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COLOR IN ENGLISH CLASSIC RACES Some people show a preference for a certain color in horses and to the majority a llasliy chestnut lakes the eye quicker than the more sober bay or brown yet if there is one turf truism more posi ¬ tive than another it Is that the browns are the btttcr horses Everybody knows how when last year Tagalle won the Derby the quidnuncs dis ¬ counted her chances chiefly because she was a gray lilly and it was pointed out that in the history of the blue riband only one other gray Smolensko had won the Epsom event Drinmore winner of the City and Suburban is a bay and Amecy the Metro ¬ politan winner is a brown brownHere Here are some interesting statistics showing the number of winners of different colors to date in tho Derby Oaks and St Leger LegerDerby Derby Oaks St Leger Total Browns and bays OS S 107 303 303Chestnuts Chestnuts 32 33 27 92 rays 2 1 2 5 5Blacks Blacks 1 1 1 3 3The The predominance in the totals is so overpowering that there should be very little need to dilate upon the subject but statistics are available to prove that the placed horses in the three events pre ¬ dominate to the same extent as do the winners The most remarkable point however in this con ¬ nection is that when chestnuts or grays are muted with their own colors the mares almost invariably foal to their own color while a black horse and a black mure produce nearly 10 per cent chestnuts Two browns may evolve any color bay or brown or chestnut anil a seeker after instances whose au ¬ thority is unimpeachable asserts that the certain transmission of the chestnut color Is independent of the color of the ancestors ancestorsWhen When the parents are of different color the lighter color Is the more easily transmitted Blacks and chestnuts produce browns sometimes chestnuts and blacks seldom Grays transmit their color most frequently blacks least frequently Dark browns with chestnuts usually get chestnuts light browns with chestnuts get washy chestnuts A chestnut mated with a gray may get rid of the grav hue of the foal and yet despite these favor ¬ able conclusions It appears that chestnuts are mostly In the minority That is to say a summary of tin Stud Book would probably show fewer chestnut fouls than bay or brown or other colors The Latest
