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SIRES D DAMS By CHALLENGER Stamina in Our Best Thoroughbreds Whirlaway Fine Distance Runner Staying Power Can Be Developed Longer Races Encourage Owners HOLLYWOOD Calif June 13 13The The victories of Salford II in this country caused a reader to write us saying In a recent discussion about Salford II a friend contended that before the War France produced the best stayers and that English horses were mainly sprinters and not comparable to ours in stoutness Do you agree with him That is a difficult question to answer intelligently for if you want to have some fun ask ten or twelve veterans the question What makes a stayer We can assure you the answers will cover a wide range in opinion This is not the first time we have heard about the softness of the British thoroughbred The late Herr Becker in his last book made many charges about the softness of Bend Or and his tribe In view of what has transpired in this country in recent years the German breeding authority was made to look ridiculous When Blenheim II failed to sire a champion in his first crop in this country the whispers became louder and louder Then came Whirlaway a real stayer if we ever saw one If this son of an English sire has any softness it is certainly not in his staying powers powersShortly Shortly after Seabiscuit was retired an American writer stated the English thoroughbred seems to have lost the characteristic so obviously possessed by the Howard champion which is now the worlds leading money winner Too much Jersey act and too much Bruce Lowe have weakened the sources of what was once the fountain head English thoroughbreds are becoming like toy balloons prick the bubble and the hot air they have been selling all over the world and the balloon collapses never to come back For speed over a distance of ground gameness and all other race horse qualifications select the horse that traces back to the tried and tested oldfashioned American bloodlines and horses which like Seabiscuit can come back Undoutedly patriotism had as much to do with that statement as the facts No turf scribe has pointed out the virtue of American bloodlines more than the one writing this column But to hold Seabiscuit up as a model of the American horse is not only misleading but is stretching1 the true facts to the breaking point pointTurf Turf history proves that Seabiscuit performed one of the greatest feats of all time in his comeback to win the Santa Anita Handicap He was one in a million and his accomplishment will be a highlight as long as the annals of the turf are preserved But to hold Seabiscuit as a model of American stoutness and as a rebuke to English softness and speed is akin to the ostrich sticking his head in the sand If all our horses were like Seabiscuit we would hardly see such sights as three horses competing in the Travers four in the Lawrence Realization three in the Whitney two in the Saratoga Cup and those two stablemates and three in The Jockey Club Gold Cup Surely we too are far from the thoroughbred Utopia when many1 of our biggest events see so few horses face the starter In the recent Belmont Stakes the small field was not so much due to the presence of Whirlaway as it was that few of our threeyearolds were capable of negotiating one and onehalf miles My horse might get the distance one trainer told the writer but I do not propose to send him that twelve furlongs against Whirlaway it might break his heart In these tragic days it is somewhat ironic to write about the British thoroughbred A horse may be English or American yes but it is hard to draw a definite line between the pedigrees of the horses in the two countries Sea biscuit has been referred to as typically American yet we find both British and French blood close up in his pedigree In the international match America versus England we find that the American horse Zev was a grandson of the imported horse Ogden and that the English invader Papyrus was a son of the Americanbred Tracery which in turn was by the English sire Rock Sand whose daughter Mahubah gave us Man o War our greatest horse AVe cannot separate thoroughbred blood for any investigation will prove that like the people of our nation it is a giant melting pot with blood from all countries Much of the blood in horses has been carefully studied and sonic authorities have gone so far as to endeavor to discover how far a horse will run as revealed by his pedigree Every so often however a horse will come along to throw dismay into the camp of the chartmakers SoninLaw and his tribe have been noted for staying qualities If Whirlaway is a true example then the mating of Blenheim II with mares of American lines will produce horses capable of covering a distance of ground In recent years there has been a definite trend towards distance events The fourmile marathons prove little beyond the fact that a horse is a plugger While reclaiming stamina the speed of the thoroughbred must not be sacrificed Such events as the San Juan Capistrano Sunset Handicap New York Handicap and others are ideal to test both speed and the ability to stay The purses are large enough to make an owner and trainer point a good horse for them But instead of smugly sitting back and crowing that our horses are superior to those of England let us obtain all the good English and French staying blood that we can get and also continue to stage inviting races over a distance of ground In time we will then be able to boast about the staying qualities of our thoroughbreds
