Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-11-28
TALES OF THE DERBY
Some of the Winners That Were
Not Liked as Youngsters.
BOUGHT FOR A MERE TRIFLE:.

BOUGHT FOR "A MERE TRIFLE.
Little Wonder, Who Carried Off the
Blue Ribbon In 1s4o, Cost His Own
er Only $325-The Successes Of Vol
tigeur and Thormanby.
Stories of Derby winners having
been sold as youngsters for exceed
tngly small sums are fairly numerous,
and without going too far back into
the recesses of the past at least two
instances can be cited of animals des-
tined ultimately to win the blue rib
bon Of the turf which as yearlings
no one thought good enough to buy.
Voltigeur was one Of these. and the
other was Thormanby.
Voltigeur was bred by Robert Ste:
phenson In 1S47 and as a yearling was
sent up to be sold at the Doncaster
sales, a reserve price of $1,750 being
placed on him. Not man was found
to bid that much for him; consequently
he was withdrawn. Il,
In all probability he would have re-
mained unsold had not Williamson, q
relative by marriage Of Lord zetland,
seen him and, having taken fancy to
him, finally persuaded his lordship to
buy him.
E His judgment was triumphantly vim
dicated,s for not only did Voltigeur win
the Derby and st. Leger, but he sue
pna 1n1 IN ytnI fch np
oughbreds which is at present domi-
nant on the English turf and likely to
remain so for some time to come.
Thormanby, too, was sent up to be
disposed at the Doncaster and. like
Voltigeur,s did not reach a nominal re-.
serve. DESTROYS Of getting rid Of him,
however Plummer, his breeder, re-
quested his famous trainer, Matt Daw-
son, to come and have a thorough look
at him.
This Dawson did and, perceiving at
a glance good points about him, which
no one else apparently had noticed,
bought him for j Merry, his patron.
Strange enough, Dawson gave the
same figure for Thormanby as that
paid for Noltigeur. M 5Esss
IN As a two-year-old Thormanby ran
fourteen times and out Of this number
scored nine wins. and in the Derby OF
the following year he beat field Of
thirty. It was said that the race net
ted Merry the nice sum Of 100000.
The cheapest horse that ever won
the Derby was Little Wonder, which
was successful in 1910. for he cost his
owner, Robertson. the meager sum Of
only 1926.
Spaniel. too, winner Of the race IN
1881, was picked up for very small
sum. Lord Egerton, his breeder, letting
him go for $3.50.
Pyrrhus j.. which won In 1916, was
purchased by John Day, the noted
trainer, as a yearling at Doncaster,
Gully. the pugilist. taking a half In
terest In him. Il ss
AS a two-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 Hawley for $1.250 and a
further $5, 900 IL he won the Derby
Sir Joseph and his confederate, Mas
sey Stanhope, to whom the horse real
" belonged, profited largely over the
success. and the jockey, Marson. who
rode the horse, received $4,000 as a
token Of victory, which In those days
was r1nprecedented
Safnfoin, which carried the colors Of
Sir James Miller to the front, was an
ceptionally fortunate purchase by
John Porter, the trainer. He bought
the colt out Of the Hampton Court lot
of yearlings in 1888 for the very rea-
sonable price OF $2.720. Sir Robert Dar-
dine taking half interest In him.
As a two-year-old be was seen only
once in public, and he won his race
with the greatest ease. The year fol-
lowing he won the Esher stakes IN q
canter, after which he was sold to
Sir James Miller for $50, 900 and con-
tingency of half the stakes II he won
the Derby. 1t was indeed profitable
deal for Porter and Sir Robert.
Another instance Of Porter's shrewd-
ness as horse dealer was his pur-
chase Of the great horse Isonomy for
the bagatelle figure. comparatively
speaking, of $500. The real owner
was Fred Gretton.
Isonomy gave no real promise OF his
worth as two-year-old, his only vic
tory being a nursery stake in the lat
ter part Of the season. AS a three
year-old he was not seen in public un-
TIL the Cambria geshire, which he won
easily by two lengths and incidentally
earned no less than 100000 In bets
for his owner.
Had he been in the classic races he
would In all probability have cleaned
the board.
-, q I 5ar..