To look at--I saw her in 1890--Lockington Beauty was quite a common mare with obviously small knees, and none too much weight and width, her distinguishing feature being a mane of extraordinary length.
The remaining dam to be mentioned as a great breeder is Nellie Blacklegs by Bestwick’s Prince, famous for having bred five sons--which were all serving mares in the year 1891--and a daughter, all by Premier. The first was Northwood, a horse used long and successfully by Lord Middleton and the sire of Birdsall Darling, the dam of Birdsall Menestrel, London champion of 1904. The second, Hydrometer, first in London in 1889, then sold to the late Duke of Marlborough, and purchased when his stud was dispersed in 1893 by the Warwick Shire Horse Society for 600 guineas. Then came Chancellor, sold at Mr. A. C. Duncombe’s sale in 1891 for 1100 guineas, a record in those days, to Mr. F. Crisp, who let him to the Peterborough Society in 1892 for £500. Calwich Topsman, another son, realized 500 guineas when sold, and Senator made 350. The daughter, rightly named “Sensible,” bred Mr. John Smith of Ellastone, Ashbourne, a colt foal by Harold in 1893, which turned out to be Markeaton Royal Harold, the champion stallion of 1897. This chapter was headed “A few records,” and surely this set up by Premier and Nellie Blacklegs is one.
The record show of the Shire Horse Society, as regards the number of entries, was that of 1904, with a total of 862; the next for size was the 1902 meeting when 860 were catalogued. Of course the smallest show was the initial one of 1880, when 76 stallions and 34 mares made a total of 110 entries. The highest figure yet made in the public auction sales held at the London Show is 1175 guineas given by Mr. R. Heath, Biddulph Grange, Staffs., in 1911 for Rickford Coming King, a three-year-old bred by the late Lord Winterstoke, and sold by his executors, after having won fourth in his class, although first and reserve for the junior cup as a two-year-old. He was sired by Ravenspur, with which King Edward won first prize in London, 1906, his price of 825 guineas to Lord Winterstoke at the Wolferton Sale of February 8, 1907, being the highest at any sale of that year. The lesson to be learned is that if you want to create a record with Shires you must begin and continue with well-bred ones, or you will never reach the desired end.