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When Vandal died, the Belle Meade Stud bought *Bonnie Scotland to take his place. *Bonnie Scotland was called by Wills, “the greatest stallion to ever stand at Belle Meade.” This is quite an honor for this great stallion.
*Bonnie Scotland was foaled in England in 1853 and was bred by William I’Anson of Yorkshire, England. *Bonniwwe Scotland was injured as a two-year-old and, thus, not raced until three. He won such stakes races as the Liverpool St. Leger and the Doncaster Stakes. He broke down as a three year old and never raced again.
I’Anson reportedly didn’t get much response standing *BonnieScotland as a breeding stallion, so he shipped him to the U.S. in 1857. He was eventually sold to Reber and Kutz of Lancaster, Ohio. The story *Bonnie Scotland, 19th Century Sire of Speed by Bob Denhardt that appeared
in the April 1974 issue of The Quarter Horse Journal, tells us that Reber and Kutz were the owners of *Monarch, the broodmare sire of Highlander and son of *Priam. Reber and Kutz bought *Bonnie Scotland as a replacement for *Monarch, who had died.
*Bonnie Scotland would go through several more owners before he ended up at Glen Flora Farm north of Chicago. It was there that the Belle Meade Stud bought Bonnie Scotland
in 1872. Most research on *Bonnie Scotland points to the fact that this great stallion had lived in relative obscurity until his move to Belle Meade. The true value of *Bonnie Scotland came late in his life. *Bonnie Scotland became the leading sire in 1880, the year he died.
*Bonnie Scotland was sired by Iago. The sire of Iago was Don John or, as some
Domino (shown here), who traces back to Glencoe, is in the pedigrees of many great sires of Quarter Horses such as Three Bars TB, Leo, Depth Charge TB, and Top Deck TB.
World Record setting mare Pan Zareta (shown here), who traces back to Bonnie Scotland, won a famous match race against the great Joe Blair.
pedigrees will spell it, Don Juan. Don John was sired by Waverley by Whalebone. Again, we see the influence of Whalebone appearing. The dam of Iago was Scandal.
The dam of *Bonnie Scotland was Queen Mary. Queen Mary was a great mare as the dam of horses like Blink Bonnie, a winner of the English Derby and Oaks. Queen Mary was sired by Gladiator and she was out of a mare they refer to as the “dam of Queen Mary.”
Her sire was Plenipotentiary and her dam was Myrrha by Whalebone. This makes *Bonnie Scotland 4 X 4 linebred to Whalebone, the full brother to Whisker and Web.
*Bonnie Scotland has not only a significant impact on the Thoroughbred, but his Quarter Horse influence is monumental. Let’s start back with the Little Grove Stock Farm. When Samuel Watkins registered
the famous Peter McCue, he stated that
his sire was Duke Of Highlands. This was
a common practice during the time to get horses like Peter McCue eligible to run
on recognized tracks. Of course, through affidavits and testimony by the Watkins Family, the sire of Peter McCue has been proven to be the Quarter Horse Dan Tucker. But, Duke Of Highlands was a stallion owned and used by Watkins in his famous breeding program.
The pedigree of Duke of Highlands has some close ties to *Bonnie Scotland. He
was sired by Duke Of Montrose. The dam
of Duke Of Montrose was Kelpie, who
was sired by *Bonnie Scotland and out of
a mare by Sovereign. The dam of Duke Of Highland was Belle Of Highlands. This mare
was sired by *Bonnie Scotland. The dam of Belle Of Highland was Valerian by the Belle Meade stallion Vandal and out of Nubia. Nubia was a Belle Meade mare.
Another *Bonnie Scotland contribution comes through his daughter Bourbon Belle. Bourbon Belle was the dam of Hanover, who was the stallion that we traced to Very Wise
- broodmare sire of Go Man Go. The dam of Bourbon Belle was Ella D by Vandal. Thus, Hanover was linebred to the Belle Meade Stallion Vandal. Hanover was also the sire of Abe Frank, the sire of Pan Zareta, a world record race mare. This great mare outran the great Joe Blair, the sire of Joe Reed P-3 in their famous match race.
Bonnie Rose was another good daughter of *Bonnie Scotland. Bonnie Rose was the dam of Bonnie Joe. Of course Bonnie Joe
was the sire of Joe Blair, the sire of Joe Reed P-3, who in turn sired such great stallions as Joe Reed II, Red Joe Of Arizona and Reed McCue. Joe Reed II gave us the great stallions Leo, Bull’s Eye, Firebrand Reed and Joak.
Bonnie Joe was the sire of Useeit, the dam of Beggar Boy and Kentucky Derby winner Black Gold. Beggar Boy was used extensively in the Ronald Mason breeding program. Ronald Mason was the last owner of the great stallion Oklahoma Star P-6. One version of Oklahoma Star’s pedigree indicates that his dam, Cutthroat, was a daughter of Bonnie Joe. So if this pedigree is correct, the Oklahoma Star/Beggar Boy cross has an interesting tie to *Bonnie Scotland. The cross of Oklahoma Star and Beggar Boy has given us such runners as Leo Bingo, an AAA rated AQHA Champion.
From his first season at stud in 1836, Glencoe sired the great Pocahontas who is a source of the large heart gene which some believe she inherited from the great foundation sire Eclipse (shown here).
SPEEDHORSE, August 2015 21
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