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REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstai American Racing Manual Ready for Delivery Latest Edition Has No Equal in Sporf World Facts Figures Statistics of Racing in Full Quickly Answers Every Question About Turf TurfLEXINGTON LEXINGTON Ky May 10 10Daily Daily newspapers that specialize in news of a particular business or sport are indispensable to those engaged in it as a profession or hobby In Wall Street on the farm or as a doctor it is necessary that the trends vital statistics and general information be avail ¬ able daily through sources that have the facilities to gather and disseminate the essential news But at the end of every year it is necessary that countless clippings be preserved in cumbersome and spacefilling scrapbooks Even that is not satisfactory or practical in the sport of racing For in just one day a thousand one details are recorded at the tracks breeding farms commission offices and other places Early in the cen ¬ tury the publishers of this paper fully real ¬ ized that if the vital happenings year after year were to be preserved and made available to all it would have to be in book form that need for a permanent record resulted In the origin of the American Racing Manual a book that has no equal in the sports world today It is compiled by highly specialized editors who devote every working day of the year to the one sport of racing with improvements in each succeeding edition they have made the Manual the foundation book of the modern turf library libraryThere There is no obsolete data in the new 1952 edition of the American Racing Manual In its handsome red cover with gold stamping it is an attractive addition to a book ¬ shelf but more important an authoritative resume of turf history with emphasis on the facts and figures of the 1951 season To the turf and sports writer racing official commissioner owner and trainer it is a ready reference and so completely indexed that any item of information on any phase of the sport can be found immediately People engaged in the industry would be as lost without it as a jockey would be without a saddle and whip Its sphere of appeal extends beyond that however for nu ¬ merous feature articles make fascinating reading for the horse fan who likes to be well informed on various phases of thoroughbred activities The Rules of Racing origin of the thoroughbred outline of racing in America expla ¬ nation of the Bruce Lowe system weight of the horse and its distribution feeding the thoroughbred explanation of parimutuel betting conformation of the horse ailments of thoroughbreds the Jersey Act color and marking of horses naming a thoroughbred and many other articles aid in making the Manual the outstanding book of the turf turfWhile While the newest edition of the American Racing Manual gives completely the facts figures and summaries of 1951 rac ¬ ing it also records the essentials of every stake event from the inaugural running down to this year The Travers first run in 1864 is the oldest continuallyrun stake in this country and the Manual lists from the first running the winner his jockey second and third horses weight they carried value to the win ¬ ner and the time It gives a complete list of American jockeys with their year of birth birthplace and social security number It offers the complete record of outstanding American horses down through the years The list including those from Hindoo to Citation Records of winning owners and leading trainers are to be found at a moments notice and these are but very few of the compilations that have been made over a period of years A copy of this book will be found in every press box in the coun ¬ try on every sports editors desk and in the library of every racing association A diagram of all race tracks with records at all distances and the data pertaining to each one makes but one section of the book bookThe The buyer of the Manual has between two covers the answer to practically every racing question that can be asked During the past decade the editors have constantly sought the material that would make the latest edition more complete tnan the one before it Some years ago they included as a new feature a daily summary of turf news taking from the welter of items the most important and presenting it in diary form from January 1 to Decem ¬ ber 31 When for instance did Governor Dewey sign the bill transferring the licensing powers from The Jockey Club to the New York State Racing Commission The answer is given under date of March 30 This diary like many other parts of the book is profusely illustrated and that not only adds to the enjoyment of reading for the presentday fan but is an invaluable and authentic sum mary for the turf historian of the future There are many former editions that are now collectors items and as there are no reprints they become more valuable with each passing year The book is worth many many times the purchase price but is purposely published so as to be within the means of every follower of racing and breeding Charles Rations Review of Racing in 1951 is alone worth the price priceThere There are 19 parts or chapters in the 1952 Manual covering every phase of the sport with the data of the breeding industry given special emphasis Every breeding farm in the United States is listed under states and besides the name of the farm the owner location acreage sires standing there and the num ¬ ber of mares There is no such record in any other publication There is a listing of leading American sires from 1860 to 1951 and naturally a list of the Twenty Leading Sires of 1951 with the number of horses who contributed to their total earn ¬ ings Count Fleet led the list with 64 of his performers earning 1160847 Did you know that from 1918 to 1951 a small group of American breeders have dominated the list from the stand ¬ point of races won by horses bred at their establishments John E Madden Arthur B Hancock and the Mereworth Farm of Walter J Salmon compiled a remarkable record in that period The 1952 American Racing Manual is replete with astonishing features far too many to be recorded in this column
