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Here and There on the Turf Buying of Yearlings. Importance of Engagements. Increase in Opportunities. Reinstatement of Hum. It is nearing that time of the year when turfmen begin laying their plans for the purchase s of yearlings. Breeders who have offerings are i grooming them for the market and already r there are several consignments at Saratoga Springs, where the Fasig-Hpton Company each 1 year conducts its big August auctions. Since August was chosen as the best sale : month and Saratoga Springs chosen as the , ideal setting for the sales, there has been a wonderful increase in the volume of the market. Almost every year has shown a growth 1 over that of the previous August, though the sale of 1917 was one of the most successful 1 in the point of numbers sold that has ever been held in this country. Launched as the market place for the breeders of this country, Saratoga has of late attracted foreign breeders and in recent years there have been several notable sales of yearlings that first saw the light of day in England, Ireland and France. Phil T. Chinn is largely responsible for the , opening up of this market to the American "buyers and he demonstrated that the purchases made in England could be brought to this country and marketed at a handsome profit. Others have followed this lead, until this year there will be no end of choicely bred yearlings from abroad to attract the dollars of the turfmen. It is at the yearling sales that turf success is first recognized and it is at the sales that . confidence is expressed in the solidity of racing. Offered sums have increased so tre- mendously in values that the thoroughbred lias become a much more valuable commercial commodity and it all makes for the bountiful prosperity of that most interesting of all vo- , cations, the production of the thoroughbred : horse. E. J.t Tranter, the ruling spirit of the Fasig-Tipton Company, has reported that practically 1 the whote month cf August has already been bespoken by the various consignors to his vendue and the offerings, as usual, are from the foremost breeding establishments of the country. Tuesday there will close two of the impor- tant features of the Kentucky Jockey Club. -These are the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes ! for 1925 and the Latonia Championship Stakes of 192G. These are yearling closings, for the -Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes is a mile race i in the fall, for two-year-olds, while the Latonia Championship Stakes is a fall event at a mile j and three-quarters, for three-year-olds. The Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes has an added money value of 0,000, while the added money to the Latonia Championship Stakes is 5,000, making each a turf event of high importance. 1 Attention is called to this closing of entries S in connection with the coming yearling sales. 1 Thoughtful breeders will always engage their yearlings in such races, for the enhanced value 1 that comes when the youngster is led into the sales ring. t As far as racing itself is concerned, a thor- T oughbred is valuable only in the racing oppor- a a trinities it has, and there has been many a bitter lesson taught in the past by prospective champions lacking in racing opportunity, only because the breeder did not nominate him for c the big races. At this tender age it is indeed 1 almost impossible to pick the truly good ones t i j 1 S 1 1 t T a a c 1 t from those that are ordinary. Sometimes the best-looking foal and of the choicest blood lines fails utterly to race either to his good looks or his blood inheritance. But, on the other hand, there are the ugly ducklings that develop into the makings of a champion. For that reason a breeder can hardly go wrong in making the first payment in such stakes. If he has one in twenty that measures up to the stakes for which it has been engaged, he is a hundred times repaid for his wisdom in naming them all. Black Gold is a striking example of a colt being robbed of big chances just because he was not engaged as he could have been while yearling. While on this same subject of thoroughbred values and how they are governed by racing opportunity it is well to point but how the turf has been expanding of late. Ohio came into the circuit modestly, but now the Ohio State Jockey Club, that conducts its meetings at Maple Heights, has grown to an importance that makes it a desirable racing ground. For the meeting that will be conducted from July 12 to August 2 four handicaps of ,000 each have been announced, with overnight handicaps of ,000 and ,500 value. This same association hung up ,000 for its Derby that fell to Black Gold. Then there has come in Hawthorne with its adequate offerings and a good chance that St. Louis will be a part of the regular circuit before long. Verily the thoroughbred is being appreciated and the turf is expanding at a rate that cannot fail to make America foremost in the production of the blooded horse. It was pleasing that the Latonia stewards granted D. Hurn permission to ride the Gifford A. Cochran starters in the Latonia Derby and the Cincinnati Trophy. On occasions they have not been so merciful and it is remem- bered that Earl Sande brought a suspension away from his ride in the Kentucky Derby that prevented his accepting mounts after his return to New York, so Hildreth was denied the services of his first rider in important races. Often a jockey is suspended when riding an outside mount and the punishment works great hardship on his contract employer. There must be a punishment when a rider offends, no matter whether or not he is riding for his contract employer, but the desire should be to punish the rider himself and not the man holding the contract on his services, unless he is a party to the offense. In any event it is a real hardship to rob a , contract employer of the services of his rider in a big race, unless the offense is a bit more serious than that of rough riding. The Latonia stewards are commended for" the reinstatement of Hurn for the Saturday racing. It is too bad they cannot be compli- mcnted for a like action when Sande was set down. -
