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WHAT MAKES THE VALUE OF A HORSE. I am writing this in the train on my way back from Lewes, where I was summoni-d to give evidence as to the value of Mr. Kennedy Jones late race horse-. Thrice. In any e-ase, jny remarks as to race horse valuation will not be seen by the jury, but I expect they will arrive at a curious decision, for Mr. Kennedy Je.nes gave 3.0tM guineas for Thrice, when the son of Thrush a ml Miss Let tie e« had never run, and the man in the street is apt to say: "Whats the worth of anything, except so much as it will bring?" My opinion, however, as stated in court, is that 500 guineas would be fair value for Thrice, and there is only one standard by which you can really value race horses, viz., the race e-ourse test. Judged by that Thrice wis up to gooel plating form, but no better. In short, on his l«st running he was five pounds behind Wormleighton. which is little short of fourteen pouiuls behind Friar Marcus. What buyers will give, at an auction sale-, for yearlings we all know. The principle of osaae brnotasa pro magnified seems to affect them powerfully, and it is the same at executors sales, sue h as that of the late Mr. Dres-deas, when Thrice made 3.600 guineas, and Sun Cmbrella, another two-year-old that had never run. went for the prodigious some of 6.200 guineas, and has turned out moderate in the extreme. There can. indeed, be no possible valuation of horses as if they were bullocks, for auction prices are singularly caprie-ious and volatile. Thus, Merry Fos sold for 5.000 guineas as a yearling, and in two years time realized only 100 guineas. When I myself sold Patron he made 4,100 guineas, but two years later, when he again came under the hammer, he was knocked down for 60 guineas, and went to France, where he sired Pernod, a really good horse. The subject is an interesting one. for it tends so clearly to show that the race course is the only place where we can discriminate between good horses anil bad. and I think no student of book form could affirm that I undervalued Thrice. Of course, attempts were made to show that lie was valuable on account of his pedigree as a prospective stud horse, but what chance would such a horse get at the shall It was mentioned that Tre-dennis and a few others have developed into successful stallions without racing record to recommend them, but these are the exceptions which prove the rule that no horse commends the patronage of breeders if he has not made a name for himself on the turf, and year by year this rule is e-oming more and more into force in regard to the choice of Kings Premium stallions. — "The Special Commissioner" in London Sportsman.
