British breeding’s hard times

Press, 11 December 1976, Page 20

British breeding’s hard times

Londoi The 1976 English flat ractn; season was a disaster for Britisl owners and breeding interests end there is every mdicatioi .hat in 1977 the top prizes wil again be wide open to attack b -torses bred and owned abroad writes an X.Z.P A.-Reuter coi respondent. Claude Richardson. The Free Handicap, the oflicia assessment of the Two-Year-Old which ran in Britain this yeai shows the slimness of the re sources available for the classic and other prestige races nex season. Of the top seven in th handleap, only two are English bred and English-trained. Three of the other five ar, American-bred, one was bred li Canada and another in Germany and four of the top seven ar trained in Ireland There is a strong indlcatioi that the two-year-olds in actioi tn Britain this sear were cor siderabiv inferior to thei French-trained contemporaries This is provided bv the fat of J. O. Tobin, which was ur beaten in three races m Britair when he was sent to France t, sake on the stars in the Gran, Criterium at Longchamp ii October , , . I O Tobin finished only third beaten four lengths and a head b» the Insh-bred Blushing Groon and Amyntor The mile race wa run in soft going, and un doubtedly stamina limitation were a major factor in J. 0 Tobin’s defeat But it is not encouraging fo British prospects in 1977 that th,

>n colt which heads the English Free Handicap b< a clear 12 ig km was so summarily dealt i sh within France, even if his failure: is. can be excused on stamina! >n grounds ill With his British classic pros-, =v pects for next year exploded, the | d. American-bred J. O. Tobin has, >r- now been removed to California i jby his American owner. Mr al George A. Pope, jun This leaves ds only two English-trained colts it, among the top seven in the Free ■e- Handicap to do duty in the cs classic battles of 1977. xt They are Gairloch. unbeaten in lej three races, which included the h-' Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot, and i Tachypous. which won the Middle re i Park Stakes but was beaten three in I times in four other outings. CONSOLATION? re: Perhaps the only consolation >n 1 British breeders and owners can in|find when looking forward to 1977 ■n- is that it can hardly turn out iir worse than 1976. This tear four of the five te classics were won by French-i n- trained horses, and Woilow, the, n. sole English-trained classic victo tor. was bred in Ireland and is] id owned by an Italian. Signor Carlo m d'Alessio The picture was the same in) d. the other prestige events. There d were 19 group-one races worth m a total of 51,872.750. of which! as, $1,489,950 vent into the pockets: n- of foreign-based owners. Of 39 ns races rated as group-one or two,! 0. only 10 w ere won by horses bred, owned and trained in Britain or l Opinions will differ about the) ie reason for the eclipse of English

breeding this year. There have been dire warnings: 'for manj years that, the sale of : the best British bloodlines abroad ! is bound to run down the breed ] at home, but the rise in stature, ,of American breeding in inter-] -national racing is also a coni tributary factor. i Even in France, so often] • viewed with envy by owners and , breeders across the English ’; i Channel. American breeding has i made a big impact and moves are being contemplated there to cut down the opportunities i available to horses bred in the i United States. Because of its prize-money : structure, Britain is highly vul- : nerable to plundering from abroad in years in which the home talent is slim. A disproportionately big slice of the prize fund goes to the prestige races, particularly the classics. This year the five English classic races carried a total of 5502.603 in win money. In France, where the average prize money per race is around two and a half times the British figure, the classics were worth less —I $497,796. It seems a doubtful gambit to’ outstrip the French in classic] purses and at the same time to' leave ow ners of horses just below ■ The top class with ven- little to] go for. It is in races for horses! [ just below classic-winning form s that English racing badlv needs' ] a boost One of the big strengths of French racing is the provision lof many rich opportunities for horses of thil standard.