The New York herald., 1921-12-18
YELLOW HAND LEADS
HANDICAP DIVISION
G.. A. StOneham's Gelding Has
Best Record for Year and
Deserves Title.

The career or yellow Hand, the four
year-old gelding by Rossendale, which
will go into winter quarters with the
reputation OF being the best of the han
dicap brigade, is worthy OF the study of
all those who find entertainment in
blood stock whether their interest is di-
rected toward the breeding stud or the
race course.
Yellow Hand and his dam Yellow Sea
were bought by Richard r. Wilson, Jr.,
who has a fondness for the blood of
Bend Or the mare being a daughter OF
Martagon, son OF that horse. whose
dam Tiger Lily was by Macaroni, and
then on through the famous Agnes fam
lily. Such mares have mated well with
Olambala, which carries the blood
through his sire Ornus. and Yellow Sea.
whose second dam Seathrift was by
Florizel H., will If she lives, produce
good horse by Mr.. Wilson's remarkable
sire whose success in the stud is unsur-
passed, numbers and opportunities con-
sidered.
Rossendale, the sire OF Yellow Hand, is
a son of st. Frusquin, out of Menda by
Gallinule, reckoned among the greatest
of all brood mare sires in the world,
while the next dam is Glare by Ayrshire,
and she out of Footlight by Cremore.
Taking the blood lines of Yellow Hand
and his great racing qualities into con-
sideration, it Is impossible to avoid ex-
pressing regret that he should have been
gelded.
Doubtless geldngs are easier to train
than colts. and this fact had much to do
with the custom. Many great race horses
have been lost to the turf through 1t, but
those who favor castration aver that
many bad stations have been eliminated
through the use OF the knife. 1t was to
check the practice that the racing au-
thorities made unseXed horses ineligible
for entry in most of the big turf prizes
of the year. How it Is going to work out
the future will tell. The records for the
stakes which will close shortly for 1922
will furnish guide.
Failed to Win az Juvenile.
With yellow Hand eliminated as a
breeding factor his march to greatness
on the race course will engage public
attention. 1t affords a striking eX-
ample of the reward which patience fire.
quently brings in its wake. AS two
year-old Yellow Hand started eight
times in the colors of Mr.. Wilson. Tom
Healy found him slow to come to hand,
and the best the gelding could do was
one second and two thirds. His last
performance of the year, when he ran
third to Paul Jones and Shoal in the
Bouquet Selling Stakes, was his best
effort.
in 1920 as a three year old, Yellow
Hand. being thoroughly acclimated, be-
gan to show some of the quality which
has made him so highly thought Of by
the followers of racing this fall. He
won ten races out of twenty-one starts,
and in the autumn over the Maryland
courses was practically invincible. Dur
ing the winter he was bought by Charles
A. Stoneham and passed into the care
OF Jack Goldsborough, whose reputa-
ton as trainer was associated chiefly
with that remarkable gelding Roamer,
which year after year raced himself into
the affections of the people. and passed
out of life on the same day as his owner,
the late Andrew Miller.
Yellow Hands career as a four year
old has been spectacular. Nine handi-
caps were to his credit at the close OF
the Empire meeting and his winnings
approached the $4,000 mark. Had he
not been laid up during a part OF the
summer this sum would have been con-
sderably augmented.
Is 100 Pounds Heavier.
A. remarkable thing about Yellow
Hands campaign the past season was
the way in which he developed physic-
ally on racing. He was light of body
and high on the leg at the outset OF the
campaign, but has grown into quite a
muscular gelding this fall. At Empire
he seemed to be 100 pounds heavier than
in the spring. His mealy nose and large
blaze together with his white legs make
him an unusual looking horse. He would
not be classed as prepossessing. 1t is
his action which challenges the admira-
ton of every lover of a good horse. 1t
is long and of the stealing variety-the
sort which carries a horse far with a
minimum of effort.
Yellow Hand has now reached a point
In his career where he will either be top
weight in handicaps, or within a pound
or two of the top. His quality will be
tested TO the extreme should Purchase
return to the turf in 1922, for this Is
one of the greatest horses this country
has ever known. There is doubt, how
ever OF the Rancocas champions stand
ing a preparation another year and In
that instance Yellow Hand. If nothing
mars his preparation, will be star Of
the first magnitude, whose brilliancy
will cease unfortunately when he leaves
the turf instead of giving forth greater
effulgence through his children.
The fact that Rossendale has sired
nothing of the highest class outside OF
Yellow Hand and was recently sold to go
to Australia for less than $4,000 is just
one more proof that race horses come
unbidden and from all sources. II Is
this fact which makes the turf so allur-
ing as a pastimc and clothes the breed
ing industry In a clamor of romance.