COLOUR AND SPEED.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20244, 23 May 1931, Page 18

COLOUR AND SPEED.

IS THERE CORRELATION? (BPECIAX.I/T WBITXBU TOR THE PRESS.) [By' O. L> Jones.] Whether there ia. correlation between colour and speed in racehorses is an oft-dobated question, and one usually hears at tho end of these arguments that "tho best horse is the best colour," meaning simply that a good horse is good no matter what his colour But that is not an, answer to the question.. With a view to putting it to a thorough test an American biologist, E. Davenport, a few years ago made exhaustive studies and came to the conclusion that the percentages as to colour vaty but slightly, except in black, which decidedly increases with high speed, and in grey, which as decidedly falls off. Ho took for his base all the trotting horses up to that timo in America with records of 2min 30sec or better and, using the statistical method, he came to the conclusions above-men-tioned. Altogether there wero 13,879 horses in his tables, and it took him and a team of fealculators some months to complete the task. Pondering these tables and the conclusions arrived at, I took up a volume of the New Zealand Stud Book—it happened to be Vol. X.— and was surprised at some of tho information it contained—more curious perhaps than instructive. Low Percentage of Blacks. Blacks, including several doubtful cases described as "black or brown," represented less than 4 per cent, of the 4330 odd foals described. The fact that there are fewer blacks than there are horses of any other colour has beon known almost throughout historical times, and at the present day this has been assumed to be duo to black acting as a recessive in the horse family, but in the absence of definite experiment to prove it that might bo a hasty assumption. Unfortunately there was no case of a union between two blacks, which, of course, is accounted for by the meagreness of numbers providing very little opportunity for such a union, but even if one assumes that black is a recessive one would still expect a bigger proportion of blacks from mares or stallions of that colour when mated with browns and bays. In Vol. X. of the Now Zealand Stud Book there were 103 mares concerned in the production of 141 blacks, end of these only 11 were black, while there were 24 other black mares which not only did not reproduce their own colour but gave some' unlooked-for results. One particular case was that of Merrybird, who threw no blacks, but among her progeny were three greys by Fort William (bay), Polydamon (chestnut), and Autumn (chestnut) respectively. On the other hand there is Northern Rose, described as a cream, who produced a black colt to Thomond, himself a black. Northern Rose was by Finland from a Hotchkiss mare, a combination which is responsible for five mares producingblacks and four black foals s in the volume under notice. A search through Merrybird 'a antecedents might have discovered the grey element, though the greys wight have been due to the presence «tf some inhibiting factor against the development of colour or the absence of the factor bringing about the development of colour, which in either case would produce partial albinism. Possibly (Northern Boso's colour was a case of reversion, and if one had tho time and facilities to carry her pedigree far enough it would probably bo found that it contained a strain of D'Arcy's Yellow Turk, an Eastern horse which had s6me success as a sire in England nearly two centuries ago.

Musket. It might not be necessary to go even 80 far as that, for on reference to Bice's "History of tjie British Turf" the following is to bo iound regarding Lord Glasgow, the breeder of Northern Rose's maternal grimdsire Musket:^ —"I» 1845 he had a dozen horses running in his name, but out of these eleven were nameless themselves, / For many years after, when his colours were seen borne on tho back of some roan or skowbald to the starting post, or hopelessly toiling thence in tho rear and behind tho ruck, people simply said, 'Oh, something of Lord Glasgow's!' for it was taken as a matter of course that his colts and fillies should be nameless, and from unnamed sires and dams. . . The result of his reading of Stud Book lore was too often a weedy roan; but his lordship -must be credited with having the courage to shoot his 'rubbish' very liberally." Musket was from one of these unnamed mares, and was one of a condemned batch when he failed to do any good as a two-year-old. It was IJew Zealand's good fortune that better counsels prevailed, and that Musket eventually was imported here to found a line which has now made world history. Another case in point which shows how futile it is to predict the colour of the offspring, even given accurate knowledge of the strains brought together, is that of Los Vegas, a bay,, who produced twins to Leighton,, a bay. The twins turned out to be a chestnut filly and a brown colt. Low Fertility. The 2-1 mares who did not reproduce their colour also showed fertility below the normal, their average being about 8,5 por mare, though a few of them produced six, and two produced seven foals. A study of one volume alone does not give proof that blacks are less fertile on the average than are mares of any other colour, though investigation along these lines might., show that this has a.little to do with the paucity of blacks, and this would prove of use to fc^udmastfers. Of the 74 sires concerned in-tho production of the 141 blacks in the book, only eight of them were blacks, which between them were responsible for only 15 black foals. The great majority feame from unions of browns and browns, browns and bays, bays and bays, and chestnuts in combination with one or other .of these colours.

Speody Blacks. ■ Even excluding Limerick, who meed as-a black or brown gelding, experience in New Zealand goes some way towards upholding Davenport's conclusions. To Bee that this i s so one needs only to think of such horses as Advance, Treadmill, Bobrikoff, and Reputation, to say nothing of the fair uuniber, of other black horses, who, though not in the class of those mentioned, were, nevertheless, above the average in point of usefulness as gallopers, and all of them well within the memory of-the average present-day •racing enthusiast. Taking the ffirares it.sems that it woulfbe a difficult business toestablish a line of black horses, and if it were easy of ■ attainment there would still be the same old rango. ofgood burl and indifferent individuals among'them! However, the facts put forward might be capable of being condensed into a betting system for those people who must gamble pa horsep without a knowledge of form to guide them. If they confined their attention to black w«ph they would have fewer chances of losing their money, and at tiro same tim» would seem to have averages slightly in their favour. ■