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SALUTARY EFFECT OF THE RACING TEST. Without horse racing what would have become of the British thoroughbred any time during the last fifty years, or, in other words, since the anti-gambling, for which read anti-racing, faddists first started in earnest to try and ruin one of the greatest industries of the kingdom? That the horse breeding industry is fully entitled to be so termed does not admit of question, for every year that passes finds the foreigners spending vast sums in the purchase of thoroughbred mares and stallions, not to mention young stock, half-breds, and horses of other breeds. Had it not been for the racecourse test establishing its merit, it goes without saying that the demand by the foreigners for British bloodstock would never have arisen, for the simple reason that it would have been, if not altogether nonexistent, bred on a small scale and with nothing beyond looks to vouch for its worth. That looks alone are valueless is shown by the long prices often given in the past for yearlings which turned out to be soft-legged, worthless animals, even though, like all latterday thoroughbreds, the* traced back to Eclipse and his rivals, Herod and Matcheui. — "Vigilant" in London Sportsman.
