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BUYING YEARLINGS LIKE LOTTERY. High Priced Failures and Bargain Successes Spearmint and Rubio Notable Examples. It is a well-known fact among turfmen that much money is frequently lost by the failures of high-priced -yearlings. It is in England that this is most glaringly exemplified, where the number of youngsters in-pared for the market is many times greater, in the matter of breeding for racing purposes, the 1 man who tries to raise his own stock is deserving of the most sympathy. He spares neither pains nor expense and. though he proceeds according to the dictates of the scientific principles, he is only now and then repaid with a really good animal. But as there are a great many more owners than there are breeders, some there are who must breed solelv for the sales, and with these it is a veritable gamble. It is a story of amazing uncertainty, for the history of the turf tells plainly that the most successful racers do not always beget the most successful progeny. If it were so, all interest would vanish, for uncertainty, which is the essence of the game, would give place to certainty and the mysterious workings of nature would be reduced to an intelligible science, easy and simple of application. Such animals as St. Simon and Bend Or were great race horses and they proved great sires. On the other hand some Derby winners like Sir Hugo, Gladiateur and a few others now at the stud have not been as successful as Derby winners might be; while, on the other hand, Gallinule, several times of recent years at the head of the winning sires list, was no flier on the turf. Great racing mares like Shotover, Memoir and Laodamia have been comparative failures, yet against these there is Per-dita II., only a good handicap mare, though she got such illustrious brothers as Florizel II., Persimmon and Diamond Jubilee. During the racing season hardly a week passes but there are stories of some important winner being purchased at a bargain. The winner three years ago of the Epsom Derby and Grand Prix of Paris was bought as a yearling at auction for the sum of ,500. That horse was Spearmint, and many a year may pass ere such an extraordinary bargain is recorded among Derby winners. Then only last year the blue ribbon of steeplechasing. the Grand National, was Avon by a horse bought at auction as a yearling for 75. That chaser was Rubio, which deserves a whole page to himself in that never-ending volume founded on the romance of the turf. Before giving examples of high-priced failures and low-priced successes it is worth while to quote one or two instances of bold, prices paid with abundautly rich results in return. In these cases shrewd judgment and enterprise with the command of wealth enabled the buyers to buy success. Of course, the pre-eminent example is that of Sceptre, by Persimmon Ormiment, bought by Robert Sievier for 0,000, which represents the record price for a yearling, a sum which may never be exceeded. Sceptre came into the market owing to the death of the late Duke of Westminster and was disposed of at that memorable sale in Newmarket when twelve yearlings brought a total of 25,750, or an average of 8,812. The buyer of Sceptre had a remarkable career, having made and lost more than one fortune. Just about the time of the purchase he was on the crest of another wave of fortune and he made up his mind ter have the filly at any cost. She well repaid the investment, for she placed such races to her credit as the Woodcote Stakes and July Stakes as a two-year-old; the Two Thousand Guineas, One Thousand Guineas, Oaks and St. Leger as a three-year-old, and the Jockey Club Stakes and Duke of York Stakes as a four-year-old. Until Sceptre came along the record irice for a yearling was 0,000, by the late Sir Blundell-Maple for Childwick, and he justified the cost, because he won the Cesarewitch and proved himself a good horse at the stud, siring the fine mare La Camargo. Another high-priced one was La Fieche, which cost 7,500 as a yearling, and in time was an immense success, for as a three-year-old she won the One Thousand Guineas, the Oaks and was second In the Derby, and won the St. Leger and the Cambridgeshire. Then she was sold for t 1916.sh6,165 to join Sir Tat ton Syl.es stud at Slcdmerr. t while her foals have made a very considerable ag- ! grigate at Uoneastor. 1 In speaking of the high-priced failures, a con- I spicuous one is that of Merry Fox, by Flying Fox. He was bought by M. Blanc for 87,500 and is standing at the Haras le .lardy Stud near Paris at a i fee of ,000 per mare. The colt was bred by Sir : Tatton Sykes at Sledmere out of a mare named 1 Flower of Wit and at the time he was sent to Don- 1 caster he was the most perfect type of the tlior- onghbred. He never won a single race, though he I was not asked to do so as a two-year-old. but he s cost his owner a pile in forfeits as a three-year- i eld, for he was heavily engaged. This, added to his original purchase money of 5,000, made him a bad i bargain from a racing standpoint. 1 Although M. Sievier was so successful witli his purchase of Sceptre, he was not so inspired on other occasions. For instance, he paid the big suni of 7,500 for a filly by Trenton Sandiway, after- , ward known as Sandflake. She never won a race and is now a stud matron. The same buyer paid 2,000 for a gray colt by Grey Leg Ruth, afterward named The Gatherer, and he never did any good. Lord Hamilton of Dalzell had poor luck with high-priced yearlings bought at auction. For 5,000 he was enabled to purchase Topiary, by Omit Plaisanterie, the latter being the French winner of the Cambridgeshire, but Topiary was the rankest sort of failure. A still more unfortunate purchase was that of the Duke of Westminster at the 1902 Doncaster sales. It cost him S,000 to become the owner of Kings Favor as a yearling, but no more arrant failure was ever seen in the sales ring. The colt was by Persimmon, and this had something to do with the big price. Even King Edward has had a taste of yearling gamble. Not long ago Lord Marcus Beresford. manager of the royal stable, paid 9,000 for Cynosure, by Cyllene Nemencosha. The colt was the biggest rogue that ever looked through a bridle and would do anything but race. Perhaps the fact that Cicero, the Derby winner of 1905, was by Cyllene largely influenced the purchase of Cynosure. It was at the 1902 sales that the late William C. Whitney cheerfully gave 8,000 for a chestnut colt by Persimmon Surprise Me Not. lie was subsequently named Persurprise and turned out a complete "failure, never winning a single race, and was finally sold to a Hungarian owner for a trifling S"voltigenr. for the Marquis of Zetland, won the Derbv in 1850, and he only cost ,500 as a yearling, the same figure given for Spearmint fifty years later. But that particular purchase had a wonderful influence on the turf, for Voltigcur got Vedette, the sire of Galopin, the sire of the great St. Simon, whose stock won races nearly to the amount of three million dollars. A little later it was remarkable that the Derbv winners of three successive years were all liought as yearlings for ridiculously small sums. These were Sir J. Hawleys Musjid, 1859, bought for ,000; Mr. Merrys Thormanby. 1SC0. bought for ,050, though the horse won 00,000 for bis owner, and Colonel Townleys Kettledrum, in 1801, bought for ,000. An extraordinarily cheap purchase was the famous Doncaster. As a yearling his figure was ,750, and later he was bought by the late Duke of Westminster for the then surprising price of 0,000. But the bargain was a good one, for Doncaster laid the foundation of the great Eaton Stud. He sired Bend Or, winner of the Derby in 1SS0, which sired the mighty Ormonde, winner of the Derby in 1S80, which got Orme, sire of Flying Fox, winner of the Derby of 1699. An exceptionally fine type of colt was Isinglass, the Derby winner of 1893. His sire, Isonomy, was bought as a yearling for ,000, and many a hunter makes that amount at Tattersalls, while his dam. Deadlock, -.vas employed on a farm when bought for the paltry sum of 00. Isonomy won the Ascot Gold Cup two years in succession, 1S79 and 1SS0, and he won the Manchester Cup, giving no less than fcity-niiie pounds to The Abbot. As the sire of St. Simon, Galopins name will always live in turf history. He only cost ,000 as a yearling, and he won the Derby in 1875 for Prince Batthany. Another cheap yearling was Sainfoin, winner of the Derby in 1S90, bought by Sir R. Jar-dine and John Porter for ,050. As a two-year-old lie won the Astley Stakes at Lewes, and this was the only race he started for. The following May Sir James Miller bought him for 7,500 and a contingency of half the Derby stakes if successful. In later years Sainfoin sired Rock Sand, winner of the Derbv and purchased by August Belmont for 25,000. Although not coming within the scope of this article, there are instances of some remarkable bargains. Carlton, a half-starved foal, cost Count Mokronski 0, yet he won eight out of twelve races. Included were the Chester Cup, Manchester Cup. Goodwood Stakes, Doncaster Cup and Manchester November Handicap. When at the stud he got good horses in Carlton Grange and Nouveau Riche and went to Poland, where he died three years ago. The other instance much similar to Carlton was Octavian, which only cost 0 as a foal and won the St. Leger. Tristan, as a yearling, cost ,500. and he proved himself a great race horse by winning the Champion Stakes three years in succession. The Hardwieke Stakes at Ascot three years in succession, the Sold Vase at Ascot and the Ascot Gold Cup, the latter in 1S83. The Bard, foaled in Ormondes year, was lought for ,250 and, after winning many races as a two-year-old. won the Goodwood and Doncaster Cups. Some more examples of low-price successes are Hermit, hero of the sensational Derby in 1S157, cost ,000; Paradox, winner of of the Two Thousand and Grand Prix in 1885, ,500; Amphiou, winner of the Jubilee Stakes and many other big races, ,050; Geheimniss, ner of the Oaks, ,050; Rosebery, the first horse to carry off the double event of the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire. ,300. Delaunay, one of the best handicap horses of recent years, was bought as a yearling for 00 Up to a mile he was wonderfully fast, and in all won seventeen races, after which he was sold to M. Ilalbronn, the French breeder, for 7,500. Ve- locity, which won two Doncaster Cups, a Cambridgeshire, a City and Suburban, a Chesterfield Cup and other races, was sold as a yearling by the innkeeper at Roscrea in Ireland for 50. He was one of the greatest bargains of this generation, for after his splendid racing career, which only finished two years ago, his owner, Mrs. Sadlier Jackson, refused an offer of 25,000 for him. Hacklers Pride, which won the Cambridgeshire two years in succession, as well as other races, cost only 75 as a yearling. The Cambridgeshire winner of 1907 was Land League, and he cost but 05, while Father Blind, winner of the Great Metropolitan in 190S, was bought for 00.
