296 TheUeport of the Royal Commission on Horse-Breeding* 
ILL Cocktails. 
Mr. Chaplin, in his Memorandum to the Report of December 
1887, said, "I consider that horses with a stain in their pedi- 
gree, and which are not therefore in the Stud-book, are con- 
stantly found, and have frequently been proved to be, among 
the best and most successful of country stallions, and it is, 
therefore, inexpedient and undesirable, in my opinion, that 
they should be excluded from all competition for the premiums." 
The question of allowing cocktails to compete for the premiums 
did not, however, find favour. As things are, we have a breed 
so vitiated that we have almost to breed the mares which are 
to put it right again, and a rigidly pure strain on the sire's side 
seems to be essential in the opinion of most of our witnesses. 
If we had the kind of mares Mr. Jackson speaks of, the idle 
mettled mare going straight back to " Lottery " and " Black- 
locke," it would be quite a different thing. Under those circum- 
stances, speaking for myself, I should let in cocktails, assuming 
they had proved themselves racehorses, or could prove a certain 
number of crosses of pure blood. I have a cocktail myself, which 
I consider the model of a country stallion. But we have not 
these mares, and the mares we have to make shift with need to 
be mated with pure blood. Such cocktails as " Snowstorm," 
" Emperor," and " New Oswestry," are exceptions, although, as 
the owner of the two former, Mr. Chaplin's predilection for 
cocktails is most natural. 
But granting the excellence of such animals as these, there 
seems little confidence just now in anything but pure blood. 
Some witnesses have none, 24 and Lord Harrington must have a 
:l 1977. (Earl of Coventry) " Do you -believe in a pure strain of blood on 
one side ? " (Mr. T. H. Hutchinson) " I do indeed." 1978. " And you do not 
expect to find a good high-class hunter got by a half-bred horse ? " "I never 
saw one in my life." 
2147. {Major- General Rarenlrill) " And yon think that the premium should 
be given to thoroughbred stallions 1" (Mr. James Martin) "To thoroughbred 
stallions only ; no half-bred ones for me, ' Snowstorm ' to wit." [I am afraid 
this must have hurt Mr. Chaplin's feelings !] 
3917. (Chairman) " Do you approve of limiting our premiums to thorough- 
bred stallions ? " (Mr. J. E. Welby) " I would have nothing but pure blood on 
any consideration whatever." 3918. " You would on no account admit a cock- 
tail, would you ! " " I would not on any consideration whatever. Yet I have 
seen very good instances to the contrary." 
2881. (Chairman) "Are you entirely in favour of our premiums being 
given to thoroughbred horses?" (The Earl of Portsmouth) "Certainly. I 
think that a cross-bred horse does an infinity of harm." 2882. " You would 
not give any part of our money to cocktails ? " " Certainly not. I would not 
give a penny to them, because you do not know which way the stock follows." 
2483. (The Earl of Coventry) " Do you approve the action of the Royal 
Commission in confining their prizes only to thoroughbred stallions?" (Tlte 
Earl of Harrington) " The only way out of that, to my mind, is to have a rule 
of tin's sort — thoroughbred stallions or horses that have won a race worth at 
least 200/." (Sec also 2487;. 
