Views of Wise Trainer A. J. Joyner: Points Out Kind of Horses to Buy Now in England and France, Daily Racing Form, 1915-11-18

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VIEWS OF WISE TRAINER A. J. J0YNER. Points Out Kind of Horses to Buy Now in England and France. Joyner looked the pirture of health when In-landed ami was wainilv greeted by a large number «.r obltiine friends, who could discover little ihange in his appearance siin-e he last visited bis native land. In. an interview, lie said: "I cannot say that I have any plans for tin- future, that is. the immediate future, beyond a visit to Suuth Carolina to see mv brother, and a trip out to Michigan to take the baths at .Mount Demons. ,s for going back across the Atlantic. I think 1 shall probably wait and see things settled down !•• sasse thing nearer a normal condition before I shall eare about going over. 1 like tlie people and espe-ially the horsemen over there. They are trn- BfMttaSBN and they treated me most kindly from Ihe time I first landed: but shortly before I left, ihey ester-tained me at a banquet which 1 never can forget. As a matter of fart I do not think any trainer ever was the recipient of sueh distinguished honors. "I like dealing with I lie horsemen over there. I have found them square and honorable in all their dealings, and in racing they are sportsmanlike, of i-ourse racing is regarded purely as a s|K rt. It is not a •game nor a •business: it is simply a s|« rt which nien of means can afford to enjoy whet tier they win or lose. I think racing is coming nearer to that status in this i-oiintry than it was in the noi distant past. Men of means are engaging in it as a pastime, and that is what it should be in all eases. •T think this an excellent time to buy really good horses 011 the other side, whether in F.ngland or France. Of course weeds -even well-bred ones — always are to be had: I was* going to say •cheaply." but I will say for small prices, for 1 eossMet weeds dear at any price: but any SS8 who expects to buy good thoroughbreds in either Lngland or France for bargain counter prices will be fooled. The men who own really high-class thoroughbreds in France and England are not forced to sell them because they need the money, but because there is not sssck for them to do under existing conditions, and they do not like to see such i-quiuc valics going to waste absolutely. They are not such "dogs in-tlie-inaiiger that they will hold their animals at prohibitive ■rices when they cannot make suitable use of them. On the other hand, however, they will n it sell tlieni below what they consider a fair valuation. "The real difference Itetweeu present eonditons in the. market for thoroughbred horses, and those which existed prior to the breaking out of the war, is that then really high-class horses were randy to be had at any price, while now they may be bought for what their owners consider them actually Perth. This is bound to work out to ihe advantage of the enterprising and discriminating American horse breeder. There are many men among the breeders of this country who can well afford to pay high prices for strictly first-class yearlings, broodmares or sires, and tlie time has come when a really generous pries will buy what could not lie SSSSCM with money a few years ago. When wealthy American breeders of thoroughbreds shall have come to fully realize what this means to the horse breeding industry of this country, some of the choicest yearlings, breodmares and sires will be brought to this country from the other side, and their influence will quickly make itself felt. "Remember, in saying this. I am not disparaging the American thoroughbred. I am not saying any-t li ink like that, nor that we have not some strains in this country that would compare favorably with Ihe best which they have on the other side, but 1 do say that our thoroughbreds may be greatly im proved in the aggregate by English and French crosses of the richest strains to be found over there. "I have noticed that thus far American buyers are routining themselves to the purchase of colts, or nearly that, but I think they would have done Setter to have bought a large proportion of fillies. That would have served the needs of this country more s|ieedily and effectively. We are more in need of high-class broodmares than anything else on our breeding farms over here and as eyerylKidy knows, one colt will do as much as at least a dozen Tillies in he task of infusing foreign blood into our American strains: and yet. if our strains are to l e well balanced, and a suitable variety of foreign strains introduei-d. it is ini|H rtant that the fcinac-lines should lie given their full share of the task. "S|ieaking of fillies reminds me that Walter Jennings, who came over with us on the St. Louis, has purchased a choice lot of yearlings on the other side, and that a large proportion of them are fillies. He did not buy them at auction, but at a private sale from Mr. Joel, who would not sell them out singly or in lots of two or three, but disposed of the whole bunch to Mr. Jennings, who bought twelve outright and has fourteen in his entire shipment. I was with Mr. Jennings when he went to ln k them over. They are a particularly nice bunch of yearlings. I hope they will have a good voyage over here. They are well bred, many of them lieing by Sunstar and Suudridge. "Like everyliody else. I consider the St. Simon strain the best in the world, but tile Bend Or and the Isonomy or Isinglass families are extremely valuable and highly prized. There are many sires of rles breeding and great value In England, but it is not easy to pick out the best of the lot w Inn Polymelus. which heads the winning list, has only live winners to his credit." In answer to a question as to what a sire would be worth which stood out among the English sires as Broomstick does among the Americans, he replied: "The yearlings by such a sire would be worth their weight in gold. Now that you have referred to the Brookdale leading sire, I would like to predict now that All Hold will lie a successful sire. I picked him out on his individuality as well as his breeding, ami I expect to see him do well in the stud. He did not race well after he came over here, but I think that was the result or bis having a mean temiier. I am glad to hear that his yearlings arc a good-looking lot. "Some people thought that I paid too much for Whisk Broom II. when I lionghl him as a yearling for .51X1. but I think it is now generally admitted that he was a cheap colt at the price. "I was also much gratified when I IssjnMi that Thunderer had won the Futurity. I saw him when he was a yearling and picked him out as an uncommonly good one. I think 1 marked him as the best of the lot. Indeed. I am practically certain of it. | shall go down to Brookdale as soon as I can. as I am anxious to look over the place nnd the horses as soon as I can. "Mr. Whitney has no racing establishment in England now and his horses have been brought over to this side, all of them."


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800