TALK OF THE DAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 49

TALK OF THE DAY.

EARLY TWO-YEAR-OLD RACING.

Although it can be said that racing ia this colony is at present in a highly prosperous condition, it cannot bo altogether claimed by our racing clubs that they ava responsible for tho present position oE affairs, because, ia the main, they h^e

been catering for the fotalisalors a1;a 1 ; much and more than they have been catering for the improvement? of the thoroughbred, and the announcement that the Wellington Racing Club intend giving valuable prize money for two-year-old races to be decided in October each season is a movement that cannot result in the ultimate improvement of the breed', Jior is it one on which the club are deserving of congratulation. Racine dubs are primarily supposed to exist because, they are desirous of assstag; in the improvement of the thoroughbred horse in addition jo catering for the love of sport Jrith -which every man is imbued who is Ihe Xr the ultimate, deterioration of the thoroughbred. It requires no very deep or E y thinking to arrive at the true reason why our clubs invariably have eight events SM? day's card, as six or seven events {even in, the long summer days) should Juffice to temporarily sbem the appetite ef the keenest of sportsmen, but it £ programme, which is generally /«""*£ be drawn up in such a way as to induce oinSto start their horses twice a day S number of races on our cards showed which £ often cast up at our <^ernment & Some of our reformer* fallaciously -ake the total sum of money passed through the ' Machine at a mealing, and speak of it a Bif that amount were carried on tc a racecourse and given a chance to increase .or^nißh'acSrdfng to the lucfe and judgment of its owners, whilst they appear to ToSpletely lose sight of the fact -that if tiie Staff investments for a day's meeting reach, say £5000, it does not necessarily follow that that amount of cash or credit was on *he ground. Probably to get a grand total of the above amount, cash and credit SotL tune of about £1000 are all that « required, even if the outsiders, whose success drives the money into a few hands scored throughout 'the day. The length of our programmes, then, may be said to increase the opportunities of gambling, anc at the same time furnish the anti-gambler* Jitha Sver with which they try to wreck our beloved *otalisator. In giving encouragement to early two-year-old' racing our clubs act dead against the experience of all who have made any study of the 'jßubieot, whilst at the same time they are Avorldng against the object for which *hey are lufpofed to be created. An engineer does not work a locomotive until its construction is complete, but avarice makes some of our owners train youngsters whose jbones and join-is are stall m the putty 'stage. Clubs are the principal evil-doers >br oiferhiff the stakes, and studmasters follow on by using stallions whose stock have 'a reputation, for coming early to nanci. .Year after year we are treated to statistic* Which show that high-priced yearlings 'are as a rule, high-priced fadm-es. And the reason is not hard to- find. The "aajority of these yearlings have generally the breeding and conformation which command the high figures, 'but no sooner do they leave -the salering than they are broken in, Sprinted, tried 1 , and probably spoilt in legs, courage, and temper before some of the unfortunate young equities have adapted! themselves to carrying a feather-weight on their backs, simply because racing clubs have foolishly given two-year-old racing an undue prominence on their programmes. 'At the present time it is found that too feigli a percentage of our horses appear on the turf as two-year-olds, and also disappear from the arena at the same age, whilst other horses which are allowed to maturre race for many seasons with pleasure and profit tc their owners. Why is ib that our iibellously-named "hack" races bring out so many good horses? Simply because they fhave, as youngsters, been missing from 'two-year-old racing. Waiuku was probably one of the best "hacks" we have had in this colony, and probably the son of St. (Leger and Musket Maid owed a great deal of his excellence to the fact -that he comtneticed his career as a three-year-old, and was only raced three times in his first sea«m. lii each of these events he was first toast the post, but lost the fruits of one race through being 31b short weight at the scales. JWaiuku proved himself a first-clas3 racehorse over all distances from four furlongs up to two miles. He won at the former distance with 9.1 in M l-ssec, and ako won the New Zealand Cup with 8.6 in 3min 30sec. That is the ideal horse— one that can go fast and stay. Prior to being sent to England he started in 65 races, and won 23. Other instances could be quoted of horses ,\yhieh commenced their turf career as three-year-olds, and subsequently had profitable and lengthy existences as racehorses ; whilst Ithe records teem with the names of brilliant two-year-olds whose career was generally as brief as it was brilliant. Some of them survived into their three-year-old season, but at this age the majority retire, because they (have proved untrainable, and have to be 'given lengthy spells, or else relegated to the Btud. How many ihorses have such, races as the Avondale Stakes (which is run in Sep,'tember) wiped out of existence? It may I have given some of our horses chances to display their early prowess, but in endeavouring to get them and others to the post, •how many had their careers blighted at the beginning? Th-e records of the race show that the majority of the starters have had very brief careers; that some of the most brilliant of them have afterwards turned frogues and quitters, and that even the very <best of them have had but meteoric careers on the turf. The C.J.C. Welcome Stakes ,ie not run until November, but its list of is also a list of horses whose careen? under silk have been anything but lengthy. Each year it is generally contested by large fields, and amongst them ie to be found youngsters who are as green in their action and manners as the colour of the grass from (which they have been taken all too soon. The tables which show the results of such races as th<* Caulfield Debutant Stakes and the V.R.C. Mavibyrnong Plate Rive further of the fact that eaily maturity

means early decay; whilst cases such as Gladsome (who raced 16 times ,as a two-year-old, and proved the best three-year-old of her year) are extremely rare cases in the desert of the turf records. Gladsome, as a two-year-old, ran her first race in October and her last in February. If she had been allowed to commence her career at tho same age as Wakeful, the letter's record I—good1 — good a« it is — would have stood in jeopardy before tine daughter of Seaton Delaval retires from the turf. Advance raced twice as a two-yeai-old. Wairiki three times, Achilles five times, and neither of these undoubtedly great horses sported silk until well on in the seaeon. Record Reign, Lady Lillian, and other well-known performers in the past did not face the starter as. two-year-olds, and if our owntrd were less anxious to sial:c their youngsters quick and early, or our clubs ceased to cater for baby racing, we 6hould have more of the Waiuku — AdvanceAchilles class, and some of our cracks who have enrolled themselves as winners of the prineipa 1 two-year-old and three-year-old "classics" would, if allowed to thoroughly mature, probably have lasted on the turf until they were aged horsee, instead of having to be put on the shelf at a time when they should be commencing their career instead of finishing it.