178 'The American Thoroughbred 



even cast-off wrappers from his colonial newspapers, in some instances ; and the 

 reader can judge whether Mr. Allison had any difficulty in unravelling those tangled 

 skeins. Finally Mr. Allison got the book out and sent the proceeds to Mr. Lowe's 

 sister at Morpeth, in New South Wales, and then sat down quietly for four yeaf s 

 to study out the many glaring errors in Mr. Lowe's book, of which he found nearly 

 three hundred. In 1891 after the entire edition of Mr. Lowe's work had been sold 

 out, so it afforded no more revenue for his sole surviving relative (or for Mr. H. C. 

 White, of New South Wales, who had furnished "the sinews of war" for Mr. Lowe's 

 undertaking) Mr. Allison got out a book of his own as a sequel to Mr. Lowe's book, 

 showing a most commendable degree of delicacy and self-abnegation in the premises. 

 I commend a perusal of Mr. Allison's work in preference to Mr. Lowe's, because It is 

 compiled in a more orderly and systematic manner. I am as much indebted to Mr. 

 Allison's book as to any other authority used in the compilation of this work ; and 

 never lose a chance to thank him for many valuable suggestions. 



What I disliked about Mr. Lowe's book was, the summary and apparently thought- 

 less way he dismissed the great Waxy (of the No. 18 family) when it is known that 

 the male line of Waxy has won two Derbys and nearly three St. Legers to any other 

 lines one; and that his daughters were as prolific as his sons were potent, in the 

 production of great winners. He devoted whole pages to Stockwell, Rataplan and 

 Touchstone in England, as well as to Yattendon in Australia, without seeming to 

 realize that none of those truly great sires could have existed without the presence 

 of Waxy as their male line ancestor. Another thing I did not fancy about his book 

 was his undisguised purpose to belittle Sterling just because he happened to be .a 

 "sprinter," and a general disposition to "damn with faint praise" the Oxford branch 

 of Birdcatcher, when everybody knows that it carries more bone than any other line 

 save that of Melbourne, a good muscular development, generally speaking, and almost 

 uniformly a good temper. Sterling is the only horse since Camel foaled in 1322 to 

 get three winners of the Ascot Gold Cup, Isonomy winning it twice and winning the 

 Whitsuntide Plate at Manchester with 136 pounds in the saddle, conceding 29 pounds 

 to the second horse. Isonomy classes up fairly with Charles XII, Lanercost, Rata- 

 plan, Fandango and Fisherman; and probably a better horse than any other of the 

 last forty years, whether as performer or sire, for he is the only stallion in history 

 to get two winners of "the triple crown." And I wonder what Mr. Lowe would say 

 if he were alive today to see Pretty Polly, a great-granddaughter of the pooh-poohed 

 Sterling, now credited with fourteen consecutive victories, including the Oaks and 

 St. Leger, without a single defeat. 



For all this don't understand me that Mr. Lowe's book is not a valuable one 

 to the breeder, for it is in England and France, and may be equally so in Australia, 

 though they have many good mares in that country notably the dams of Bravo 

 and Stromboli that trace to daughters of an Arab stallion at the third or fourth 

 generation. But in America it is of no earthly use, except both the stallion and the 

 mare to be mated with him are imported ! The figures come out all right in Eng- 

 land with but a few exceptions, although Pretty Polly, the best filly in English his- 

 tory, and just so much better than Scepter and La Fleche as they are better than 

 Crucifix, did not figure, at the opening of the current season, better than fourth 

 among the three-year-olds, yet what she achieved is already a goodly bit of history. 



But the Bruce Lowe system is generally faulty in American breeding for the 

 reason that we have so many great producing mares that do not trace back to any 

 of the mares embodied in that system. Take two of the five best sons of the im- 

 mortal Lexington Tom Bowling, the best horse he ever got, and Duke of Magenta, 

 who won twelve out of thirteen races and their pedigrees "run into the ground" at 

 the fifth generation. Then take those five great brothers Spendthrift, Miser, Fellow- 

 craft, Rutherford and Wildidle, and what do they trace to? Answer: a mare "said 



