view raw text
Blue Grass Happenings By HUGH J. McGUIRE Royal Changer to Stand at ,000 Irish Wanted Sire to Remain There. Norseman Also Going to Spendthrift LEXINGTON, Ky., Aug. 28 The very successful Irish stallion Royal Charger is due to arrive in New York by plane on Monday and Leslie Combs H. will be on hand to meet him and escort him back to. Spendthrift Farm where he will begin stud duty next season under the sponsorship of the purchasing syndicate headed by Combs. The furor created in Eire oyer the sale of this stallion by the Irish government has not yet abated and recently Phillip de Burgh OBrien, writing in The Chronicle, refers to the sale as a "major blunder" and places a value on the son of Nearco at more than three times the 00,000 paid for him. OBrien points out that Royal Charger is made in two crops while his expensive successor Tulyar has yet to prove himself. Coming at the same time as Royal Charger and to the same destination at Spendthrift is the stallion Norseman whose arrival has been somewhat overshadowed by that of his illustrious traveling companion. Combs assures us, however, that Norseman has attributes of his own and was one of the leading stallions in France. He comes to this country under an unusual arrangement in that his owner, Ralph B. Strassburger, was unwilling to part with him by sale but, because he has a preponderance of his blood and because he is soon to be replaced at stud by his successful son Worden, he agreed to lease him for life to Combs. Importation laws being what they are, Royal Charger, coming from Eire, will be free to move to Spendthrift immediately on arrival while Norsemans departure point of France subjects him to await at quarantine for four or five days until the necessary tests are taken. Both horses will remain in New York until Norseman is cleared and during this period Royal Charger will be in the Maine Chance barn at Belmont Park. While a stud fee of ,000 has ben placed on the services of Royal Charger the syndicate members have exhausted his seasons. The book of Norseman, which is governed by a fee of ,500 for a live foal, has also been oversubscribed Departure dates for the two .imports were delayed due to strikes in France. Blades of Blue Grass : Alex Gordon, who is nobodys yes-man, is at variance with those who would change the scale of weights. He argues that in the years when real champions such as Counterpoint and Hill Prince in 1951, and Whirlaway and Alsab in 1942, met in The Jockey Club Gold Cup the finishes were so close that the smallest shift in weights could have reversed the decisions. . .Robert L. Green, who succeeded Lou Doherty as manager of the Elmendorf Farm of Max H. Gluck, Continued on Page Fifty-One Blue Grass Happenings By HUGH J. McGUIRE Continued from Page Two obtained his previous experience under the able tutelage of his father-in-law, Hal Price Headley. Green naturally is feeling his way in his new post, his only instructions from owner Gluck being to continue to breed the best. The farm is without a prominent stallion as Doherty moved Roman and Bolero when he resigned from Elmendorf to operate his own Stallion Station. Our colossal ignorance of the existence of many stallions was evident as we glanced through the list of 2,687 sires whose get raced in 1952 as listed in Sires and Dams. From Abbe Pierre and Abner to Zacaripper and Zuncho, we met a great many strangers and we would wager you would also. For instance, did you know that Zuncho had seven winners, four that placed and two unplaced in 1952 and they won 2,777? . . .Harold Snowden, foreman at Elmendorf, will remain at that post under Bob Green. . . .Louis Kidwell of Lexington, an exercise boy in the employ of John T. Ward, suffered back injuries and bruises when tossed from a yearling but is expected to be discharged from hospital in a day or two. Incidently, the latest charge entrusted to Ward is the yearling filly by Revoked Wee Nip bought by brother Sherrill at the Saratoga sales for Admiral H. A. Flanigan.
