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■" " i , _ ..:,:. I SIRES AND DAMS I By Nelson Dunstan Keeneland Yearling Catalogue at Printers Strong Market Certain at Sales Centers Who Was Biggest of Yearling Bargains? Fillies Topped 1951 Sales — May Again NEW YORK, :T. Y., June 12. When Mereworth Farm withdrew heir consignment of yearlings from the Keeneland sales, it was thought that Bill Evans, manager of the Breeders Sales Company, would add some 50 vounssters youngsters to to replace replace them. them. Such Such is is not not the the ■" " , _ ..:,:. i vounssters youngsters to to replace replace them. them. Such Such is is not not the the case, for the sales catalogue, which is now at the printers, will list a total of only 382 head that have been approved by the committees, who pass on the quality of the colts and fillies to be sold. A few weeks after the Keeneland vendues, the Saratoga sales will offer approximately 350 yearlings, so, when the California consignments are included, less than 1,000 will be sold at the three principal selling centers. Between now and July 28, when the Keeneland sales get under way, the racing press and the breeding journals will will be be full full of of stories stories concerning concerning the the various various will will be be full full of of stories stories concerning concerning the the various various consignments. This writer believes the 1952 vendues will result in increased averages over last year. You will hear considerable about bargains and lemons in the coming weeks and also be reminded that there is no greater gamble in any field than the purchase of a yearling. Some breeders resent this being referred to as "a gamble," but it is just that, nevertheless. It cannot be called anything else when it is considered that one man pays 00 for an Alsab, who earns 50,015, and another pays 0,000 for a colt, such as Hustle On, who failed badly when he went to the race track. Yearling markets are affected by the state of the nation and financial conditions. When the stock markets, the wheat pits and steel prices are downward in trend, so are the prices for prospective racing stock. Twenty years ago, we had the worst depression in the history of this country, and weU does this writer remember sitting at the salesring at Saratoga in 1932 and 1933 and seeing yearling after yearling sent through the ring with not a bid being offered. In 1933, 813 head at various sales sold for an average of 95.89 and, on one occasion at Saratoga, eight youngsters passed through the ring in succession with "no bid" ringing in their ears. Every one of these colts would have brought from ,000 to 0,000 in normal years, but all the breeder got was the added expense of shipping them back to his farm in Kentucky. One of these "no bid" colts who went through the ring that night was bought after the sale by Col. Phil T. Chinn, for 00. A year later, he went to the races with the name of Roman Soldier, and, as a three-year-old, ran second in the Kentucky Derby to Omaha. When he had completed his racing career, this 00 colt was credited with earnings of 1,935. In recent years, the yearling market has been strong and this is a reflection of the growing popularity of racing, as evidenced by the increase in attendance and mutuel play. A year ago, 388 colts and fillies sold for an average of ,237 at Keeneland and at Saratoga 299 averaged ,460. This was a marked difference compared with the prices of 20 years ago. For many years our breeders hesitated to send fillies to the yearling markets, for their earning power was far less than that of the colts and they consistently sold at low prices. The race track managements, at the plea of breeders, placed more filly and mare races on the schedules and increased the values of stakes for them. As a result, those of the weaker sex, provided they have the pedigree and conformation, now are as eagerly sought as the colts. A year ago, a filly by Bull Lea— Lady Lark topped all the colts with a bid of 0,000, and another filly by Alibhai, out of Busher, was sold for 5,000. Of the 10 highest priced yearlings of the season, five were fillies. With the great number of stallions who have been retired from racing, or imported in recent years, well-bred fillies are truly the pearls of the breeding farms, and the consignor to the markets no longer worries about their price. Every year sees bargain and failures at the major sales centers. Time and again, we have been asked whom we consider the biggest of all salesring bargains. Our answer has always been Man o War at ,000 and we have not changed that opinion even though Citation, now the worlds money-winning champion, earned more than four times the 49,465 that "Big Red" garnered on the race course. To Man o Wars race track earnings must be added the tremendous fees he earned on the breeding farms. In his 22 years at stud, he begot 386 foals. While some of them raced for his owner, Saumel D. Riddle, others were from outside mares at a fee, generally believed to be ,000, paid by the owner of the mare. The great Riddle horse was but one of the many bargains that have passed through the ring. Lack of space prevents us listing dozens who, though not nearing the tremendous sum won by Alsab, have, nevertheless, won from 10 to 25 times their purchase price. Battlefield was sold at Saratoga for ,500 and is now credited with 59,177. While Oh Leo has not lived up to the promise that he showed as a two-year-old, he has, nevertheless, been one of the biggest bargains of recent years. Twenty years ago, market breeders would have gladly accepted ,000 for many of the yearlings they took to Saratoga and shipped back to their farms because of the world-wide depression. Last year, only two of the entire group that appeared in the Keeneland salesring failed to bring ,000. That will be the case again this year, for in screening the yearlings, the officials of the Breeders Sales Company have endeavored to see that only the best of the Kentucky crop goes into the summer sales. About a month ago, this writer made a preliminary tour to Kentucky to see some of the youngsters; next week, we are going back for a .second look. It has always struck us forcibly how these youngsters inmprove from early May to late June. The Saratoga sales officials have also been endeavoring to offer the highest quality. Their task is, naturally, a more difficult one as theirs is a public auction concern whereas the Breeders Sales Company is a cooperative organization and its consignments are closed to those who hold membership. We will have a great deal more to say about Keeneland and Saratoga yearlings in the weeks to come. Although we will make no predictions as to the future of any of them, we will try to point out those who appear to us to be promising racing or breeding material.
