THE VALUE OF OPEN RACES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2429, 3 October 1900, Page 40

THE VALUE OF OPEN RACES.

A correspondent called attention recently •In tho columns of the London Sportsman to tvhat he considered the injustice of Americantbred horses being able to claim allowances in Blud Produce Stakes in England, as their sires are not available to breeders on this tide of ,the Atlantic: At first glance, says the Special Commissioner, the grievance seems a tolerably substantial one, though I hardly think the reason given for it is sound. Theoretically, we encourage racing to improve the ibreed of our horses; and T>y being- ready to fcake on all comers from every part of che ,world we have, while sometimes damaging r this or that individual breeder or owner, who jwould have benefited had none but home-bred ptock been eligible, raised the standard of first-class merit very much higher in this coun■iry than it is anywhere else. To win the flDerby or breed a Derby v. inner is the ambition not only oi sportsmen in these inlands, Jbut wherevei racehorses are bred throughout the world, and no one dreams of regarding a jFrench, German, Austrian, Italian, or any „Dther Derby as at all on the same plane with ifche Epsom one. This is mainly due to the fact that our races are open to all, and the ■winner of our Blue Riband holds the championship of the* world. In many ways this acts and reacts for the benefit of individuals here, as well as for the community at large.

It may be more difficult to 'breed great winners in the face of foreign competition, but the value of them when produced is proportionately increased, and a Flying Fox or a Galteo More" will pay for a lot of failures and disappointments. Then, again, the necessity of aiming to reach such a. high standard must havo its result in benefiting the breed at large, and outside all these special considerations, there is the undoubted fact that the incursion of American and other stables into this country is good for trade, gives additional employment to labour, and sharpens us up all round, whereas previously we had been stagnating in insular self-complacency. I would not, therefore, were the ordering of turf affairs in my control, do anything which would restrict absolute freeedom of competition for our races. It is true that our breed of horses benefits only in an indirect sense fiom this comx^etition, but it does benefit, as I have indicated, and there is no reason to treat Stud Produce Stake.; in an exceptional and protective fashion for the mere reason that breeders in this country cannot very v,eil send maies to stallions in America. So for. lam against the correspondent who called attention to the subject in the Sportsman, but there is quite another reason why the matter needs careful consideration, with a view to prevent American, foreign, or' colonial-bred horses gaining an undue advantage. Stud fees are on a wholly different scale in other countries from what they are in England. Fifty guineas would be a big fee to pay- in America, and it seems inequitable tha+ it should give -a title to an allowance on the same scale as a 50gsfee here, where breeders pay even 500gs-fees. It is as if one could bring back for a moment the Stockwell days, and claim allowance for Stoekwell's offspring as having been got at lOOgs-fee. Fees are purely relative to the conditions of the countries where they are paid," and to give allowances here in respect of them as if they, were of a standard value throughout the world cannot be ju.st to our own breeders, who have to pay on such a vastly higher scale thsn their foreign rivals, though I confess I hardly see how to suggest a remedy that would not be too cumbrous in its working.