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JUDGES STAND I By Charles Hatton 1 1First First Occupation Wins First Start Eternal Reward Is LaSalle Prospect Du Breil Compares Notes Here Abroad Pertinent Factors in Stud Statistics StatisticsLEXINGTON LEXINGTON Ky May 24 24Occupation Occupation may be added to the list of young sires who have made an immediate hit with the appearance of their first twoyearolds this spring So far as we are aware Futur ¬ ity jonn Marschs Or Skipper was thi first starter by the Futurity Specialist and he won at the first asking at Lincoln atWashington Park or Skipper is a sleek bay colt out of Seaway by Man o War and he was bred by Henry H Knight He was considered a good sort when he was broken last fall and what is more noteworthy he still is after coming to the races Occupa ¬ tion sired 10 foals in his first crop He stamped most of them admirably with his own splendid conformation The son of Bull Dog and Miss Bunting showed the twoyear old brilliance which experienced breeders consider so desirable in prospective sires winning four Futurities and 192355 back in 1942 Mated with Bull Dog the iriare Miss Bunting also pro ¬ duced the Futurity winner Occupy who is now serving at stud in Maryland and the stakes winner Preoccupy Of course a swallow never made a summer but we think that we may say that Occupation Count Fleet Alsab Sun Again Rounders and Some Chance have made a good beginning at stud studRacegoers Racegoers have a saying that there are horses for courses It would seem that Eternal Reward is the horse for Washington Park Two years ago he amazed everyone by winning the American Derby there at a getrichquick mutuel On opening day at Lincolnat Washington he beat some of the fastest sprinters in the Middle West at odds of more than 45 to 1 Augustus Nahms fiveyear old son of Reaping Reward and Forever Yours is at once a stretch runner and a rail runner and he obviously fancies that long stretch at Homewoqd He may reappear in the mile and a furlong of the 10000 LaSalle Handi ¬ cap at this meeting on June 5 By the way his dam For ¬ ever Yours won the Arlington Lassie of 1935 Now blind and almost white she is quite Henry Knights favorite of his Almahurst mares and is rearing a very good colt foal by Mahmoud who is a brother of Mahmondess MahmondessThe The French sportsman Alain du Breil was here recently and he has some interesting views on the turf and stud here and abroad For instance he saw some of our 1947 yearling sales and believes that American yearlings grow more rapidly than those in France adding that this seems true also of the peoples of the two countries I am struck by the size and development of the American horses hocks he observes And I think that perhaps your racing which calls for quick starts has something to do with it Fields seem to go away much more casually abroad There are no starting gates but a very few horses are kicked or otherwise injured at the barrier Many American handicapping systems are based on time and France has automatic timing to the hundredth of a second but no great point is made of this factor for the turf courses may vary as much as seven seconds to the mile depending upon the weather For that matter we think that it is universally ac ¬ cepted among horsemen that time is frequently deceptive as an indication of racing class Du BreiFs reference to American horses hocks reminds us of Bill Harris observation that many imported horses Seem to have much larger hooves than do our own I think this is owing to the difference in the going here and abroad he explains The spongy turf on which the gal ¬ lops usually are laid out tends to develop a different sort of hoof from that which nature grows on horses racing on our skinned tracks tracksOf Of the French sire Goya II now standing at Circle M Farm du Breil says I think that he will prove successful here as he was in France Goya IIs son Goyama already this season has Avon stakes on both sides of the English Channel Still another Goyaz has emerged as a fore ¬ most candidate for French threeyearold classics Goya II is a rather mettlesome stallion and probably he would be an indifferent sire if he were not recalling the late Jack Joyners advice to Beware of breeding stock that stands about under the trees all day We think that Dan Mid kiff has done to accustom Goya II to the sight of other horses and increase his weight weightTurf Turf ana As one who agrees with the premise that stakes mares are most likely to produce stakes horses we think it ought to be remembered that they usually are bred to the best sires The fact some owners of the best sires are reluctant to accept maiden mares and old producers may also have a bearing on the comparatively small p c of runners among first foals and the produce of aging mares There are Zacaweistas War Admirals and Requesteds in Col Phil T Chinns yearling sales consignment By no means all of the Kentucky breeders are happy over the turf tax legisation pointing out that the only direction it is likely to go is up whereas play is down The Bull Leas are hot at the moment and Les Combs tells us he shall have a colt out of Little Acorn and filly out of Decolte to offer at Keeneland Brownell Combs yearling gray filly by Mahoud out of Miss Dogwood is bred remarkably like My Babu the current Epsom Derby choice
