to him, with about the same number of foreigners;' and as Mat. Dawson took the first subscription, we expect he will fill as rapidly as the Gaiety Theatre; and take him altogether, since Stockwell was knocked down at Burleigh, he is the best horse that ever faced a Tattersall. We next came across Oxford, to whom all the best mares in the paddocks are in foal this season'; he looked quite cherry ripe, and by reference to the Stud Book' it will be seen he has made dams of winners mares that never before produced anything worth notice. Knight of the Crescent has grown into a long, low, muscular-framed horse, and must be a success at the stud if appearances go for anything; and a foal of his, own brother to Moslem and Tenedos, struck us to be as near perfection as any animal we had ever seen under twelve months old, and we are not surprised how much Messrs. Graham are prepossessed in favour of the family. Our own opinion is, that Knight of the Crescent is just the horse that is calculated to improve weedy, narrow-framed, high-legged mares. The Yardley mares are about thirty in number, and all looked well and healthy at the date of our visit, and the owners may think themselves fortunate in having only one barren among them. Storm King's dam has slipped twin foals to Knight of the Crescent, which was so far fortunate, as mares with twins, unless they slip them, might themselves be in danger. The foals are particularly large and healthy, and the young 'Oxonians' are very good-looking and clever. They have also some fine young mares coming on, among which may be mentioned Mineral, The Jewel, Mellona, Thalia, Sister to Julius, and Sister to the Mariner, as well as some Stockwell and Newminster mares. The whole establishment at Yardley is well worth a visit; and as Messrs. Graham are convinced that formation with action and substance must succeed, they bid fair to attain the object of their ambition, which is to breed racehorses. As regards the young sires whose stock have come out this season, they do not appear to have left their mark behind them, and, therefore, we will not particularise them, as it would be invidious so to do; besides, it is not fair to condemn a young horse because his stock are not successful the first season. At the same time we cannot help thinking that many horses are put very much too high, and we imagine their owners will be lucky men if they get their subscriptions filled at the quoted prices. However time will show who is right, those who advertise at forty and fifty guineas, or those who offer their sires at a more moderate figure. The death of Orlando recalls to our memory the stately Lord George Bentinck, Mr. Greville, in his green coat, white hat, and pepper-and-salt trousers, as well as the quaint old Ransom, and other celebrities with whom he was associated, and who will long live in the annals of the Turf. Orlando was perhaps the best-bred horse in the Stud Book, for he combined Camel and Master Henry on his sire's side, and Langar and Bustard on that of his dam. Even as a foal he was renowned, for Mr. Worley, the stud groom at Hampton Court, took Mr. Hill into his paddock and showed him Orlando, a few hours after he was dropped, saying to him as he entered the field, 'I'm 'now going to show you a wonder; if I mistake not he is the nicest foal I ' ever saw in my life.' This estimate was fully verified by Orlando's performances when in training and subsequent success at the stud. The Sporting Journals have furnished such lengthy notices of him that our task is rendered very simple, and we think we need not say more than he was the best horse of modern times, and he stood out from ordinary sires as Murske, Snap, King Herod, and Eclipse did from the horses of their day. All his produce showed terrific speed, as his long list of winners will demonstrate; and he did best with Emilius and Catton mares. He was not a good-tempered horse when in training; and although he was credited with Running Rein's Derby, there is some reason to believe that Ionian beat him in his trial. When General Peel disposed of his stud to Lord Ribblesdale, Orlando was included in the lot, and subsequently became the property of Mr. Greville, who was as fond of him as a hen of one chick, and was never tired of leaning on his stick and gazing on him. Although enormous sums were offered for him, the old gentleman would never hear of selling him, but at last he made a present of him to the Queen. He had long been worn out, and died at last from sheer exhaustion. It is almost too early to speak of stud prospects for next year, but we are given to understand that at Hampton Court the subscription to Young Melbourne is full; that St. Albans has very few vacancies; and from the rush on Cambuscan, the public seem to recognise him as the legitimate successor to Newminster. The Scottish Chief, as Mr. Donald of Acton is facetiously called in the Sporting World, has hired Exchequer, by Stockwell, out of Stamp, and as we may designate him a very useful stamp of horse, a good many mares are likely to be exchequered' this season. Racing gossip is very scarce, and the Sporting Papers during the month have been singularly barren. Each organ of public opinion has overwhelmed its readers with statistics, divided and subdivided into every possible shape and form, as if they were all Jedediah Buxtons; but we have not heard of any of them having taken the trouble to go through the mass of figures for the purpose of testing their correctness. Indeed, editors have been pushed to the most dreadful extremes to fill up their columns, for want of matter. Notices of races and steeple-chases some months distant have been turned into quotable pars., and the naming of a racehorse has been hailed as a perfect godsend; and it is reported that one editor was so hard up for copy, that, having picked Mr. Padwick and Lord Hastings quite clean, he resolved in his despair to name his Trapper, who happened to have a pedigree that would have delighted the College of Arms, in order that he might chronicle the fact in his columns. Neither Drury Lane nor Covent Garden on Boxing Night have ever been half so filled as Tattersall's on the afternoon when Lady Elizabeth and The Duke were sold; and we would earnestly recommend the lessees of both those theatres, in the event of their Christmas pantomimes failing to draw, to engage both the horse and the mare for the remainder of the season, as they would be sure to bring large sums to the treasury. |