Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-23
HORSES OF ENGLAND.
A Chat With the Duke of Beaufort,
the Famous Sportsman.
AMERICA LOSING IN ENDURANCE.
The Finest Animals Bred From Cart
Horses and Arabians.
MERITS OF TURF AND SAND RUNNING
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE D1sPArcH.l

pushed himself back from the breakfast
table this morning, and talked of the past
and present Of high-class sports with vim
and interest of which ne only is capable.
He has turned 66, and is yet young In head
and heart Tiae bones of q pheasant before
him. to say nothing of the other good things
provided for our morning meal, told the
story of an appetite which means good
health. All The surroundings were fitted
for repose and chat upon any phase of
human life agreeable.
A good breakfast at midday, with all the
conditions of interesting association, both
traditional and practical, makes life warm
in all its hinges and yanks the fur off the
cat of indigestion, melancholy and all other
mensces human being makes to the world
when he is not very fit to enjoy what there
is in it.
A RACE OF STRONG MEN.
There is so much Of interest in the quiet
symposium with the Duke Of Beaufort
have so much enjoyed this November morn
ing that is worthy of being written, that I
am not going 10 do more here than say that
while approaching the three-score-and-te
mark, this remarkable man still rides with
the hounds and is as fine a specimen of
physical manhood as can be found any
where who has approached the half century
point. The name of Beaufort represents ten
generations of strong men who, while deal
ing in the highest phases of intellectual and
social life, have followed the better sports of
the field with great success, making the
name synonymous with the greatest achieve
ments of the turf and the best history of
field sports that the annals of old England,
nation of spartsmen, has for record.
The house OF Beaufort has been founded
many years. The Dukedom was created 280
years ago. and the beautiful and fertile es-
tates are among the most interesting in
England. There may be more elaborate and
expensive homes than Badminton, of
which I shall write later, but none more
charming and restful; none surrounded with
more unique conditions that typify the
higher phases OF home life as represented by
the nobility.
THE BADMINToN LIBRARY.
The Duke of Beaufort has wide person.
ality beyond the household name. He has
long been one of the masters OF the tur,, a
recognized authority on the breeding of race
horses and all manner of outdoor sports,
and his splendid works upon these sui iects
known as the Badminton Library, dedicated
to the Prince of Wales, are the accepted
words of authority upon all matters of which
they treat, and there is no character of sport
calculated to develop the physical condi-
tons ofman or woman that is not thorough
ly considered in them. Popular with all
classes this perfect type of an English gentle
man of the old school sits in judgment upon
many things, and enjoys the broad respect
OF both the high and the low wherever he is
known.
It was just before race day when, after a
good repast, we were looking at a splendid
field of horses sweeping along the down to
start in a stake event that he spoke of a
great many things of interest in the busy
world; but the drift was toward horses and
their achievements.
ENDURANCE IN AMERICA.
american race horses are developing
marvellous speed, but think it must be
done at the expense of endurance" he said.
Breeders NAV not see the effects of it Just
now so much, but the more they breed upon
favorite strains of blood, the more they will
fnd the necessity Of introducing new ones to
keep up the standard. We have had the
same experience in England, when the
families Of racers grew entirely too close,
and had to be crossed with grosser material
to bring back the animal to perfection for
racing purposes.
"But it is a remarkable fact, and one that
cannot be denied, that where there were
great achievements on the turf, either here
or in the United States, the blood can be
traced back to the Glencoe, Muley Moloch,
the great Stockwell, Rataplan, Bay Mid
dleton, King Tom and three or four others,
the foundation being such strains as Touch
stone and Orlando, represented now BY
nearly all the great horses on the turf or in
the stud. Pocahontas was the greatest dam
ever heard of or knew. She bred IL colts,
including Stockwell, and every one of them
achieved fame. She is one of the few mares
ever knew in nv long experience on the
turf that seemed certain to produce some
thing strong on the breeding farm, where
caprices are as numerous as stars in the
heavens"
"How is that?"
BREEDING IS A LOTTERY.
'For the reason that breeding. like rum
ming horses, is a lottery. The condition of
the weather when the foal is got and the
temper and condition of the dam during the
months before the foal is dropped all play
an important part in the power and useful
ness of horse on the turf. We are at a
great disadvantage in this country on ac-
count of the weather, which may have a
very important bearing upon the future of
a colt bred by a great sire from a great dam.
In the United States they have the advan-
valuable animals with much more certainty
than in this foggy atmosphere, where we are
liable to have cold, wet weather during the
foaling season.
"Stallions are quite as capricious as dams
and the fact that one is great runner can
not be taken as an assurance that he will
breed prize runners. Since 1910, out of the
so stations winning the Derby, only 20 of
of them have shown themselves of any par
ticular value in the stud, and many times a
stallion doing nothing remarkable on the
turf had proven himself exceedingly valu-
able in getting good racers. Yet, despite all
this uncertainty, the brood of horses for al
most every class goes on improving, and the
race horses of years ago would play very
insignificant part in the demands of the
present day."
'Ts the English thoroughbred perfect
animal?"
THE THOROUGHBRED ANIMAL.
"In racing nomenclature, there is really
no such thing as the thoroughbred, but the
cross of the Arabian with the coarse English
cart horse that was really thoroughbred,
has been accepted as the thoroughbred ami
NAL. But the barley Arabian. bought out
of dust cart in Paris, and brought to
England and crossed with the heavy and
healthy mares used in our primitive DAYS,
has undoubtedly produced the finest running
horses the world has ever known. If they
| are allowed to retrograde little at any
time, they.are very soon brought back to
| good standard by the introduction of new
strains in the old families. l think lust
now we need little more endurance. We
have plenty OF speed, but more stamina
would bring us nearer to perfection"
"Do you like the short races of to-day as