nuuu^*" 
£^try h 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S82, by the ltural New Yorker, In tile office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
was “scratched” before the race. Her future 
engagements this year are as follows:—Grand 
National Breeders’ Foal Stakes at Redcar 
early in August, the Yorkshire Oaks at York 
at the end of the month, the Doncaster St. 
Leger and Park Hill Stakes in September, the 
Select Stakes at Newmarket during the second 
forfeit; the s icond to receive 6300 out of the 
stakes and the third, £450. There were 1.53 
original entries, but only five started. Some of 
the most prominent competitors having gone 
amiss a few months ago, Geheimniss became a 
prime favorite, the betting at the start being six 
to four on her. She won easily by two lengths, 
oxuman 
NOTES BY A STOCKMAN, 
OUR ANIMAL PORTRAITS 
When a person writing in a Western Stock 
Journal advocates and recommends the im¬ 
provement of the Short-horns and Herefords 
as beef cattle, and the Jerseys and Ayrshires 
as dairy cattle, oy crossing them with the 
polled breeds, be simply runs a hobby into the 
ground or rides it to death. The person re¬ 
ferred to mentions the use of polled animals 
in the improvement of the Short horns as a 
proof that their further use would be a still 
further improvement. 
Shotover, Winner of the Derby. 
The greatest horse-race in England—the 
greatest in the world—was run at Epsom, a 
dozen miles southwest of London, on Wednes¬ 
day, May 24, being the first Wedn- sday before 
Whitsuntide, the day always assigned to this 
grand contest of three-year-old colts and fillies. 
Owing to the day being also the Queen’s birth¬ 
day, the immense throng always in attendance 
at the “Derby," was even larger than usual. 
Just before the great race of the day the arri 
val of the Prince and Princess of Wales added 
to the hilarity aud festivity of the occasion. 
The winning of the race by Iroquois last year 
—the first time the Blue Ribbon of the Turf 
was ever carried off by an American—gave 
an increased interest in the event this year 
not only to American visitors in Europe, but 
also to thousands of Americans here at home, 
especially as two American horses—Sachem 
and Gerald—belonging to Miv Pierre Loril- 
lard, the owner of Iroquois, were also among 
the fourteen contestants this year. 
Siuce the lost ‘ Derby" the betting on this 
race has varied greatly as the chances of e»ch 
of the contestants rose or fell by trials of 
speed or public rumor. At the start, however, 
the betting was 9 to 4 against Bruce; 5 to 1 
against Shotover ; 6 to 1 against Quicklime ; 
10 to I against Dutch Oven ; 12 to 1 against 
Sachem, and heavier odds against the other 
nine runners. The three first horses at the 
winning post are said to have won “a pluce," 
and of these none was at the head of the field 
until a couple of hundred yards from home. 
Then Quicklime shot ahead of all ; but alter a 
few strides, Cannon, the rider of Stiutover, 
timing his effort to a nicety, urged his horse 
ahead and won handsomely by time quarters 
of a length. The American Sachem, finishing 
strong, overhauled Bruce, the favorite, within 
the last fifty' yards, and secured the honor and 
emoluments of a “ place," as third, by a head. 
This was the oue hundrei and third renewal 
of the Derby Stakes. The course is over one 
mile and a half. There were 210 subscribers 
who had entered horses, the entrance fee 
being £50 each, half of which is forfeited if 
the owner withdraws the horse before the 
race. The second receives £300 aud the th'rd 
£150 outof the stakes, besides winning all bets 
that they would wiu a “ place." The “ time" 
of the race was 2:45 3-5, which is 4 2 5 seconds 
faster than Iroquois’time last year, and the 
best time made since Kisber won the race in 
2-44 in 1876. 
Shotover is the third filly that ever won 
the Derby since it was first established in 
1780, the two others being Eleanor, the winner 
in 1801, aud Blink Bonny, the winner in 1857. 
Fillies have seldom beouentered for the Derby, 
but it is thought likely that this victory will 
go **ar towards dispelling theprejudieeagaiust 
them in so severe a struggle. The winner was 
the highest priced of Mr. Henry Chaplin’s 
yearlings at the Newmarket sale in July, 1880, 
having brought 1,480 guineas (about $7,550). 
The chestnut filly was purchased for the Duke 
of Westminster, but although she started last 
year as a two year old iu several races, she 
never got “placed,” so that nobody dreamt of 
her as a possible Derby winner, until she won 
the Two Thousand Guineas on April 26th last; 
aud although two days later she was defeated 
by Margueiife for the One Thousand Guineas, 
strong expec'ulions have since been enter¬ 
tained that she would cariy off the Blue Rib¬ 
bon of the Turf. 
Shotover was entered for the Oaks won by 
Gelieimness, and much interest was excited to 
learn which was the better horse, so that con¬ 
siderable disappointment was felt when she 
As this story of the use of polled cattle in 
the formation of the “ Improved Short horns" 
sometimes gives rise to a mistaken impression, 
it might be well to explain all there is in it. 
Bell, in his wandering and garrulous, but in¬ 
teresting history of Short horns, refers to this 
Gallowuy cross, and he merely states a3 aa 
incident that Mrs. Charles Colling sent her 
cow, Phcenix, to a bull, the grandson of Bolin- 
broke, which was the second cress from a red 
Galloway polled cow. He also says, “Many 
suppose, because others have asserted it, that 
Mr. Robert Coiling introduced this cross to 
improve the Short-horns, when the very re¬ 
verse is the case. In fact, the cross was acci¬ 
dental, two polled red Galloway cattle hav¬ 
ing been bought for another party." Now it 
is quite plaiu that the use of a Short-horn 
bull on a polled cow would be for the purpose 
of improving the polled breed rather thau the 
Short-horns. The effect, so far as the use of 
the Galloway blood in the Short-horns by 
the use of this cross-bred ball, was to produce 
animals that “ were hard-fleshed, wiry-haired, 
and no milkers." So that the frequent state¬ 
ment that the Short horns owe some of their 
distinguishing signs and value to the Scotch 
polled breed is baseless. 
The origin of the Short-horns is not known. 
Mr. Bates said he hod heard it asserted that 
Short-horn cows had been sent from England 
to Holland 150 years before his tune by King 
James II as a present to the Prince of Orange; 
aud from the produce of these cows were 
made the importations of 100 years after that 
date. It is only reasonable to suppose that 
cows p. eseuted by a king to a prince, would 
be of the choicest sort that could be procured, 
and that a breed so highly estimated a*, that 
lime, about 200 years ago, and cons'antly 
improved since, could not be much improved 
by a race which at the same time was prac¬ 
tically wild and had not been subjected 
to any course of systematic improvement, 
not for a long time thereafter. It is very 
easy for persons having a partial and incom¬ 
plete idea of a thing to found a very strong 
belief upon it, and such people are usually 
the most obstinate in defending their wrong 
impressions. 
It is quite safe to say that it will be a long, 
long time before we shall see any announce¬ 
ment of a grand combination sale of polled 
Jerseys of the Rex, Pansy. Coomassie, Cham¬ 
pion, Farmer's Glory, Alpheaand other noted 
strains improved by a Scotch polled or a red 
Norfolk cross. 
This naturally recalls to mind the ques¬ 
tion whether we have really among the Jer¬ 
sey cattle any families or strains that may be 
justly called large butter-producing families. 
Some individual cows have given from 14 to 
more than 20 pounds of butter in a week, and 
the ancestors and descendants of these cows, 
both female and male, are eagerly sought at 
enormous prices on the strength of these re¬ 
corded yields of butter. A very important 
question both in regard to animal physiology, 
these ience of breeding, and the materia 
GEHEIMNISS— Winner of the Oaks.— Fig. 196. 
time she has been considered by most good 
judges the fleetest filly on the English turf, 
and the opinion is freely expressed that the 
winner of the Oaks could beat the winner of 
the Derby, an opinion generally thought to 
be confirmed by the fact that the Derby wiu- 
ner was an absentee from the Oaks. , , 
May 20, by L mi Stamford’s Goheimniss, 
Marguerite coining in a good second. The 
Oaks is just as old a race as the Derby, 
the last having been the I03d time it has 
been run. The length of the course and the 
conditions of entry are the same as those of 
the Derby—a mile and a half; £50 each; half 
