Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-02-28
THE ENGLISH TURF.
The Early Training Of Race Horse


The Early Training OF Race Horses.
Whether horses intended for the turf
are improved or deteriorated by the severe
training they are subjected TO, is subject
which is again provoking much discussion
among English horse-owners. Much has
been said in condemnation of the practice
Of running two-year olds. Admiral ROus,
the President of the Jockey Club, and the
leading authority on turf matters in Eng
land, takes a different view of the subject.
In letter to the London Times of the 9th
Of February he says:
Equine historians, from the earliest re-
cords, have written absurd nonsense. In
1856 w. Osman states: 1T is a cruel thing
TO say, but a very true one, that among the
present breed Of horses in this nation a
man Of any tOlerable judgment can hardly
lind one In fifty for his purpose, either de-
signed to draw or ride In the GeRtlemGn'S
Magazine, 100 years ago, 'Senex' complains
of the deterioration of our horses by the
Introduction Of Eastern blood. We have
now modern writers quite equal to their
predecessors. One complains that in breed
ing strength and endurance are not thought
Of. Speed for short races is all in all, and
even this quality is damaged in the end by
The strain prematurely put upon the horses
powers. To which l reply that strength
and endurance are the StulpIuR bOnuR of
all breeders, and that We have 1000 more
horses running long distances and carrying
heavy weights than We had twenty years
AGO; that breeders are not such fools as to
carry ON their trade at loss; that in France
and Germany the cleyerest and the most
successful sportsmen run twO-yeaT ODDS, for
our earliest spring races without damage
TO their future prospects.
TwO-year-old racing commenced at New
market in 1873; in 1871 weight-for-age
race, three miles, was established, twO-year
olds carrying a feather. 1t was the most
interesting and popular race in the autumn.
According to our present system, a first
class twO-year old frequently carries nine
stones six pounds with the penalties for
winning, and under this weight running at
the top of his speed six furlOngs. 1t is
likely to strain his sineWs more than run
ming three miles with a feather; it is the
weight which is destructive. 4 fOal may
travel seventeen miles, yearling thirty
five, at wo-year old sixty per diem, if they
have no weight to carry. When man
rides across the Pampas with a led horse he
can appreciate the effect Of weight. a
noble colleague most successful breeder
and a most formidable winner-has re-
marked that the very basis of the
superiority, value, and excellence Of
our racehOTse all over the world actually
rests on the tests Of early education, which
leads inevitably TO the wedding out Of the
weak ones, and leaves the reproduction and
transmission Of a sound, healthy progeny
10 those only which have been able to I'M
dergo the ordeal of training. Thus by
early training you emancipate a large per-
centage for domestic service. This is the
secret of our success.
The late Lord G.. BentinCk tried his year
lings over and over again three furlOngs,
and then sold the beaten lots, by which he
escaped a rIinOus expenditure. The great
modern sportsman, NJ. Lefeyre, tries his
yearlings in France four furlOngS, at heavy
weights, owing to the difficulty Of getting
light jockeys; again they are tried with his
English yearlings, by which he probably
saves 10000 per annum. These gentle
men never made mistake in asceTtaining
the best-Surplice, File de HAir, Thor
mandy, Hermit, Lord Lyon, Gladateur,
and host Of others certified TO their own
ers the promise of brilliant career-nO
small advantage in the betting ring. These
French yearlings, so early and highly tried,
have kept sound to very advanced age,
and NJ. Lefevre has more old horses in
training than any man in England.
That our system Of running twO-year
olds is the very foundation and essence of
our pre-eminence is capable of actual proof
is proved by the numerous Derby win
ners which signaliZe themselves by winning
the best two-year-Old stakes. a sensible
man would prefer breeding by a horse
which had passed through a rigid ordeal
unscatched and without blemish, with an
iron constitution, TO those soft animals
which could not stand the wear of early
education. In the Olden times, when six
mile races and fOur-mile heats were in
vogue, our race-horses were about the same
form as our butchers hacks. As We ad-
vanced in civilization We :became more
merciful; heats have been abolished, courses
shortened, and the result is that four or five
mile sweats under three suits of clothes
are almost unknown, to the great improve
ment Of the animals. Every owner Of a
stud tries to breed the Stoutest horse, be-
cause he is Of highest value; but a person
arguing that by running long courses we
qualify for a lunatic asylum. If hunting
men complain of the scarcity of good horses,
it is owing to our renOwn and their value
on the Continent, which place them, like
our best short-horns, at a fabulous price.
As the area for rearing stock decreases
every year, owing TO the rapid spread Of
towns and factories with an increase of
rent and wages, the expense of breedin
7 ,4r, Il
is not to be expected that aI-y man will
carry on losing trade. Higher prices may,
perhaps, give further stimulus it. Ii is,
therefore, good policy to improve the breed
bygOod food, giving allowance Of oats from
the day the fOalS are weaned. Nothing pays
so well as good treatment; il not only adds
to the strength, stature, and value Of the
animal, but it enables a twO-year-Old cart
colt TO do light work and pay for his keep
six months earlier than those reared upon
the grass and coarse hay.
1t is capable of proof that our thorough
bred stock chat is, stock bred for racing
is as good as ever, and must be improving
every other breed. The AnglO-Arab is by
actual deeds the best in every part of the
world. The charger, the hunter, the car
riage-hOTse, and even the cab-hOrSe, all must
and Go SUCCulllD III iucIItSI ltCtlNt Nbtdllblls
when brought into contention with the
modern English thoroughbred horse, and
not until breed can be found TO 90 further
and faster under a heavier weight will any
clap-trap deprive him Of the benefit of this
proof of his actual superiority. Our stall
lions and mares are bought up by our for.
eign neighbors at any cost. In all theil
racing establishments English trainers, stud
grooms, jockeys, even stable lads, are inva'
riably employed on exactly the same system
as our own. We see their most important
and successful breeders settiTg at defiance
the rules of their own country and bringing
their best produce here 10 run for our early
two-year-old races. Therefore whence tins
howl to undo the work of two centuries
during which time We havetTanstomed the
Arab horse of fourteen hands into magni
ficent animals which, in point of speed
stability, endurance, and power Of carrying
weight, command the admiration OF the
civilized wOrld?"
A fai4bfnl brotbarin a Fairfield Con.