Blood Mares. 2 1 5 



behind his inn, and pointing out a large elm-tree, in« 

 formed him that ''a winner of t' Leger were foaled 

 under it." 



The calculations about blood-stock produce who 

 are destined to fight the battles of Epsom and Don- 

 caster are sadly imperfect, owing to the carelessness 

 of non-racing breeders as to stud-book returns. The 

 nearest approximation we can make to them is, that 

 in 1853-56 an average of 1714 mares were sent to the 

 horse ; of these 53 slipped their foals and 434 were 

 barren, while the average of colts was 627 against 

 600 fillies. In 1856 it seems that 1864 mares threw 

 1355 live foals, among which the fillies were in a 

 55 minority. Accidents and diseases effect such a 

 highly successful elimination in the next seven months, 

 that only from three to four hundred are found in the 

 Epsom and St. Leger entries ; while perhaps two to 

 three hundred more must be set down as the property 

 of breeders who do not care to engage, or do not 

 think them worth engaging, in these great stakes. As 

 far as we can ascertain, there were 1 160 blood foals 

 brought to the birth in England and Ireland in 185 1, 

 and certainly not 11 00 of them were alive on New 

 Year's Day, 1852. Watching their further progress 

 through the pages of the Racing Calendar, we find 

 that 574 of them ran in 1853. This number decreased, 

 in 1854, to 516; but two seasons of training tell a 

 fearful tale, and in 1855 the remnant of that high-bred 

 band only numbered 280, as two-year-old racing lays 

 the seeds of infirmity which even the " British Re- 

 medy" cannot baffle. 



Old fashioned breeders like Mr. Kirby, who kept 

 a dozen mares and a first-class horse, whom they 

 changed every four or five years, the moment his 

 subscription began to lag, were wont to consider 150 

 guineas a good average price for their yearlings. As 

 a general thing, the purchases above this figure do 

 not prosper in proportion to the fine looks which 



