The New York herald., 1921-09-04
HAS CREATED FAMILY
OF TROYTING HORSES
Remarkable Achievements Of
w. B. Dickerman as Breeder
at Hill-and- d-Dale Farm.
IN SUBURB OF NEW YORK
No Other Horseman Ever De-
rveloped So Many Flyers
of 2:1O Speed.
By GURNEY O. CUE.

The brilliant performances OF Media.
2:03A: Selka, 2:06A. and the three
year-old filly Sakura. 2.07%, on Grand
Circuit tracks this season, are a re-
niinder that w. B. Dickerman's Hill
and-Dale Farm. from which they come
il now almost the only one Of any note
In the State of New York devoted to
the breeding and development Of trot-
ting horses. Within the memory OF
horsemen not yet old this State pro-
duced about as many trotters as any IN
the Union, and boasted of some OF the
country's largest and most successful
s~ss1ing studs. The last of these mas
passed away. but Mr. Diclserman. whose
connection with the trotting horse began
before more than two or three of them
had come into existence, still holds the
fort. as devoted to his hobby as he was
almost half century ago. when driving
trotters on the road in Brooklyn
Wallace's American Trotting Register
shows that the first registered horse bred
by him was foaled In 1880. Her name
was Ida Clay. The records of harness
racing disclose nothing of note accom-
plished by this daughter of Harry Clay,
2:29 as a performer or producer Of
speed yet the visitor to Hill-and-Dale
Farm sees her neatly kept grave.
marked with headstone, on the high
ground overlooking the half-mile train
ing track. Beside her sleep Ethelberta,
a daughter Of Harold that Mr.. Dicker-
man bought of Robert Bonner in 1879,
Ter daughter, Merry Clay. and the stall
lion Bellini. 2:1sA. son OF Artillery,
2:211a, and Merry Clay.
Sentiment and Science.
These grassy mounds seem to indicate
that sentiment has been mingled with
science In breeding trotters at Hill-and-
Dale Farm. When operations were be-
gun in earnest on the splendid estate of
2T5 acres at the crest Of Quaker Ridge
rear Mamaroneck, in westchester cour-
tr, the rival families of George Wilkes
:22 and Electfoneer dominated the
trotting world. and Few breeders were
Bold enough to choose stations from
sny other line to head their studs. But
-fr Dickerman chose Bellini, the first
fast colt he had raised. whose sire was
by no means noted stock horse. though
be was the fastest son Of Rysdyk's
Hambletonian. and whose dam was by
Harry Clay, 2:29, the horse of which
Mr.. Bonner said his blood was like
saweust In oats"
Probably nine horsemen out Of tea
would have said the breeding enterprises
was doomed to failure, despite the choice
mares Mr.. Dickerman assembled to mate
with his home bred stallion. but as the
years went by young trotters of ex-
treme speed came from Hill-and- Dale
Farm in such numbers as to demonstrate
that Bellini was almost another Peter
the Great, :07H. His owner rarely
Kept more than about twenty brood
mares, and few others were bred to the
horse. His family was consequently
very small, but what 1t lacked in num-
bers was more than balanced by the
uniformity with which they inherited the
speed of their sire. Something OF his
potency may be seen In the fact that
only ten horses of the breed have ever
produced as many as fourteen trotters
whose records are 30 or better, and
he Is one OF them.
BelIinPs Son Succeeds Him.
When Bellini died, in March. 1910.
MIR. Dickerman gave Baron Mckinney.
2:1OA. a trial In the stud, but eventually
selected Atlantic Express. 2:07%,
homcbred son of Bellini and Expressive,
2:121a. by Electioneer, to take the place
Of his sire. This fast young horse has
only seventy-one foals older than year
lings. yet he Is already the sire of seven
trotters In the 2 10 list. and among them
is Media, :03A. the fastest one Mr..
Dickerman has ever bred. This great
mare worked a mile In :01A during
the August meeting at Cleveland and
Is generally regarded as the fastest trot-
ter in training with the single exception
Of Peter Manning. 2:0O. Her owner
does not seem to be so sure that Peter
Manning need be excepted After she
made him trot the fastest three heats on
record to win the Transylvania Purse at
Lexington last fall Mr.. Dickerman was
quite disappointed when they barred him
at Cleveland this year in the $4,000
~
entered That she will trot In 200 or
better before the season ends is the be-
lief of nearly all horscrhen.
1t Is noteworthy In connection with
Atlantic Express that every one OF HIS
offspring in the Q: 10 list got there before
reaching mature age Three OF the seven
made their records as four-year-oids,
three more beat 2:10 when three-year-
clds, while Tacita trotted in 2 .07% as
two-year-od, afterward lowering her
record to o5A. Mr.. Dickerman never
races his two-year-olds. however fast
they may be but he often gives them
records against time at that age. and he
does not hesitate to race three-year-olds
against aged horses. as he Is doing this
season with the great Ally Sakura. that
came out green at Philadelphia, and
after winning in the 2 :21 class at Poueh-
keepsie defeated a field of fourteen In
ting her winning heats in 2:0SM, 2:07%
and :0Sh.
old Theory Exploded.
The remarkable achievements OF the
veteran horseman In breeding and de-
veloping young trotters on the hills be-
tween the Hudson and the Sound have
gone far to explode the old notion that
IA warm climate is essential to success
or that any particular region has mo-
tnopoly on the production OF early and
Nxtreme speed. The numerous breeders
OF the far famed Orange county never
produced as many 2 10 trotters all told.
as have come from this small but select
westchester county stud. c. J. Ham
Inns Village Farm once the largest trot-
tslg stud in the world. sent 20 the turf
less than one-half the number produced
at Hill-and-Dale. The long and brilliant
records OF horse breeding IN Kentucky
disclose no individual who has reared
and developed SO many fast ones. The
Patchen Wilkes Stock Farm of w. Il.
n. Stokes and the Walnut Hall Farm
established by the late L. v. Harkness
are the only studs ever credited with
more 210 trotters than Hill-and-Da
and each OF those great farms possessed
more than five brood mares for every
one kept by MIR. Dickerman
Though Who's Who" shows that the
breeder of Media was horn IN fSAe ora