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EFFECTS OF TWOYEAROLD RACING Prominent Long Distance Australian Kacers and Their Early Careers No matter what may be written concerning the illeffects of twoyearold racing hones figuring to most advantage at that age generally prove the best threeyearolds though of course they may not last as long as if they had not been trained so early On the other hand it can be pointed out that few horses that were not raced as twoyearolds or else early at three have ever developed into top notchers Exceptions can be quoted and the im ¬ ported horses Rebus and Shadowland first and second respectively in the last Sydney Cup did not start at two years Except Kandos however every Australian or New Zealandbred horse with over 119 pounds in the Metropolitan Caulfield Cup or Melbourne Cup our big long distance handicaps of the spring raced as a twoyearold Some perhaps were not given a thorough preparation at that age even though they raced but Desert Gold which commenced her turf career as a two yearold in October of 1914 and won six of tlie twelve races in which she ran that season is now at the age of six so little disadvantagcd thereby that with 132 pounds she shares with Magpie the honor of topweight in the Melbourne Cup Cetigne CupCetigne which also commenced in October as a twoyearold mid started eight times at that age was never better than when racing as a fiveyear old last year Xor can it be said that he had an easy time after his twoyearold career as at three four and five his starts were numerous Last years Melbourne Cup winner Westcotirt commenced his twoyearold racing at the earliest mouth permis ¬ sible in New South Wales his starts at that age totaling nine and though owing to a bad leg a year intervened between his last start at three years and Iiis first at four the conclusion of his fiveyearold season found him rated one of Australias best stayers Wolaroi won early in the season at his first start at two years but the fact that towards the close of his threeyearold season a bad leg caused him to Im put aside for several months can ot course be claimed by opponents of early twoyear old racing as proving their case Cagou which as an eightyearold stallion won his second Metropoli ¬ tan last year ran in eleven races at two years The Fortune Hunter in three and Lingle in two twoThe The first of Tlianas ten starts at two years was in the AustRiIian Jockey Club Gimerack Stakes in October and AVedge commenced in the same month in Melbourne at that age Those I have mentioned comprise nearly all the Australian or New Zealand bred horses of five or over included among the top weights in our long distance handicaps and they have seemingly not suffered as a result of early training trainingAll All the fouryearolds of any account in our com ¬ ing big races were raced at AVO Biplane commenc ¬ ing in November Estland in September Prince Viri dis in January Poitrel and Keniiaquhair in Deiem ¬ ber and Hronzetti and Thrice in October Unfortu ¬ nately the latter was not as good at three years as he promised at two and Brouzetti is now in the infirm list though whether that is due to the effects of his early training or to the mishaps which interfered witli his prepaRition for the Australian Jockey Club spring meeting I cannot say Biplane took part in seven races at two Prince Viridis five Estland sixteen Keniiaquhair nine and Poitrel three and according to our handicappers Biplane and Estland two of the earliest beginners are trie I Ccntinucd on second page EFFECTS OF TWOYEAROLD RACING Continued from first page in Australia and ew Zealand oughly sound early training and andracing racing has not adversely affected them up to the present presentTurning Turning to great nerformers of earlier years those owners and trainers who believe that two yearold racing does more towards the eventual development of a race horse than putting it by until it is three years can refer to the result of most big races as proving the correctness of their argument Carbine for instance won five races as a twoyearold and though his grandson Trafalgar was not seriously trained at that age he started once Comparatively few Australian Jockey Club or Victoria Derby winners can be quoted that were not given a chance of earning their oats at two You will have to go a long way back in the Victoria Derby to find one and Charge in 189 is the last OIK I can recall in the Australian Jockey Clubs Derby Kandos an Australian Jockey Club St Leger winner of recent years did not race at two years and It miist be added that Prince Foote did not make his first anpearance as a twoyearold until March while Patrobas after one run in Oc ¬ tober as a twoyearold did not appear again until the following February and his third start was at three years Poseidon had his first twoyearold race at the commencement of January and it cannot he claimed for Prince Foote Poseidon or Patrobas that they lasted longer on the turf than numerous good horses that commenced their twoyearold rac ¬ ing a little earlier in the season seasonAMONG AMONG MELBOURNE CUP WINNERS WINNERSThe The Melbourne Cup Is the Australian race gener ¬ ally regarded as best testing a horse s staying abil ¬ ity and the earliest form of winners of that race will be of interest As previously mentioned Car ¬ bine whose weight record of 145 pounds is likely to stand for many more years was a good two yearold performer but apart from him I shall only touch upon results of the past twentyfive years Tarcoola which was seven years old when he won in 1893 first raced in January as a two yearold and had six starts that season The fol ¬ lowing year the nice went to the fouryearold Patron which commencing in September started fifteen times at two years Auraria a winner at three years in 1S95 won six of her twelve two yearold races and commenced as early as August from the beginning of which month Australian race horses take their age Newhaven another three yearold won in 1895 and he had the first of his eleven twoyearold races in September The four yearold 1897 winner Gaulus started three times at two years but not at all at three There is no record of The Grafter racing before he competed at three years in a Granvillo Stakes at Rosohill in January 1897 and he was five when he won the theThe The threeyearolds Merriwee and Clean Sweep which won in 1899 and 1900 respectively both raced at two years The former was unsuccessful at each of his four starts while one win for ten was Clean Sweeps record at that age The 1901 Cup winner Revenue which was five years at the time won three of his six twoyearold races and it was only two months after the opening of the season that he made his first appearance appearanceSOME SOME OTHER INSTANCES INSTANCESThe The Victory a fouryearold winner in 1902 won once in ten starts at two years ami Iord 1ardigan had seven lirfsuccessiful starts at that age Acrasia was seven when she won and ilid not race until tthe was three but the 1905 winner Blue bpee a six yearold raced and won at two years Poseidon a threeyearold Cup winner I have already re ¬ ferred to while Apologue which was five when he i scored in 1907 was a twoyearold winner Lord Nolan another threeyearold Cup winner raced unsuccessfully the previous season while Prince Foote also successful at three years in the Cup had a good twoyearold record Comedy King 1910 Cup was imported and though accord ¬ ing to Australian time lie was a few months over three when he first raced he had just readied that age to English time and was actually over two months short of it when he first figured on a race course The Parisian a sixyearold winner in 1911 did not start until he was three but Piastre suc ¬ cessful at four years in 1912 tried hard to win at two years However he was unsuccessful in eleven starts and fared no better in six runs at three years yearsPosinatus Posinatus a fiveyearold winner was unsuccess ¬ ful in his three starts as a twoyearold and though Kingsburgh fared no better in sir starts at the latter age he won the Cup as a fouryear old in 1914 Patrobas 1915 and Westcourt 1917 have already been touched upon and the 1915 Cup was accounted for by the threeyearold Sasa nof which had eight starts for two wins as a two yearold yearoldWHAT WHAT IS TO BE DEDUCED DEDUCEDNow Now what applies to the Melbourne Cup does so to most of the other long distance handicaps in Melbourne and Sydney During the last twenty five years fifteen Melbourne Cups have been won by horses of four years or over and eleven of these raced at two years in most cases rather early at that age Each of the ten threeyearold Cup win ¬ ners during the period covered were twoyearold performers and six scored at that age therefore results all round are in favor of twoyearold racing in preference to the idea of putting any horse aside until it is three with the idea of win ¬ ning long distance races at four years or older I have heard some good judges contend that horses would be all the better for not being raced until they were really on their way to four yeans but it is difficult to recall many if these late comers that subsequently developed high class form Not that many horses are put by the lure of rich two ami threeyearold races being too strong to permit of that thatAt At the same time while it seems advisable to give most horses the rudiments of a racing education at two years it is possible to go too far in that direction For instance they are broken in imme ¬ diately after the yearling sales and their gal ¬ loping ability tested so early that in different seasons I have seen many quite fit to race at the commencement of August The result in some cases was that shinsoreness and other troubles caused them to be thrown out of training before the run ¬ ning of the first twoyearold race at Randwick in Oetolwr and they were never heard of subsequent ¬ ly notwithstanding their early demonstration of the possession of speed Even in the circumstances iuoted some go on all right and win long races at four five and six years but there is no doubt that the anxiety of some owners to get an early return has settled many youngsters that might with different treatment have made fair horses Some twoyearolds are precocious and owners are Justi ¬ fied in racing them at the earliest opportunity but with others forcing for the early races instead of waiting until later must naturally have an adverse effect upon their turf career Pilot in Sydney Referee
