A DERBY WINNER

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 124, 16 August 1927, Page 10

A DERBY WINNER

PRICE FOR EPSOM HERO LONG PURSE REQUIRED l wonder when an English Derby winner will be imported to Australia? Perhaps one of these days an Australian owner, with more money than he knows what to do with, will give a huge price for a colt who has won that great race, says a writer in the “Australasian.” We have a Leger winner in Australia, and also an Eclipse Stakes winner, but perhaps the time is not far distant when a Derby winner will be imported. Not that an Australian is likely to purchase Call Boy, as, when he is sold he will bring an extraordinary sum. Rich Americans, who follow fashion even more slavishly than Australian studmasters. will be in the market for that good colt, and it would not be surprising if he brings more than Tracery, who at present holds the disinction of being at the top of the list PRICE FOR TRACERY Fifty-three thousand pounds was I’racery’s price, and it is said that he proved a bargain even at that huge sum. I know an Australian studmaster who would' give between £30,000 and £ 40,000 for Call Boy. but he admitted himself that it would be a gamble on a huge scale. He could not possibly hope to get his money back in fees from owners of mares, but if Call Boy proved a stud success, then he would be worth the money as yearlings by that horse would bring large sums. They would not only be sought after by Australians and New Zealanders, but. possibly, buyers would send commissions from England and America. BIG FIGURES It would be a grand thing for Australian blood stock if Call Boy did come to Australia, but it is unlikely, as if Solario, who did not win a Derby, was considered to be worth £ 100,000, and the Aga Khan actually offered Sir John Rutherford that sum, Call Boy is likely to bring almost as much (Call Boy was sold for £60,000.) His engagements are certainly void, but any man who gave a high price for the son of Hurry On is not likely to risk the chance of Call Boy being defeated, and he is certain to be retired to the stud with haste. With Call Boy out of the way. Hot Night might win the Leger. He gave Call Boy a hard race in the Derby, and actually headed that horse in the straight. The other Derby runners finished down the course. Shian Mor being third, and was said to be eight lengths away, but from the pictures of the race Shian Mor seems to be nearer 20 lengths behind Hot Night. Of course, a lot can happen between June and September, and perhaps a three-year-old who was too backward to run in the Derby will have reached top form by the time September comes round It has happened in the past, and maybe this year will be no exception.