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BETWEEN RACES I; By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Three history of animal tattooing, was Fred W. Koester, a Colonel who is now retired and , is sharing his time between being an official at Santa Anita and field agent for j the California Breeders Association. Colonel Koester gladly made his knowledge available to the TRA, and his sys- ! tem became the foundation for the present tattoo system with only minor 1 changes, the most notable being secret and virtually counterfeit proof dyes, ;! plus a vast improvement in the technical quality of the ink. In any event, the -turf should give a great deal of credit to Koester and the Army Remount for helping solve one of its worst problems. We suppose that to remark that Hyperion blood is in keen demand in California, along with most everywhere else in the world, would be a redundancy, but it is somewhat newsworthy that said demand appears to be almost insatiable. George Bucknam, president of the Del Mar Sales Company, is trying his hand at the syndication of an Australian son of Hyperion, Scorpion by name, and, to date, the response has been excellent. Scorpion traces back on the bottom to Plucky Liege, and he has sired some stakes winners in Kangarooland. Incidentally, this corner has repeatedly pointed out that California was long overdue in the matter of syndication of stallions, but we believe a trend toward such a status is becoming noticeable. Admiral Drake was "sold out" within 10 days after being offered at a modest price, and the response was such an eye-opener to West Coasters that, while the rush isnt exactly on, such seems to be in the making.. About the only sour note we have heard on the very much improving California breeding picture is the word from some stallion owners that owners of mares still tend to wait until the last possible moment before even thinking seriously about a mating nick or cross. Horses and People: Barry Whitehead, racing secretary at Golden Gate Fields, has put the finishing touches on his first condition book, a book that is guaranteed to be "competitive" to any other planned mseting in the Far West. . . . The book will be in the hands of horsemen within a week. . . . Theres quite a behind-the-scenes hassle going on over whether or not managements should use the McDonald scarifier as a standard machine to condition racing surfaces. . . . Doc Bond of Versailles has been inked to pound the hammer at the early September second annual Del Mar sales. Del Mar good will man Eddie Read, now with the Surf and Turf Club on a year round basis, is readying some year -round, off-season promotion, which will probably be of great benefit to Del Mar in particular and the California turf in general.
