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Looking Them Over With Ed Cole Wherever horsemen congregate these days the subject of thoroughbred deterioration in recent years always comes to the top of the conversation. Opinions differ to a marked degree as to the cause. Some think one thing, others another, hut the majority of the most expert opinions believe that too much early racing of young horses is the primary trouble. This, they claim, saps the vitality of thoroughbreds to such an extent that their usufulness for breeding purposes is sadly diminished. There is no question that the strenuous preparation of young horses for rich stakes has done much to thin the ranks of real good horses in the last fifteen or twenty years. "Where are our handicap and stake horses we had years ago?" asked one old-time trainer. "Have we a Colin, Sysonby. Domino. Henry of Navarre. Commando, Ramapo. Ben Brush, King James, Fitz-Herbert and many others of their caliber or approaching. "I remember," the old trainer continued, "the days when the rich stakes and handicaps used to be filled with real horses. In those days in the established handicaps like the Suburban and the Brooklyn you would see ten to fifteen first class horses so closely matched that frequently the favorites have been quoted at five to one or better. "What are todays offerings? This year in the Brooklyn there was Sarazen The Uncertain and American Flag, the only two that carried respectable weights, and the latter with suspicious under-pinning. In the Suburban, American Flag was the handsome candidate, as regards class, the rest of the field being a nondescript collection. In the Kentucky Derby, leaving Bubbling Over out. there was practically nothing but platers after Carlaris went wrong. Vosburghs Handicaps Corroborate Conditions. So it runs all along the line, and getting worse and worse every year. Mr. Vosburghs handicaps tell the story very plainly. Time was when his allotted weights would run from 128 or 130 pounds down to about 120 for the first group of ten to twenty of the entries. Today we see about two horses carrying respectable weights, and then a drop down to 120 or in that neighborhood. "There must be some cause for this falling off in quality. What is it? Is there no remedy to stay the declination? Breeders do their best to breed good horses on the most scientific and studious principles. No doubt they turn out good horses from their farms, but why do they drop out of the limelight so early? Is there no one who will take up the question and go seriously into it and see what can be done? "That there is too much racing for its own good or the advancement of the sport is unquestioned. Today there are more than sixty race tracks in the United States and Canada. For the next three or four months there will be from seven to eleven tracks operating daily, with horses racing that would not have been considered worth feeding a few years ago. Many I nsonnd Horses in Training. "Ill guarantee there are not twenty-five per cent of the older horses in training today that are sound. The large purses are responsible for these conditions. Men pay a few hundred dollars for an old cripple today that would not pay for feeding years ago, hoping he can be patched up to win a race. There is such demand for this type of horse that it is impossible to get one without resorting to the claiming rule. "There are not ten per cent of the expert old-time trainers of today who would entertain a proposition to look after many of the horses now being handled by men whose occupatious heretofore have been barbering, selling socks and steering a truck. How they get licenses is a mystery. Yet they do, and the flock is increasing. "What is necessary now for the betterment and upbuilding of the turf is the formation of a real high-class governing body similar to the European directors of such things. Until such a body of men is built up, we can look for little improvement in either the United States or Canada." R. T. Wilson, president of the Saratoga track, has the right idea. He has proposed a dinner, during the Saratoga meeting, to which all those most concerned will be invited, and at which all the phases of the turf will be discussed and an effort made to form a high court for the government of racing and its sidelights. It will be the greatest gathering of men assembled for this one purpose that has ever been suggested. Let us hope that the seed sown at this dinner will bear fruit in abundance. ED. COLE.
