran second to Ladas in the Derby of 1894, was sold for 12,000 

 guinea's with a further contingency of one thousand guineas, if he should win the 

 Grand Prix de Paris for which Ladas had not been nominated. He made the passage 

 across the channel without the usual sea sickness which so often attacks horses on 

 that voyage ; and was reported to be in first-class condition on the day of the race. 

 His price at starting in a field of eleven was 5 to 6, and the reader may judge of the 

 consternation which pervaded his backers when they saw the Hungarian-bred colt 

 Dolma Baghtske, who started at 30 to i, with but few takers, coming with a whirlwind 

 rush in the homestretch and winning by a neck from the heavily-played favorite. 

 Dolma Baghtske was by Krakatoa, son of Thunderbolt, who was the fastest horse that 

 the great Stockwell ever got. 



The brothers De Reske, famous as opera singers, are extensive breeders in Hungary 

 and have a very beautifully kept farm of their own. They won the Austrian Derby at 

 Vienna three times in five seasons and with horses of their own breeding at that. The 

 famous old Prince Batthyany was a Hungarian nobleman whose estates were con- 

 fiscated by the Austrian crown at the close of the Magyar rebellion of 1848. He went 

 to England to reside and was a most devoted patron of the turf. He won the Derby 

 of 1875 with Galopin, whose fame as a sire is as wide as the world itself; and fell 

 dead from excitement on the course at Newmarket, on seeing the Two Thousand 

 Guineas of 1883 won by Galliard, son of Galopin, running in the colors of that mar- 

 velously successful breeder, Lord Falmouth. 



Among stallions imported from England after the confiscation of Prince Batthy- 

 any's estates, were Chief Justice, Tupgill, Revolver, Grapeshot and Wilsford. In 1860 

 these were augmented by another importation of five stallions, Clincher, Oakball, 

 Valois, Amati and, last but not least, Fernhill (winner of the Great Metropolitan) 

 by Ascot-Arethusa, dam of Traducer. In 1864 came the Derby winner Teddington, 

 Ostreger (by Stockwell) and that good French horse, Bois-Roussel. In 1867 came 

 the universal amnesty and the Government paid $850,000 to the heirs of Casimir Batt- 

 hyany for his vast estate called Kisber, together with the horses 1 thereon. In 1879 the 

 Government purchased Verneuil, the only horse to win the Alexandra Plate, Queen's 

 Vase and Ascot Cup in the same week. Sweetbread, Doncaster, Goodfellow (by Bar- 

 caldine) and Ruperra were added in a year or two later. Then came Sturminster by 

 Exning, Mount Gifford by Lord Hastings, Persistive by Fitz James, Balvaran by 

 Uncas-Lady Grace, Matchbox by St. Simon out of Match Girl. Several valuable im- 

 portations have recently been made and in 1900 the fifteen highest priced stallions were 

 as follows : 



