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BRITISH TURF IS IN GOOD HEALTH. London, July 23. Prophets of ill-omen who have been predicting the decadence of the British turf and the coming bankruptcy of British breeders of thoroughbreds find scant comfort in the recent sale at Newmarket. When one breeder sells part of his stud for 20,000 and has some of his best animals left, and a weeks sale approaches the 50,000 mark, it can hardly be said the business is languishing to any appreciable extent. Then, when horses of exceptional merit bring from 25,000 to 50,000 each, pessimism seems absurd. A fact which demonstrates that England still is in the van in the breeding of racehorses is that representatives of practically every racing country were present at the Newmarket sales and bid high for good lots. There has been the usual outcry because some of the best horses went to foreigners. The Sporting Times, however, voices the philosophic spirit in which the breeders view the foreign buying. It says: "We see no cause for the alarm that is expressed. We are allowing the foreigner to take the risks while we are making a deposit abroad on which we can draw in the .future if necessary. There was just the same outcry when Musket was sold from the Glasgow Stud to go to Australia In 1877, ,but ills best son, Carbine, has come hack to us. Have we suffered by letting Flying Fox go to France? This clamor about the depletion of our thoroughbred stock is very Illusory, and we fall to see how, by improving the horses of another country, we have ever brought calamity upon our own. Should the breeders in Europe or in the Argentine be successful with the mares and stallions which they have bought the pick of the product will certainly find its way back In some form or other to England, and in the meantime the foreigners are finding the working capital. If It were not for the foreign market our breeders would not be able to pay the stallion fees that are now demanded, and many would have to give up altogether."
