Dimray
Dimray, one of the most important sire sons of Radium, and an outstanding campdrafter in his own right. Pictured here with Alf Bignell, showing brilliant style in the campdraft arena.
Once again a legendary horseman in Carl Mitchell decided to send a great mare called Doreen to the best stallion he knew, and of course that horse was Radium. The resulting colt, Dimray, was born in 1938.
Doreen was purchased for 60 pounds in the early 1930s, which was a‘ king’ s ransom’ in those days. Doreen was by Sylvius, a Thoroughbred that placed in the Melbourne Cup. Silvius’ s dam was a mare called Addenda, who was by Spearmint. Spearmint was by Carbine( NZ), and his sire was Silvern, who was by Polymelus, a very influential Australian Stock Horse taproot sire.
Like his sire and grandsire, Dimray was a wonderful campdrafter. He also was bred in the Upper Hunter, on the sides of the Great Divide at‘ Uloola’, Ellerston. This area was quite isolated in those days, so it was nothing for Carl to ride 40 or 50 miles to a campdraft and then back home. Despite the distance, Carl won many campdrafts in the Upper Hunter.
In 1948 when Carl represented Hunter Valley at the Sydney Royal Easter Show on Dimray, he scored a 93, which stood as the highest score in Sydney for a number of years. Carl lent Dimray to Alf Bignell, a well known campdraft competitor from the Maitland area, who was also very successful with him. At one stage Dimray won five campdrafts in a row.
In the early 1950s Dimray was sold to Frank Dickie at Edgeroi, where he later died. Dimray was very important as the sire of two influential Foundation Sires, REALITY- FS and PETER- FS. The dam of STANTON STUD DODGE- FS, Glamour, was also by Dimray. Many pundits consider Dimray is the most influential tap root sire of modern campdrafters.
Chan
It is believed Chan was the last colt sired by Radium. Foaled in 1945, Chan was bred by the legendary horseman and trainer of dogs, Frank Scanlon.
Knowing that his friend JG( Jim) Callinan wanted a Radium colt, Frank arrived at Glengarry Station one day, in a two horse float, with his good mare Witzy and a two month old colt at foot by Radium on board. Frank gave the colt to Jim Callinan, which was later named Chan, after Charlie Chan, a famous Chinese detective.
Jim always regarded Chan as the horse he would have most liked to breed himself. There was a bond between Chan and Jim Callinan, and the great horseman was able to educate Chan to do some great things, including getting him to jump a fence by putting his coat over the wire. A promising start to campdrafting— a win and a second from three starts— was curtailed when Chan drove a piece of wood into his near hind coronet. This became a recurring injury.
Chan was by Radium and out of Witzy, a great cattle mare. Witzy was by Medlow.
Radium out of a Medlow mare not only produced Chan but the other great stallions, Rayon, Radiums Echo and Radiums Call.
One of the greatest features of the Chan horses were the beautiful heads, the lovely headsets and the swan necks. This trait is still being produced in his descendants. A possible explanation for this can be found if we delve deeper into Chan’ s breeding. His mother Witzy was out of a part Arabian mare, and Cecil’ s great grandfather, Dragoman was an Arabian stallion. Could this genetic cross have produced this amazing front? Another interesting connection is that Medlow’ s great grandsire is Glenrock, and Cecil’ s dam Meretha II was by Glenrock.
Chan is a dominant force in the Australian Stock Horse Stud Book, particularly through his mares. His greatest contribution to the Stud Book is through the
A daughter of Chan, GLENGARRY DINA, ridden by Leo Callinan.
Foundation mare, ROSEBROOK CEDAR- FM, who produced the Foundation stallion ROSEBROOK CEDARWOOD- FS and the Impact Stallion ROSEBROOK ABOU- IS.
What is so amazing is that Chan never stood to outside mares. He was only used with the Glengarry mares, and was also lent to Dick Telfer of Gum Ridge, Merriwa, when Jim Callinan’ s son Leo worked for Dick. Dick Telfer kept a colt by Chan, called RED RAY- FS, and Dick’ s horses also became renowned for their beautiful fronts.
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