The Washington herald., 1910-11-06


bargain counter. Some are looking
around for something TO race next year.
Others are trying TO patch up what they
have on hand the most Improbable and
the most unsatisfactory OF all things
connected with the blood horse. The ex-
perience of race men is that when
horse begins to show signs OF going to
pieces in ankle or tendons, the days OF
his usefulness are approaching an end.
When cost and time are counted. TO say
nothing about anxiety and vexation of
spirit. it is a serious question whether or
not it pays man in the race horse busi-
ness to bother with cripples.
Race horse men of high class do not,
nowadays. waste much time on horses
that do not race sound. They consign
them 10 the salesring and let them go
Tor the high dollar TO persons who think
themselves wise enough 10 patch them
up Every race season produces a legion
of cripples, and thus has sprung up
large business ON the part ef men who
have devised liniments of various kinds
TO mt the particular complaint
The columns OF turf journals TEEN
indicate that they do a profitable busi-
ness. in spite of 1ne high price charged
for their remedies.
In connection with this subject, 1t is
interesting to consider whether or not
EOS or 2:10 speed is developing more Grip
pies than when the. average of speed was
around go 1t is an axiom of the turf
that ii Is the pace that kills Is II really
the fact? Is il not true that a horse that
is capable of speeding a 2:l0 or a 2:6
gait for a mile does il with as much ease
10 itself as the horse that has only the
capacity TO trOt or pace mile in 2:4O or
80?
Each expends just so much nerve force,
which Is the driving power Of the ami
NAL The next question 10 be considered
Is the matter OF cOncussion with the
earth Is concussion with the earth
greater when a horse travels at a 2:O5
gait than when he travels at a $50 gait?
Who can answer this important question
satisfactorily?
Again, comparing the number of horses
raced now with those raced say, twenty
five years ago. is the average Of cripples
greater? There are no statistics extant
on the subject but We believe il there
were that the average would show no
material difference.
No one who follows the light harness
horse closely can have failed to observe
the fcllleness of fashion in breeding CEN
ters. Five years ago, or Whereabouts. the
most popular stallion In this country
among breeders was Mckinney His
boom began when Sweet Marie, 2.02
Ia .rTff -.
quering strides. although others from
his loins had given him a reputation as
an extreme speed getter. McKinney's
sons and daughters are still racing on
many tracks East and West and North
and South, but not one of his get with
the consistency of Sweet Marie 1t is
true that the last two years of her racing
career We're not brilliant She was raced
out, her vitality was sapped; she could
no longer come back" and the men who
controlled her, unmindful OF these things.
persisted until the cry or shame on the
part Of the public. who admired her
gameness and speed. brought them to
sense OF their duty and she was retired
for good.
To-day Mckinney is no longer the most
popular sire. Others have risen to take
everywhere are rushing their brood mares
10 Bingen Peter the Great. Walnut fail,
and BinSara. They are indeed a noble
quartet OF extreme speed sires. such as
the world has not before seen Bingen
IS breeding on through his sons and
daughters TO greater extent than Peter
the Great his closest rival Bingen is
best known through Uhlan u Q.5834) Peter
the Great through Sadie Mac (2:05lL) and
his futurity winners, and Walnut Hall
through The Harvester cod. the worlds
champion trotting stallion. The hitherto
much neglected Bondsman, sire of Col
rado T. (2;Ol24, Will doubtless have his
innings in 1911
The Bondsman has right to sire fu-
= turity winners Baron Wilkes, his sire.
has sired more futurity winners than any
other light harness sire. and vet he has
never commanded the patronage he de-
served. II is easy 10 see, from what has
gone before, that the popular sire of the
future viii be the one that can show
every racing season the most futurity
winners. The demand In the years TO
come will be for early and extreme speed.
The breeder wants quick returns As a
rule. the stakes for two and three-year-
blt4n lar CANcru III htiut IHOSe nuuS uD
Tor aged horses, and as a matter of
fact. in most cases public interest centers
more largely in contests between futurity
candidates than in those between aged
horses. We have seen this illustrated
year after year at Detroit Buffalo. Read
VILE. Syracuse. Columbus, and Lexing-
ton.
Men travel hundreds. even thousands
OF miles 10 see the youngsters trot and
pace at Columbus and Lexington. and
the time cannot be far distant when the
giving of proper stakes for youngsters
will be feature OF every county fair
that is worth patronizing
The value Of a race horse is measured
by his earning capacity. If an owner or
breeder is able TO get him 70 the races
IN his two and three-year-old form. Law
him up In his four-year-old form, and
race him again when five years old. he
IS getting all that is coming 10 him The
light harness horse must soon come to
be Ike the thorOughbred-aged at five
and, as a rule, his racing days are about
over.
Trainer Geers. for the fifteenth or more
times, heads the list of winning drivers
The total earnings of the horses in his
stables the past racing season are rated
al 80 600. After the penalties for winning
and all the other expenses are deducted
it is fair 10 presume that the horses in
charge of Mr.. Geers have won their own
ers In the aggregate the lump sum of
S5000. Last year 1t was Penisa Maid
(2:0lia) that headed the list Of money
winners. This year It is Dude Archdale
(3:O6li), driven 10 victory so often bv Mr.
Geers. The biggest three-year-old win
ner of this year, or of any other year Is
that wonderful colt, Colorado +. (2:04ID.
hu The Rnndsnnan AIrona,. Al. -.