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RUSSIAN BREEDING AND RACING METHODS. By Christopher J. Fitz Gerald. New York. November 4. No foreign country has made greater strides in the science of horse breeding than Russia in the last quarter of a century. She has been a buyer of the fastest trotting sires we have produced, while England and France have supplied the best representatives of the thoroughbred familv. O. K. G. Hillings was offered .00,000 for The Harvester. 2:01, when that great horse wore the stallion crown, and a like sum was offered W. E. I. Stokes for Peter the Great, 2:07,i, and two of his sons. Frank Caton, a trainer and driver of trotting horses, with an international reputation, has just returned from Russia, after an absence of twenty-three vears, eighteen of which he spent in the employ of Count Varnstoff DashkolT, vice vizier of the Cossacks, and for whom he won as much as 2i.000 rubles in a single season. When the count died Mr. Caton returned to the United States. He is an encyclopaedia of conditions connected with horse breeding and racing in the land of the czar. In his opinion much of the progress is due to the fact that 20 per cent, of all prize money goes to the breeder of the winner, and he is particularly enthusiastic over the development of the standard l,roa- OrloiT cross, the mares of this type when mated with a thoroughbred sire throwing army horses that are second to none in the world. "They use all types of native horses in the army." said the veteran recently at Lexington. Ky., "from the stoutly built Cossack, which stands about 15.2 hnnds and is a marvel of his kind, upto the horse of pure blood. The Cossack is bred in the mountains and is inured to hardships. They are fitting companions for the men who ride them. They can stop in twice their own length and drop at the word of command. No wonder they are making his-torv of the present war! "Two kinds of Orloff are bred, the old-fashioned and the modern, which is a blending of our American and the Orloff types. Army remounts as a rule come from a union of the males of this family with mares which possess a lot of thoroughbred blood, but some experts are crossing English thoroughbreds on the native mares and they are getting animals of great power, endurance and courage. Each family, of course, has its own following and the imperial government, in order to determine which of the types would stand up best under a test, had planned a race from Moscow to Petrograd. The distance is 400 miles and the road is hard macadam. Each team of six horses was to pull a gun carriage with full equipment, which included riders for the wheel team. They were to race all the way, anil it was to have been my privilege to have charge of the Metise or American Orloff team. The other teams, the pure bred Orloff and the thoroughbreds were in competent hands and we were in hard training when the war broke out. "We had one test, however." continued Mr. Caton. "which was conclusive and gave this thoroughbred family great prestige. A horse of that type weighing about 1,300 pounds, beat Percheron. Orloff and everything else in a drawing competition. Two ordinary horses couldnt start his load. After the war no doubt the road test will be undertaken, as the Russians are very thorough in what they undertake in the way of experiments. "The native Orloff is wonderful type. There are few of them, that if trained our way, could not trot in 2:30. The evolution of the breed should convey a lesson to the United States. It has taken since the time of Peter the Great to bring the type of perfection. The pure bred ones are black or gray in color, but when crossed with the American trotter or thoroughbred, bays are occasionally seen. None of the males is castrated and they are raced till twelve years of age, the limit for the mares being ten. "When one considers that 20 per cent, of all winnings go to the breeder," resumed Mr. Caton, "some idea of the interest in breeding and racing may be gained. I have seen as many as 0,000 head of horses in training- for the trots at Moscow, while there were 5,000 thoroughbreds at the galloping track. The thoroughbreds race on grass, and their season is not as long as that for the trotter, which covers the entire year, with the exception of the thawing period in the spring. The trotter had such a strong foothold that the populace took to thoroughbred racing slowly. Finally five trotting races under saddle were added to the regular thoroughbred program, and this helped to popularize the sport, which is conducted, at Moscow all through the month of June, including Sundays, after which the trotters and gallopers alternate three days a week. "Trotters race over -a sand covered asphalt track, and they never, postpone unless the thermometer drops below 10 degrees below zero. Sometimes there are as many as twenty-two races a day, commencing at 2 oclock and continuing until 9. The lighting system is so perfect that there are no shadows. Everything goes like clockwork. The timing is done by electricity and all finishes are photographed by two cameras, which are released by a cord. The grandstands are heated and they have restaurants and all other conveniences for patrons. "No two-year-olds are raced and the three-year-olds -are only asked to try conclusions in a dash of two-thirds of a mile. All races for older horses were formerly at two miles, but now about half are at a mile. Entrance foe is only 1 per cent, and there are no other deductions. Horses are classified according to their winnings, and are ai ranged in groups, the slowest being the ninth, vhich is for those that have not won 2,000 roubles. All trots are under the auspices of the Imperial Trotting Club, which holds twelve meetings yearly in centers of population. The half-bred can beat the native, and the American is the daddy of .them all. There are only thirteen races open to all, and these are known as Internationals. They are of a alue of 25,000 roubles or more and I won one of them with General H., 2:04M-.. Iris, by Haron Rogers, 2:09,i, owned by N. G. Telagen and trained and driven by my son Sam is tins best metise. The get of Haron Rogers have won over 3,000.000 roubles. "The government stand their horses at a nominal fee," said Mr. Caton in conclusion, "and every encouragement is given to breeders. It seems strange to find so little interest being taken in the industry in this country, but its not so singular after all when you think that there is so little encouragement on the part of this government to produce a good horse of any type. Its astonishing to find such apathy in a matter of so great importance in a country which leads the world in most other activities."
