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Nelson Dunstan REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstan Always Money for a Good Horse Wm Helis New to Owners Ranks Loss of Big Breeders Heavy Blow Much Speculation on Yearlings NEW YORK N Y May 29 29That That old saying There is always money around for a good proven horse was again borne out when Attention was knocked down to Anthony Pelleteri acting for William Helis for 55000 at the FasigTipton sale Friday morning In view of his stake engagements and potentialities in stud the son of Equipoise is worth every dollar of it William Helis an oil magnate from New Orleans is not only interested in the Fair Grounds in the Crescent City but he is also acquiring some very good horses and is willing to pay what a good horse is worth He is fortunate in having the veteran Tony Pelleteri to advise him in making purchases In buying the tw 5yearold Tropea the older horses Moscow II and Salto and now Attention Hells has paid out close to 100000 and it is our understand ¬ ing he has a yen to become a breeder as well as a racing owner The loss of Emerson F Woodward and John Oliver Keene within the past week emphasize that the sport needs quite a few men such as William Helis to keep the breeding industry from a thinning of the ranks The shoes of the two departed sportsmen are going to be hard to fill for of late years those who have been lost to the industry far outnumber those who have come into the game gameFasigTipton FasigTipton oficials were well satisfied with the Friday morning sale as 38 head brought a total of 82375 While prices are below normal for horses in training the question of the return for yearlings is now one of the greater concern to our breeders Due to transportation difficulties this years sale of babes will mainly be staged in Kentucky and everyone with the good of racing at heart is hoping that prices will be much better than they were at Saratoga last August Those who take an optimistic viewpoint argue that the trend of the war is bound to be reflected in yearling prices just as it is in the stock market at present Those who know signs of warfare are stating with more confidence that the conflict must end some time in 1944 If such is the case there should be an upward trend in yearling prices this August Racing officials to a man believe that the sport will boom as it never has before once the conflict is over And it necessarily follows that should this come about fresh racing material is an absolute necessity Only the death of an owner can bring about the sale of a horse like Attention so owners seeking to resupply their racing strings must go to the yearling1 sales for twoyearold racers At 55000 Attention is the highestpriced horse to go through a sales ring since William duPont Jr paid 29000 for Dauber at the dispersal of the C V Whitney racing stable in November of 1937 We cannot recall a horse bringing such a price as that since the estate of Gifford A Cochran was dispersed some time back in 1931 It is often said that regardless of how well bred a horse may be or again how good a racer he is he is an unknown quantity when sent to stud True many examples can be pointed out in proof of this Sir Barton was a fine race horse but failed to live up to his promise when his racing days were over Twenty Grand one of the best horses this writer has ever seen proved to be impotent But pedigree and racing class are still the two best guides to a horses possibilities in stud and Attention has both His sire Equipoise was one of the mightiest horses of the American turf His dam Fizzaz is a daughter of Bubbling Over winner of the Kentucky Derby of 1926 arid sire of Burgoo King winner of the same event in 1932 out of the English mare Heterodyne a daughter of Blandford who until his death was known as the worlds greatest sire The romance of the yearling market enters into the pedigree of this horse for the late Mrs Corning purchased Fizzaz as a yearling for 400 From a price viewpoint yearlings have been shunted to the back Aground in recent years Seabiscuit Market Wise Riverland Boysy and other Cinderella horses have had their share of rags to riches stories in the public press The claiming of horses has grown with leaps and bounds and breeders have watched this developed phase with no little anxiety But it was only natural in these years when racing from month to month was a dubious proposition that owners would seek horses who could race next week rather than next year That phase however will abate to some degree when the war is over The yearling will again be the basis of horse trading for Man o War was one 5000 yearling who went on to win a quarter of a million dollars himself and begot sons and daughters who earned millions to boot Take this year as an instance Count Fleet could have been bought as a yearling for 4500 but money could not buy him today His shadow Blue Swords could have been secured for 3300 and Devils Thumb for an even 3000 Ever so many yearling bargains are to be found in the threeyearold ranks and before the season is over other twoyearolds will join the long list who came out of the sales ring to eventually earn 50 or more times their purchase price The market has had its lemons of course There will always be those who fail to justify their price just as others will bring many many times more than the original cost costThe The coming sales will be the crossroads for the breeding industry If this years babes fail to bring more than was the case last year you can depend upon it breed ¬ ing production is going to be curtailed sharply As matters stand today a buyer can get quicker action by claiming a horse or going into a sale of horsesintraining and outbidding competitors for one that has proven his ability But there will be many a bargain at the yearling sales and it may be as some of our military experts stress that next year will see the end of the war We do not piofess to know anything about that but if they are correct yearling prices should be on the upturn regardless of where they are sold The buying of yearlings hasbeen called the worlds most sporting gamble But judging by the prices of the last two years the game is going to need more buyers willing to take a gamble if the sport of racing is to flourish The breeder is a very necessary part of racing as a whole but there is little point in his continu ¬ ing to produce if he cannot get a fair price for his product He can turn to tobacco or some other necessity and he is likely to do so if he does not do better with yearlings than he has in recent years
