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REFLECTIONS I By Nelson Dunstan e Last Mark Wins Kings Plate at Woodbind Large Throng Sees Canadian Classic Dominion Farms Breed Solid Horses Canada Needs Top Siresf Producers ProducersWOODBINE WOODBINE PARK Toronto Ont May 24 Ted Atkinson and Johnny Longden came back to Canada today but neither one could take the Kings Plate honors from H R Bailey the Toronto jockey who rode the favorite Last Mark to a splendid victory Bailey was Canadas leading rider last season while J G Fair added an unusual note as he was the breeder owner and trainer of the win ¬ ner who is a threeyearold gelding by Koenigsmark McTab Lord Fairmond rid ¬ den by Longden was second The time of 152 was a new record for the Kings Plate but failed to equal Bon Jours track record of 150 The winner of the Plate received the 50 Guineas which is the gift of His Majesty the King and 65 per cent of the added 10000 and the breeder of the winner is awarded 7 per cent A cup is presented to the owner of the winner and mementos to the trainer and jockey a phase of the awarding of prizes that has been neglected down through the years on the American turf The jockey riding the winner of the Tom Roby Steeplechase at Delaware is awarded a trophy but seldom are the trainers or jockeys who play an important part in a victory so honored honoredBefore Before the running of the Kings Plate the Woodbine track was a sea of humanity and it would not surprise us if the throng on hand topped the total of 48015 which attended last years running of Canadas most important and colorful event It is a holiday crowd and the love of a horse race is obviously more of a magnet than the mutuel windows In a setting that is remindful of an old sporting sprint the bands add to the atmosphere of the gray toppers striped trousers and the ladies in their Sunday best English flags flying high and the old fashioned stewards stand in the infield are reminders that Canadian tracks still have settings that are more like English courses than those in the United States But the horses are mostly Americanbreds with colts and fillies by Zacaweista Chance Sun Bel Aethel Gallant Fox and others prominent in the races other than the Kings Plate As in England the meetings in eastern Canada are of short duration the seven days at Woodbine being in sharp contrast to the 40 and 50day meetings in the states When an American makes his one annual visit to Canada to see the Kings Plate he naturally is curious about that country as a producer of thoroughbreds There have been Americanbred horses raced in the dominion but those that were bred in Canada seem to be of the enduring sturdy type that will run on and on Canada has turned out some good horses and we need only to mention Cum Laude Winfields and Kingarvie in recent years Windfields is a son of Bunty Lawless out of Mandi by Stimulus and is owned by the Canadian E P Taylor In 1946 this horse ran second to Assault in the Dwyer Stakes Many Americans are under the impression that the severity of the climate in the winter is a detriment to Canadian breeding but the fact remains that some breeders regard the cooler climates are proper for building bigboned sound horses Throughout nearly its whole expanse Canada is characterized by greater heat in summer than the European countries of the same latitude but it also has a much lower winter temperature There are also other factors in favor of Canadian breeding for it grows the best feed to be found anywhere in the world There are also many parts rich in limestone soil that has always been favored by breeders for young growing horses horsesCanada Canada is obviously short of high class stallions and broodmares In the American Racing Manual they list some 40 breeding farms and in checking through we found very few that boast of high class breeding stock Cum Laude is now at the Ivor Edwards Ranch which is located in British Columbia William Woodward chair ¬ man of The Jockey Club has been of great assistance to Canadian breeders for he has leased to them the stallions Boswell Chop Chop and Flares All three of these stallions are standing at the Trafalgar Farm which is at Oakville Ontario and has some 40 mares Another stallion famil ¬ iar to all Americans is Firethorn who is standing at the Midway Farm in Brantford Ontario He was the winner of The Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1935 and also in 1937 Then there is the Canadianbred Bunty Lawless who won the Kings Plate in 1938 and has since sired Windfields As we see it Canada has the essentials for breeding good horses but they lack the one item that is probably the more important of all and that is a sufficient number of top stallions and broodmares broodmaresCanada Canada has been the birthplace of many trainers and jockeys who carved success on the American turf It also had many owners who raced their horses in both countries From the days of the immortal Lexington the Canadian breeders requisi ¬ tioned American horses and also raced some who made good in this country It is often said that the greatest horses ever owner by a Canadian was Advance Guard who was the property of James Carruthers and who was trained by Alex Shields This horse was bred at Belle Meade in Tennessee and during his long career raced in 162 contests in Canada Eastern United States and California If a better horse than Advance Guard has ever represented Canada he was Sir Barton who was owned by Commander J K L Ross of Montreal In 1919 Sir Barton earned 88250 which until that year was the largest sum ever won in any season by a horse in North America Commander Ross had stud farms in both Canada and the United States and the most famous product of his stud near Montreal was Hallu ¬ cination who is often referred to as the best race horse ever bred in the Dominion
