Owing to steel-blue grass rooted in top of soil nourished by limestone and plenty of good water, the Bluegrass Country in Kentucky was exceptionally well suited for horse breeding. Nineteenth century Kentucky horsemen were passionate about breeding Thoroughbreds and would breed only the finest stallions to the finest mares.
But American Thoroughbred breeding has its roots in Virginia. In 1730, a Virginian imported America’s first Thoroughbred stallion, Bulle Rock, from England. In July 1759, Andrew Burnaby remarked about Virginia racing, writing, “The horses are fleet and beautiful; and the gentlemen of Virginia, who are exceedingly fond of horse-racing, have spared no expense or trouble to improve the breed of them by importing great numbers from England.” Founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were horse racing enthusiasts. The Civil War broke out in 1861, and as it raged, Virginians and Kentuckians, and other Southerners, watched both armies decimate their prized Thoroughbred stock. After the war, the Commonwealth of Kentucky would surpass Virginia as the yardstick by which to measure exceptional Thoroughbred horse breeding.
Noah Armstrong was so rich in silver that he could afford to import well-bred Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses, or “blooded” horses as the frontiersmen called them, from Kentucky. In May 1884, he imported the famous Thoroughbred racehorse, Tom Bowling. Winning multiple stakes races as a two- and three-year-old, at the apex of his career he posted fourteen wins in seventeen starts. The Helena Independent liked Noah’s choice of Tom Bowling to head the Doncaster Ranch Stud, stating that he was “much admired by [Kentucky] horsemen” and “This thoroughbred stallion is noted for the number of premiums he has taken in Kentucky, and during his racing career of three years, no horse that ever ran against him got away with the race.” Noah talked up the stallion too, calling him “the greatest racehorse in the world.” Tom Bowling stood in the Doncaster Stud seven years and according to Noah in 1890, “Tom Bowling has bred all my good colts.” Noah returned the stallion to Kentucky in 1891. Tom Bowling died there, in 1897, but not before passing through several stud farms. Among horseracing historians, Tom Bowling is generally recognized as undistinguished in the stud.
Meanwhile, the Meadows Farm was a bit of an anomaly in the nineteenth century Thoroughbred breeding because it operated not in Kentucky, but in south central Illinois, near Carlinville. The exquisitely bred bay stallion Hyder Ali nicked with Interpose, an exquisitely bred, strikingly gray colored broodmare. She foaled their colt in 1882, and in late 1883 or early 1884, Noah imported Grey Cloud as a yearling.
In September 1884, all of Helena was eager for the Seventh Territorial Fair and its showcase of horse races. The region’s turfmen with their fleetest racers descended upon the town. On Main Street, Dan Lawrence from Doncaster Ranch herded six fine horses for the races,” the Helena Weekly Herald reported. People on the sidewalks paused to watch the “noble animals as they passed in review.” On the avenue was two-year-old Grey Cloud whose smoky-colored coat always drew attention.
Grey Cloud made his first start as a racehorse on September 10 in the Pioneer Stakes, finishing third in the five-horse race. On September 17 in a three-horse contest, Grey Cloud finished first. Those two races were the extent of his two-year-old season. Next, on the eve of the 1885 season, Noah and Samuel Larabie worked together to arrange transportation for their racehorses. Grey Cloud’s campaign was spread across Latonia (KY), Chicago, St. Louis, and Louisville. All told, the gelding won four of thirteen starts and finished in the money six times, a pretty good record. Aside from his racing, little was reported about the gelding, things of interest to horse people, like his temperament, or what racing style did he like? Twentieth century turf historian John H. Davis wrote that Grey Cloud rarely lost when “the going was to his liking,” adding, “Much might be said regarding this celebrated horse, but Gray [sic] Cloud was a good one and was able to impress the beholder wherever he was raced.”
That would explain why Noah returned to the Meadows Farm in 1885 for the express purpose of purchasing Interpose, in foal to Hyder Ali a fourth time. He paid $1,000 for her and her unborn foal, and the suckling filly at her side. At an Illinois depot, railroad workers carefully entrained the pregnant mare and her pretty filly. When satisfied that the little family was comfortable and secure, the workers heaved the stockcar door shut and the train chugged west.
