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H pi fi I" is ho h! a; t s g tl pi K i! g tl 11 " of . 11 CJ " a i p o of b $ " c J ; tl 11 j. l or F. ,. , c ,i t v 0 or 1, ., t i v o r i t . V . . i , !. J , . f ! 1 1 ; ; 1 1 J : 1 ! i I 1 . I ; I : - t - - I . i I v J BUYING YEARLINGS LIKE LOTTERY. 1 s c High-Priced Failures and Bargain Successes Spear- s mint and Rubio Notable Examples. s s ! it is a well-known fact among turfmen that much money is frequently lost by the failures of high- priced vearlings. It is in England that. this is most J glaringiv exemplified, where the number of young- I sters prepared for the market is many times greater, says the Sun. In the matter of breeding for racing I purposes he man who tries to raise his own stock deserv-lng of the most sympathy. He spares neither pains nor expense, and though he proceeds according to the dictates of the scientific principles is only now and then repaid with a really good animal. , t But as there are a great many more owners than i there are breeders, some there are who must .breed I solely for the sales, and with these it is a veritable . gamble. It .is a story of amazing uncertainty, for the history of the turf tells plainly that the most , successful racers do not always beget the most sue- cessful progeny. If it were so all Interest would j vanish, for uncertainty, which is the essence of the game, would give place to certainty and the mys terioiis workings of nature would be reduced to an 5 intelligible science, easy and simple of application. Such animals as St. Simon and Bend Or were j groat race horses and they proved great sires. On the other hand some Derby winners like Sir Hugo, Gladiateur and u few others now at the stud have, j not been as successful as Derby winners might be; i while, on the other hand. Gallinule, several times ; recent years at the head of the winning sires list, was no filer on the turf. Great racing mares like Shotover. Memoir and Laodamia have lieen comparative failures, yet against this there is Per- j dita II.. only a good handicap mare, though she got i such Illustrious brothers as Florlzel II., Persimmon 1 and Diamond Jubilee. i During the racing season hardly a week passes but there are stories of some important winner being purchased as a bargain. The winner three years ago the Epsom Derby and Grand Prix of Paris was : bought as a yearling at auction for the sum of ,500. That horse was Spearmint, and many a year may pass ere such an extraordinary bargain is recorded among Derby winners. Then only last year the blue riblton of steeplechasing. the Grand National, was won by a horse bought at auction as a yearling for 5. That chaser was Rubio. which deserves a whole page to himself in that never-ending volume founded on the romance of the turf. Before giving examples of high-priced failures and low-priced successes it is worth while to quote oniV. two instances of bold prices paid with abundantly rich results In return. In these cases shrewd judgment and enterprise with the command of wealth enabled tin; buyers to buy success. Of course, the pre-eminent example is that of Sceptre, by Persimmon, out of Ornament, iKiught by Robert Sievier for 0,000, which represents the record price for a yearling, a sum which may never be exceeded. Sceptre came into the market owing to the . death of the late Duke of Westminster and was disposed of at that memorable sale in Newmarket , when twelve yearlings brought a total of 25,750. an average of 8,812. The buyer of Sceptre had n remarkable career, having made and lost more than one fortune. Just about the time of the purchase he was on the crest of another wave of fortune and he made up his mind to have the lilly at any cost. She well repaid the Investment, for she placed such races to her credit as the Woodcote Stakes and July Stakes as a two-year-old; the Two Thousand Guineas, One Thousand Guineas. Oaks, and St. Leger as a three-year-old. and the Jockey Club Stakes and Duke of York Stakes : as a four-year-old. Until Sceptre came along the record price for a yearling was 0.00U, by the late : Sir Blundell-Maple for Chlldwick. and lie justified . the cost, because he won the Cesarewitch and proved 1 himself a good horse at the stud, siring the line inare La C;unargo. Another high-priced one was La Fleche, which cost 7,500 as a yearling, and In time was an immense success, for as a three-year-old she won the One Thousand Guineas, the Oaks and was second in the Derby, and won the St. Leger and the Cambridgeshire. Then she was sold for 0,1G5 . to join Sir Tat ton Sykes stud at Sledmere. while her foals have made a very considerable aggregate at Doncaster. In speaking of the high-priced failures, a conspicuous one is that of Merry Fox, by Flying Fox. He was bought by M. Blanc for 87,500 and is standing at the Haras le Jnrdy Stud near Paris at a fee of ,000 per mare. The colt was bred by Sir Tatton "Sykes at Sledmere out of a mare named Flower of Wit and at the time he was sent to Don-caster he was the most perfect type of the thoroughbred, lie never won a single race, though he was not asked to do so as a two-year-old, but he cost his owner a pile in forfeits as a three-year-old, for he was heavily engaged. This, added to his original purchase money of 5,000, made him a bad bargain from a racing standpoint. Although Mr. Sievier was so .successful with his purchase of Sceptre, lie was not so Inspired on other occasions. For instance, he paid the big sum of 7,500 for a lilly by Trenton out of Sandiway. afterward known as Sandliake. She never won a race and is now a stud matron. The same buyer paid 2,000 for a gray colt by Grey Leg. out of Ruth, afterward named The Gatherer, and he never did any good. Lord Hamilton of Dalzell had poor luck with high-priced yearlings bought at auction. For 5,000 be was enabled to purchase Topiary, by Orme. out of Plaisanterie. the latter being the French winner of the Cambridgeshire, but Topiary was the rankest sort of failure. A still more unfortunate purchase was that of the Duko of Westminster at the 1902 Doncaster sales. It cost him 8,000 to become the owner of Kings Favor as a yearling, but no more arrant failure was ever seen In the sales ring. The colt was by Persimmon, and this had something to do with the big price. Even King Edward has had a taste of the yearling gamble. Not long ago Lord Marcus Beresford, manager of the royal stables, paid 9,000 for Cynosure, by Cyllene, out of Nemencosha. The colt was the-biggest rogue that ever looked through a bridle and would do anything but race. Perhaps the fact that Cicero, the Derby winner of 1905, was by Cyllene largely influenced the purchase of . Cynosure. It was at the 1902 sales that the late William C. Whitney cheerfully gave S.000 for a chestnut colt by Persimmon, out of Surprise Me Not. He was subsequently named Persurprise and turned out a complete failure, never winning a single race, and was finally sold to a Hungarian owner for a trilling sum. Voltigeur. for the Marquis of Zetland, won the Derby in 1S50, and he only cost ,500 as a yearling, the same figure given for Spearmint fifty" years later. But that, particular purchase had a wonderful Influence on the turf, for Voltigeur got Vedette, the sin" of Galopin, the sire of the great St. Simon, whose stock won races nearly to the amount of three million dollars. A little later It was remarkable that the Derby winners of three successive years were all bought as vearlings for ridiculously small sums. These were Sir J. Hawleys Mnsjld. 1850. bought for ,000; Mr. Merrys Thormanby. 1SC0, bought for ,R50. though the horse won 00,000 for his owner, and Colonel Townleys Kettledrum, in 18C1, bought for ,000. An extraordinarily cheap purchase was the famous Doncaster. As a yearling his figure was ,750. and later he was Jwiught by the- late Duke, of Westminster for the then surprising price of 0.-000. But the bargain was a gool one. for Doncaster laid the foundation of the great Eaton Stud. He sired Jtend Or. winner of the Derby in 1SS0. which sired the mighty Ormonde, winner of the Derby in 18S0, which got Orme. sire of Flying Fox. winner of the Derby of 1899. An exceptionally fine type of colt was Isinglass, the Derby winner of 1S93. His sire. Isonomy. was bought as a yearling for ,000. and many a hunter makes that amount at Tnttersalls. while his dam. Deadlock, was employed on a farm when bought for the paltry sum of 00. Isonomy won the Ascot Gold Cup two years in succession. 1870 and 1SS0. and he won the Manchester Cup. giving no less than forty-nine pounds to The Abbot. As the sire of St. Simon. Galoplns name will alwavs live In turf history. He only cost ,000 as a yearling, and lie won the Derby In 1875 for Prince Batthanv. .Another cheap yearling was Sainfoin, winner of the Derby in 1S90. lvouglit by Sir It. Jar-dine I and John Porter for ,050. As a two-year-old : bo won the Astley Stakes at Lewes, and this was ! the only race he started for. The following May Sir James Miller bought him for 7,500 and a contingency , of half the Derby stakes if successful. In later vears Sainfoin sireil Itoek Sand, winner of the Derby ami purchased by August Belmont for 25.- Although not coming within the scone of this ar tide, there are instances of some remarkable bargains. " Carlton, a half-starved foal, cost Count Mokronski 0. yet he won eight out of twelve I . races. Included were the Chester Cup. Manchester Cup. Goodwood stakes. Doncaster Cup and Man-t . Chester Novemlter Handicap. When at the stud he . sot good horses in Carlton Grange and Nouveau i Klehe and went to Poland, where he died three years 5 ago. The other instance much similar to Carlton was Octavian. wjiich only cost 0 as a foal and I won the St. Leger. Tristan, as a yearling, cost 1 S1.50O- and lie proved himself a great race horse bv winning the Champion Stakes three years in succe.?-" sion. the Ilardwleke Stakes at Ascot three years in ; succession, the Gold Vase at Ascot and the Ascot 1 Gold Cup. the latter In 1SS3. Tin Bard, foaled in Ormondes year, was liought for ,250. and a fie? - winning many races as a two-year-old won tho Goodwood ami Doncaster Cups. Some more exam-r ; ides of low-prices successes are Hermit, hero or the sensational Derby in 1807. cost ,000: Paradox. : winner of .the Two Thousand and Grand Prix in 1 1SS5. ,500; Ampbion. winner or the Jubilee Stakes and many other big races. S1.050; Geheininlss. winner " of tiie Oaks. ."0; Itosebery. the first horse to carry off the double event of the Cesarewitch , 1 and Cambridgeshire. ,300. Dehmnav. one of the liest handicap horses of r recent venr was lx.nght as a yearling for 00. , i wonderfully fast, and In all Vn to a mile he was won seventeen races, after which he was sold to , M. Halhronu, the French breeder, for W,000. Vo- 1 s c s s s ! J I I locity. which won two Doncaster Cups, a Cambridgeshire, a City and Suburban, a Chesterfield Cup and other races, was sold as a yearling by the Innkeeper at Roscrca in Ireland for 50. He was one of the greatest bargains of this generation, for arter his splendid racing career, which only finished two years ago, ills owner, Mrs. Sadller Jackson, refused an offer of 25,000 for him. Ilacklcrs Pride, which won the Cambridgeshire two years in succession, as well as other races, cost only 75 as a yearling. The Cambridgeshire winner of 1907 was Land League, and he cost hut 05. while Father Blind, winner of the Great Metropolitan last year, was-bouglit for 00.
