, 1889-05-26

There are at Pnlo Alto about 800 brood
mares, which arc being bred to Electionecr,
Nephew, Piedmont and their sons, and TO the
sons of Gen. Benton.
At Palo Alto great attention is paid to the
mating sire and dam, with q view to con-
formation, temperament and gait. Indeed,
this point Is considered of paramount impor-
tance, even ranking above the mere question
of blood lines One theory is that a colt by
n good sire out Of a good dam will show
speed according to its balance and friction
less way Of going, and he places these points
far above my nero question of breeding.
Senator Stanford's theory is TINT extreme ef-
forts atnn early age can only DO sustained by
great vigor, perfect conformation, a high
nervous organization and n long, unbroken
line OF extreme speed inheritance
He finds these qualities to his greatest salts
faction In choicely selected Thoroughbred
marcs Of certain families, and believes that
his grand stallion will impart to them tho
trotting instinct and action. 1t Is nonsense
for any one to shy they can detect the differ
enco In trotting action between tho fools by
Electioneer from thoroughbred mares or
those strictly trotting bred. This theory Is
rank heresy to the nero thcorist In breeding,
but pending their discussion of what some of
them are pleased to call eccentricities, he goes
on astonishing the world with his phenomenal
record breakers.
On this subject a writer In The Horseman
saysi
"Our own ideas concerning the selection of
n trotter by E~lectioneer would be n colt from
n marc with one trotting or pacing cross, and
n long line of choice thoroughbred ancestry.
When we first saw Norlaine we thought she
was the sweetest thing of animal creation,
but when Sunol was placed by her side we
saw even greater finish, fully as ~faultless con-
formation, and n sort of ''hnrd Us nails look
which excited our unqualified approval. Nor
lnine Ind oil the grace and beauty, and the
sweet, mild look of q fnwn; Sunol had the
proud, self confident, reliant Dir of royalty,
and In very truth she seemed In all respects
a queen 1t was this, together with her
easy, elnstic action, that induced US to pub
licly predict that, II no accident occurred, she
would break the 2-year-old record of 2.21
How grandly she has performed her task Is
known to the world. She has made three Mt
tempts, tho first early In the season In 2:25,
the second carly in October In 2:201S,
tho third a few days later In 2:18 What
else Marvin ISenator Stanford's trainerl has
In store as a surprise we are unable to pre-
dict. Last spring no stated to us that his
ambition was to beat ESQ with a yearling, to
beat 2:1s with n 3-year-old, to beat $50 with
n 2-year-old, and to reduce the 4-year-old rec
ord below 2:15. This accomplished he was
willing TO rest upon his laurels
"If he meets with no accident in the next
two years we firmly believe he will accom-
plish the task. People wonder that more
Electioneers do not go into tho $50 list, and
that more daughters of Electioneer do not
produce. 1t should be remembered that there
Is practically but ono trainer at Palo Alto,
and that his sole aim and purpose Is to
secure each year some phenomenal y~oungster,
and TO that end all other consideration nre
sacrificed. We have seen ut Palo Alto Q and
3-year-olds from Electioneer mares which,
without being in Marvin's hands, hnveshown
quarters in SO to 81 seconds, and were then
ordered by him to the stud or paddock. 1t
would give us great pleasure TO SEQ q system
attic effort made for two years to train all Palo
Alto horses to n record better than 2.30 which
show ability to train TO such record"
When Senator Stamford goes down to his
country home 1t Is his pleasure to SIT In a
large chair In the center of a ring and SEQ his
favorite young flyers brought out for trial.
1t was while watching one of these fast trot-
ters-an animal which had the enormous
stride of twenty-three feet-that the million
afro conceived the idea that In some part of
his course the horse must entirely clear the
ground and have all four feet In tho air. 80
he decided to have his horses photographed
while In motion He secured the services of
q skillful photographer named Muybridge,
who arranged an ingenious system OF cam
eras worked by electricity, by which an in
Simultaneous view of the animal was given as
he passed the homo line.
About 10000 were spent on these expert
ments; but they overthrow all previous no
lions on the subject, and the book which
Stanford had written and published, "The
Horse In Notion is n valuable contribution
to science
Tho success Of the Palo Alto farm has
demonstrated that the climate of California
is equal to that of Kentucky for the breeding
of swift trotting and running stock.
Tho recent sale OF Palo Alto trotting stock
at the American Institute in New York city
realized about $4,000, and many celebrated
horses were sold