Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-05
now as II the much coveted Transyivania
stake was at her mercy

now as II the much coveted Transyivania
stake was at her mercy.
The chestnut mare Alfalfa, which narrow
ly escaped from being member OF Wesn-
ington stable last spring made good again
Wednesday last at Cleveland In the ~
pace, she pacing three heats In 2.O64,
2O6K and 2064. This young mare IL by
Argot Wilkes q stallion that Is rapidiy
growing Into prominence as q sire OF ex-
treme speed. A race between Alfalfa, Inc
Broneho and Ardelles would prove strong
drawing card for the track that couio
bring them together.
Paulding Boy, 2121s. seems to be stlii on.
for he barely saved his entry money We'd
nesday last at Erie. Pa, while Lady Cason,
in the same string, in the z Is pace, TOOK
third money The fast green pacing geld
ing My Star, which was sold for 10000
few days since at Albany to ]. A. Crabtree
of Boston, met with his first defeat We'd
nesday last al Erie In the 2.11 pace, L. T.
Washburn taking his measure, while the
fast and game mare Princeton, 2 10 In the
same stable got third money on her second
defeat this season. Enrboy, which had not
suffered single defeat until Wednesday,
could do no better than fourth in the same
event. The hard races which all the horses
last named nave undergone have doubtless
dulled their speed and they need to be
given a let-up for while. Flesh and blood
have their limitations. Engine drivers say
that even steam engines when driven for
several weeks up to their clip lose their
speed.
The usually well-informed correspondent,
w. T.. Curtis, now in Russia, is In error
when he states that the famous Orloh
breed of trotters were imported from Ara
bia. 1t is true, however that the progen-
itor of the Orloffs was an Arabian as the
progenitor of the Hambletonian and Mann
l.-s., % Co., ~.
imported thoroughbred Messenger, a gray
in color. and which could trace his descent
TO the Godolphin and barley Arabians. The
historyseof the celebrated Orion family of
horses is interesting and is as follows: In
1772 Count Alexis Orloff, favorite of Cath
crime the Great, was in command of the
Russian fleet In a war against the Turks,
and with the aid of the English Admiral
Elphinstone achieved signal victory. The
family of the Turkish commander fell into
the hands of Count Orloff. In considera-
ton of his kind and considerable treatment
of them the Turk presented the count an
elegant Arabian horse, called Smetanka.
He was white horse of unusual size for
an Arab-16 hands-and his bones may be
seen even to this day in the museum at
Khrenovaya. 1t is insisted by Russian
breeders that he had nineteen ribs. while
the ordinary horse has only eighteen.
y
Smetanka was placed in the stud In 1875,
was in service only one year and died the
next, his produce being four colts and
fily. One of the colts. called Volcan, was
out of Danish mare, breed not named
Like his sire, he was large and in due
course of time was mated with Dutch
mare. Volcan trotted, but his action did
not suit the count. The stallion Barss,
the result of the union with the Dutch
mare. had good trotting action, and to fix
the trotting instinct more firmly in his de-
scendants Count Orloff bred Barss to his
own daughters. BY a course of inbreeding,
IL slNA 81 ,;.-,,, 49, f0ec
trotters became a distinct type and ac-
cording TO a noted authority. ever since
that period, whether the Orloff was crossed
with Arab, English, French or Dutch blood
all attempts to improve the breed have
failed. 1t may be mentioned in passing that
all attempts to improve the thoroughbred
by fresh infusions OF Arabian blood has
failed in the same signal fashion. After
the death of Count Orloff in 1895 the great
er portion of the stud fell into the hands OF
the imperial government.
~
Along In the latter part OF the sixties or
the early seventies, the late Gen. E. F.
Beale of Washington, while minister to
Austria, met a son of Count Alexis Orloff
at the Austrian capital and the two men
conceived such liking for each other
that Gen. Beale. on his return when he
chose a stallion to head his own trotting
stud in Prince George county named him
Prince Orloff his number in the trotting
stud book being 1925. Prince Orloff 1925,
however, carried in his veins the blood of
Hambletonian 10, he being inbred to that
celebrated progenitor of trotters his sire
being son and his dam a daughter of
that horse. The Russian Orloffs are of
good size, good bone and Of good DISPOSE
ton. and are almost universally solid bays
In color. When regularly trained they show
speed, some of them trotting to as low a
record as 2 Is. Three years ago a cargo of
Orion horses was brought from Russia to
New York and consigned to the salesrng
They brought fairly good prices but not
enough to justify other shipments, as ex-
cept In the matter of size they did not
give satisfaction to American purchasers.