Spurious Pedigrees 



as follows: First clam, Sarah Washington by Garrison's Zinganee ; second dam, Stella 

 by Contention ; third dam a mare by imp. Speculator. "The balance of the pedigree 

 forgotten, having been destroyed by fire." Nothing was given beyond the Speculalor 

 mare. Now they have Eolus, a grandson of Sarah Washington, traced back to the 

 founder of the No. 6 family, to which trace Priam, Muley, Phantom and Langar, as 

 well as Diomed, the first winner of the Derby. The reason I did not buy Slasher, 

 who pleased me exceedingly as an individual, was because I deemed him short-bred. 

 Adolph Maillard, who died in California but then residing at Bordentown, N. J., got 

 the horse for $1000 a year later. Query, did a short pedigree have anything to do 

 with the short price? If the Doswells, who owned Slasher as late as 1859, could trace 

 Slasher back to the founder of the 6 family, why could they not do so when I stood 

 ready to pay $500 more for the big horse than they got from Mr. Maillard? 



Of course, all these things have a queer look "to a man up a tree," but the Timoleon 

 case is by long odds the worst. I have always claimed that neither Lexington nor 

 Hanover could have been registered as thoroughbred with the Weatherbys in London. 

 Neither could Lecompte nor Starke, in consequence of which both Starke and Umpire 

 were sold to go to Russia, the latter being a son of Lecompte. But the Weatherbys 

 had no hesitation in registering Annette, who was by imported Scythian out of Alice 

 Carneal (Lexington's dam) by Sarpedon. lou go to Australia and you will find 

 Mostyn, a grandson of Annette, a decided favorite with the breeding public, and why? 

 Because Alice Carneal was thoroughbred and Boston was not, although they have now 

 gotten a number 40 for him. I certainly would have bought Slasher in 1859 and Mary 

 Chilton in 1861 had their owners been able to show seven authenticated crosses for 

 either of them. Now they go back to the i72o's and both have numbers. 



It certainly seems strange that Mr. Bruce should have been satisfied to admit Timo- 

 leon to the American Stud Book; and yet we know that he admitted Picayune, Mt- 

 nerva Anderson and Brown Kitty, none of which were strictly thoroughbred. Jenny 

 Cockracy was just as well bred as either of them and nobody ever claimed her to be 

 thoroughbred. I do not object to people claiming these horses as thoroughbreds, but 

 when thev commence to give them Bruce Lowe numbers, then I begin to feel like a 

 worthy Teuton I once knew in Oregon. He kept a beer saloon and one night a drunken 

 cowboy began a disturbance in the house. 



"'Whoopee," he cried, "I'm a wolf and it's my night to howl !" 



Old Ben Kor-ten came out from behind the bar, exclaiming : 



"I'm a government mule and it's my night to kick.' And he did, landing the noisy 

 cowboy about twenty feet out in the street. And when I see Bruce Lowe numbers for 

 horses that are of as obscure families as the. above were in 1850, I feel like doing a 

 little "kicking" myself. I don't see why a horse that is as good a performer as was 

 Eolus or Longfellow is not good enough on his actual breeding, without attempting to 

 run him back to one of the 43 mares in the Bruce Lowe system. No number has been 

 gotten for Spendthrift or Wildidle they were good enough without any. 



The pedigrees of Sir Charles in Virginia and Grey Eagle in Kentucky were always 

 deemed spurious. Nobody ever could have recollected seeing any such horse as Wild 

 Medley; and the pedigree of Grey Eagle was always deemed spurious for that reason. 

 As Hanover comes from the same source we must subject him to the same ruling as 

 Grey Eagle ; and yet we know he was not only the best race horse of his day, but the 

 only sire since Glenelg to head the list four times. His daughters are making repu- 

 tations for young sires and as for his sons, they surely are among our best native stal- 

 lions. For all that, I 'reiterate my belief that neither Boston, Lexington nor Hanover 

 could have been registered in the English Stud Book, for reasons given above. Wild 

 Medley was, beyond doubt, a myth unknown. 



Some time in 1860, while living in Sacramento, I received a note from a well- 

 known liquor merchant of that city, asking me to come to his place of business and in- 

 spect his imported mare. This was just after Langford, by Belmont, had won his 



