view raw text
Sires and Dams r-By Nelson Dunstan Yearling Sales Now in Summer Offering No Hard and Fast Rules for Selections Market Hit Peak in 1954-What of 1955? NEW YORK, N. Y., June 18. Toward the end of June yearling buyers start studying catalogues of the colts and fillies who will be auctioned at Keeneland and Saratoga for what the traffic will bear. For almost a quarter of a century, this writer has been inspecting youngsters to be sold and we have seen some who brought 0,000 and failed, arid others such as Alsab, who sold for 00, and went on to become one of the worlds greatest money-winners. In the old days, we often talked with the late Col. E. R. Bradley and Willis Sharpe Kilmer and it was the former who once told us: "Never look at more than 30 yearlings in one day for after that many they will all look alike. It has always been our practice to look at colts in the morning and -fillies in the afternoon, or vice versa." For many years this writer watchecV as "Whistling Bob" Smith, "Uncle Henry" McDaniel, "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons, Max Hirsch, Preston Burch and other veterans studied the details of the babes to be offered. There are no hard and fast rules for the selection of young racing material and all these men had ideas of their own. Smith who developed Cavalcade for the Brookmeade Stable, paid far more attention to conformation than pedigree, but Burch, who has trained the Brookmeade horses since 1943, considered both of importance, saying: "When I look at a sales yearling, I always consider the record of the farm he comes from. I like to buy from the farm whose horses have scored recent successes. That shows me the horses have been properly cared for, and also that the farm has good soil." Some Buyers Seek Quick Financial Return There is no such thing as an unerring eye in the selection of yearlings. There-is an element of gambling in every youngster offered. Many factors enter into a purchase; it depends on what type of race horse the buyer is seeking. Some seek a colt or filly who can return the purchase price quickly in winter racing. Others are after a stake winner and will go to high prices to secure one they think capable. We remember one occasion when a man paying well over 0,000 for a colt for whoni he had taken a great liking. A day or two later, he told us he would have gone to 0,000 or even 0,000 if he had been bid up to that price. Many buyers have a peculiar approach. Those who have always puzzled us will suddenly stop bidding and a day later go to the buyer and offer him a handsome profit on his purchase. In the buying of fillies, pedigree plays .a more important part than with a colt. Even if a well-bred miss does not accomplish much in racing, she still has greater value on retirement than a high-priced colt who failed. Yearling values depend on the economic state of the nation and horse racing. In 1910, owners could hardly give a horse away because of the shutdown of the sport in New York state. The depression decade of 1930 to 1940 was another that breeders will not forget, nor will this writer and other members of the press who sat at the Saratoga sales ringside in those years. We saw eight or 10 yearlings taken from the ring without a solitary bid. One was Roman Soldier, who was sold after the night sales for 00 and who went on to win a fortune for his owner. Slowly the depression faded away and when the big chance came farmers, along with the breeders, took their seats on the prosperity bandwagon. By 1945, yearlings brought prices that gave breeders a rightful profit. Not only was the nation becoming more prosperous but also men whose life was devoted to breeding the horses who make up our two-year-old division year after year. In 1945, average prices for yearlings were ,229 greater than the previous year and no less than 16 sold for 0,000 or more. The racing industry supported the breeders and the hundreds of men who maintain large farms. Turfs Popularity May Keep Price1 Level It is now a long cry from the depression.years when a horse was difficult to sell. The market reached a peak in 1954, when at Keeneland, a colt was sold to a Texas syndicate for 6,000 and, at Saratoga, Eleanora Sears paid 5,000 for another. It is our opinion that this years sales at Keeneland and Saratoga will be marked by the same high prices heard a year ago. Racing has never been so popular a- it is today and and one has only to examine the stake schedule from January to December to realize that a yearling can go on to earn his way and return a profit for the buyer. The trick is to buy the right kind of yearling. With the Keenland sales coming closer, then to be followed by the Saratoga sales, we will be devoting more of this column to yearlings in the weeks ahead. Buying yearlings is no mechanical process. If one plans to go into the market, he should obtain the advice of a competent horseman and a veterinarian. Apprentice Sellers to Ride at Arlington DETROIT RACE COURSE, Livonia, Mich., June 18. Apprentice Johnny Sellers, under contract to trainer Harry Trotsek, of the Hasty House Farm Stable, will depart for Chicago after filling his Saturday engagements. Sellers, an outstanding lightweight reins-man, began the local week end racing with 24-winning trips, just four behind the veteran, Lois Cook. Sellers will report to Trotsek at Arlington Park on Monday. - i i 1 t I 1 I f 1 I C I 5 l !
