The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1874-02-19
The Breeding of Race Horses.

A recent issue of of an English sport
ing journal contains n highly interest
ing article entitled Racing. in 1873,
and suggests the question whether 0
not two year olds should be trained. j
is m indisputable fact that power ant
endurance in O thoroughbred horse arr
sacrificed to speed, and that this is du'
to a too-early training is widely &C
knowledged. In the breeding OF horses
as in everything else, nature canno
simultaneously be forced in opposite
directions so that, as a consequence, il
il is %endeavored to increase the speed o.
a colt, q corresponding increase III hii
staying power cannot be hoped for. A
colt in high condition, however, will be
enabled to put forth more sreed for O
longer distance, and under a heavier
weight, than he could have done if moi
trained yet no animal can possess in a
perfectly equal degree these opposite
qualities. This fact understood, it will
become n question for breeders of thor
oughbreds and wealthy racing men
whether the system of short races and
light weights to be run by colts and
FLIES is to continue, and whether
greater attention should not be paid to
the encouragement of racing OF three
and four-year olds and adult and aged
horses. The proverb "Soon ripe, soon
rotten" cannot strictly be applied to
the thoroughbred horse, because, from
long and judicious breeding, he has
been proved to be an exception to that
rule. In this country it is too evident
that our system of racing is calculated
to obtain greater speed at the expense
of power, and the question OF training
two. year-olds is highly important in n
sporting point of view. In this connec-
ton it is agreed that we need sadly n
large supply of thoroughbred horses of
great bone and great endurance. They
are needed to procure chargers and
troop horses, to improve the shape and
style of trotters, and to raise the stan.
dard Of the horses at large throughout
tho country. The spasmodic attempts
made to raise the status of the Ameri-
can trotter by breeding thoroughbred
mares to trotting sire9 of cold blood
were really commenced at the wrong
end. The alf-bred colt will be IN i'm
provement on his cold bloOded sire,
but there will not he n marked improve
ment in his gets, and they certainly will
not be AS good as would be procured
from the nse of thoroughbred sires
md the best mares. If purses to be
for by colts and fllies be largely !
it is obvious that greater offers
be made for three and four year |
dds hat have mover been trotted. An
.nducement would thus be held to our
breeders to hold over unframed colts
md FLIES of great promise, and it
would also afford sort of compensation
10 owners OF young horses which, from
accident OF late birth or anything else,
should not have been put into training
rs two. yea olds. The year 1873 showed
on the British turf three French colts,
Flageolet Boiard and Montargis, whose
performances spoke well for the French
Of breeding, which is known to
DO more for power and less for speed
.han that in fashion in the British Isles.
With the soil and climate of Kentucky
can produce horses equal to any in
the world, and We should, us n nation,
become the liberal patrons of the turf,
70 this end we should favor the increase
Of the thoroughbred, discourage the
use of the underlined stations, and
observe the careers of the race
Iorses now on the American racing
Taking up tho list of the best
American horses, after n careful digoat
Df the number there Is presented n
Iamentable array of great hopes and
disappointed ~realizations. Regardless
promised well last year, but what will
she do this year? Inverary shone AZ n
meteor rs n two-year old. Harry Ba =
'ett was once named the invinciblc, but
has long forfeited that proud sobri-
luet. Tom Bowling, the wonderful,
came out as a three-year old, and if he
had only the temper of u bennington
than that of his illustrious sire,
he would DO ms good n race-horse as
stood under n saddle. The quail
ties for which n thoroughbred horse is
Dre-eminent are courage, intelligence,
Of form, speed and endurance.
To increase all the qualities and not to
'~acritice any for tho great development
If one or two should be the ain. of the
breeder and of the racing world.
Whether this can be accomplished by a
of early training can alone be
lecided bya minute attention to details,
lntiring care, and close observations of