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1920 CHAMPIONSHIP LESSON: Breeding Critic Says Cleopatras Victory Em- phasizes the Old Saying; "Blood Will Tell." BY EXILE. LEXINGTON, Ky., November 2. More than one lesson is to be learned from Cleopatras decisive win of the Latcnia Championship -Stakes, which was donew hen carrying scale weight in the record time for the distance of 2:C, or three full sec- i onds faster than the record .previously held by the four-year-old Short Order, carrying but 107 pounds. This leads to the conclusion that time records for any and all distances should only receive official recognition when made by horses carrying scales weight or weight for age. Judging from the result of Latonias big race, the standing of the winning sires and winning brood mare sires, it does not iay, with but few exceptions, to breed to and from horses which do not trace in every line of their pedigrees to the English General Stud Book. Standing in the center field, when the horses were at the post for the big race, the question was put, "Which one do you fancy;?" My answer, "There is only one real thoroughbred in the lot Cleopatra aiid as this. 4s a scale weight race over the St.vLeger course, ;her chance must hot be overlooked." . J , "What about John P. Grier aud On Watch?" came next. I was forced to tell" my interlocutor that I was fearful of the double dose of Domino in John P. Griers dam, Wonder, and also of On Watchs Domino descent. John P. Grier set a great pace for over one mile, but at the half-mile ground, the second time around retired iguomiriously. -Best Pal, after the first mile, was absolutely incapable of living the pace and On Watch was as a man swimming. Verily the result of the Latonia Championship is ample and sufficient evidence of the truth of the old-time saying, "blood will tell." As the years pass there is to be notjeed a strong tendency on the part of racing men to?Dreed their ywn horses. .The, meanings of, ,thjs ,isj nothing, else. JwMt-dSilfcF0- !tepla,7jttr!86niriaiio7 "a" desire trr. -better class racing., The-day of the sprinter aiid big money-earning tWo-yearold is fast drawing to a close, and it is well: that it is so, for the public is insistent in its. demand for more long-distance racing, and this :tlieonly means by which the thoroughbred horse as:";bred in this country is to receive better recognition elsewhere. The Kentucky horse breeder is passing. Look around you. How many of the sales ring breeders are there left? And the cause is breeding for a sprinting market to the neglect, of the weight-carrying stayer. Breeding counts for naught in two-year-olds aud spring racing. Lack of proper" appreciation of blood lines also plays a prominent part in the passing of the Kentucky breeder. Now that more . thought and study is being put on the fascinating subject of horse breeding, it will, not be long before many a good horse will be "bred in this the logical home of the liorse in the United States. Easterners finished one, two and three in the Latonia Championship, and for this there must be cause. Last year the race was won by the eastern-owned Mad Hatter; in fact, the wise men of the East seem most content to come and browse upon the rich and succulent racing, grass as provided by the enterprising executive of Latonia. It is not my desire to exploit the merit of any one particular breed of thoroughbred liorse if there be any such thing as an American, French or Australian thoroughbred horse, but rather to enlighten breeders as to facts which in this case is the outstanding and incontrovertible fact that members of the obscure families have outlived, in" toto, their usefulness as progenitors and in great part as performers.
