LEASED HORSES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 994, 10 June 1930, Page 12

LEASED HORSES

PHAR LAP IS ONE PURCHASING CLAUSE DANGER Of the hundreds of horses who are leased every year, it is remarkable that in the recent history of the hgew South Wales turf there have not been more real champions included among them, comments a Sydney writer. Phar Lap, greatest racehorse of modern times, is raced on lease hy ri. R. Telford from Mr. S. Davis; and Beauford, champion of a few years back, first made his name when leased by the Newcastle trainer, S. RUIicK, from Mr. W. H. Mackay. Rivoli won the 1922 A.J.C. Derby for his lessee, I. H. Andrews, and Figure, who recently retired, was raced on lease. But while scores of useful horses have won fair races for their lessees, it is hard to remember one other really good horse among thqse hundreds who, temporarily, pass into new hands. In most cases of leasing, no sum is paid by the lessee for the right ol racing the horse, but the customary condition is that the lessor receives one-third of all prize money won. Occasionally, however, an. owner is content with a third of first prize money, leaving all minor winnings to the It May Be For Ever Parties arrive at a decision themselves as to the extent of the lease. It may be for one year, two, five or even throughout the racing career of the horse concerned. Among the Sydney horses on lease now are two prominent gallopers, the terms of whose leases provide that the owner shall not take over until the horse is retired to the stud. The two-year-old, Eulclare, is raced on lease by Messrs. Sh err iff and Moore, from W. Booth, who bred the filly and still trains her. Kavalli, disappointing favourite for the recent Newcastle Cup, is raced under similar terms by Mr. John Logan. Kavalli is an entire, and, apparently, his owner hoped when he passed him over as a racing proposition that he would prove a champion and subsequently possess great stud possibilities. Unless he improves greatly, his stud value at present is negligible. Renewing Leases Many owners show substantial profit from leasing horses. They prefer to have them off their hands, and collect their share of the winnings for no outlay. They stand to lose nothing except the original purchase money if the horse proves valueless on the racecourse and their profit can be gTeat if the leased horses develop good form. In those instances, too, there is air ways the selling value after the leases expire. In the case of a moderate performer, a lease is generally renewed by the owner if the lessee is anxious to retain the horse. But owners who let good horses slip, temporarily, into outside hands invariably take over their property at first opportunity. Mr. Mackay raced Beauford himself when Killick’s lease terminated, and won many good races with the old gelding-. Mr. Davis is certain to take a similar step when Telford’s lease of Phar Lap expires on February 10, next year. As lessor of the champion three-year-old, and with no overhead expenses to run away with the profit, Mr. Davis’s third of the prize-money amounts to £8,992. There are still spring meetings to augment that sum before he takes over his horse, after which he will have the expense but the full monetary benefit of Phar Lap’s successes. But the trainers seldom lose the champions completely. Xillick continued to train Beauford for Mr. Mackay, and Davis is certain to leave Phar Lap in Telford’s care. What Might Have Been It would be an unfair and unsportsmanlike move to do otherwise. Telford has brought Phar Lap along from an obscure two-year-old to the greatest three-year-old Australia has known. Pie has experienced all the worries, cares, and responsibilities of the possession of a champion, and to see another man reap even a portion of the benefits of his methods and patience would be an unkind cut. What a lucky break it was for both Mr. Mackay and Mr. Davis that the conditions of lease did not grant an option of purchase at any time during the years of the lease. Such condition is attached to many leases. To have inserted a clause providing for purchase of Phar Lap at, say, 500 guineas might easily have been done at the time of the lease, for there was nothing to suggest the youngster would be a champion, and it would have put Telford in a remarkable position now. For that sum, he could have secured a gelding from an owner who recently refused to be tempted by an offer of 10,000 guineas—a stupendous price for a gelding. The lessee always has this advantage over an owner in transactions over racehorses. There is nothing in th<> contract to prevent his returning a horse to the owner if he tires of the animal, yet the owner cannot claim his horse back if desired. There would be some nice fights over fair horses if the latter were possible, for though not actual champions, with that one great exception, the leased brigade contains at present sortie horses that would improve any stable in Australia. There are, and always will be. two sides to leasing transactions. Phar Lap find the other horses mentioned above represent the bright side, in which both owner and lessee have profited. But what of the hundreds and hundreds of horses who. leased in the hojfe of big successes, sink into that class of racehorse which can ruin a moderately prosperous man and keep the battler forever battling to keep things going?