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Blue Grass Happenings By HUGH J. McGUIEE Question of Fat Yearlings at Sales Article Debunks Trainers Charges Goya 11. in Full Bloom at Circle M LEXINGTON, Ky., Aug. 26. During the sales at Saratoga we talked with Bob Hor- wrvnd rvf f-.Viis rpwsnanpr ahrmf. r.nmnlfunfs he had heard from trainers of the fat condition in which they were given yearlings from the sales rings and also concerning the use on yearlings of medications containing arsenic. Horwood has written a piece about the trainers gripes that will appear in this weeks Thoroughbred Record. That maeazine promptly assigned its Len Tracy to get local reaction to the charges and Tracys article also will appear. We were fortunate in getting galley proofs of both stories from Haden Kirkpatrick. To us, this all boils down to a repetition of the perennial argument of the breeder who does not want to fatten his yearlings .and the buyer who refuses to bid on them unless they are fat. Horwood quotes a Dr. J. G. Woodstock as saying, "The only answer to it is for the yearling buyers to refuse to bid high prices for the fat stock." That, at least, is a twist, for, in the past, the suggested remedy has always been for the breeders to organize and refuse to sell fat year- lings even though some have tried this to their sorrow. Concerning the use of arsenic, the fears of Dr. Woodcock and the trainers can be allayed. Several veterinarians of wide practice and many breeders vehemently denied it was used extensively or in a way to cause serious after- v effects. Tracy, in his article, thoroughly debunks the contentions of the trainers, some of whom in the past have not been entirely foreign to the use of the alibi. He quotes such an authority as Dr. Charles E. Hag-yard as saying that anything short of gross fat doesnt necessarily hurt a sales yearling in his future career. "I dont see many yearlings enter the auction rings that could be called grossly fat, either," said Hagyard. Neither does Hagyard believe that the use of arsenical preparations, except occasionally as a tonic for extremely bad doers, is a common practice. Insofar as using it to put a sheen on the coat of a yearling, this can be -done by proper feeding of grass, oats or a supplement, making unnecessary the use of arsenic. s Refutations of the trainers charges are also given in Tracys article by Dr. Deland L. Proctor, Dr. Howard S. White and by such prominent horsemen as Olin Gentry and Col. Phil T. Chinn and these were in accord with several we checked for ourselves. No one denies that yearlings are fattened but this is an added expense to the breeder and is done to comply with the demand of the buyer. One fact stood out in the replies of those interviewed in that all agreed that early training of the yearlings after purchase could cause irreparable harm and that the impatience of either the owner or Continued on Page Thirty-Nine j " : , : Blue Grass Happenings By HUGH X. McGUERE Continued from Page Two trainer to get quick results was the underlying cause of much of the subsequent unsoundness. These observations were all made here in Kentucky but we like to believe that experienced, substantial breeders m Maryland, Virginia and elsewhere do hot resort to practices detrimental to the future of their yearlings. A mare must .produce quality youngsters to create a demand for her foals and it would be short-sighted indeed for a breeder to do anything prejudicial to the future of his yearlings. From Charles A. Kenney we pass on a tip to complaining trainers or owners. Says Kenney, "If you are afraid to buy a fat yearling for fear he got that-way through the use of arsenic, change your thinking. The fat ones never need stimulants and our difficulty is to keep the fat off. As in people, the lean yearlings are hard to put weight on even with help. The fat ones get fatter and the thin ones stay thin. In all my years in breeding the only youngster on whom I was compelled to use aricyl, which contains arsenic, to any extent, was a small, frail, delicate colt who would not eat. His name became Our Boots and he did right well at the races. Breeders, as a rule, are more concerned over the future of the yearlings they sell than are some of the buyers or their trainers. Some breeders are even begging purchasers of their yearlings to send them back to the farm from which they came so that both the interior and exterior fat can be safely removed before training commences." Blades of Blue Grass: Goya II. took quite a time to become acclimated but. is now in real bloom at Circle M Farm. The easy victory of Artismo in "the Grand Union Hotel Stakes boosted Goyas stock and brought encouragment to the folks at Shawnee Farm who sold a colt by him from Blue Scene at Keeneland. . .Charlie Kenney states emphatically that a chestnut filly foal by Polynesian from the dam of Evening Out is the best looking foal he has seen this year including his own and that Bill Bugg, who manages George D. Wideners farm here, should charge admission to see her. . .Miss Mildred Woolwme took time out from a Wisconsin vacation to journey to Washington Park to see Sea O Erin win the Prairie State Stakes. She bred the son of Shannon II. Chantress, by Hyperion at her White Oaks Farm and sold him to the Hasty House Reubens as a weanling. Before he left the farm-, however, both Miss Woolwine and farm manager Howard Endicott were so taken with the youngster that they decided to breed the farms top mare War Flower to Shannon II., and now-have an engaging suckling colt from the mating. Chantress, barren last year, also is again in foal to Shannon II.
