BREEDING 273 



even if one did not take heed of the handicap horses and 

 platers who have been sold cheaply as yearlings and after- 

 wards won good races. Nevertheless, the balance is severely 

 against the sale-ring yearlings, one very important factor 

 in bringing about this result being that a large majority of 

 the great races are won by home-bred horses, that only a 

 small proportion of " four-figure " yearlings recoup the initial 

 outlay of their purchaser in stake money. To prove this 

 assertion by figures is easy, and in the following table I 

 have gone over the sales for a period of ten years 1883 

 to 1892 a period which enabled me to give the complete 

 racing careers of all the animals affected. 



No. of Cost at 



Year. Yearlings. Auction. 



1883 . . ii ... 15,800 gs. 



1884 . . 21 34.500 .. 



1885 . . 20 ... 39,200 



1886 . . 16 ... 23,120 



1887 . . 21 ... 3!35o 



1888 . . 26 ... 42,270 



1889 . . 41 ... 73,850 



1890 . . 58 ... 99.73 



1891 . . 37 ... 57,520 



1892 . . 26 ... 45.30 



277 ... 462,640 gs. ... ,203,337 



Thus the 277 yearlings that were sold for 1,000 guineas 

 and upwards each won amongst them in stake money 

 considerably less than half what was paid for them as 

 yearlings, yet the list includes the large winnings of La 

 Fleche, Mimi, and Memoir; so that it cannot be said that 

 bad years for the public breeders have been chosen. Not 

 that the case looks any better by taking more recent years 

 as examples. 



The buying of yearlings at auction is without doubt a 

 great lottery, but it is a lottery in which there are occasion- 

 ally good prizes ; and when a new aspirant to Turf honours 

 can draw a La Fleche or a Mimi, as was done not many 

 years ago, his boldness is well rewarded. The occasional 



