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France Societe d Encouragements SevenStar Program Slated for Future Eminence By RALPH D GRAINGER GRAINGEROui Oui Paris Correspondent PARIS France The Societe dEncouragement the executive organization respon ¬ sible for the promotion of racing at Longchamp is in top gear The cometostay idea of a sevenstar program is attracting crowds bigger than ever before And the ambitious events of 10000 for the winning owner in one program are quite common these days at Bois de Boulogne And when these huge prizes are compared to the exceptionally low ad ¬ mission top price is 140 the whole Long champ setup is begin ¬ ning to make race ¬ course executives in other countries sit UD j and take notice out of the ordinary and cause constant cogitation in minds that I believe austerity is always a paying propo ¬ s sition instead of being an eventual flop i What exactly is the real reason behind such enterprise It seems to be a longterm pol ¬ i icy of putting French bloodstock in a pre ¬ eminent position in the world Or at least 1 in Europe Before this happens however i many moons will wane because the French pedigree lines do not date back for centuries as they do in Britain and Ireland IrelandEver Ever since wealthy American owners spent over one million dollars at the New market Sales in 1954 small French breed er those that breed only for profit have cast a jaundiced eye on the auction returns across the Channel The breeders are determined in the future to cut them sejves a chunk of palatable profit and attract muchneeded foreign currency if only on a minor scale to deflate the tottering franc francA A A The French Ministry of Agriculture ever since the conclusion of World War II has seen a great future in the horsebreeding industry even if it does not reach the heights of tourism second best profit earner for France Nowadays the ministrys great aim is to attract foreign buyers from both hemispheres because most of the sales of French foals and yearlings are con ¬ ducted privately and the auction sales among Frenchmen are considered almost a failure when compared to those in other countries Wealthy patriotic owners who breed solely for racing purposes also help to put French bloodstock on the map by entering their best horses lavishly in all classic races on the continent despite the high cost of entry and forfeits compared to those in their native land This procedure creates vast and free publicity on a cumu ¬ lative basis for all concerned it is subtle and logical But what one would like to see is more sponsored wellendowed interna tionaly invitational races promoted with free entry and expenses paid for horse and entourage to Longchamp This would provide if not an undisputed at least a better criterion of how French bloodstock exactly stands today with its chief com ¬ petitors petitorsFrench French horses have improved greatly during the past two decades However one would like to see the acid test more fre ¬ quently on a race course because visiting rivals from Britain and Ireland are few and far between Italy with few oppor tunities is becoming far more competitive by raiding with Botticelli arid Ribot The famous eightyearold trotting mare Gelinotte undisputed European champion trained and driven by veteran Charles Mills won the Prix de la Foire at Milan last week It was Gelinottes sec ¬ ond success in the event and her eighth consecutive victory this Season She has won nearly 100000 for her owner Madame S Karle since February This is a grand performance and Gelinotte is likely to supplement gains when contesting Stockholms premier prize next month monthThe The other day at Longchamp we met two prominent American owners from Washington D C who confessed that trotting was their greatest vice in life They had decided to chance time trouble energy and expenses by visiting France hi an attempt to acquire Gelinotte They remarked that only the best was good enough especially when stabling and oats cost nothing extra We told them that we thought Fort Knox does not hold suffi ¬ cient gold to make such a purchase But they are still on the hopeful trail Gelin ¬ otte who is now regarded as a French institution by all at the Vincennes and Enghien trotting tracks will probably re ¬ main at home where the mare is loved like a child childReverting Reverting to huge prizes compared to low admission low entry fees and particu ¬ larly low forfeits the Prix Noailles a race confined to threeyearolds over 11 fur ¬ longs was a striking example at Long champ last Sunday This feature race in the French turf calendar was for foals be ¬ fore October 1953 Entries totalled 805 only nine of which were foaled outside France The Societe dEncouragement added 10 500 to 78 per cent of the entries for the winner which amounted to 16212 the second received 4950 third 2475 fourth 1237 with two breeders prizes of 1500 and 750 This is good finance and gives owners tremendous odds to the initial outlay of 60 for1 entrance with four forfeit stages at 3 15 20 and 30 30The The weather was atrocious for it had rained almost incessantly for 18 hours and the going was very heavy Only eight colts faced the barrier and four of these looked no bigger than twoyearolds when com ¬ pared to the superb and progressive Ta nerko a son of Tantieme La Divine homebred by Francois Dupre and trained in the allconquering Mathet stable at Chantilly It is only three weeks ago since we reported favorably on Tanerko a pow ¬ erfullybuilt brown colt of alluring appear ¬ ance with all the attributes of a coming champion When making the second outing of his career last Sunday we studied him very closely and came to the conclusion that Tanerko must be the best of his age not excepting the Boussac flying filly Apollonia in France and perhaps in Europe Trainer Mathet had in three short weeks improved his charge and his condi ¬ tion is not yet at its peak In the paddock Tanerko almost a car ¬ bon copy of his illustrious sire looked in a class apart from his rivals a factor that induced shrewd judges to invest their maximum at 6 to 4 against Their money was never in doubt Tanerko always lying landy was cantering along in the first our from the off until the last two fur ¬ longs when despite the drenching down ¬ pour his rider GLequeux had only to shake the reins at his mount to get an electrifying response and put five lengths of daylight between him and the Prix Greffulhe winner Patras in less than 150 yards The very useful Chateau Latpur was iwo lengths further in arrears with the re ¬ mainder trailing hopelessly in pursuit Patras was given nine pounds and Cha ¬ teau Latour eight pounds less than Apol ¬ lonia in the French Free Handicap of last year so little fault could be found with the form of this pair But Patras was beaten fully 14 pounds and Chateau La tour 18 pounds on a tight rein This assessment will give only a slight idea of the excellence of the commanding Tanerko And there seems to be more improvement to come comeAfter After the race Mathet said that plans for running his charge in the Epsom Derby had not been finalized He believes that Tanerko has inherited his sires great aversion to travelling and that would re ¬ quire some serious thinking before any de ¬ cision could be made Moreover the colt was engaged in the Prix de Jockey Club French Derby on June 10 at Chantilly an easy walking distance from the home stable stableThe The 6000 Prix de 1Esperance with an entrance fee of only 12 did not attract Madame Volterras Valcares a stablemate of Tanerko and a muchdiscussed British Derby contender The fair lady decided to rely on Vattel a recent easy winner from her five nominations This race is regarded as a pointer to the 75000 Grand Prix de Paris June 24 but on this occasion the event dried up very disappointingly as only six runners turned out from 58 entries We do not thirik the winner of the premier prize next month was among the modest muster The race was run at a slow pace and Vattel a 4to5 favorite judiciously ridden by M Garcia won as his jockey pleased from Harold who had done little in his previous trips to com ¬ mend his chance Vattels victory was the second leg of a lucrative double for the Mathet Stable for with the breeders prizes in both races garnishing the stakes 25000 was added to a total increasing daily by winners at all meetings
