RACEHORSES 93 



thoroughbreds, declare that you cannot now cet too 

 much of Birdcatcher.' ^ 



So far as is known, no direct investigations have 

 been made to test how far inbreeding may be carried 

 in the Equidae ; but, on the other hand, the breeding of 

 racehorses may perhaps be looked upon as a gigantic 

 experiment in this direction. Our English thorough- 

 breds can be traced back to a few imported sires the 



Byerly Turk, imported in 1689; the Darley Arabian, in 

 1 7 10; and the Godolphin Arabian, in 1730. Since then, 

 by careful breeding and nutrition, they have increased 

 on an average some 8 or 9 inches in height. There is, 

 however, a widely-spread impression that at present 

 there is a marked deterioration in the staying power 

 and in the general ' fitness ' of the racer. The falling 

 off is further shown by a fact commented on by 

 Sir Walter Gilbey — viz., ' the smallness of the per- 

 centage of even tolerably successful horses out of 

 a prodigious number bred at an enormous outlay.' 

 In support of this he quotes a sentence from the 

 Times (December 27, 1897), referring to a sale in 

 which thirty-two yearlings had been sold for 51,250 

 guineas. 



' These thirty-two yearlings ' (said the Times) ' are represented 

 by two winners of five races, Florio Rubattino and La Reine, 

 who have contributed about ;^2,ooo to the total cost ; and there 

 is not, so far as can be known, a single one of the thirty others 

 with any prospect of making a racehorse.' 



If, then, it is true that the English racehorse is on 

 the down grade, what steps should be taken to arrest 

 this descent ? Sir Everett Millais restored a pack of 

 basset hounds by crossing them with a bloodhound, 

 the original forefather of bassets. The resulting pups 

 were bassets in form, but not quite bassets in colour ; 

 when, however, these cross-breeds were mated with 

 bassets the majority of the pups turned out to be 



