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REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunston Bing Crosby Writes His Views His Stand on Early Baby Races Tests With Ligarotis Colts 99 Per Cent Should be Gelded? NEW YORK. N. Y.. April 26. One of the most interesting magazines that comes to our desk is The Thoroughbred, which is published by the Cali fornia Breeders Associ-1 j ation. In its last issue,] our eye was caught by I the story that Bing! j Crosby wrote on The Early Racing of Two-Year-Olds." Bing , started out by saying] "Ive been in racing I I about ten years, which j I is certainly not long | | enough to know any- j j thing about it. or to ] speak authoritatively on any of its facets." j The one point that Bing says is "particularly baffling" is that of early two-year- I j old racing. But. although he says it is j t baffling, he has very definite ideas of his own. for he adds. "If I have a coming two-year-old , who, in the opinion of the men at the farm, shows some class. I would break him in December and would not aim j I at starting him until July — or. when two-year-olds were going at five furlongs. Should he be a late foal this program would! ! be set back in proportion to his .foaling i date." Bing goes on to add that it is difficult I for him to believe that any horse I can start 10 or 12 times in our three-eighths j of a mile scrambles, with all start-I ! et s out from flagfall to finish, and ever amount to anything thereafter. As Crosby points out. the records show many contradictions of his beliefs. When we compare the few who do survive these scrambles and go on to be good horses, to the great number who never amount to anything, he is right when he asks. "Who knows how many of those t*iat failed might have been good or even great horses?" Under our present set-up of racing, an owner doe* have an opportunity to get his investment and possibly a little more, by taking advantage of the sprints at the winter tracks. Some yearling buyers look for just that type of "quick" youngster who will fit into the scheme of winter sprints. But, it is our belief that many of those who win these winter baby races would return a bigger sum if they were brought along and raced later in the year. Crosby stresses that his remarks are not to be construed as a mild lobby against two-year-old sprints. He says that he and his partner, Lin Howard, are in complete i agreement on their two-year-olds. "We , have tried this schedule with the first of Ligarotis colts, a performer named Liga-rotito. rl He started three or four times in late summer as a two-year-old. won in good company at Belmont, and is now galloping for his three-year-old season. We await the result with interest. Maybe he is only of minor class in the first place, but he is sound, sensible and eager, and if he has any ability it hasnt been dissipated." In the same issue of The Thoroughbred, Harry Hart makes some surprising statements in his article. "More Horses Should Be Gelded." Harry Hart hardly needs any introduction, but, for newcomers to the game, we add that he is manager of Louis B. Mayers ranch in California and, in our opinion, one of the best all-around horsemen in this country. Harry says. "My views on the subject if gelding horses are very definite. I do not wish to infer that all horses should be gelded, but I think about 99 per cent would be better if they were — and that their owners would be better off financially." He goes on to say that years ago he took a yearling gelding by Chilhowee to the Saratoga sales and sold him to as shrewd a horseman as Max Hirsch. At that time Max told him that half the horses sold at Sartoga should be offered as geldings. Hart goes on to say that history is replete with examples of geldings who took the measure of the top colts of their time. He refers to Exterminator. Sarazen, Roamer. Tippety Witchet. Swingalong, Golden Prince and still others. He adds. "Anyone may check Daily Racing Form and see how many geldings are right up there with the colts in present day-to-day racing. Remember, those geldings did not have qualifications so far as appearances went at the time, or pedigrees on an equality with those left whole. If they had, they would not have been gelded." Although we admire Harry Hart as a horseman and as a friend, we certainly cannot agree that as high as 99 per cent of all horses should be gelded. If only 1 per cent were left to carry on in stud, it would put a terrific burden on a very selected few. Needless to say, no matter how well some of them were bred, or how well they performed on the turf. they would not make good. This would narrow production to the point where there would not be enough race horses to supply 10 per cent of the present demand. True, more horses should be gelded, but certainly not at any such proportion as Harry Hart proposes. Time and again horses who lacked pedigree, or again, lacked racing record, came through to make good. That old expression, "the improvement of the breed" would be in an awful fix if we admitted that only i per cent of all horses bred were worthy of a chance In stud.
