HIGH-PRICED HOUSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 13

HIGH-PRICED HOUSES.

SOME INTERESTING RECORDS!, BY PHAETON. A recent London cablegram states that Lord Woolavington has sold the stallion Captain Cuttle for 30,000gns, and the English-bred horso is destined for Italy. Captain Cuttle, who was bred by Mb owner, is included among Derby winners, and during his three-year-old career he captured priie-money to the amount of £14,179. Though big figures are involved in the sale of Captain Cuttle, the £60,000 paid for Call Boy makes the former take quito a minor place. Though more extensivo 3ums have been refused in England in at least two authenticated cases, tho sum involved in the purchase of Call Boy now stands at the head of the' list where business assumed the completed stagq. Tho fact of Call Boy's nomination for all races being declared void by the death of his former owner, Mr. F. Curzon, reduced his value in a racing sense, and it is as a sire that he will have to repay Sir Henry MallabyDeeley.

Few pages of turf history are more interesting than those relating to high-priced horses, for as the years have rolled on prices have assumed a very ditferent shape. In tho 60's, when 12,000«ns were paid for a colt named Kangaroo, the transaction created quite a sensation, and it was roundly pronounced as out of all reason. The sum for -which Sceptre was sold at four years old was £25,000, and the amount paid for Prince Palatine at five years old was £40,000. In the case of Prince Palatine it has, however, to be stated that he was bought chiefly with a view to his use sa a aire. Papyrus, a Derby winner, was bought during his racins: career at four years old for £35,000 by Mr. J. F. Hornung, and no doubt the prospects of a satisfactory stud return also played a strong part in the purchase of that horse. , Prices lor Stallions.

The sums paid for stallions at various times furnish a highly-interesting study. When Blair Athol was sent up to auction at the dispersal of the Middle Park Stud in 1872 the bidding for his possession went to 12,500gn5. Such gave rise to much writing, and the opinions expressed pointed to the price paid for Stockwell's sou being voted too. high. Three years later the Duke of Westminster startled the turf world by purchasing Doncaster from his trainer, Robert Peck, for li.OOOgns. This was 4000gns in advance of the sum which the latter paid to Mr. James Merry for the Stockwell horse only a short time previously. Subsequent events showed that the duke'a purchase of Doncaster was in every way entitled to be referred to as a great " deal,'' for the chestnut horse established an illustrious lino at Eaton. Doncaster, it may bo explained, begat Bend Or, from whom, in direct • descent, came Ormonde, Orme, and Flying Fox." Doncaster's price stood by itself as the record for a thoroughbred sire nrtil 1890, when Count Lehndorf, acting for ths German Government, paid a like sum for St. Gatien.

From that period prices for choice lets have kept rising. In 1892 the American breeder, Mr. J. McDonough, shattered all records by securing Ormonde for 29,C75gn5. The son of Bend Or was transported from the Argentine to the United States amid a big flourish of trumpets, but the speculation proved a bad one, for Oimonde got few foals, and his fame as a sire rests almost solely on his English-bred son Orme. It was tho general opinion that Ormonde's price would stand at the head of the list for an extended period, but in less than a decade it was beaten. When Flying Fox (a grandson of Ormonde) Wi9nt into the ring at Kingsclere in the spring of 1900 few expected a world's record to go upon the slate, but such was duly entered up. The French breeder, M. Edmond Blanc, was chiefly responsible for the spirited competition that ensued for tho possession of Flying Fox, and at 37,500gns he secured the English horse, who proved a perfect goldmine to his new owner as a sire. A trio of descendants of Flying Fox—Jardy, Val d'Or, and Gouvernant—were quitted for * sum that realised £78,000. Prince Palatine was not a good speculation to Mr. S. B'. Joel at £IO,OOO, and the Persimmon horse was subsequently resold for £25.000. The American-bred horse Tracery, a son of the English Derby winner Rock Sand, was sold to a breeder in the Argentine for £53,000, and the buyer did not lose over the transaction, for Tracery proved a stud auccesn and he was boomed to such an extent that an English syndicate effected his. purchase at a high figure. The speculation, however, had a most unfortunate ending, for Tracery contracted an internal ailment and he succumbed before those interested secured a return of the money they invested in the venture. The following is a statement of tLe highest prices paid for horses in England:— £ Call Boy, by Hurry On—Comedienne 60,000 Tracery, by Rock Sand—Topiary . , 53,000 Prince Palatine, by Persimmon— Lady Lightfoot 40,000 Flying Fox, by Orme—Vampire . . 39,375 Papyrus, by Tracery—Miss Matty . . 35,000 Diamond Jubilee, by St. Simon— Perdita II 31.500 Cyllene, by Bona Vista—Arcadia .. 31,500 Ormonde, by Bend Or—Lily Agnes. - 31,250 Captain Cuttle, 'by Hurrj- On— Bellavista 30,000 Australian and New Zealand Records. When these strong figures paid for horses bred in the Old Country are under consideration my mind is always carried back to tho period when Carbine figured on tfce 3ale list in the autumn of 1895. Tho son of Musket was secured by a commissioner acting for the Duke of Portland at 13,000gns. One can just imagine the sum that Carbims would have commanded had he registered hiß great feats in England instead of in Australia. It can, I think, be safely assumed that twice 13,0002n5, if not more, would have been the price. That, however, is just tho difference it makes to a horse bred and raced in tho Southern Hemisphere instead of in the northern quarter. At the sale of the Arrowfield Stud in 192-i Valais realised 14,400gn5, and Heroic, a descendant of Valais, was sold at three years old for lG,ooogns, but, of course, in addition to stud considerations, in Heroic's case racing engagements also entered into tho matter. In March, 1926, The Night Patrol wais sold under tho hammer in Melbourne for 10,000gns. Tho Night Patrol contested several races after changing hands, but it was quite understood that he was really bought by Mr. Gerald Buckley as a sire. The following is a list of the highest prices paid for thoroughbred horses in Australia and New Zealand: Gns. Heroic, by Valais—Chersonese s . 16,000 Valais, by Cicero —Lily of the Valley 14,400 Carbine, by Musket—Mersey ... 13,000 The Night !l?atrol, by Stedfast— Dark Flight .. .. •>.. 10,000 Trafalgar, by Wallace—Grand Canary 7,500 Comedy King, by Persimmon— Tragedy Queen 7,300 Tressady, by Persimmon—Simplify.. 6,000 Nordonfeldt, by Musket—Ortyx .. 5,600 STRATFORD SCRATCHING^. I [in: TELESEAPH. —X'BESS ASSOCIATION. Q STRATFORD, Friday. Scratchinga for i,he> Stratford races are:— All Engagements.--Exalted, Furore, Popoff, Civility. Elysianor, Vigilance. . j Railway Handicap.—Thanks. POLO COMPETITION. [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION. 0 TIMARU. Friday. Tho final of tho Orbell Polo Oup competition wais played to-day and ipsulted in a win for Pnreora A, which defeated every team in tho competition. The oup was previously held by ChristchurcK A.