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DECRYS PURCHASES OF FOALS ABROAD. Asserts That Purchase of Such Immatures Is a Lottery, Pure and Simple. An English writer does not t li ink favorably of the recent purchases of thoroughbred foals in England Bar this country and. in a recent article in the sporting Chronicle, says: "A feature of the sale was the brisk condition f the foal market. On the whole, the prices real-v.ed were satisfactory, for the youngsters sold at nockout prices were but poor specimens and hardly worth rearing. According to my calculations, fifty-nine were bought for exportation to the United States, the latter averaging 115 guineas. The ship-aent of so many foals will help to relieve congestion in the yearling mark-t next year to some extent, but in this connection] it is. at the same irne. probable that the nutter will cut both ways r. in other words, that the Americans will be small iiyers of yearlings in 1917. It seems that, gener-lly -peaking, the yearlings exported waring the last two years have proved disappointing. They look anything but well to the American environment, ind badly with the push-ami-go method of training in the unyielding dirt tracks. Should Be Acclimatized. "The idea in buying foals is that they will have become acclimatized before being put into work in tagaat or September and can be given a more grad-lal and progressive preparation before the severe frost, associated with the American winter, sets fen. An alt- ruative plan would be to break the youngsters in here if bought as yearlings and ship them the end of January or early in February. "I go a step farther. It is nothing less than lottery pure and amateurism to import foals, or even yearlings, with the object of improving the American breeding standard or to win races over here For this purpose, only approved and well-tested animals should be bought, mares that have foiled winners and young horses in training that •It wor rices, and only then, if they are the right iris. All the weak hocks and forelegs, the had -boulders, twisted legs which you find amongst the English foals, must be avoided, not to speak of roarers and breakers of blood vessels, which now have hi en brought because the sires and dams had these faults — unfortunately, inheritable faults. Will Have Detrimental Influence. "These points do not trouble some agents, but they certainly will trouble the poor owner, trainer and breeder and will have their detrimental influ-nce on the whole of your horses, not only on the thoroughbreds, but later on on the half-breds remounts, hunters, hacks as will. Absolute soundness must be the first condition in importing hemes, not only as far as racing is concerned, but much more for national reasons, because the thoroughbred is the fundament of the army horse, and if a hors ■ possesses this absolute soundness, one never knows if the horse is imported as a foal or even as a yearling, because the weak points appear only when the horse is put to the trial of racing. If the Americans do not want to buy the pig in the pake, they should give foals and yearlings a wide berth and buy only mares ami stailions whi. h have sird good stock. If they had imported, instead of forty foals for 5,000. ten mares at .« 2.500 each, the dams of winners, they would have had a far better result than with the herd of babies — half of them not worth rearing. Hut ten. of course, even the selectii n of such broodmares is noc everv mpns busint ss. One must be a practical horseman, a breeder, an expert."
