Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-02-13

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| The prices that some of the stations at
| the Woodward & Shanklin sale brought
afford an interesting study for every
horseman. The three. stations to which
reference is here made are William L.,
Jay Bird and Wilkes Boy All these are
own sons of old GeorTe Wilkes, the
founder of the Wilkes family. and have
practically the same breeding on their
dams sides Two are out of Mambrino
Patchen mares, a strain that always nicked
well with the Wilkes blood while Jay
Birds dam was by another Mambrino
horse, known as Mambrino Star 1t was
not surprising that William L. should
have brought no more than 1886, when it
Is remembered that he is no great sire of
$4,000 Axtell. 1t does seem strange, how
ever, that Wilkes Boy should have been
sold for more than three times as much as
Jay Bird. Both horses are about Of the
same age, and both have been eminently
successful in the stud. But Jay Bird leads
Wilkes Boy in point of performers, hav-
ing sired 90 performers, with only single
PAGER, as against 40 trotters and PAGERS
in better than 2:30 for Wilkes Boy. Yet
Wilkes Boy sold for $500, as against $500
for Jay Bird, showing that the price was
sibly the fact that Jay Bird almost inva-
r1ably sireS roam colts, that many con-
slider Objectionable affected his sale value.
Wilkes Boy, by the way, is the sire of R.
c. Taydor's mare, Nellie A, 2:13.
1t is strange, but only too often true,
that in every branch of sport the rules
that are intended to elevate the game, and
seem perfectly proper and desirable from
almost every point of view, are the ones
that generally occasion the greatest oppo-
slt1on and usually from the most uneX-
pected quarters. AS an instance of this,
take the resolution adopted at the n. T.
A. biennial congress last week, for the
licensing of drivers. The kicks came from
the smaller agricultural societies owning
tracks. 1t would seem that these societies
should be the first to endorse such reso-
luton as means of self-protection. On
the contrary, they fought it with great
tenaclty, fearing that the passage of the
resolution would work injury to them. 1t
Is difficult to see how this can be. On
the contrary, it should protect these weak
tracks from the raids of ringers and other
undesirable characters There is no great
amount of red tape connected with this
licensing business. The driver simply ap-
plies for number, and upon proper en-
dorsement receives 1t. So long as he be-
haves himself he retains his standing and
can drive in races. But any offense
makes the drivers liable to lose their
claims.
Let us hope that the recent challenges
issued for match races at distances longer
than one mile may amount to something.
In the bicycle world, middle distance rae
ing, as 1t has been called, proved very pop
ular last season, and supplanted to large
extent the brush contests. Something of
TINS sort could well be adopted upon the
race track. We have come to think that a
mile, no more nor no less, is a horses dis
tance By putting in an event at a longer
distance once in while the monotony
would be broken. Truly, variety is the
spice of life, and a little of it eng1afted
into horse racing would not be half bad
scheme, The races need not be sufficient
ly long to even SAVIOR of cruelty. Surely
no one could say that two-mile heats, best
two in three, were too severe for horses
that had been conditioned for that dis
tance. They would not be a particle more
detrimental to the animals constitution
than some of these eight. ten or even
twelve-heat races that we read about each
year
Barney Demarest says that if the man
who purchases Planet at the Fasg sale
will put the stallion into his hands, he will
match him for $500 a side for a race, Star
Pointer, Joe Patchen or John r. Gentry
not barred. Or he will bet $500 against
5000 that Planet can trim either Bumps or
Guinette, two-mile heats, best two in three,
at the Charter Oak meeting, July A. In
the event of the necessary arrangements
being made and the consent of Planet $
new owner obtained, 1t is safe to say that
fully as many people would turn out to
see the race as did when Robert J. and
John r. Gentry drew 10000 people at his
toric Charter Oak to see what proved to
be not wholly satisfactory performance
Nick Hubinger, the New Haven horse
man, is also out with a money proposition.
He says he will match his mare, Grace
Hastings, against any trotter on earth For
a two-m.ae dash, the race to be pulled off
IN connection with any grand circuit meet
ing of the year. 1t looks as if some good
cid days of match racing might be revived,
after having been consigned to oblivion
for so long.