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RETIREMENT IS SURPRISING. PRICE McXINNEYS WITHDRAWAL FROM THE WICKLIFFE STABLE SHOCK TO TURF. Cleveland Turfman Among Enthusiastic Who Materially Helped to Rehabilitate Racing 111 Health Assigned as Cause. By Ed Cole. Saratoga, X. Y., August 17. The retirement from racing of Mr. Price McKinney came as a shock to racegoers. Mr. McKinney has been one of the few enthusiasts and optimists regarding the sport. When it was at its low ebb he came along with his millions and put a shoulder to the wheel, giving it a substantial revolution for the better. His interest in the breeding end of the sport was so pronounced that he became a thorough student of blood lines and in a short time could talk intelligently on the breeding and nicking of certain strains of blood that would improve the breed of the horse. Xo one could have appreciated more than he did the transfer of the old Dwyer colors to McKinneys stable. "They shall never be disgraced," was what he told the late P. J. Dwyer when the latter declared them henceforth the property of Mr. McKinney. Until the last forty-eight hours Mr. McKinney was considered one of the stnuuehest supporters of the turf. That he has been in rather ill health of late is unquestioned, owing to the great strain of business affairs on his mind, but it was generally believed the recreation of racing and its sociable surroundings would be just the sport Mr. McKinney would look to for relief. Imagine the shock to his hundreds of club house associates when the news was spread that he had sold out his interests to his partner, James Corrigan, of whom he thinks so much that it was always his request that the glory of the stable be shared with Mr. Corrigan In all publications of the stables successes. "Jimmy is my partner -in the stable," Mr. McKinney would say, "so please give hint . as much credit as myself. It is. always fifty-fifty with Jimmy and I, -whether it is profit or. loss." Such is the character of: -Price McKinney, either in business or sport, always on the up and up and never looking for alibis or excuses for anything. .Impulsive in nature and. quick to decide, the impression prevails that he has dropped out of racing just because he took a sudden notion to do so. Hope to See Wickliife Stable Kept Intact. That Mr. McKinney has left the stable in good hands goes without saying. With Mr. Corrigan at the helm it is unquestionably the universal wish of all concerned in turf affairs that the Wickliffe stable is kept intact and that its colors be carried to the front in the rich stakes of the future by horses foaled, raised and prepared on its Kentucky farm. Xot many in the racing world are on a handshaking acquaintance with Henry Dazien, yet few men can boast of more pleasure derived from the sport than this well-known theatrical man. To find out how many years Mr. Dazien has been a member of the several associations around Xew York, one would have to go through a stack of records a mile high. But the years are plenty and he still goes on in his methodical way, making wagers on nearly every race run and watching them with as much interest as he did years ago. "It is my pleasure and recreation to go to no other sport in which I could become as greatly interested or gather as much health and social enjoyment as I do mixing with my friends in the club house and on the lawns of a race course. I never wager heavily on a race horse and am more than contented when I pull up at the end of a year with expenses paid. If I win I am overjoyed and if I lose a few thousand dollars I am still satisfied, having paid the price for my amusement. Recreation always costs money. Mine is racing. If I went in for yachting, it would cost me pretty well, hence I am content to pay for my amusement on the turf. If everyone would look at the sport in the same light as I do, instead of from a gambling lust view, they would derive much more pleasure from the pastime and would win much more health. "Racing- is the king of sports, but I am sorry to say tlie average layman abuses his speculative privi- leges at times. A man should only bet what, he can afford to lose without distressing himself either financially or physically." Bob Miller, who has been out of the horse business since Water Welles went, lame, put in an appearance today. He is on the lookout for two or three selling platers good enough to win at the Maryland meetings. Fasig Tipton and Company are arranging a disposal sale of horses from the larger stables, to be held during the Belmont Park meetings. It is probable that the cheaper material from the stables of Gifford A. Cochran. A. K. Macomber, John Sanford and Joseph Widener will be represented among others. Rumors are current that Omar Khayyam is going a trifle sore. Foxhall Keene arrived today to stay for the meeting. He spoke more on war conditions than racing. At the same time, he hoped that the worlds war affairs would not .interfere with the two dominant sports of this country, racing and baseball.
