Nowadays a majority of the successful Thoroughbred Studs in the State have their home on the Hunter River or waters that run into it, and within a radius of about 100 miles, on the upper stretches of this famous district, most of the principal horse-breeding establishments are to be found. The Hunter, on account of its extreme richness and soundness is peculiarly adapted as a nursery for the Thoroughbred. The Hunter, which derives its name from Governor Hunter, during whose regime it was discovered, is one of the most important rivers of New South Wales. It rises in the Mount Royal Ranges and flows in an easterly direction past Muswellbrook and Denman. Three miles below the latter town its waters are increased by the Paterson, and it eventually empties itself into the sea at Newcastle. An extremely rich belt of country follows the banks of the Hunter from Singleton up to Aberdeen, and some miles beyond crosses to the Widden Mountain, and it is on these rich flats and reaches that most of the studs are situated. One of the oldest studs in Australia—the far-famed Tocal—is the first to be met with after leaving Newcastle, and here the Reynolds’ Estate are still carrying on the stud which the late Mr. Frank Reynolds owned for so many years. No name is held in greater reverence among lovers of the Australian Thoroughbred than that of Frank Reynolds—a man whose heart and soul were centred in his horses and cattle, and who was in a great measure responsible for the adoption of the Bruce Lowe Figure System. Bruce Lowe and Frank Reynolds practically originated the system between them, and, up to the day of his death, Frank Reynolds was a hard and fast believer in the figures. One could write volumes on the Tocal Stud and its influence on the Australian racehorse, but space is limited in an article such as this. Tocal’s glory is at present somewhat diminished, so far as its Thoroughbred Stud goes, and it is now some seasons since a first-class horse has come from its paddocks. A new sire, in use for the first time this season, is the Amphion horse The Nut (imp.—an own brother to Lally), a very bloodlike individual who has met with a very fair measure of success as a winner getter. About four miles from the picturesque old Georgian homestead of Tocal is another Reynolds holding in Duninald, and here Mr. Sydney Reynolds has been breeding more than his share of winners for many years past. At the time of writing, two English horses—Prudent King (a son of Love Wisely) and Piedmont (a tail male descendant of Barcaldine)—are being used. The first-mentioned horse has sired a number of winners, and, in Cadonia, gave us a good-class Leger winner. Near Maitland Mr. John Hart keeps a small but select stud at Bolwarra, and at the present time has the imported sire Something Irish in use.