view raw text
IN THE BLUE GRASS By Hugh J AicGufe American Racing Manual Indispensable Book for Breeders 1954 Edition Carries Pertinent Data on All Phases of Sport Wealth of Turf Information Contained Within Its Covers Mrs S M Pistorio to Mate Roman Matron With County Delight DelightLEXINGTON LEXINGTON Ky May 1 1While While breeders keep a daytoday tab on the prowess on the tracks of colts and fillies they have bred one book of permanent records in their libraries is found by many to be indispensable This is the American Racing Manual and the 1954 edition is now making its appearance This years edi ¬ tion carries no less than 1152 pages of records of all phases of the thoroughbred sport and perhaps more of this material is pertinent to the breeding industry than to other divisions Much of it is of course of prime interest to all branches of the thoroughbred world Visitors from foreign countries never cease to be amazed at the wealth of information contained within its covers coversA A A A AThe The 1954 Manual is divided into 19 parts and all of the subject matter is too lengthy to detail in this space These parts are made up of many kindred subjects and a glance through them shows a great variety of information as it ap ¬ plies to the breeder There is also a detailed index of all matter but taking the parts in order shows at first glance the attention given to breeding Part 1 is a review of 1953 racing which is of in ¬ terest to everyone This year this study has been done masterfully by Evan Ship man Part Z includes a searching analysis of the best horses of the year with their accomplishments detailed by the deft pen of Charles Hatton Later on in the Manual Nelson Dunstan traces the origin of the thoroughbred in Part 12 which also includes an outline of racing by Salvator the late John Hervey HerveyA A A A APart Part 3 includes John Campbells Experimental weights and the Free Handicap weights of the Daily Racing Form and Morning Telegraph which are of prime concern to the breeder Nothing is closer to the heart of a breeder than to have a juvenile stakes winner and these along with records of the other age divisions are carried in Part 4 Part 5 includes complete records of all horses along with those of the divisional lead ¬ ers Leading moneywinning owners trainers and riders are treated in part 6 The life blood of market breeders is recorded in part 7 which records yearling sales and leading breeders Part 8 is only a step away for this deals with the records of sires Part 9 is concerned with long and shortpriced winners but in this division also is a record of the trend of racing together with revenue to the various states statesA A A A AOf Of general interest is part 10 which is devoted to the obituaries of the turf including thoroughbred deaths Part 11 is a summary of 1953 turf events In addition to the Origin of the Thoroughbred mentioned above part 1Z lists racing organizations and racing officials Time records throughout the world are fea ¬ tured in part 13 The history of North American Stakes and important races is told in part 14 The interesting part 15 includes thoroughbred foal registrations Conformation feeding color and markings and ailments of the horse are all in ¬ cluded in Part 16 Part 17 contains a list of the countrys breeding farms and their owners along with a record of the breeders of winners of 100000 or more This part is given almost entirely to breeders as are many of the others Part 18 has to do with steeplechase and hunt statistics and Part 19 features foreign tracks stakes and records Certainly the breeder was not neglected in the com ¬ pilation of the American Racing Manual ManualA A A A AOur Our Absorption in the Manual led us to wonder just how we could apply the wealth of material toward writing this column Starting with the letter A which immediately suggested the Almahurst Farm of Henry H Knight we found that Knight was the leading breeder who regularly consigned his yearlings to Saratoga both in the number of races won in 1953 and in money won Going a little deeper into Almahurst interests In the Manual we found on page 419 that Heliopolis who stands at Knights farm was second only to Bull Lea among the 20 leading sires in 1953 We learned also that an ¬ other Almahurst stallion Goya n finished second to Roman in the list of leading sires of twoyearolds in 1953 according to the amounts of money won Next years Manual will tell us how well received at the Saratoga sales were the two colts and two fillies by Heliopolis which Knight will consign to the yearling sales in August AugustA A A A ABlades Blades of Blue Grass Mr and Mrs John C Clark Sr and Jr of Hialeah and Mrs Elizabeth Arden are Derby week guests of Mr and Mrs Leslie Combs U of Spendthrift Farm James S Jones will ship the horses of Mrs Jones to Detroit along with the extensive string of the Canadian sportsman Joe Tomlin son Mrs S M Pistorio of Baltimore showed her confidence in the young stallion County Delight when she shipped her good mare Roman Matron to Jon abell Stables to be mated with the son of Count Fleet Roman Matron is the dam of Princess Lygia and Tuscany Frank Gilpin trainer of the Wilton Sta bles fleet twoyearold colt Royal Note is high in his praises for the Oaklawn Park track of John Cella as a winter racing ground Royal Note established a new track record in his initial racing venture over this oval ovalA A A A AThomas Thomas Piatt dean of active breeders here sold his first yearling at Sheepshead Bay in 1905 but had been raising thoroughbreds for a considerable period prior to that year He has lived on the site of his present Brookdale Farm for 55 years and at one time had on the farm Fair Empress dam of Exterminator Piatt has some 20 sales yearlings this season by Piet Escadru Star Pilot Alorter Kings Blue and Third De ¬ gree A part of the American Racing Manual that was not mentioned above is the section devoted to the advertising of stallions This is a very handy reference for breed ¬ ers seeking the particulars of individual stallions One of the most active of young trainers is Lloyd Gentry who is constantly in motion supervising the extensive string in his charge This tendency to incessant walking prompted John Bell to remark that attempting to keep up with Gentry on his rounds did more to condition Bell than any ¬ thing since Uncle Sam did the job jobA A A A AMr Mr and Mrs Howard Reineman of Crown Crest Farm have refused with thanks many tempting private offers for their imported yearling colt by Royal Charger Bray Melody and the colt will go through the Keeneland salesring The youngster is a handsome chestnut brother to Happy Laughter Englands cham ¬ pion threeyearold filly of 1953 Mr and Mrs Leon Jones of Memphis have been granted the name Drama Dear for their yearling filly by Mighty Story at Hillandale Farm Fred Engel of Chicago was a recent visitor to inspect his maiden mare My Red Geflen who was bred to the Spendthrift stallion Esprit De France Bob Green manager of Elmendorf Farm tells us that the farm will board any of the 20 yearlings it is offering for sale privately if the purchaser so desires And so to a tour of racingr in Ohio STALLION DI
