HIGH PRICED HORSES THAT NEVER WON A RACE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 222, 12 September 1908, Page 4

HIGH PRICED HORSES THAT NEVER WON A RACE.

AND .£lO YEARLINGS THAT AVON THOUSANDS OF POUNDS. To the layman the announcement the other day that Messrs. Xattersall were to conduct a sale of notable yearlings from the Cobhaui Stud probably conveyed little of interest. To the racing world, however, and particularly to breeders and owners, it was an announcement of much importance, for amongst those yearlings might be a future winner of the Derby aud other classic events.

The buying of yearlings, however, is one of the greatest speculations in connection with he Turf. Sometimes a I man may pay four or five thousand guineas for a yearling which is the prj- 1 geny of a famous dam and sire, only to find that, even after the most careful training and attention, it is quite incapable of winning a single race. On the other liaud, he may buy an animal for 50 or 80 guineas, intending it to be simply a stable compauion for the higher-priced yearlings, and discover in the end that his 50-guinea purchase has brought him in £15,000 or £20,000. That famous horse, Velocity, for instance, which won so many races iu 1904-5-6, was one of the greatest bargains of the generation. He cost 30 guineas as a yearling, and at the end of his racing career his owner refused £25,000 for him. Hackler's Pride, who won the Cambridgeshire two years run. ning, as well as other races, cost only 75 guineas as a yearling, while the latest Cambridgeshire winner, Land League, cost but 45 guineas. Rubio, the winner of the Grand National this year, was bought as a yearling for the extraordinarily low sum of 15 guineas. Oetavian, a famous winner of the St. Leger, only cost £lO as a foal, and afterwards became the sire of the dam of Crucifix, a famous winner. Two years ago a horse named Carlton died in Poland. This horse, which cost but 10 guineas, not only won eight races out of twelve, including the Chester, Manchester, and Doneaster Cups, but also sired good horses. Rock Sand, who won the Derby in 1003, and was ultimately sold for £25,000, was sired by Sanfoin, who had won the Blue Riband of the Turf thirteen years previously, and who was bought as a yearling for 550 guineas. In the history of the Derby, however, are to be found many instances of this race being won by horses which were bought as yearlings for a ridiculously low figure." Spearmint, who won two years ago, only cost 300 guineas. The same price v/as paid for Voltigeur, which won the Derbv of 1850. Voltigeur became the sire' of three other famous horses, whose stock won races of the value of more than half a million of money. Mr. Merry is said to have netted £40,000 when his Thormanliy won the Derby in 1860. . And yet he bought the animal for 350 guineas. Curiously enough, the previous year, Sir J. Hawley won the race with Musjid. which he bought for 400 guineas, while in 1801 Colonel Townlev won with Kettledrum, for which a similar sum had been paid. Thus the Derby was won for three successive years by horses whose total value as yearlings was only 1,150 guineas. These are a few of the lucky speculations in yearlings. On the other side of the picture we have striking instances of thousands being paid for yearlings which never won a penny. Take the,case of Merry Fox, for instance, whose sire was Flying Fox. the horse which was sold for 37,500 guineas. At the Doneaster sale Merry Fox fetched 5,000 guineas, and never won a single race, being ultimately sold at Newmarket for 100 guineas. When Mr Robert Sievier established a record by paying 10,000 guineas for Sceptre, it was freely asserted that he would "never see his money back," to use a sporting phrase. But the fill*' won races innumerable, and repaid her owner over and over again. On the other hand. Mr Sievier once paid 5,500 guineas for a filly, afterwards known as Sandllake, which, so far a*, memory serves, never won a race, while a grey colt, fur which lie pa id 2,400 guineas, never did any good. At the 1002 sales the Duke of Westminster, for 5.000 guineas, became the owner of Kine's Favor, whose sire was that famous horse, Persimmon; but the colt was an arrant failure. It. was at the 1002 sales, a No. that the late Mr W. C. Whitney, the American millionaire, cheerfully paid Ii.OOO guineas for a cliesliut colt, also by Persimmon. Here, again, the yearling turned out a complete failure, never winning a single race, being sold later for a small sum to an owner in Hungary. And this was in the vear when Persimmon's snlendid daughter, Sceptre, and his son, Zinfandel, were practically carrying all before them.