New-York tribune., 1902-09-08
THOROUGHBRED TOPICS.
RAPID CHANGES IN THE VALUE OF
HORSEFLESH.
THE POLICY OF AVOIDING SCANDAL
HOW 1T WORKS IN PRACTICE-THE
HANS WAGNER CASE.

There is more uncertain property in the world
than horsehesh-that is to say, property whose
value may change so entirely and in so short a
time. This is not new proposition, by any means
but II has recently been emphasized in the thor
oughbred world by two striking instances One OF
them is the of John A. brakes Salvador colt
Savable. winner of the Futurity. When Savabe
came to the Eastern market yearling his sire
great morse dS ] e ~ s har T,iI- SI merit and his
progeny not therefore. rated at a high market
Auction for $50 Pat dunno paid that price and
the only reason A: J Joyner does not Own the the
Futurity winner OF 1892 is because ne would hot
bid more than $50 for him Time went on, as it
has way Of doing az and soon 9he l91e gpee 'hf h R
summer he sold him TO John a; Drake LOT ABOUT Do
with Savable about $50 600. including the value OF
the Futurity.
The other side of the picture is seen in the case
of Mexican. for whom r. T Wilson, jr paid $1,000
at the dispersal sale of the stable OF Clarence II
Mackay at Saratoga last month. Mexican was
surely one of the best two-yeaT-olds OF the year.
and Charles r Hill. his trainer. thought that he
would surely win the Futurity- 1t was d0uotIess
in this hope that Mr.. Wilson bought the colt But
Mexican went lame the very day after he was
bought. He did not start in the tuturlty' ana II
may be that he will never start again
There is one Just cause Of complaint that all
racegoeTs have against ,he stewards who PRESIDE
at the various meetings OF the metropolitan
circuit That is the disposition shown 10 avoid
scandaI' at all hazards. But there is difference
between avoiding a scandal and avoiding the ex-
pioitaIlon OF a scandal Official negIigence OF a
scandaous thing does not remove the fact o oi
scandal There only effective way TO aVoic
scandal and that is to suppress the evidOer sharp
Iv and publicly and promptly. So long as the male
factor believes that he Will not be dlsclplIned uii
less his deeds become BOLD that they cannot pos
sIby be overlooked any longer Just so long viii he
try TO see just how far he can go without oeins
brought up with round turn. There nave peer
several incompetent rides lately made by jockeys
who have mad long experience. are accounted the
most skilful in the land. and draw Princely saarie:
from their employers. But, so Tar as the pubic
knows these rides have not even elected gentle
warning from the stewards. The writer does not
| eav that these rides dishonest. because &c
saw that one must be able to- prove motive; but
| be does say that they were incompetent. and as
they caused the defeat of good horses. the result
| Vas the same as if the jockeys had w1lfully
| brought about the downfall of their mounts Now
incnT1Detence in competent jockeys frequently re-
nea ted ought be passed by in official silence
| h ought 10 bring. first. a warning, and. second
n,nisbrnent Jockeys should be given 10 understand
tbar they cannot repeatedly blunder without suffer
/ ;r% for II As t is. the public Is the sufferer,
| aT3 The real ofTender goes unpunished-
| What has become OF the case OF Hans Wagner:
The Saratoga stewards decided that the horse mao
been "doped" refused his entry for the balance OF