The New York herald., 1921-09-25
COMMANDO'S SWEEP
IN $4,000 FUTURITY
Four Descendants of Domino's
Great Son Lead All the Rest
in Annual Race.
REMARKABLE FAMILY
In the Forefront Among Sue
cessful Sire Lines Despite
Early Death of Commando.
by GURNEY @. CUE.

by GbHNEt ~. CUE.
When Bunting won the Futurity a,
Belmont Park this year he not only
broke the long standing rule that Futur.
ity winners never come from Futurity
winners but he and the three next ir
order at the finish OF the $4,000 race
made record for their family which
probably has few precedents in turf
history.
When entries closed on January g.
1919, the prospective foals OF 945 mares
were eligible to compete for the capital
prize OF two-year-old racing. They
represented every breeder and every sire
OF any note in the county. When the
bugle called the starters TO the post a
week ago all but twenty-five of the
hundreds of eligibles failed, for one
reason or another, to answer the sum
mons, and when the few that had stood
the preparation and shown the speed
10 warrant their owners in starting them
fought it out over the six furlongs
course the four that forged to the front
and led all the rest at the finish were
seen TO be the descendants of one horse
Commando.
H. p. Whitney's Bunting. the winner.
was by Pennant, the Futurity winner
of 1913, and a son OF Peter Pan, by
Commando. Lawrence waterbury's CAL
ant Man, that came in second, was by
Superman, son of Commando Dream OF
Allah. that ran third. was by Colin, the
Futurity winner of 1907, whose sire was
Commando, and John e. Madden's Surf
Rider. that ran fourth. was by Super
man, son OF Commando.
Even the great trotting sire Peter the
Great. :07h, that experts in the
science of heredity have lately pro-
nounced "the greatest sire of all breeds" :"
never had more remarkable testi-
monial than this one. And its signifi-
canoe Is enhanced by the fact that Com
mando died at the early age of seven.
after having made only three full stud
seasons.
Though not eligible to start in tine
Futurity he was the leading winner
among two-year- -olds of 1900, having
piled UP earnings of $40,862 in six
races, five of which he won When retired
TO the stud after starting three times
as a three-year-old his total winnings
were s5s.196 in nine races. seven OF
which he won, while he was second in
the only two he ever lost
His sire before him. Domino, was the
largest two-year-old winner the Ameri-
can turf has seen, his earnings hav-
ing reached $780, $50 in one campaign.
which included the rich Futurity OF
1893 In that year the offspring Of
Domino's sire. Himyar, won $24s.502 in
public races, which has been equalled
by only one other sire in American turf
history, and that sire his grandson,
Commando, whose total in the year Of
his death, 1907, reached s270.345.
Colin was the first of the male line
descendants of Domino to win the Flu
turity. In the thirteen renewals since
1906 no less than seven winners have
come from this family-more than from
all others combined-snd six of the
seven descendants of the black whirl-
wind traced to him through Commando.
Here Is the list:
1eo7--Colin, by Commando.
iatT-Papp. by Peter Ounce. by Commando.
l9is-Duboyne. by Cet. by Commando.
fp20-Step Lightly, by Ultimus, by Com
mando.
fa21-Bunting. by Pennant.
This is a wonderful showing for any
family of horses, and much more so
for one no larger than that OF Com
mando. Nothing like Il has been seen
since the first Futurity was run in
lSSN. The successes OF fAnkee IN l5ul,
OF Hamburg Belle in 1903 and of Art
ful. in 1904, gave the family of Han
over great prominence as Futurity win
ners for a few years. but fifteen races
have been run since the last of the
line scored.
The soundness OF the old maxim,
Breed to the winner" is exempdhed by
the sons of Commando that handed down
his early and extreme speed to the
four leaders in this years Futurity.
Peter Pan won s116.450 in the eighteen
races he ran, a record which less than
ten horses have equalled on the Ameri-
can turf Colin, never beaten, won
$iSO.912, which only Domino and Syson-
by have eaualled in open races recog-
nized by the Jockey Club. Superman
won the Brooklyn Handicap and other
important races.
Through these winners and Celt, Peter
Ounce, Utimus and his son. Luke Nc
Luke. as well as Black Toney and PEN
nant. sons OF Peter Pan. the family Is
IN the forefront among successful sire
lines Of to-day, despite the early death
OF Commando. Had he lived long
enough to leave numerous progeny his
place among progenitors OF speed must
have been even higher than It is to-day.
Horsemen of old school may deplore
the commanding position OF n family
more noted for speed than staying quail
ties, but Il meets the tests of the present
day system OF racing. while the stouter
lines from Lexington and other long
distance runners of the olden time fall
TO survive among the sprfntpra