The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-07-17

that the blood of the race horse would
give us the kind Of lungs we needed In
the trotting horse. And i will say now
that after 40 years of experience as a
breeder, / am firmer than ever in this
belief.
Perhaps I wouldn't say that II my
aim as a breeder were merely to pro-
luce the greatest possible percentage
of trotters capable of going out and
getting tin-cup records of $3.50 or there
abouts. But / would rather raise one
good ~campaigner of 2:10 speed than
100 tin-cup trotters between 2:25 n
2:3o.
MY aim has always been to produce
a high rate of speed combined with
beauty of form. If i got a %trotter. !
wanted one good enough to win In good
company, and IL i failed to breed a
winner every time, as fail, of course, /
must. I wanted still to raise a horse
that ould be handsome enough for a
gentleman's roadster or for park driv-
ing. I started out with this object in
view when I bought my first trotters,
more than 40 years ago. They were
seven beautiful mares of the Morgan
family. Two of them. Tid and LIE
Blonde, were by Ethan Allen, then the
fastest stallion on the turf. and one of
the handsomest and purest-gaited trot-
tiers that ever lived. j drove these mares
together on the road and afterward
sold them to Henry N. Smith Of this
city. He used them as brood mares
when he established the Fashion Stud
Farm near Trenton. Two of the best
~trotters that Smith ever raised trace
back to these mares. Tida is the grand
dam Of the California stallion Doodle,
2:12h. and LIE Blonde is the granddam
OF Pixley. 2:0Sk, who finished second to
Alix in the fastest ace on record.
"A few years after / bought these
Morgan mares ] saw George NJ. Patchen
trot one of his great races against Flora
Temple yer on Long Island. He was
not only the fastest stallion of his day.
but a splendid specimen of horsefiesh as
well. His dam was by the thorough
bred horse Head'em, son Of imported
Trustee. l liked him so well that / bred
inbred Morgan mare Mag Addison
to him. She was by Addison, a son of
Hills Black Hawk. the sire of Ethan
Allen. Her dam was by Sherman
Black Hawk. another son of Hills
Black Hawk, n her %granddam was
the old-time trotter Belle of Saratoga,
2:29. a daughter Of HilI's Black Hawk.
From Mag Addison 1 raised Hamlin's
Patchen. He was a fine-looking fast
horse, and his blood figures very large
ly three or four generations back in
nearly all of the best ~trotters that have
come from Village Farm. About 20
years ago / went to Kentucky and
bought Almont, Jr., by Almont, out of
Maggie Gaines, by Blood's Black Hawk,
a son of Hills Black Hawk. He suited
me because he was a show horse as well
as a %trotter. and because his dan be-
fore him had been a noted prize winner
in the show ring. / bred the daughters
of Hamlin's Patchen to Almont, Jr.,
and when the fillies from this cross came
on I went down to Kentucky again TO
buy another stallion.
THAT was in 1882. The Wilkes boom
was at its height then, and all my
friends advised me to buy a son of
George Wilkes. But I said: No,
they are not my kind OF horses I
had seen George Wilkes trot against
Ethan Allen n others up here on
Long Island before he went to Ken
lucky, and I didn't like him. He was
a rank gutter, a plain looking horse
with no style, and he carried his hind
legs like a duck swimming when he was
at speed. He had Just enc redeeminS
trait. He would sticx to the trot an
der all circumstances as though he
knew no other gait. And his offspring
came in all shapes and sizes. Well, /
went out TO DR.. Hers pla e, rear Lex
ington. saw Mambrino King, and paid
$40, 900 for him. He was by Man,brino
Patchen. a show horse. out Of a mare
by Edwin Forrest, another show horse,
and his grandam was practically thor
o~ughbred. The commissioners OF the
French government had called him the
handsomest horse in the world, and ]
thought they were right, 30 . borght
him. whew! How the critics got af-
ter me for doing that! 'Hamhn,' they
said, has given $40, 900 for a dude horse
10 years old that never got a ,rot'er.'
1t was true that at that time Mambrino
King had no representatives IN ;ne 2.50
list, but i had seen him show 4 2:2j clip
on a rough country lane without a bit
OF preparation, and l felt confident
tina his colts would trot Fast IN u
time. Call him a dude horse " you
like I said to the Kentuckians. but I
will come back here some day with
one OF his colts and beat all YOUR
wilkeses.' And I did. The laugh was
on the Kentuckians when Nightingale
won the fastest two races at the Lex
ington meeting in 1895. and I didn't for
get TO remind them of what they had
said when I bought her sire.
Let me tell you what | think OF the
Wilkes family. There are some good
campaigners among them-some great
race horses. But there IRE too many
$50 horses: too many blanks; horses
that have no speed, and, being without
beauty of form, can only be sold at
prices which do not pay the breeder
one-fourth of what II costs to raise
them. The craze for the wilkes fam
lily and other families like II has been,
in my Judgment, the ruination of many
Kentucky breeders. When they failed
to get a trotter they had only 8 street
car horse. Most of those KentuckiaIs
who called Mambrino King a dude.
while they went on doubling up the
blood of George wilkes n other plain
sires OF the Hambletonian family. nave
found IT expensive business to breed
t~rotters of late years, and have given
up in disgust"
How did you come to buy Rex
Americas, Mr.. Hamlin?" asked the re-
porter, knowing that the veteran breed
er had once paid s15.o 900 for q two-year-
old colt of the Wilkes tribe. and a
rather plain one at that.
ct bought him because he trotted a
mile in 2:15h at W years old. and be-
cause he was one of the best Wilkes
horses I ever Jaw. Having brood