view raw text
DEAUVILLE REVIEWED Inclement Weather Affects Sport at Famous French Resort. Sans le Sou and Alcantara Yearlings Bring Big Prices Americans Among the Buyers. SPECIAL CORRESPONDENCE. PARIS, France, September 6. A review of the Deauville season will show that the month of July at Deauvillo was very poor, owing, of course, to the inclement weather, and up to August 19 there had been little Improvement. For the last ten days of the season the weather was fine, so Deauville got in its Grande Semaine under the very best auspices. "Who has been there? Everybody in tlio world it seems who could get there. The King of Spain was a wonderful asset. At the noon hour it was impossible to get near the potiniere for a morning bracer. I am Bure there never was such a congestion of people in the little Rue Goutant Biron. To try and push through it would convince you. The Casino has had a banner year. The play has been high, and it has been late, or shall I say early; because many times there have been tables going at 6 in the morning. The restaurant for dinner and supper since the crowd really got to Deauville has been packed. Realize, of course, nobody dines until half past nine. The final night it was almost an impossibility to get a table unless you were one of the regulars and knew the ropes and the maitre dhotel sufficiently well enough to have him ask you what you liked for the big race. The man who can give a winning tip is much better received than the one who gives the other. Such, I suppose, is human nature. RESERVE BIBS 2TOT AIOfOUlfCEB. The yearling sales looked as if they were going to be an awful frost. The first week saw one horse after another retired, or, as we saw in the States, passed out of the ring. Every yearling sold goes into the ring with the owners reserve price on it unknown to the bidders. The auctioneers then begin calling off imaginary bids and the uninitiatea would think people were tumbling over them-Belves to buy. Suddenly there is a lull, if the reserve is too high, which is usually the case, and the yearling is retired. Afterward one hears that the owner has sold the animal privately at, generally, his fair value. Of course there are a few breeders who put conservative reserve prices on their stock, and on these the bidding is brisk, and they usually bring much more than the owner expected. The bidders know these breeders and they patronize them. The first good sale was Henri Corbieres, and he realized most stisfactory prices. He had four colts in his band, and last June 1 tried to buy them for a friend of mine for a lump sum of 160,000 francs. He would not sell them before the sales at Deauville, as he said it would injure his sale there. "What was the result? Macomber bought the Durbar colt for 165,000 francs, the Aga Khan bought a Jacobi colt for 60,000 francs and Martinez de Hoz bought a Gorgos colt for 65,000 francs. The other cslt, by Maboul IL, was taken ill and could not go to Deauville, and Jerry "Welsh got him for 30,000 francs before the sale. He would have been right up with the others had he been in condition to be present in the ring. That is the way it goes. Enfilades half Bister by Durbar was knocked down to Martinez de Hoz for 51,000 francs. She is a grand filly and will surely race. This only bears out what I have all along contended: If breeders will put a fair reserve on their offerings they will get more than they expected. Owners and trainrs are the best Judges of values. GENE LEIGH IS A BUYER. The Paul Portales sale on the last day of the auctions was a remarkable one. Everybody seemed to have waited for the Sans le Sou and Alcantara yearlings. The Aga Khan bought a colt, Dandiprat, from a young mare by the former stallion, for 158,000 francs. A fine-looking yearling certainly. The other colts went from 40,000 francs up to 70,000 francs. "Gene" Leigh bought a Bruleur colt for 67,000 francs. This one showed more quality than the Brulcurs generally do and I hope he turns out a crack for "Gene." Jim Colt was alongside of him during the bidding; so two heads, and wise ones, too, are better than one. Personally I do not like the Brulcurs. Ksar is the only example one can point to. His few other winners are very ordinary. The record price for a yearling in France was reached late in the afternoon, when the Marquis de Saint Sauveur, sitting alongside of Ogden Mills and Lady Granard, bought a filly by Alcantara, from a young Edouard do Rothschild bred mare, for 210,000 francs. The purchaser was Lord Derby. The other, fillies from this stud brought wonderful prices. They were running from 40,000 francs up to 75,000 francs. All in all it was a great sale and surprised everybody. One must realize that the buyers were for the most part foreigners, who were in the position of being benefited by the exchange. In many cases, even considering the money market fluctuations, they brougth in my opinion beyond their value. Taken as a whole, I do not think the yearlings this year were up to the average. The terrible drought last year probably accounted for this in what the mares and foals found in the pastures. The representative of F. R. Hitchcock in the early sales picked up some nice fillies. Jerry Welsh bought an exceedingly nice colt, a full brother of Martinolli, a good winner of about 100,000 francs, very cheaply for J. E. Widener. He was knocked down to him for 46,000 francs. It afterward transpired that the two Anchorenas got their signals mixed and Willie Pratt, the trainer, thought his owner was bidding for the colt, whereas it was Welsh. MACKENZIE TAKES PRIZE MORNT. Now for the racing. The big two-year-old race known as the Prix Moray was won by Mackenbie, a "Verwood colt from Madame Blancs. The Aga Khans good colt Niceas Continued on eleventh page. DEAUVILLE REVIEW Continued from fourth page. was second. "Gene" Leigh ran his Epinard in this race. He had run twice and won both times, but he did not leave the post in this event. Saint Biers, a Faucher colt, also from the Duke string, won three stakes during the meeting, which ought to make Widen ers Lizard more than useful, to say the least. A nice filly of Eknayans was seen out, by namo Concorde. This about tells what is necessary concerning the younger division. The Grand Prix winner, Kefalin, made his appearance during the meeting for the first time since June and went down to a head defeat. He needed a race. The crowds at the races did not seem to me as large as formerly. The regulars, of course, were present, but baccarat and late jazzing hours probably tired them out. The polo after the races, however, attracted a great many, and the King of Spain never missed a day and few games. To finish with the racing: The Grand Prix de Deauville is over and it was a true run race, no incidents were noticed and the .result seemed regular. Ten went to the post, with Marcel Boussacs Grillemont a hot favorite. The start was excellent. Haroun al Raschid made the running for his stable companion, Bahadur. At the turn for the run in, the field was well bunched. At the distance, Bahadur on the rail and Algerien in- the middle, singled themselves out. Bahadur soon had the best of the Macomber horse and stood off a determined rush by Grillemont, winning by a length and a half, Grillemont second, the same distance in front of Algerien. Winkfield, Stern and ONeill were on the three placed horses. In this connection all praise should be given to Winkfield for the way he has been riding and the fine shape in which he has been sending these Manta-cheff horses to the post. Nominally Basch-kirow is down as the trainer, but those in the know say it is "Winkfield who directs everything. Ho is certainly a glutton for work, for he is about his horses early and late. FISTICUFF SCORES CT LAST RACE. The last raec of the Deauville season went to the Greek shipping owner Ambatielos Fisticuff, by Irish Lad. Zariba accounted for two wins during the season and showed plainly what a really smashing filly she is, "What a prominent part the Boussac stable has played in the big events this year ! After winning the French Derby, one must recall it was second in the Oaks, Grand Prix, President de la Republique, and now today in the Grand Prix of Deauville. Algerien also has been consistent in the Macomber colors, third in the French Derby, Grand Prix, and again in the Deauville classic today. By the way, the French breeders ought to feel thankful to A. K. Macomber for the many high-priced yearlings he bought at the sales. He bought something at most of them, and when one considers the great number of yearlings he has at present, it certainly was considerable to say the least, and he helped the sales a lot. It is reported that Galen Brown is to take charge of the fillies from the Haras de Ques-nay and be located at Lamorlaye. The colts are to go, of course, to Murphy at Saint Louis de Poissy.
