WORLD OF SPORT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 19 December 1924, Page 3

WORLD OF SPORT

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES. Dec. 26 —AYaipukurau ■ J.C. Dec. 26, 27—lJunedia J.C. ‘Dec, 26, 27—Westland lI.C. ,Dec.. 26, 27—Taranaki J.C. Dec. 26, 27, 29 Manawatu R.C. Dec. 26, ikJ, J»ri. 1, 2 —Auckland R.C Dec, 30, Jau. I, 3—Greymoutfa. J.C. Jan. J.-—AVaikouaiti R.C. Jaii. i"—Wyndham RC. Jan. 1, 2 —Stratford R.C. Jan. 1, 2—Hawke’s Bay J.C. Jan. 1, 2 —Marton J.C. Jan. L, 2—Wairarapa R.C. jan. 2, 3—Southland R.'G. Jan. 6, 7—-Reefton J.C. Jan. 20, 22, 24—-Wellington R.G. J an. 21,. 22—Foxton R.C. Jan.-24 R.C. Jau. .28, 29—Pahiatua. R.C. Jan. 29, 31 —Taka pun a J.C. Feb. 4—Tapanui R.C. Feb. 4, s—Fgmont R.C/ STORY OF EPINARD. BRED FROM AMERICAN MARE. NOTARLE RACING CAREER. The story of Epinard is one of the fascinating romances of thoroughbred breeding. While Pierre AVertheimer had been racing horses as early as 1909 in partnership with his brother, it was only just before the war that he made up his mind to start breeding horses of his own. On the advice of the late Cheri-Halbroun, great expert in horse breeding, he took two shares in a syndicate of breeders which had imported into France from the United States Rock Sand, the English stallion, winner of the Epsom Derby in 1903’. Unfortunately, says a writer in the New York Times, Rock Sand died two years after his arrival in France, and the war practically put a stop to racing activities.

Breeders and racehorse owners*-had to face a very serious situation. Foodstuffs for their animals, when obtainable, .were very expensive, and there was ho return in View of their outlay. Then came the German advance of 1918, . which compelled m a hy breeding and. racing estaldishiiients to remove 1 their gorges to the south of France. August Belmont, who has raced and bred horses in Frajice fqr a number of years, .decided at this tjme to remove the . bulk of his. horses to the United States, leaving those that remained to be sold in Paris. The catalogue of. this sale fell into the hands of "Mr AVertheimer, who was. then serving with the French Army near Paris. The .youngv sportsman )iad two particular ideas'' about .breeding. He believed in the Rock Sand blood, as shown by his subscription, for the' importation of that horse; also--in the rejuvenation of the old Jfrench blood by a judicious admixture of foreign bloody especially American., lie had observed the successes on the French turf of horses owned, by, AA r . K. A'anderhilt apd H. ®.v .P ul ’yea, most of which were bred :along these lines. , Mr, AAtertheimer instructed a friend to bid for two of the mares in the Belmont, sale. One was Bivouac, an old American mare by Ethelbert and Hastings, the dam of a very successful horse in the Belmont stable, Bavard lIF The other was Enine Blanche, a. ‘daughter-of Rock Sand, out of an Americaii mare, AATiile Torn, by Nasturtium-. Bivouac was purchased for 350 dollars and Epine Blanche for 400 dollars. ;

Epine Blanche was sent to Badajoz, which belonged to a relative of Mme. Wertheimer, Michel Lgsard. The stallion ’Badajoz, by Gost—-Selected, was a very; fair performer on the turf, but had proved only a moderate success in the stud.

Epine Blanche, in foal to Badajo?, was sent to the Haras do Bessan, the new Wertheimer... stud farm in the south-west of France, 30 miles from Bordeaux. It was a rather daring experiment for the, young breeder to start an establishment far away from all the fashionable studs. Nevertheless, the Bessan pasture grounds already haye proved priceless for breeding horses. Owing especially to an outcfon of calcareous substances it was soon discovered that a eommop feature in all animals fed on Beslan grass was an abV: normal strength of hope. , i As Epine Blanche as a brood mare was still an unknown quantity, Mr Wertheiraer did not think it ‘ worth while to enter her colt in the classic races, with the exception of the Poule d’Essal. \ At the end of 1921 Epinard had grown into a fine big yearling of a rich chestnut colour. He was sent, together with another yearling, to be broken at a small training establishment at the Pins Francs, near Bordeaux, in charge of'a local trainer, G. Sibe, a very careful man. .' Early in 1922 Mr Wertheimer received most encouraging reports about Epinard, ’and he pvent one day to .Bordea/yx, taking with him his jockey, Everett Haynes. Haynes’ opinion, after a ride on the colt, confirmed the earlier reports. Epinard was then sent to the Wertheimer racing establishment at Maisons-Lnffitte, under the management of the American trainer, Eugene Leigh. Although Epinard fell off slightly. at first because of the change of climate, Leigh was soon able to assure ■Mr Wertheinier that he had something out of the ordinary ip th e colt. He was a smooth-tempered .-animal; built on tremendously powerful lines, and in his home gallops had >. shown great speed. Enina yd was started in his first race at Deauville in the Prix Yacowlef. a maiden race of TOGO metres for two-year-olds. Starting at 6to 1, Epinard made a show of his field, winning f>v five lengths. That was the beginning or a notable racing career.

ENGLAND, THE BLOODSTOCK .FOUNTAIN.

French bred horses have done fairly well ( in England this season, which closed last week with the Manchester November Handicap. Avon by Cloudbank, a son of Nimbus, who was one of. the unlucky ones in the disastrous Derby of 1913. Craganour won and lost that Derby, while it has been contended with much reason that Nimbus and ShogUn were each unlucky to lose. The. runners for the classic became widely separated in after life. Aboyeur. who got the winners’ stake, went to Russia iust before that country dipped into its deenest red; Craganour lym done well in South America; Day Comet who. finished within inches of the victor, is siring winners in New Zealand; Bachelor’s Weddine became a fine performer in India; Shogun is dead, hut, his stock have a world-wide distribution. Many Derby fields are o”t up similarlv. For instance, look at Dm runners in Orby’s year (19071. Of ihe nine runners the second, Woolwihde”, became the ohampion sire of Austria for Hungary, I’m not sure which!. Be--con fan (fourth) went to New Zealand, as also did. All Black. EaUston came out to New Soufh Wales, and' at Coiiibadello got good stayers

such as Radnor. Galvani was taken across to France.: Other Derby fields can be likewise analysed. The contention that Great Britain is the bloodstock centre of the world? is backed up by such records. 7 F