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Here and There on the Turf The Yearling Market. Foreign Blood Popular. Record Making Tracks. Saving the Horse. Breeders always reap the. benefit of turf prosperity and their harvest in 1924 was greater in America than ever before. That is to say the yearling market set a new mark when the sales by auction brought a total of ,338,235 for 600 head. There have been years when a greater number were marketed and years when the average has be2ii slightly-higher, but never before has such a total been reached.. The strength of the market is test shown when going back over the sales of other years. It is shown that in 1911 there were 390 head that brought only a total of 7,957, or an average of 30, as against the average of ,230.39 for 1924. That is the year when the low ebb was reached in a period going back to the sale of 1908. In the same period of time the smallest sale was when only 243 went to the sales ring. That was in 1912 and it is possible that the result of the selling the year before deterred some of the breeders from sending their yearlings to the market. It was not until 1917 that the average reached ,000 and the following year it dropped to 27.53, but each year since the average has been in four figures and, with the exception of 1920, when it was ,727.22, it has always been well over ,000 a head. There has been a steady climb in the total amount of the sales and for the last three , years the grand total has been well in excess . of ,000,000. with the total this year the best ever obtained. These figures accentuate the importance of racing. It is the racing that makes the thoroughbred horse possible and the prizes that are . offered have all to do with fixing the value . of the product. j While the yearling market has steadily-climbed, the reason is found in the constantly , increasing value of the prizes that are offered I by the various racing associations". The horse ; has altogether new opportunities in America ! and the market for the yearlings is sure to continue to climb in proportion to racing opportunity. . . It was altogether unusual that the get of f an untried stallion, Eternal, should bring the e highest price at the sale. William Ziegler, Jr., a comparatively recent recruit to the turf, paid 3 the top price of the Saratoga auctions when a he bought a brown colt by Eternal -Aquamarine ,. for 6,000. Mr. Ziegler was not alone e in the belief that this young stock horse is s destined to make good, for others of his that t went under the hammer all brought big prices. 5. There were eighteen yearlings which brought t 0,000 or more each and it is just a bit t remarkable that ten of them were by foreign-bred sires. Negofol was the most sought after r when five of the ten were sired by the sire e of Ilourless. The other foreign sires represented in this honor roll were Lembcrg, Galloper I- Light, Friar Marcus, He and Prince Pala i- tine. The American sires besides Eternal represented in the first eighteen of the yearling g sale list were The Finn with two, Prince Pal al with two, Friar. Rock, Wrack and High Time, r, the sire of Sarazen. That is reason enough for the importation ol f the best of the foreign blood obtainable. That it is the reason for patronizing the Newmarket sales. It remains to be seen whether or not thest ;e . . . j , I ; ! . f e 3 a ,. e is s t 5. t t r e I- i- g al r, ol f it ;e yearlings justify the high regard that was shown for the foreign blood, but the results were there for the breeders who breed for the market. The foreign sires were sought after when such a big percentage of their get brought top prices at the sales. But it was an American-bred stallion that topped the list in Eternal and an American-bred horse that was sending his first crop of yearlings to the market. While much is being said of the new track records that are being made at Jefferson Park this winter it must be kept in mind that it is of far greater Importance that the horses should have a safe- track to run over rather than a record-breaking surface. It is not meant that the Jefferson Park track is other than safe, for the records have been in no sense sensational, but it is bad policy to sacri-, fice the horse for the sake of the time that is hung out. Too often there is a desire by track super-. intendents to have a record-breaking course and that means a breaking down course for the horses as well. The track is honed down until it is hard enough for the conduct of harness races and, of course, when ths cushion is gone the horses will run faster, but they run faster at the expense of their tendons. The galloping horse was never intended to race over a hard surface. The pounding over a hard surface results in leg and foot injury and it is the hard going that accounts for the bad legged horses more than any other one thing. Prizes on the running turf are seldom hung ; up for the breaking of records. The record I 1 means nothing after all, for many a record holder was far from being a first-class horse. The phenomenal record breaker is lime and I again beaten, and soundly beaten, in slower time than he has shown in breaking these records when pitted against the horse of class . and the horse that is plainly his master, Most of the champions have seldom been 1 required to break records to earn the cham-i- pionship. They were capable of winning in one 3 fast quarter or even one fast eighth. They ,T were champions because" of an ability to use 2 this burst of speed whenever called upon and it is only when two champions come together f that the electrical speed must be maintained 1 for more than a quarter of a mile. It is entirely possible to have a fast track C and at the same time a track that affords a cushion for the horses. That is the ideal racing ground and any time a cushion is sacrificed in the insane desire to establish records s it is often at the expense of the horse, If more attention were paid to the cushiou-it - ing of American race courses there would be " fewer broken down horses and it wnild make C for better racing.
