Playing The Horse Market

McMahon, wanting no more dissension, has suddenly decided that instead of sending the half-million-dollar colt out to California to John Longden to train, he will ship him to England to race. There he will be trained by Bernard van Cutsem. "There is nothing personal against Longden in this." insists the Canadian millionaire. "John will still have about 15 horses for me out West, but Longden is a California trainer and likes to stay there, which is understandable. Lately the tracks in California have been knocking the hell out of our horses, and I want this colt to have every chance. He will be properly paced. He will run infrequently at 2 and point for the classics at 3. That is the decision I have made and I think it is the right one." Since Engelhard has had such extraordinary success sending American-bred yearlings to Europe to race, it is understandable that McMahon might come to think this was the best approach.

In spite of the free spending these past weeks, it would be a distortion of the truth to view the spectacular spiral of prices at the selective Keeneland and Saratoga sales as an industry-wide indicator of good times. It is only with quality stock that horsemen are gambling, paying high prices in the hope of turning a handsome profit. The colts sold at Saratoga and Keeneland are only 12% of the 3,900 yearlings sold annually at public auction in this country. The other 88% will average closer to $3,500 apiece at the sales. The people hurting the most in the Wall Street slump are the little investors. And the same seems to hold true in the thoroughbred stock market. The small speculator—the man with the $3,500 horse—is in trouble. But the Charles Engelhards have yet to feel the pinch.

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