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REFLECTIONS I By Nelson Dunstan Scattered Centers Attention on Whirlaway Keeneland Sales Open Monday July 26 Almahurst Babes Again Offered at Spa Flanagan to Sell Fine French Yearlings YearlingsNEW NEW YORK N Y June 3 3When When Scattered won the Coaching Club American Oaks on Wednesday a wellknown eastern breeder said to us Breeders who have colts or fillies by Mr Longtail will find a ready mar ¬ ket for them at Keeneland or Saratoga this season That is quite true but as our mind flashed back to the many stake events we have seen this year we added quite a few stallions whose youngsters will be highly re ¬ garded when the Keeneland sales open at the Kentucky track on July 26 Within ten days we will be on our way to Kentucky to see the yearlings at many of the farms and to discuss with the breeders of the Blue Grass the outlpok for the sales this year This writer has never been able to square in his own mind why the yearling market dropped the way it did last year and we certainly do not expect to witness coming sales which when completed will be under the averages of 1947 In these years which are the aftermath of war it was only natural that changes would take place but it still remains that purse and stake values are at the highest peak in the history of the game and judging by the throngs at the tracks this season the sport of racing it just as popular as it has ever been There is no sound reason for a further drop at the yearling markets and it is our opinion that the demand for high class colts and fillies will be keen at the various sales centers in the months to come comeWhile While the catalogue for the Keeneland sales is now in the process of printing breeders of the Blue Grass are already advertising in the breeding journals the yearlings they will offer this season Arthur B Hancock one of the worlds famous breeders will have his usual high class consignment to Keeneland and in the group from the Mereworth Farm of Walter J Salmon there will be a full brother to Free For All a splendid colt by Bimelech Clonaslee by Orpiment and a very handsome bay filly by War Admiral Lady Lark by Blue Larkspur thus a halfsister to Twilight Tear From Kentucky we hear that the Elmendorf Farm will send one of its finest groups in many years to the sales and there will naturally be great interest in the Calumet Farm youngsters which are by Bull Lea Whirlaway Blenheim n and others Alsab Balladier and Hoop Jr are the three principal sires of the youngsters that will be offered from the Brookdale Farm of Thomas Piatt who has bred and raised thor ¬ oughbreds for over 46 years and Leslie Combs II will send a splendid lot by Count Fleet Bull Lea Alsab Eight Thirty and others from his Spendthrift farm There arjt many other famous Kentucky farms with splendid yealF lings to offer and one of the finest is the Coldstream Sm of Dale Shaffer where quality has always been the watcK word We will tell you more about their yearlings in later columnsThe columns The Saratoga Sales conducted by the FasigTipton Co will open on Monday night August 9 and will require two full weeks Morven Stud Nydrie Stud North Wales Stud and many other breeders who offer yearlings year after year will again send groups to the upstate Spa Henry H Knight master of Alma hurst Farm in Kentucky and the man who has topped the Spa sales for the past two seasons will have an imposing group again in his twenty colts and fillies being by the stallions Mah moud Bull Dog Blue Larkspur GranfifSlam Attention Teddys Comet and otherji The Saratoga list cannot be confined to Virginia breeders however althougrfcwe must add that the Blenheim farms of JT S Phipps will offer a very fine group with colts and fillies by Whirlaway Count Fleet Eight Thirty HeU opolis Sir Gallahad in and By Jimminy From New Jersey there will be consignments from Joseph M Roebling Andy Schuttinger and others and we daresay that one of the most intriguing consignments at Saratoga will be a group of eleven Frenchbred yearlings which have been imported by J F Flan ¬ agan of Monkton Maryland O T Dubasoff the wellknown trainer had a friend of his select the group of French youngsters for Flanagan and despite the fact that many of the sires are unfamiliar to Americans a study of the Pedigrees shows them to be from racing and producing families and stemming on each tide to the best blood of France and England EnglandNot Not since the days of the first World War do we recall offhand the importation of any large group of French yearlings for resale Old times will recall that Delbert Reiff brought over a group at that time which included Sun Briar who became a great racer and stallion in this country Clarence Mackay and the estate of H B Duryea also brought some excellent blood to our stud farms and that condition could be repeated by youngsters in the Flanagan group Sires represented in the importation of these French yearlings include the brilliant racehorse and sire Le Pacha winner of all seven classics in France at three the Grand Prix winner Deux Pour Cent by the good stayer Deiri Ralph B Strassburgers wartime classic winner Norseman Maurepas the best racehorse in France in 1940 and 1941 when he won all the classics under the occupation regime Labrador by Biribi and brother to Le Pacha Louqsor by Aethelstan another classic winner and the French Derby and Grand Prix win ¬ ner Magister This horse is the sire of one of the most attractive fillies of the Flanagan group she being Sona tine a lovely chestnut out of Serenade IV IVThe The Flanagan yearlings were the subjects of critical inspec ¬ tions on both the New York pier and in Maryland Horsemen who saw them were impressed by their good feet and fine slop ¬ ing shoulders the latter important factor of conformation being easily noted as none of the lot carried excess fat Glancing through the pedigrees of the group one finds some familiar names in St Astra third dam of one colt and ancestress of the flock of winners for Joseph E and George D Widener which traced to Titanite Dame dAtout sister to a Grand Prix winner dam of a Guineas winner and ancestress of many winners and Blue Tit grandam of Alibhai and Gino We cannot venture to say what the future holds for these importations but it will be interesting to see how Flanagans experiment turns out at Sara ¬ toga He is to be commended for trying the experiment in view of the large number of yearlings to be offered throughout the country this year This breeder of Elkridge and other well known horses has had plenty of experience in picking yearlings for his patrons in the past Now he is on the other side of the fence as a consignor rather than a buyer
