European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 05, 1948, Darmstadt, Hesse Horse racing with a French accent by Kenneth Downs in Paris the sport of Kings offers enthusiasts eight Beautiful tracks and Europe s Best thoroughbreds of i Paris i asking essential stockpiles of that Basic yellow element i have not been Able to try All the ways there pc Are to lose Money but i have exp Eri pc. Men cd on one particular Means All the b Way from the annual Fergus county fair of Lewistown Montana to Hialeah and from Saratoga to Santa Anita an from Kempton Park to Cairo. On the results obtained up to now Inthis interesting but expensive research i recommend Paris As the most pleasant and in some respects the most effective place in the world in which to be Sepa rated by the horse from material pos this great racing capital there Are eight tracks none of them More thana hour from the Center of town three of them less than 20 minutes wit racing the year around. Admission is from 35 cents to a top of 85 cents wit no extra charge for the City s biggest i shows of elegance and style. And the class of thoroughbred featured is currently the Best in Europe and possibly is unsurpassed anywhere in the world today. Elegance is the keynote of the i French track just As a powerful throbbing excitement characterizes the american and a Forest of bookmakers umbrellas producing Zero visibility the English racing still bears More resemblance to a sport than a major Industry. And the great French classics such As the grand prix de Paris the prix Des drags and the Oaks Are As much society and fashion As they Are sporting events. The great style houses Send out platoons of mannequins dressed in their latest creations to Circle about under the Chestnut tree Sand mingle with the crowds. Some of the ensembles worn by these big racing Days would Cost More than it would to claim a Plater an the subsequent Upkeep would be even higher. The French believe they have devel oped the fastest longest staying thoroughbred in the world today. They have beaten the ears off the Best in Europe since the end of the War. Last year in addition to cleaning up everything on the Home tracks they won 18 major victories in England including the thousand guineas the Oaks the Derby the Ascot Gold cup the coronal Ion cup and the King George i stakes. This year Marcel Loussac the Multi millionaire textile magnate who is France s leading owner plans to Fly Woof his horses across the Atlantic to try their Luck on . Tracks. The pair probably will be Toyama a five year old who recently won the prix Dessa Blons and Djelal a four year old. If the Experiment with air transport i successful it May open up a great Era of International racing. Not for a Long time has there been so much heart burning in England the Home of the thoroughbred As there has been Over the string of French victories there All sorts of reasons have Bee advanced from the prosaic explanation that French steeds suffer less from austerity than their English rivals to suggestions that gallic trainers a recouping up their charges with a mysterious new Type of Vitamin Pill. Some of the theories have been . The b so was that advanced by the London daily mail. The Mailis one of the mire jealous guardians of the Empire a Fitch follows a curious policy of getter to at its bigger problems by people and horse seat in foreign lands. You May remember Bow its new York correspondent Don iddon recently made an exhaustive probe of the contents of american Gar Bage pails and came up with the Dis covery that the food there was Bette than that served on English tables. The mail was particularly exercise about the French racing victories and assigned one of its Star correspondents to finding out once and for All the hidden reason. The correspondent visited the stable of , the French super crack which won the1946 King George i stakes and the 1947 Ascot Gold cup. He asked of course what Souverain ate. Some character pulled his leg and the next Day the mail came out with the Indig Nant revelation that French horses the cads were being trained on Sweet milk and tender the English recently noved to ban the influx of French invaders on the grounds of a feed shortage there were h oots of derision around were suggestions that English owners themselves might try som Sweet milk and a few tender parrots to Buck up their courage. The French attribute their current superiority to sound Breeding have kept their Stock Strong and vigorous with infusions of fresh blood from English american and italian strains while the English they say have inbred too Long especially to the Bend or and Hampton lines and Are paying for it now with an attenuated race. The English have excluded the Short running american horse from their stud Book for half a Century. Not even Man o War was eligible. Ironi Cally the French horses Caracalla who won the 1946 Ascot Gold cup and Arbar who won the King George mistakes last fall Are descendants of an american horse whose tainted blood excluded him. And his progeny forever from the English stud lat racing begins in Paris Early i March and runs through november. There is obstacle racing All year except in january and Early february and trotting both harness and mounted around the Calendar. Parimutuel betting prevails at Al tracks and the bets Are for win or place place corresponding to american show paying off for first second or third with eight or More in the Field and for Only first or second with less than eight running. Mutual tickets resold in denominations of 100, .500, 1000 and 5000 francs. The state takes a 14per cent Cut out of the betting. Last year the parimutuel took in 24 billion francs a record it has been estimated that an additional 50 billion was be illegally with bookmakers. Touts abound at Paris tracks As else where and you i Are a Poire pea which is French for sucker if you listen to their confidential dope on affaires fixed races. A fixed race is a rare thing though Small time owners some times merely Gallop their horses pre paring them for some future race they really intend All out to Are useful characters around the paddock who hand out slips listing the probable Odds. For 50 francs they will Supply you with the opening second and closing lines of each race of the is the Queen of the French tracks. Situated in the Bois de Boulogne the world s most Beautiful Park it is Only a skip from the Centero Paris. You can get up from lunch in the opera Quarter and be at the track Gates ten minutes later. That is ten minutes after you have managed to Finda taxi. Tell your Driver to take you to Thep Esage which corresponds to the club House of an american track. Admissions 250 francs about 85 cents. The Zelouse which is for the proletarian horse player costs less than half but dislocated in the infield where you Are deprived of seeing the horses in the paddock and miss All the fun of the fashion Parade. A seat for the after noon can be reserved for a additional 100 francs. You can lunch Well in the clubhouse restaurant or you can Reserve a table there for the afternoon for be tween the races Champagne if you like. As you come into the presage you jul pass by the imposing statue of Gladia eur the Man o War of France and one of the greatest horses of All time. When he was sent As a three year old to England in 1865, the sportswriters there Sai d of him a Fine strap Ping horse who would look splendid pulling a after he cleaned up the two thousand guineas and the Derby sporting life darkly wondered How the French registered the age of their horses. Gladia eur had to win quite a few races to head what it takes. The great National classics Are runt Longchamps. To mention a few the Poule d essays French Guinea the prix do jockey club French Derby the Oaks the grand prix de Paris which is the top three year old even of the year the Royal Oak and the. Prix de far Detriomphe France s richest grand prix which is run on the third sunday in june climaxes an ends the Grande Semaine which is the biggest racing and social week of the year in Paris. Longchamps then shuts Down until the autumn meeting open sin september. This Marks the close of the summer Safeon in Paris and every one who can takes off for the Seaside or mountains. The grand prix was Suchan arbitrary Date in prewar Days that no would risk being seen in Paris the Day after the race for fear of losing face july and August the fashion Able races Are run at Deauville but there Are Good substantial programs of Flat bracing for the stay at Homes a four Paris tracks. They Are Maisons Lafitte St. Cloud be Tremblay an Chantilly. Maisons Lafitte and St. Cloud Are the Long shot. Players Delight forthe Fields Are bigger there than else where and there Are More form upset sin consequence. Chantilly is the oldest track in the Paris Region. It is a Beautiful place encrusted with tradition but it is an hour from Paris so has lost the Derby and some of its other big fixtures to the More accessible of the training stables Are located in Maisons Lafitte and Chantilly the big ones like Loussac s Villa Teddy and the Prince Aly Khan Lawrence stables being at Chan Auteuil is the smartest of the obstacle tracks. It too is located in the Bois and is even a minute or two closer to the Hub of Paris than Long champs. There is nothing but Steeple Chase and hurdle racing on this fascinating track which has a labyrinth of Dif Ferent courses including figure eights Sixes nines and a big Oval. Races her average Over two Miles in length and some Are More than four Miles Long. The riders practically need overlays to Chart their Way in and out and Over an around the tortuous itineraries they Are assigned in these Long routes. Some times the leading Jock gets confused and makes the wrong switch some where getting off the prescribed course and is thus disqualified. This never fails. To arouse great ire among the fans especially if the derailed mount happens to be a features both trotting and obstacle races. Nghien is a Good 40minutes from town but it has a compensation there is a Casino hard by this restaurant overlooks a pleasant. Lagoon and has a Fine band. It is Thebes spot for your Money for dining and dancing in the Paris area., the operators run it at a loss to attract clients to the gaming boards. Vincennes is exclusively a trotting track. If you Don t know French racing and Are not too proud to lose you Money Here Are a few things to watch for at the Paris tracks Breeding the leading sire for the last two years has been Djebel. Give careful consideration to any of his sons or daughters. Other sires whose products Are dangerous Are tour Billon Goya Admiral Drake vat Ellor fastnet and Pharis. Stables the Orange and Gray Silks of Marcel Loussac Are the Scourge of european tracks. This is by far the finest and most cleverly run stable in France. Loussac is a serious proprietor who never enters a horse just for a Gallop. When he has anything in a race you can be sure he is out to win. The Only trouble Here is in the Odds. Boussas horses Are always heavily backed so Seldom pay Well. The Baron de Wald Ner Prince Aly Khan Madame j. Lieux and Madame r. Rousseau also have winning stables Leon Volterra and Baron Rothschild have been Strong inthe past but have run in bad Luck since the War. In obstacle races the head family and Madame Rousseau Are the leading the crack riders Are Roger Poincelet George Bridgland w. , Paul Blanc and f. Rochetti. In the obstacles the leaders Are Thirion Bates Palmer and Guido. Remember the Best riders usually get the Best mounts. You will note a number of Anglo Saxon names among the ride Sand. Trainers. Most of them Are descendants of English and Irish families who came to France for racing a generation or two ago and remained of them Don t even speak English the top trainers Are sem Blat Carter Bucquet Roberts j. Cunnington and n. Pelat in the Flat Willie and Alex head in the obstacles. There you Are. Now you can Pas through the wringer somewhat scientifically. A Revoir. This is where we get off. S Between races at Longchamps riders lounge about the jockey room where the Riding equipment and Scales for checking their weights left Are kept. Weekend june a
