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ENGLISH THOROUGHBREDS SUPERIORITY Tliis is the last day for making entries for the December sales and I happen to know that the Tuesday Wednesday aud Thursday catalogues have been full for some time so that the only available vacancies are on the Monday or Friday Kvery year there is a tendency to anticipate a dearth uf buyers on these occasions and certainly tlie United States no longer absorbs any of our valuable bloodstock Tlie horrible worry over the budget inquisition must have n tendency to check all business The fail in consols and the prospect of boundless future ex ¬ penditure on social schemes not to mention the navy all this is disquieting enough but I think when the sales week arrives Mr Tattersail will flud as good an attendance as ever in Park Paddocks and there will hot be much reduction in prices The reason is not far to seek for the Britishbarn thor ¬ oughbred is in the nature of a monopoly and this is recognized by breeders aud buyers throughout the civilized world If the Americans are resting for the time being other nations have been coming into the field The Japanese for instance wlio have been extensive buyers of our bloodstock during the last few years The Australians too have been more active in this respect especially New South Wales where racing lias been much improved ami lately as we know the Chilians have come iuto tlie market and bought a highclass stallion in Lord Bobs having some years before secured the Per ¬ simmon horse Mead from his late majesty The Chilians however have not yet learned the ele ¬ mentary lesson that mares bred elsewhere than in this country are so to speak secondhand and con ¬ sequently they have been buying in France because they could get what they thought they wanted more cheaply there thau at the fountainhead in England They will find out their mistake in due course for their experience as breeders is not likely to differ from that of all other nations who have found without exception that bloodstock degenerates unless constantly reinforced with importations from the mother country countryI I do not of course mean that such degeneracy will be demonstrated at the very first step Take for example Jardy which is succeeding splendidly as a sire in the Argentine He was bred and born in France but both his sire Flying Fox and his dam Airs and Graces were imported to that country from England This serves merely as a demonstra ¬ tion of the truth that where a horse or mare is bred abroad the nearer it is to imported stock the hotter This is very well understood in France as tlie business done for that country at the De ¬ cember sales annually testifies The most success ¬ ful stallions in France are almost invariably imported ones such as St Damlen Flying Fox Rabelais Simonian etc and the success of the imported broodmares as distinguished from those bred in the country has been almost phenomenal An ex ¬ traordinary number of highclass winners have been bred in France from English mares sent to the Deauville or Paris sales It needs only to mention such as La Camargo Perth Masque Arizona and Clyde and though the business done at the Dean ville sales has of late years fallen off having been in effect transferred to Newmarket the older scheme still maintains its prestige for only last week at Longchamps the Prix de Condi of 15000 francs to the winner for twoyearolds one mile and a quarter was won by Made in England a bay sou of Collar and Penguin by Father Confessor out of Special Wire by Coeruleus This was a race of great importance as it brought out a field of some of the best twoyearolds in France to run for the first time over such a distance as ton fur ¬ longs Penguin the dam of the winner is a chest ¬ nut roan mare own sister to Grey Tick winner of the Cesarewitch She was sent to Deauville in 1907 covered by Collar and made somewhere altout 150 guineas a rare bargain indeed as it has turned out but not quite so remarkable as when Maskery carrying Masque was sold at Deauville for seventyfour guineas Taylor Sharpe bred and owned Penguin for some years until he sold off his stud Penguin was at that time in foal to Oberon lint the result was a filly which died and Made in England is her first living foal Her purchaser at Deauvllle was Cotnte Dauger who as the breeder of her son gained 750 francs by his victory French stakes are as a rule far more satisfactory than those in England where the apparent value is often depleted for second and third and also for nominators Here for instance it is plainly stated that the Prix de Conde is a 13000 francs stake which means 15000 francs to the winner and over and above that there are 2160 francs to the second 1440 francs to the third and 750 francs to the breeder of the winner winnerTurning Turning to Germany we find that the best two yearold there is Schill which was actually bred in England and imported as a foal at the foot of his dam Sumac The success of the Frenchbred Cains however which is tlie sire of Danilo an undeniably good twoyearold as recently demonstrated at Vienna apart from his form in Germany Iras in ¬ duced Count Lehndorff to give a trial to another French horse and he has therefore bought Xnage the winner of the Grand Prix this year There is no doubt that this son of Simonian is a really good colt when the going suits him but before the Grand Prix it appeared to be a matter of common knowiedge that he was very dicky on his fore ¬ legs and that but for the soft ground lie might have broken down instead of winning These are not the best of credentials for a stallion if true but it is of course quite possible that in this case rumor lied and that Nnage is a particularly sound horse At any rate it is to be presumed that Jit will not be made much use of if any as a stallion next season for it has been abundantly proved that horses sent to the stud before they are five years old are very seriously handicapped in their future careers The fact of being able to buy Nuage for such a price as 12000 guineas is in itself a proof of the greater value of the native British thorough ¬ bred Lembcrg was beaten by Nuage for the Grand Prix and many people think he was beaten on his merits Be that as it may it would not be difficult to obtain twice 1200O guineas for Lemberg if his ovCner wore over to think of selling him which is not likely Similarly Swynford would make 2000O guineas readily enough should Ixird Derby prefer that sum of money to his horse which I am sure he would not These valuations would be by no means fanci ¬ ful and without a solid basis for though we are advised never lo prophesy until we know I have practically no doubt that Iemliorg and Swynford will be much greater stallions than Nnage not that I want to crab the last named but to emphasize tlio fact that the native British thoroughbred Is supreme and is likely to be Itouglit at the Decemlter slcs as eagerly as ever by colonial and foreign breeders There is a possibility I understand of some Hanover mares Itoinir sent from America for the sales and I should always make an exception In favor of Hanover blood for be was an extraor ¬ dinary individual and represented the best Glencoe line Moreover we have soon in this country wlmt Hanover mares ran produce viz Orby Rhoilora and Sir Martin There is no objection to foreignbroil stock when brought to England whore it will refreshed and reinvigorated It is away from Eng ¬ land that it loses tone if bred from without the aid of frosli Importations Vigilant in London Sportsman
