view raw text
. Dr. Frank Miller Gives Views On Inbreeding of Count Turf I I . I l | 1 ] ■ , I ■ ! . [ . * 1 [ i [ i ■ j ; i i J J 1 j . J . j • ! : , , j | j ! , ! i 1 ! ■ | j s t r. j ] £ c ] I - 1 r. t ] I t t ■ J J ■ it a a s n J jj! ■ * ° s n c ■» o A p ti si F H w California Market Breeder t - Favors Such Mating s V/hen Right Sires Are Available By LEON RASMUSSEN Staff Correspondent LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 8.— Within an hour after Count Turf had won the seventy-seventh Kentucky Derby, American racings greatest prize, Dr. and Mrs. Frank Porter Miller, of Riverside, Calif., breeders of the Count Fleet — Delmarie, by Pompey colt, had received 30 congratulatory tele-I grams and numerous telephone calls. To- day, when Dr. Miller was kind enough to grant this reporter an interview, the telegrams and telephone calls were still coming in from throughout the breeding world, for Dr. Miller had done what breeders spend millions trying to do — bred a Derby winner. And Dr. Miller had accomplished it after less than 10 years as a breeder. Dr. Miller, a straight, distinguished look-1 ing man of about 50, and his very attractive wife, both admitted they were still "high" emotionally from their experience. Although neither one of them was on hand for the actual running of the classic, the thrill of having bred Count Turf could hardly have been greater had they been there. Dr. Miller, who has specialized in diseases of the chest since 1917, had a sani-torium in Monrovia, Calif. However, breed- ing race horses is no hobby with him. He is a commercial breeder. With him it is a business and an industry. Dr. Miller has " been actively associated with "improving j the breed" of dogs for nearly 35 years. In j that time he has bred 30 different breeds at his Riverside farm, including 22 cham- pions. He has also bred chickens and live- stock. Dr. Miller is credited with being one t of the finest dog show judges in the nation, j and he is also no novice in judging show j horses. ] Raced Stable From 1936 to 1941 ] c It was his experience in breeding dogs , and livestock that interested Dr. Miller in j breeding thoroughbreds. At first he learned the hard way. He and Mrs. Miller raced a small and undistinguished band of platers from 1936 to 1941. Then Dr. Miller decided to quit the campaigning and start . breeding for the market. In this end of , the industry he was in complete control of what he was trying to do — raise good horses. It was not like having a trainer a thousand miles away who didnt agree with | you. Dr. Miller, through his experiences in breeding other animals is, like his good 2 friend, John D. Hertz, an advocate of in- breeding. Of the 25 mares Dr. Miller has, j nine of them were inbred this past sea- son. If Dr. Miller had his way — that is, if £ a the right stallions had been available — he would have inbred them all. "If it works j with other anmials, why not horses," he j says. "Count Turf is inbred to Sundridge, j so now I am sold. If Im wrong, its going f to be awfully expensive for me." Count Turf does have an interesting pedigree as r far as inbreeding pundits are concerned. r His paternal and maternal great grand-sires are full brothers. Sunreigh, the sire s of Reigh Count, was by Sundridge — Sweet j Briar H., as was Sun Briar, the sire of s Pompey, the sire of Delmarie. ] Something Wrong With Eyes v Although Dr. Miller has Runnymede c Farm of 120 acres in Kentucky, Count -., Turf was foaled at Stoner Creek. When fc the Derby winner was foaled, the veteran Hertz farm manager, Ralph Baird, called j. Dr. Miller by phone and said, "Doctor, theres something wrong with his eyes, they dont focus properly." As a result it " j is was necessary to keep the colt in a corral with Delmarie alone. Dr. Miller consulted 4 various vets and the concerted opinion was * that the condition would rectify itself and did. "Count Turf was then brought to Cali- f fornia," recalls Dr. Miler, "where he lived £ very uneventful life on California sunshine. He was a big lug of a colt. Not the p most attractive we had, but one we figured h would bring from ,000 to 0,000 at Sara- !: toga. Of course, he only brought ,700. That was probably because of his funny way of going. He threw one of his forelegs L out, sort of paddle-like. The late Henry Straus wanted a Count Fleet colt and nearly took him, but decided not to be- cause he didnt like the way he comes ... toward me with that paddle-like motion. However, Pilaster, the best horse I ever tl owned, did the same thing. Anyway, Jack 01 on Amiel got him. Another reason for the low w price was probably the fact that a lot of V trainers — and they can be stubborn about ir ing such things — still were not sold on Count P Fleet at that time. However, Arthur B. a Hancock, whom Ive known since 1930, R when asked what he thought of Count oi of a t - I ". " "— — «w— — . •mmmmmmmm— •mmmmmmmim a as a " JOHN HERTZ — Suggested mating that produced Count Turf, the Derby winner. Y j fj ! r b j e C a i c tl i n w : ti i f j tl h 1 ai tl oi of w J Jet ir. a] st ir in ■ F v tl I hi fc for j j t j j ] ] c , j . , | 2 j £ a j j j f r r s j s ] v c -., fc j. " j is 4 * £ f p h !: Fleet as a sire prospect, said, Doctor, Im not sure he isnt going to be a great stud. " Although Dr. Miller and John Hertz are close friends, and although Dr. Miller likes "gray blood" in a pedigree and inbreeding a la Mr. Hertz, he is not a student of Hertz theories. His own experience has dictated his own theories on breeding. They just happen to coincide with Hertsz. However, Dr. Miller says, "John does get credit for suggesting the mating that produced Count Turf. When he suggested sending Delmarie to Count Fleet I jumped at the chance. I was so high on him as a sire I would have sent a donkey to him in the hope of get- ting a Count Fleet foal." When asked what he thought it took to breed a Derby winner, Dr. Miller said : "The breeding of the best bloodlines available and then luck, luck and more luck. After all, that was a 20-horse field Saturday." Delmarie Big, Rough Mare As for Delmarie, the Pompey dam of Count Turf, Dr. Miller says: "Shes a big rough mare who pushes her foals around, Shes fond of them, but shes a mother that makes her children mind. Shes as tough as a pine nut, and she evidently has son just like herself in Count Turf. Hes done a lot of campaigning in two years, but hes really durable. The sports writers in Florida had set him down as a sprinter, just like Be Fleet who won the mile and five-furlong San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita, but Sol Rutchick changed his way of r racing, kept him off the pace, and now he te P may have uncovered a real Derby horse." r This year Dr. Miller sent mares to such h • sires as Alsab, Depth Charge, Pavot, Priam ■ n., Count Fleet. Stymie, Mr. Busher, Ba- " sileus n., Hierocles, Adaris, Papa Redbird, t™ top Nazimi, Fair Truckle, Radiotherapy, Sulli- " £. in ™ van and The Web n. He has 18 yearlings to sell this year. Eight will be sold in d! day California and 10 at Saratoga. One of the e b* be latter will be a half-brother to Count Turf, z! by Eternal Bull. This spring, Delmarie was ■ returned to Count Fleet and will be sent to ■ him again in 1952. 2 ot Probably the most remarkable thing • to to about Dr. Millers breeding a Derby winner •r Jc that he has sold less than 40 yearlings s jc on the market. But even if it had been, Cj 4,000 it would be worth a hearty salute ■j e ia from everyone in racing. this LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 8. — The e th the California Thoroughbred Breeders Asso- - ha half ciation yesterday adopted a resolution of 11 c£ congratulation and compliment to Dr. *• Ia Frank Porter Miller of Riverside, Calif., on ■ ar and having bred the 1951 Kentucky Derby winner, Count Turf.
