PRICES OF BLOOD STOCK.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144199, 16 September 1913, Page 8

PRICES OF BLOOD STOCK.

THE SAJjE OF PRINCE PALATINE. LONDON, August 8. Nothing in turf affairs is more remarkable than tho increase which has taken place in the value of bloodstock. When tho famous Blair Athol was led into the sale ring. ‘'And now. gentlemen, what may 1 say for tne best horse in the world ” arc the recorded words of the late Mr. Tattersall, and it is added that "a wild burst of cheering broke out when the hammer fell at 12.600 guineas.” Mr. Tattersall’s description of Blair AI hoi was a mere statement of fact, and the value of the best horse in the world fifty year* ago is thus revealed—as nearly as possible a fourth of the valuo at present. Even niter tho astounding failure ol Prince Palatine last week in tho Goodwood Cup no one seems to consider that the •15,u00 guineas—horses os an almost invariable rule are sold for guineas, not pounds, and it is to bo imagined that this deal was according to custom —offered and accepted before the sum was reduced by tlio defeat was at nil high; ou the contrary, exports calculated that if ho scoot! at me'proposed fee ot 400 guineas he would prove so remunerative that in four or hvo years Mr, U. Joel would have him for nothing: lie would have recouped his outlay, though insurance, which would scarcely bo Lss than o per cent., is, ol course,-a serious matter.

Incidentally what may be spoken of as the necessity for raring is here il-. lustrated. Prince Palariuo cannot be regarded as anything like iho shapeliest of his kind ; he is worth the money simply because ho won the St. Lcger and ;wo Ascot Gold Cups, amongst other races. It was always evident that tho son of Persimmon who scorned mesfc likely ui fill the place of his sire would command an enormous sum. Your Majesty is gaining some distinction as a sire; the offspring ol Fugle-, man promise well, and nave indeed already bee; a successful; Zinvacdcl, probably a hotter horse than either, lias unfortunately not greatly distinguished himself at tho stud. X’rinco Palatine is accepted as the best of Persimmon's sons. PRINCE PALATINE’S CAREER. Of Priucc Palatine’s merit there can be no question, and yet there arc few famous hordes for whom excuses have had. to be made morq frequently. He won three races in six attempts as/a two-year-old, the only ono of importance being the Imperial Produce Plate at Kompcoc Park, in which ho beat Sir Thomas Dewar’s Braxted by no more than a neck, giving, however, 61b. The following year ho missed tho Derby, came out at Ascot, and during tho season won two of his fivo races. The first of the excuses mentioned had to bo mado when Mr. Thomas Baring’s Mushroom gave him 101 b. and finished half a length in front of him in the Midsummer at tho Newmarket Second July Meeting. Here Primfe Palatine was said to bo a slow beginner, and the mile over which the race was won not far enough. Lord Derby’s Stedfast beat him lor. the .Coronation Cup at Epsom, but after' a brilliant disc-lay in tho Ascot Gold Cup.it seemed well-nigh impossible that ho could lose tho Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket, in which ho wp.s defeated hy Major Eustace Loder's Lnncc Chest, Another excuse was needed and supplied: the mile and a half did npfc show him at his best, and the - pace until nearly the end was too slow. Ho failed again in the Jockey Club Cup, which Air. Fame's Aleppo won in a cantor by half-a-dozen lengths, this time, tho excuse was that after the race h© was found id.have a tempera* tnre. Doubtless it was so, and perhaps this .excuse should rather be termed aoexplanation. As a five-year-old he acquired fame by tho stylo in w;.ich ho won tho Coronation Cup, and then the Ascot Cup for the second time. His third attempt last week produced the fourth excuse—which we announced on the day after the race—that lie had been pricked in shoeing and consequently had not done tho indispensable work. Aloreover, as will bo scon from the report of the veterinary surgeon which we publish to-day. there is .evidence that the horse received a blow on the near foreleg, which has caused lameness.

Few horses prove invincible. Isinglass was beaten once. Flying Fox and Persimmon twice. Princo Palatine has run in 21 races and has lost ten of them. Wo are inclined, notwithstanding this, to rate him among tho very best within living memory, and most people entertain tho conviction that *H© thoroughbred horse of tho 20th century’is superior to his predecessors. Princo Palatine’s ono lapse as a two-year-old Was when giving .weight, and lie, carried 71b. marc than Stedfast when beaten half a length .for the Kingsclero Stakes at Newbury. It is agreed that tho startling result of tho Goodwocd Cup does not toll at all against his stud prospects. -Whether ho will run again is not known; it seems tolerably certain that if possible an effort will be made to enable, him to quit the turf after a victory which would show that what happened at Goodwood was an accident.