Reflections: Larry MacPhail Buying Top Fillies at Sales; Elevated Seats at Keeneland Salesring; Denis Talks About Racings Public Relations; John Pat Kelly Holds Interest in Riders, Daily Racing Form, 1949-06-04

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REFLECTIONS *y NELS0N dunstan NEW YORK, N. Y., June 3.— That Larry MacPhail means business in the thoroughbred breeding industry, just as he did in baseball, is indicated by his purchases over the past year of top pedigreed fillies, which can be expected to produce yearlings up to Saratoga sales quality in a few years. It is the plan of MacPhail to sell all the colts he raises and to race his fillies, selecting such as come up to his requirements as broodmares for his Glenangus Stud, near Bel Air, in Maryland. MacPhail was a buyer at Saratoga, Lexington, the W. Plunket Stewart dispersal and, again on Thursday, at the dispersal of the racing string of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. The former baseball magnate, who, by the way, bred and showed the champion yearling at the Pimlico show a few weeks .ago, took from the Chrysler sale, Our Hostess, a bay filly by Bull Dog— Epitine, for 3,600; Invariant, a bay filly by Blenheim II. — Never Change, for ,700, and Pretty One, a bay filly by Bull Dog out of Irvana, for ,000. The quarters formerly occupied by pedigreed angus cattle at the MacPhail farm have been renovated to care for the new occupants, and an adjoining farm has been purchased to take care of the cattle business. In all, MacPhail has close to 1,000 acres of good Harford County land in his two farms. AAA Charlie Lund, the Danish horseman who has been identified with South American racing, was an interested spectator at the Chrysler dispersal. He has been connected with the purchase and sale of more top race horses to the countries south of the Equator than anyone else in recent years. It was Lund who negotiated the purchase of the undefeated Bahram from the Aga Khan, and he was also the man who took this Triple -.Crown winner to the Haras Chapmadalal in Argentina when the American syndicate sold him a few years ago. He came here to see how the Bahram youngsters would fare in the sale at Belmont on Thursday morning, but was disappointed when he learned that only two of them were to enter the sales ring. Lund tells us that the Bahram two-year-old, which is the first crop to be Larry MacPhail Buying Top Fillies at Sales Elevated Seats at Keeneland Salesring Denis Talks About Racings Public Relations John Pat Kelly Holds Interest in Riders sold in Argentina, will be offered this fall. He says they are an exceptional group and expects them to be well received by South American buyers. * AAA Yearling buyers at Keeneland this year will be surprised to see how the sales arena has been improved. The comfortable chairs that the Breeders Sales Company provides for its customers will this year be set upon brick terraces, each being about eight inches higher than the other, with the result that one and all will have a clear view of the yearlings after they have been led into the ring. Brownie Leach, the sales manager for the sales company in Kentucky, has stressed that this is to be, as advertised, a sale of "selected yearlings." -In the beginning, there were applications for some 800 colts and-fillies, and, as this figure had to be cut down to approximately 430, the sales company employed Humphrey F. Finney and Bob Frakes to make an inspection of every yearling and, without favor, report which, in their opinion, were suitable for the summer sale and which should be held over until the fall. After a careful scrutiny of the bloodlines, Finney and Frakes visited every farm to see that the physical make-up of the youngsters was in keeping with the pedigree. After their reports were turned in, the Breeders Sales Company eliminated all but the best and, at Belmont, Finney said to us, "You can tell your readers, without fear of contradiction, that this years lot of colts and fillies at Keeneland will be the best ever offered since the Kentucky sales were instituted." AAA Jack Denis, of Nashville, Tenn., and president of the National Association of Thoroughbred Clubs, has been a visitor at Belmont Park in recent days. Denis is mixing pleasure with business, for one of his purposes in coming to New York is to confer with racing officials regarding the formation of a public relations organization to represent racing and breeding. The Thoroughbred Clubs of America have been mulling over this problem for many months, and they were greatly encouraged when, at the recent convention of the National Association of State Racing Commissioners, a great deal of time and debate was given to the subject. Denis realizes that the job of acquainting the lawmakers, editors and the public to the finer side of the sport is going to take considerable time. He approaches the problem in a most sensible way and simply states that the idea of the various thoroughbred clubs is to acquaint the lawmakers with the dangers of over-taxation and to point out to magazine editors that when a story, which is derogatory to the sport, is used, that racing have the opportunity to correct some of the mis-statements that have been given the public. The various thoroughbred clubs plan a meeting in Lexington, Ky., during the week of the Keeneland sales. AAA John Pat Kelley, who recently resigned as secretary and general manager of the Jockeys Guild, wishes to make his position clear and has asked us to publish the following letter, which we are only too happy to do: "Dear Nelson: As I have often told you, I have enjoyed working for and working with the members of the Jockeys Guild. My resignation will in no way lessen my interest in these boys, but, having left so abruptly, I would like to say through your column that I have gained a great deal through meeting the many very fine people that make up racing. Whether the Guild will follow through with the plans I have made, I cannot say, but I certainly hope they will continue the idea of compulsory savings for the youngsters who have come into the sport and who could have a nice nest egg when they reach 21 years of age. In my four years with the Guild, I came in contact with many boys who needed this sort of guidance. Sterling Young, who succeeds me in the Guild work, is a boy who has been a credit to the Guild and to the sport, and I want to wish him every success. Thanks very much for printing this. — Pat Kelly."


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800