Trotting

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1041, 4 August 1930, Page 12

Trotting

American Writer on Blood Lines “SAME OLD STORY” THE LEADING FAMILIES Writing about blood lines nowadays is not what it used to beIn former years almost every fresh stake or Futurity winner, or record breaker, presented ,new and fresh angles of interest, the differences between them being, as a rule, very marked (says an American writer). That gave the student of breeding and analyst of ancestries something easy and pleasant to discuss and eliminated all danger of monotony or repetition. There was always some feature which afforded opportunity to introduce “something different.’* and gave variety to one’s outlook and conclusions. This condftion no longer exists, towing to the rigid policy of our leading breeders—whose methods are. as a matter of course, sooner or later (and generally sooner) adopted by all other ones—to use nothing but a select few strains of blood in their operations (except as others enter collaterally and well back), for some time past there has been nothing to do but ring the changes on the strains at pleasure- This becomes monotonous ere long, alike to writers and faculty of remaining interested and staying awake when we are being told the “same old story” over and over again. The Big Four Half a dozen years ago it had simmered down to but four “leading” families —to wit, those of Axworthy, Bingen, and Peter the Great. But long ere then I had myself called attention to the fact that

the Bingen family. . while still apparently going strong, was the object of so much antagonism on the part of a . small but very influential group of ; men, that there could be but one out- ! come—to wit, its elimination. This j condition has come to pass even more j quickly than I prophesied. There is j not today in Kentucky—our great trot- j ting breeding ground—a single male j line representative of the Bingen i family that is in really active service. The last two remaining. J. Malcolm Forbes (2.5) and Lord Dewey (2.32) are. the former entirely and the latter practically, out of the ranks of public stallions. Etawah (2.3) was shunted out of “the Blue Grass’* with scant ceremony, and Favonian (2.12) was refused even an opportunity to stand there. Both these stallions are now doing service in Kansas. Aside from them, the only Bingen sire I know of that is prominently satiated is Binville (2.92). which son of Binjolla (2.92> has for several seasons past been standing beside Czar Peter (2.Si) at Mr. George Slaughter's Deep Run Farm at Michigan. Bingen Silk 12.72) is standing modestly in Illinois. 1 Walter Cockatoo (2-22), in Indiana, j and Martinos (2.122), and The Toddler ! (2.32) in Ohio. Xo others came to ' mind.