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* known known to to man. man. W We Ve Delaware : By Charles Hatton Distaff Big Threes Value to Breeding Proclaims Efficacy in Class of Dam* Oaks Better Criterion Than Dela. Cap . DELAWARE PARK, Stanton, Del., June 20.— One of the most "vital statistics" in the warp and wopf of thoroughbred racing and breeding is also one of the most most obscure. obscure. It It is is simply simply this: this: most most obscure. obscure. It It is is simply simply this: this: * W We Ve stakes class mares represent only 3 per cent of all the mares in * production, they foal 22 per cent of the stakes winning performers. These figures are a distillation of years of intensive study and dedicated research. The efficacy of class - in - the - dam has only recently, however, become accepted by bloodstock growers as a truism, found and fully documented, in perhaps the most inexact science feel feel on on perfectly perfectly safe safe ground ground in in known known to to man. man. W We Ve feel feel on on perfectly perfectly safe safe ground ground in in saying that inevitably Delaware Parks new "Distaff Big Three" will fulfill its original and avowed purpose — that of contributing, through a series which is singular in its generosity, to the measure of class-in-the-dam. Parenthetically, it ought to be noted here that this criterion has to be regarded in the realistic light of a generality. We do not suggest, for instance, that one could assure himself a great producer by rushing right down to Claiborne and inducing "Bull" Hancock to part with the Delaware Oaks winner Bayou. The odds are in favor of a proposition she will succeed at stud, assuming Hancock could be induced to part with her. But the reckoning would be high, and there is always an element of chance involved dealing with individual cases. Too Many Stakes Winning Mares * First time a breeder of our acquaintance heard of facts about class-in-the-dam, he culled his stock and invested in 15 stakes winnings mares. Trouble was he bought too many from the wrong side of the percentage table. People tend to forget the reverse side of percentages. For example when we say 30 per cent of favorites win, it is to say 70 per cent of them lose. Now for a "look at the record" of "Big Three" heroines at stud. Since it was only established as a series of three events three years ago, we are confined to the Oaks and Delaware Handicap. The Delaware was introduced in 37, the Oaks in 38. Time and space do not admit of a comprehensive and definitive analysis, only a sort of cursory glance. And we should say off - -hand that the Oaks, under its allowance stake conditions, comes off considerably better than does the Delaware, which is a handicap. Here one might renew the argument for a "WFA" climax of the "Big Three." Among the Oaks winners one finds such good producers as Handcuff, Piquet Capot, Vagrancy Black Tarquin, Gallorette Mile. Lorette , Bonnie Beryl Nashville, and such promising if untested material as Next Move, Kiss Me Kate, Parlo and High Voltage. The Delaware Handicap winners include Marica, Tedbriar, Monida, Elpis, Miss Grillo and Busanda. They are its highest class winners, until late years. It is not nice to point, but we think it could be- questioned if, as a group, they have been quite such desirable producers as have the Oaks winners. If one were to attempt differentiating between the value of the New Castle, which is. a stakes per se, and the Delaware Handicap as a yardstick of broodmare potentialities, he would be inclined to conclude that the New Castle, though far less valuable, nevertheless is intrinsically more important to the breeding industry. British Scribes Have Their Problems 4. The boys were discussing the life and times of Englands turf journalists. It is not all skittles and beer. In the first place, there is the extenuating, inescapable cold, and the circumstance most of them must travel great distances weekly to cover the different meets. For the uncounted racecourses of "this sceptred isle" are scattered aimlessly from Ayr to Goodwood. Still, it is not difficult to be a stoic with a flat in London, a chauffeur and a maid. The average American scribe should get a load of his British contemporary . on important racing days, replete with topper, morning coat, pencil striped trousers, cane, yellow gloves, a carnation, the works! You might think them rather precious and dille-tante, especially those who still eschew the typewriter in favor of a pencil, and for whom the pindropping quiet of a library must be preserved in the press box when they are in the throes of composition. But there are some brilliant reporters among them, and when the occasion arises red bearded Phil Bull can wield his broadsword, our own Clive Graham his rapier, with telling effect. We have seen Graham pick up a phone and dictate a flawless lead in less time than, many of us can bang out the first paragraph. Among the younger generation of English racing writers there is gifted Peter Scott, of the London Evening Standard, who visited these shores some months ago. His observations have the same cosmopolitan scope characteristics of his contemporaries "across the Atlantic." They may go racing in England, Ireland, Franca, Continued on Pag* Forty-Eighi I JUDGES STAND By CHARLES HATTON Continued from Page Five Italy all in the space of a week or two, * much as we ply between Maryland, New Jersey and New Zork. The mornings post included a note from Scott, who has just returned from Belgium, with news of Madame du Bois remarkable Todrai, hero of the Belgian Derby, Poule des Produits and Grand Prix de Brussels a year ago, On the form, Todrai has compared himself favorably with our Career Boy, whom he may meet along with Gallant Man — in the next Arc de Triomphe and possibly the International. The son of Le Destroyer from Toute Bonne, a mare who is sometimes ridden to hounds, has "recorded a series of dazzling wins under big weights during the spring." Fully as interesting as the Belgian champion is Madame du Bois, whose training quarters are literally just across the road from the scene of the Battle of Waterloo. A grandmother of five, she is nevertheless the champion owner, breeder and trainer of her country. The earnings of her horses now stand at fully three times that of their rivals.
