Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-14
RARE BARGAINS OF THE TURF
Some Cheap Colts that Have Won the
Derby.
LITTLE WONDER WAS CHEAPEST
Hard work TO Dispose OF the Great
voItiReur, who Won the Classic
and Made n Lasting Name
~ the tad

LONDON, June 2.-Innumerable instances
are on record. both in America and Eng
land, Of exceedingly cheap colts sfterward
winning fortunes for their chance owners.
One Of the most notable cases recently
was that Of the American steeplecha .er
Rublo, who won tho Liverpool Grand Ma
kional last March. After arriving In Eng
land with a lot Of yearlings he was sold
for the sum Of SIS and driven to a trap for
. while.
Stories OF Derby winners having been
sold as youngsters for exceedingly small
sums are fairly numerous and without go
ing too far back into the recesses Of the
past at least two Instances can be cited
Of animals destined ultimately to win the
'Tblue ribbon Of the turf" which as year
Iings no one thought good enough to buy.
Woltigeur was one Of these and the other
was Thormanby.
yoltigeur was bred by Robert Stephen
son in 1sl7 and as a 'y~earling was sent UP
20 be sold at the Doncsster sales, a reserve
price Of $3.50 being placed on him. Not a
man was found to bid that much for him.
consequently he was Withdrawn. In all
probability he would have remained unsold
had not Williamson, a relative by marriage
df Lord Zetland, seen him, and, having
Saken a fancy to him, finally persuaded his
hordship 70 buy him. His judgment was tri-
n~mphantiy indicated. for not only did
Noltigeur win the Derby and st. Leger.
but he succeeded in establishing a line Of
h~horoughbreds which Is at present domi-
nant on the English turf and likely to
Kemain 30 for some time to come.
Thormanby, too, was sent up to be dis
posed Of at DOncaster. and like Voltigeur
MD not reach a nominal reserve. DESTROYS
Of getting rid Of him however, Plumnter,
his breeder. requested the famous trainer,
Matt Dawson. to come and have a thorough
look az him. This Dawson did. and perceiv-
sing at q glance good points about him,
which no one else apparently had noticed.
bought him for Mr.. Merry. his patron.
Strange enough Dawson gave the same
figure for Thormanby as that paid for
Voltigeur. As a 2-year-oid Thormanby ran
fourteen times and out of this number
scored nine wins, and in the Derby of the
following year he beat a field OF thirty.
It was said that the race Melted Merry
the nice sum Of 100000.
The cheapest horse that ever won the
Derby was Little Wonder. who was sue
cessful in 1910. for he only cost his owner.
Robertson, the measre sum of 1925. Spaniel.
too, winner Of the race in 1881, was picked
up for q very small sum. Lord Egerton.
his breeder letting him go for $50. Pyr-
rhus I. who won in 1886. was purchased by
John Day. the noted trainer. as a yearling
at Doncaster. Gully, the pugilist, taking a
half interest in him. AS a 2-year-old the
horse never ran. and seemingly his abilities
were then Of an unknown quantity. for at
the end OF the season Day agreed to sell
his half. share in him to Gully for $500.
Days chagrin at his subsequent victory in
the Derby was very great.
Teddington, the winner OF 1851. was bred
by a blacksmith, who sold him as a foal
together with his dam to Sir Joseph Haw-
ley for $1.25O and a further 5000 II he won
the Derby. Sir Joseph and his confederate
Massey Stanhope. to whom the horse really
belonged, profited largely over the sue
cess; and the Jockey. Marson, who rode
the horse, received $4,000 as a token OF
victory. which in those days was unpre-
cedented.
Sainfoin, who carried the colors Of Sir
James Miller to the front eighteen years
ago. was an exceptionally fortunate pur'
chase by John Porter. the trainer. Ht
bought the colt out Of the Hampton Court
lot Of yearlings in 1888 for the very reason.
able price OF s2.I2o. Sir Robert Jardine tax
Ing a half interest I'm him As a 2-year-olC
he YVES seen only once In public and he woT
his race with the greatest ease. The yea
following no won the Esther stakes in
canter. after which he was sold to ST
James Miller for $4,000 and a contingency
of half the stakes II he won the Derby
It was indeed a profitable deal for Porte
and Sir Robert.
Another instance OF Porter's shrewdnes
as a horse dealer was his purchase Of tn
great horse, Isonomy, for the bagatell
figure, comparatively speaking, of $780,
The real owne was Fred Gretton. Isonom,
gave no real promise OF his worth as