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Here and There on the Turf Winnings of Great Stables. Whitney Is Second Through. Selling Stars. Brookdale Breeding. Horses in Winter Quarters. Remount Service Stallions. While the Rancocas Stable topped the list of winning owners when the final count was made, it may be possible that before the end of the year the figures of that racing establishment may be passed by the strong stable of Harry Payne Whitney. Mr. Whitney has some horses at New Orleans while there are none of the Rancocas Stable horses at that Southern, or at any other winter track. As a matter of fact had it not been for the important sales from the Whitney Stable, their winnings would have placed Mr. Whitneys name at the top of the list by a comfortable margin. While forty-two horses contributed to his total of S230.0S5, there were thirteen sold during the year. That would make up a formidable string if they were all in one stable. In fact the best money winner under the Whitney silks was sold when Whiskaway went to the stable of C. W. Clark. Then when Goshawk was sold to Gifford A. Cochran he was generally rated as possibly the best two-year-old of the year. Another notable sale was that of Tryster to the Westmont Stable. Brainstorm, after being sold to Henry Waterson, proved a frequent and good winner. The sprinter Hullabaloo won some good sprints for W. C. Clancy, including some selling stakes of value. True Flier, the two-year-old that was sold early in the year to S. H. Harris proved of a useful sort and both Cherry Tree and Punta Gorda were good winners under the silks of Mose Goldblatt after being sold by Mr. Whitney. Damask, under the colors of the Greentree Stable, was the winner of the 0,000 Manly Memorial Steeplechase at Pim-lico after his sale to that popular racing establishment. The winnings of Tryster and Damask alone, during the fall meeting of the Maryland Jockey Club at Pimlico, would have put the H. P. Whitney Stable well in front of the Rancocas Stable for the year had they continued to race in the name of their breeder and former owner. Tryster was winner of all three of the Serial Wcight-for-Age Races, for a total of ,200, while the victory of Damask in the Manly Memorial added ,150 to the Greentree Stable total and made that string the most successful of all the cross-country stables. It is well for the turf that there should be this distribution of good horses and the glory still belongs to the Brookdale Stud and to Mr. Whitney as breeder. In the selling of such horses as Whiskaway, Goshawk, Damask, Tryster, and several others, it was in no sense weeding out the string, for better ones were sold than were kept, but it lent new in- j terest to racing. Then there was a sale of , twenty yearlings to the Rancocas Stable, some of which will undoubtedly go far to place that racing establishment once more in front of the j Whitney Stable for the 1923 racing season, but the fame of Brookdale goes on, no matter under whose silks these are raced. The thirteen sold were: Goshawk to Gifford A. Cochran; Tryster to the Westmont Stable; Cherry Tree, Punta Gorda, Manicure Maid and Prince Tii Tii to Mose Goldblatt; Brainstorm to Henry Waterson; Damask to the Greentree Stable; Hullabaloo to W. C. Clancy; True Flier to S. Harris; Straight Shooter to H. Neustettcr, and Turn About to C. P. Winfrey. Of these. Turnabout was the only one that had not contributed to the Whitney total. Each was a good winner for his purchaser and it is readily realized that had the thirteen been in one string it would have indeed been a formidable racing organization. A visit to the Belmont Park and the colony of horses that will be wintered at the big Nassau County course, gives an idea of present day methods of carrying the thoroughbreds through the cold months. Time was when the horses wore blankets and hoods when the weather was cold, the stables were kept warm and, as a result, frequently badly ventilated. Now it is all changed. Most of the day they are running loose in paddocks, rolling about in the cold mud and frolicking like so many children. When they are taken to their boxes the top half of the door is always left open and blankets are unknown. Nature takes care of the horse through the cold weather by furnishing him with a winter coat that is all the protection he needs against the wintry winds. It is this fresh air method that makes for sturdy horses and none is so delicate, unless actually sick, that it is not benefitted immensely by roughing it through the cold weather. Seldom indeed does one find the top door of a box closed all through the winter months and the winter health of the horses has been correspondingly bettered by the present method. The heated stable is a thing of the past as far as the thoroughbred is con- cerned and with it went the blanket and the medicine chest. Major G. L. Scott, who has charge of the purchase and distribution of the stallions in use by the Federal Remount Service, has written entertainingly of the work that has been done. There are 255 stallions in service and Major Scott has corrected one belief that only thoroughbred horses were used as stock animals. A chance is afforded every breed and, in addition to the thoroughbreds employed, there are twenty-seven Arabs, twelve Morgans, nine standard breds, six saddle sires and one hackney in use. Thus far the thoroughbred has proved his superiority, although every opportunity has been accorded the other breeds. What the turf has done in this monster government breeding scheme is duly appreciated by Major Scott, who says that the support received from the Jockey Club, the Kentucky Juckey Club and the Maryland Jockey Club has been largely responsible for the success that has been attained by the breeding. It has frequently been set forth that the turf has a much more far-reaching effect for higher good than the entertainment that is furnished sportsmen. It has induced the breeding of better horses and the service that has been done in the standard of army horses, has been of lasting and inestimable value.
