THE FIGURE SYSTEM.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume VIII, Issue 405, 28 April 1898, Page 14

THE FIGURE SYSTEM.

The author of an article on horse-racing in the March number of the Encyclopaedia of Sport, which is sub divided into such headings as “ Origin and Development,” “ Breeding,” “ Trainers,” “ Yearling Sales,” etc , does not deign to refer to the Bruce Lowe system of breeding, except in a spirit of ridicule. Thus :—“ In the so-called * figure system,’ which is supposed to show how Derby winners are to be bred by mathematics, I have no confidence.” On the subject of breeding, the author makes the following observations : —“ That there is no royal road to the production of good horses is shown by the fact that many owners to whom money has been of no importance, who have added long experience and keen observation to practically unlimited expenditure, have vainly tried all their lives to breed the object of every racing man’s ambition—a Derby winner. Much is written about scientific breeding, but the most that can be really maintained in regard to it is that by the judicious union of certain strains of blood a fair proportion of valuable horses is likely to be secured. When a horse wins a number of the principal stakes, strong evidence seemed to be furnished that he is bred on highly judicious principles ; but all

the own brothers and sisters of such a horse — not only one or two, but all of them —not seldom prove absolutely worthless for racing purposes, and this is an argument against scientific Breeding which takes a lot of explaining away. The different supporters of the theory of scientific breeding have different ideas on the subject; there are no set rules. The majority of them, however, would doubtless have agreed cordially as to the absolutely and unimpeachably scientific breeding of several horses who finished far behind St. Gatien in the Derby and behind. Robert the Devil in the St. Leger; and it is certain that neither of these two animals would ever have been picked out as an example of the science. One naturally chooses a sire of approved merit, and looks for size and quality in the mare; butif she is good looking and comes of a distinguished family, it is not essential that she should have won races. A great many of the mares that have been rm st successful when in training have failed to produce winners. Possibly in some cases their vital energy has been more or less exhausted during their career on the turf. The fact remains, whatever the cause may be; and, on tbe other hand, many mares that ran moderately, or even badly, have become the dams of famous horses. There are what may be called ‘chance’ sires also. An example is Wisdom, a wretchedly bad horse when in training, who greatly distinguished himself at the stud, one of his sons having won the Derby, another the Ascot Cup, and a daughter the Oaks. Advocates of scientific breeding are specially contemptuous about what they describe a ‘rule-of-thumb,’ that is to say, disregard of intricate and exhaustive calculations of strains of blood, in favour of the simple attempt to supply from the dam deficiencies in the sire, to obtain from the sire correction of weak points in the dam, and so forth. It is far from certain, however, that, if this is carefully done, the secret of breeding, so far as there is any, has not been discovered. The suggestion will, no doubt, provoke

the contempt of theorists, but it is an idea firmly held by many men who have considered the subject and dealt with it practically all their lives — and have very likely in their time been themselves ardent supporters of theories, before the futility of their most ingenious calculations had been repeatedly exposed. Certain questions as to make and shape being borne in mind, if a man sends a dam of winners to an approved good sire, the result is very likely to be a good animal.”-