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j 1 ! ! ; SORE TRIALS OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 1 Foreboding That England Is to Lose Its Supremacy j in Thoroughbred Breeding. Our British brethren of the turf are in doleful days and not enjoying their situation one little bit. I A general portrayal of their adversities is thus made by "Vigilant" in London Sportsman of An- 1 gust S: 1 "The exodus of broodmares, yearlings and, blood- 1 stock generally to the United States and elsewhere is assuming proportions that make one anxious con- corning the future of the breed in this country. I am afraid that by the end of the Avar our stock I will have become seriously depleted. One cannot, of course, blame owners and breeders for taking advantage of the American demand for British thoroughbreds, but it is not as if buyers in the 1 United Slates wen; content with securing anything on four legs as long as its pedigree looked well. American owners and breeders are experts in the 1 matter of make and shape as well as blood, and the best, or as near to the best as they can buy, is what they require and in many cases obtain. To a certain extent the war and the consequent necessity for curtailment of expanses is responsible, but the chief cause of the exodus is undoubtedly the short-sighted policy of the government in ruthlessly cutting- down race meetings. How can owners and breeders possibly carry on their operations when the prospect of making both ends meet, either on the race course or by the annual sales of yearlings, is rendered hopeless by the present limitation of racing and the big reduction in value of the great majority of the prizes run for? If the policy of confining racing while the war lasts to meetings at Newmarket is persisted in by people who, seemingly, are unable to realize the enormous value to the nation of our breed of thoroughbreds, the result will be to inflict incalculable damage on one of the most important industries in the country. This, spring and summer we have certainly had some racing elsewhere than at Newmarket, but only twenty-one days in all, made up of six days at Gatwick, six at Newbury, five at Lingfield and four at Windsor. By the end of the season there will have been, in addition, thirty-nine days racing at Newmarket. This means a total of no inure than sixty afternoons of racing. "In the course of those sixty days the number of races run for on the fiat this year will have been, approximately, 370. Comparing this meager total with previous seasons, there was a total of 020 races in England and Scotland last year, the general stoppage not taking place until the end of May. In 1914 the first year of the war some meetings were voluntarily abandoned, but even so the number of races run reached 1,440. To grasp the true inwardness of the situation, however, it is necessary to go back to the year before tin; war. 1913, when tiie aggregate . number of races in England and Scotland was 1,754. From this is will l: seen that the total number of races this year will be little more than one-fifth of the number decided in 1913. Again, the total value of the stakes run in England and Scotland last year was 195,113 pounds, whereas in the prewar year of 1913 their value was over half a million of money, 532,058 pounds, to lie exact. For the present year no statistics are as yet available as to the value of the races run and to he run; their total value cannot fail to show a considerable shrinkage from last season, and any owner that gets out at the end of the season without loss will be exceptionally fortunate. The expenses of maintaining a racing stable, cost of entries and forfeits, of sending horses to meetings, jockeys and other fees, and all the countless incidental disbursements, are so heavy that the idea of an owner of a number of horses winding up with a credit balance from the stakes won is scarcely worth consideration. "If facilities for additional racing under Jockey Club and N. II. Rules are not granted the position will go from bad to worse. The Americans are especially active at present in buying our 1 horses, and unless something is done to assist breeders and owners in this country I am sorely afraid that much of our choicest and most cherished blood will be absorbed by the United States, with the result that our position as the chief horse-breeding country in the world in regard to the thoroughbred will be gravely imperilled. In any case it will take the industry years to recover if our breeders are driven by the absence of sufficient racing lien; to sell their thoroughbreds in i such large millibars to go abroad. I recently made reference to the sale to the United States by Mr. J. K. Joel of many of his highly-bred yearlings, and i in this connection I believe that buyers in the : United States would have been only too glad had he been in a position to dispose of double the number. In America, of course, it has been discovered that the repressive legislation directed against batting and raeing some seven years ago was simply insanity. It crippled horse breeding : in a brief space of time, and so badly that the ! military authorities soon took alarm. In the result horse racing has been taken into favor again i during the last two or three years, and every effort is being made to make the United States the s worlds horse mart after the war by replacing the i thoroughbreds sent out of that country during the ! faddist regime, and adding to their numbers. Doubtless many of the best of Mr. Ilultons : yearlings when they come up for sale will cross i the Atlantic in the wake of those of Mr. Joel, if there is no improvement in the meantime in the ! outlook for racing hero."
