Show DUKE OF BEPJ1FORTt I Our Correspondent Has a Little Chat With Him HE IS A GREAT SPORTSMAN His Opinion of the American TurfA Fear that Speed Is Killing Endurance LoNDoN Nor 5 1890 Special correspondence corre-spondence of THE HEIULD The Duke of Beaufort is the most eminent sportsman of the world This head of a great house pushed himself back from the breakfast table this morning and talked of the past and present of high class sports with a vim and interest of which he only is capable He has turned sixtysix and is yet young in head and hearty The bones of a pheasant before him to say nothing of the other good things provided for our morning meal told the story of an appetite which means good health All the curroundings were fitted for repose and a chat upon any phase of human life agreeable A good breakfast at midday with all the conditions of interesting inter-esting association both traditional and practical makes life warm in all its hinges and yanks the fur off the cat of indigestion melancholy and all other menaces a human being makes to thd world when he is not very lit to eujoy what there is in it There is so much of interest in the quiets quiet-s with Tug DUKE OF UEAUFORT I have so much enjoyed this November morning that is wortliy of being written that 1 am not going to do more here than say that while approaching the three scored I an score-d ten mark this remarkable man still rides with the hounds and is as fine a specimen I speci-men of physical manhood as can be found anywhere who has upproached the half century point The name of Beaufort represents rep-resents ten generations of strong men who bile dealing in the highest phases of intellectual in-tellectual and social We have followed the sports of the field with great success making mak-ing the name synomymous with the greatest achievements of the turf and the best history his-tory of field sports that the annals of old England a nation of sporttnen has for record I The house of Beaufort has been founded many years The dukedom was created two hundred and eighty years ago and the beautiful and fertile estates that have followed fol-lowed the head of that family to this day are among the most interesting in the history his-tory of English aristocratic life There may be more elaborate and expensive I homes than Badminton of which L shall write later but none more charming and L restful none surrounded with more unique conditions that typify tho higher phases of home life as represented by the nobility The Duke of Beaufort has a wide personality person-ality beJ and the household name He has long been one of the MASTERS OF THE TURF a recognized authority on the breeding of race horses and all manner ol out door sports and his splendid works upon these subjects known as the Badminton library dedicated to the Prince of Wales are the accepted words ot authority upon all matters mat-ters of which they treat and there is no c character sport calculated to develop tho nhyieal conditions of man or woman thus i thu-s not thoroughly considered in them I Popular with all clashes this perfect type of an English gentleman of the old school sits in judgment upon many things and enjoys the broad respect of both the high and tie low wherever he is known It was just j before race day when after a good repast re-past we were looking at a splendid field of horses sweeping along the down to start in i a stake event that ho spoke of a great many things of interest in the busy world but the drift was towards heroes and their achievements American race horses are developing marvelous speed but I think it must be done at the expense of endurance he said Breeders may not see the effects of it just now so much but the more they breed in aud in upon the favorite strains of blood the more they will find the necessity neces-sity of introducing now ones to keep up the standard Wo have had the same experience ex-perience in England when the families of racers grew entirely too close and had to be crossed with grosser material to bring back the animal to perfection for racing purposes It is a remarkable fact and one tlau cannot be denied that where there were GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS OX THE TURF either here or in the United States the blood can be traced back to the Glencoe Muley Moloch the great Stockwell Kata plan Bay Middleton King Tom and three or four others the foundation being such strains as Touchstone and Orlando represented repre-sented now by nearly all the great horses en the turf or in thostud Pocahontas was tho greatest dam I ever heard of or know She bred eleven colts including Stockwell and every one of them achieved fame She is one of the few mares I ever knew in my long experience on the turf tbat seemed certain to produce something strong She came from a family whose loins always sent everything good She was an ideal mare in all that pertained to usefulness on the breeding farm where caprices are as numerous stars in the heavens How is that J For the reason that breeding like running run-ning horses is a great lottery The condition condi-tion of the weather when the foal is got and the temper and condition of the dam during the months before the foal is dropped all play an important part in the power and usefulness of a horse on the surf We are at a great disadvantage in this country on account of the weather which may have a very important bearing upon the future of a colt bred by a great sire from a great dam In the United States they have tho advantage of us in climate and ought to breed valuable animals ani-mals with much more certainty than in this foggy atmosphere where we are liable to have cold wet weather during tbo foaling foal-ing season Stallions are quite AS CAPRICIOUS AS DA Sand S-and the fact that one is a great runner cannot be taken as an assurance that he I will breed prime runners Since 1810 out i jf the eighty stallions winning tho Derby I only twenty of them have shown themselves them-selves of and particular value in the stud and many times a stallion being nothing remarkable on the turf had proven himself exceedingly valuable in getting good racers Yet despite all this uncertainty the breed of horses for almost every class goes on improving and the race horses ot years ago could play a very ins lnillcent part in the demand of the present day In the English thorougnbred a perfect animal J In racing nomenclature there is really no such thing as the thoroughbred but tho cross of the Arabain with the coarso English cart horse that was really a thoroughbred has been accepted as tho thoroughbred animal But the Darley Arabain bought out of a dust cart in Paris and brought to England and crossed with the heavy and healthy mares used in OUII primitive days has undoubtedly produced the finest running horses ever known If they are allowed to retrograde a little at any time they are very soon brought back to a good standard by the introduction of new strains into the old families I think just aiov wo need a little more endurance We lave plenty of speed but more stamina would bring us nearer to perfection Do you like the short races of today as compared with the long dashes and four i mile heats years ago I certainly do I think it gives more zest to the sport and MUCH BETTER SPEED In fact tho character of horses which were run long distances many years ago was entirely different from the racers we have today My hunters largo and powerful power-ful animals are the class of horses which were used to run fourmile heats But the pace is so fast now that no animal can be bred that is capable of running the long distances at the terrific speed that is witnessed wit-nessed on every race course We run a few long distance races but the length of the course determines the pace and long distances do not show the speed Is racing hore going backwards or improving im-proving There is entirely too much of it After the season begins racing goes on in some part of England almost continuously The result is we do not get the best possible re suits out of the horses If we had only a few prominent meetings during tho year and every energy was bent towards getting get-ting the very bestrcouditions of the turf it would be better So many meetings mean the introduction of inferior horses into most of them that may or may not be run upon their merits A few great meetings and a few fine courses would be far better for the turf than these many inferior ones onesYou have seen many Derbys run I suppose sup-pose lIt ph posoI went to the first Derby in 1840 and have seen with some rare exceptions everyone every-one from that day to this There is much sameness in all these contests and there sa are other meetings which I prefer to Derby day I had quite a novel experience going down there this year It was to be my fifty fifth or sixth journey to the famous racecourse race-course and I did not like uncertainty of either cetting down or back in the crowded trains So I concluded that I would BIDE DOWN ON HORSEBACK I had a splendid mount and thought to make a pleasant day of the journey by circling cir-cling around through Richmond park which made the distance longer but gave me a delightful route But as I had pleasant companions I did not mind We reached the course in good time saw the wonderful crowd and tho race We then started homeward and 1 pulled rein at my house in London early in the evening having covered fortyfour miles on horseback alter having had a pleasant day in celebrating cele-brating my half century experiences with the Derby even if I was drenched to the skin by u brisk shower which overtook us on our way home What was the most exciting event you ever saw at the Darby There has been much sameness in them all The horse that wins is usually so sure a winner that there is no chance for great excitement which usually comes only with closes finishes Do you know that since the establishment of the Derby in 1782 there has been run only two dead heats One was in 1828 between Candland and the Colonel Col-onel The other was in 1834 between Harvester Har-vester and St Gatian now one of the greatest stallions in England The race was a very exciting one und the finish set the crowd crazy Harvester was a hot favorite and immense sums of money were laid upon him to win Such a thing as his being defeated was not seriously considered consid-ered and until St Gatian went to work at him within a short distance of the finish it was supposed that he had the race practically to himself if lie stood sound which was doubtful But as Mr Harmonds horse began to gain on him at every stride after HIS JOCKEY BEGAN StifliNG HIM it became plain to every one that there was lobe a punishing finish Both were very gamo horses and not far from home St Gatian hud worked himself up inch by inch until he was hoad and head with tho favorite favor-ite Both jockeys were riding like demons and the many thousands of people who were looking on became half frantic with the excitement or the contest So intense had been the interest that when the horses finished probably not a dozen people besides be-sides the udees knew the actual result of the race The relief from the strain of the finish wa so grateful the crowd accepted tho verdict with composure In this instance in-stance the stakes were divided instead of being run off as in 1523 Tbat was the most exciting Derby day I ever saw and it is fair to presume that very few people young or old who were there will ever look upon another like it As it was fiftysix years from the first dead heat for this famous event to the second it is fair to presume that it will be many years from 18i4 before another tie is recorded between the great horses who will contest for future honors Are there many fine horses now in the stud < studYes Yes a great many I think some of tho finest sires we have ever had are now getting coits St Simon belonging to the Duke at Portland is a great horse so is St Gatiau of whom I was just speaking Barcaldino time nronertv of Lady Stam ford is a splendid animal and so is Galopin the property of Hoary Chaplin our minister of agriculture Mr Chaplin also owns THAT FAMOUS OLD DORSE HERMIT who fairly won the Derby in 1SJ7 in a snow storm He got some great colts and some of his blood has found its way into the United States kbeliove Hampton belonging be-longing to the Earl of Elsmera is a good one and so is Isonomy The duties of Wes t minister has sold his great horse Ormon o who won the Derby and St Leger both in 1386 Ho is a wonderful animal and was purchased by people from South America I have heard that a movement is being made to buy him back aid keep him in England En-gland These horses and the blood that flows in their veins are interesting objects to all those interested in breeding for the turf and sooner later their get will exercise exer-cise a greater or less influence upon the new generation of horses that will contest in the United States where I hear the turf conditions are improving so rapidly Do you like the running on the turf or on a soft trade as in America I There is nothing like the turf A horse has some chance to get a foothold Running Run-ning in tho soCt sand an animal is bound to slip more or less and to loss entirely that firmnessof touch that ho has on the turf Then again the ground becpmes fast and holdingretardhi horses with a long stride I see also tbat tho new straight course is being adopted as far as possible in the United States This is quite right as the increased speed of the horses this season has demonstrated Isnt there great uncertainty in the speed of horses one day withanother Certainly It depends entirely npon an animals condition and spirit at the moment how well he will run and a horse which may make a poor show today may WIN A GREAT RICE TOMORROW or next week You not only nave to ha vein the best horse but you must have him ve-in the best of condition when he starts and almost everything depends upon it Oftentimes Often-times an inferior animal will get tho best of a good horso when ho is not fit for sta race This fact often leads to the intimation intima-tion or assertion that a horse has not been run fair when after a great performance he is easily beaten or after a poor performance perform-ance he runs a big race While there would be uncertainty about the running of horses one day with another if the sport were conductad only as sport by sportsmen it would be divorced from that commercial atmosphere which just at the present time robs the turf of many good elements But the turf like tho drama will take care of itself Unfortunately the promoters of racing now are in the hands of incompetent men who are only alleged trainers It is the noblest of sports when conducted in the spirit of improving the breed of horses and testing the results for speed and endurance Ever since the beginning be-ginning of racing in this country and in all countries the turf has undergone seasons of depressions But the interest in the sport has always revived and the result is the finest race horses in the world and some of the finest that have ever run are today in England and the United States FRANK A BURR |