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Hard Work Brings f Breeding Success Master of Timberlawn Busy and Horseman With Four Sires j And Fifty Brood Mares PARIS, Ky., June 29. A true go-getter is Edwin K. Thomas. Here at the county seat of Bourbon County he is noted for being a hard worker, a successful horseman and farmer, and a man who can get the job done. Working is a pleasure for Thomas. Up early mornings, he puts in a full day, traveling over his 1,000-acre Timberlawn Farm. He has no time for hobbies or clubs. He devotes himself to work, except for a few weeks each fall when he. goes .hunting. His father, Hon. Claude Thomas, a State Senator, laid the foundation for the big scale operations at Timberlawn. The elder Thomas, originally interested in saddle horses, was second president of the American Saddle Horse Breeders Association. Deciding to breed thoroughbreds at Timberlawn, he acquired several mares from Col. Milton M. Young. Several local breeders got their foundation bloodstock from the McGrathiana stud of Col. Young. Some of them are Thomas Piatt, John B. Gorham, O. D. Randolph and J. L. Luke. j Four Sires Lost in Firt When Thomas died, leaving the place to . his only son, Timberlawn "was not distinguished as a thoroughbred farm. The younger Thomas soon put it on the map. The acreage was more than doubled and the thoroughbred holdings were increased to four stallions and almost 50 mares. The stallions now in service are Tiger, Maeriel, Bottle Cap and Haste. Those sires Thomas assembled at Timberlawn since the. disastrous fire there May 8, 1940, which took the lives of all his stallions. They were Flying Heels, Aneroid, Sgt. Byrne and Hi-Jack. At that time Flying Heels was highly successful and it was believed that Aneroid, whose first foals were then sucklings, was to have a great future in the stud. Flying Heels did a lot to establish Thomas in the thoroughbred industry. When the brown horse was retired from racing, after having won 17 races and 23,435, the breeders were not very interested in him as a stud. Some were not interested because he was by Flying Ebony; others because he had not shown enough as a race horse. But Thomas was interested and he got him. Quickly Acquires Replacements Flying Heels entered the stud at Timberlawn in 1934. After the brilliant showing of his first crop as juveniles nine two-year-old winners, including the stake winners Spindletop, Shining Heels, and Flying Wild he became a popular sire. His second crop included the good race mare, Flying Lill. Only a few days before the fire Thomas refused 0,000 for Flying Heels, who was to die uninsured. The master of Timberlawn, losing no time grieving over his losses, sought replacements. First he got Bottle Cap from Tony Pelleteri, then Maeriel from Mrs. DeWitt Page, and Tiger from Mrs. Ethel V. Mars. Tiger is regarded as his best prospect. Thomas has great confidence in the son of Bull Dog, and he believes he will become just as successful at stud as Flying Heels. The master of Timberlawn points out that Tiger, like Flying Heels, was a top two-year-old at tremendous speed. The first crop of Tigers arrived at the Thomas nursery this year. In confirmation they resemblef their sire closely, which strengthens the faith of Thomas in Tiger. Probably the best racer ever bred at Timberlawn is Bay View, winner of the 1941 Santa Anita Handicap. His dam, Dangertude, is one of the leading brood mares now at the Thomas nursery. The products of Timberlawn are sold as yearlings or retained for racing. Thomas selects the choice lots of his yearling crop each year for the Saratoga Springs sales, and those fie thinks will not market well he keeps for his racing stable.
