" TWO-YEAR-OLDS."

NZ Truth, Issue 95, 13 April 1907, Page 2

" TWO-YEAR-OLDS."

Apropos of the. remarks that reoetttly appeared. in these columns on the question of- "stkyers" the following from the "Sydney Sportsmatt" is of especial interest :—

Those . owners • and breeders— they constitute a minority— who , retain throtitghout the real sporting instinct, and would therefore Tike to see the standard of stayers maintained, are unanimously agreed that the thoroughbred, capable of fighting; out unfalteringly the finish of a Sydney Coip, not- to say. a Champion Stakes, is undergoing, "a" . system of bxttnctioh. similar ; .so ..'■ i'Mt #hich 'has, btjfal;len; tM' orijgjrrlal w&ifaWy. op6 ! ssum, " ""&s'' all else that' 'flourished m" Australia prior to : Captain Cook, taking a telescopic "kook" at the continent, and' exuberantly exclaiming, " She's mine." Of •■ course we are well awarie of the', tendency of old-timers to rfegard -equine performances of the past as incomparable. Furthermore, we know that, m telling of something that actually happened m a bygone day, the story does not lose m rehearsal, whether that rehearsal/be verbal, or.' •• per , priht, with the subject .or main idea clothed m appropriate words, and well-turned sentences, Allowing for all. such ■ traditional reverence, the practical . and present day ajjirine aspect is sucn as must caus6 students of the i/horoughbined to regretfully agree, with much, if ; hot all, that is said by these ''bid timers" who enthuse' over the past. There can be no doubt as to too many ' 'two-year-old races ' ' being on the. carnival programmes, as: well as oil j>hose of the "off season" meetings of tlve two principal Sta,tes, Th/us, with . oohsideraJbly moral tWan aii aimpHtude of these "'inieraai scoots, '" there 1 is a na~ tural and logical demand for "two-; year-olds" that are likely to show precocious and early brilliancy. And breeders are just as naturally-^and, from a> pecuniary point of vieW, log-icallyr-e/qfual. to the .demand. Also, . to ■ ; thbse Who; .study turf matters somewhat mote deeply than going out to the course watching as -to what is backed, and having a"quid"^ or two on accordingly, it is \vell known that many of the yearlings sent down for;, annual disposal have appearance .'imparted to them by hard feed for. some time prior, tb the .Ist of August,. Which proclaims ,them yearlinigs. This is pri a sitntlar. principle to giving a yearling child, or younger, two or three fair feeds v: daiy . of beef, vegetables,, and genena-l fo^d . suitable for .adults oixly. -.It i^,/ to Wis. overdone tier-, ceti&rv "Americanism," whereby breeders and owners Wish to make the most monetary profit possible out of the thoroughbred immediately he Wows how to- stretch his legs at a gallop, that race clubs and proprietaries at the headquarters of /racing^ m New South Wales and Victoria are playing, and almost < pandering, by placing upon their programmes for the year a plethora of two-year-old races. Already thoughtful trufites are asking. "Will the Sydney Cup follow m the Wake of the aboriginal and the wallaby?"