Ability Plus Desire H.E. Hays Reston, VA The Chase, April, 1984, Page Two Week before last Andrew Beyer had an interesting colum in the Washington Post regarding the relative stature of Affirmed and Alydar as thoroughbred breeding sires.  Any of us who saw the tremendous performances put on by these great horses in teh Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont could not fail to thrill again as we thought of those driving finishes.  As you will recall, Affirmed won all three, but it was never easy. The point of Beyer's story was that Alydar had gotten his revenge.  He is now considered the top stallion in the U.S., with his colts setting new records with their winnings.  Affirmed's progeny ranked about fifieth in terms of winnings. I recall at the time of those races, the writers were questioning the effect the first defeat, and then the second, would have on Alydar in the final, the Belmont.  Needless to say, Alydar raced his heart out, and notwithstanding my earnest pleading, couldn't make it, but not for lack of trying. Whether hounds of horses, two factors are necessary to have a winner.  Ability and Desire.  Looking back, I'm convinced that breeding for Desire is much more difficult than breeding for Ability.  It goes without belaboring that the ideal would be ability plus desire. Breeding running hounds must be the most complex task in the world.  The requisites for a top-notch running hound seem endless; nose, intelligence, speed, mouth, strength, and that most subtle of all--Desire.  That list is not all-inclusive, and some traits may be overlapping, but it makes the point as to difficulty.  Each is difficult, but in my opinion, the  desire to get on the front end and stay there for however long it takes is the ultimate in difficulty in breeding. This attribute is what Alydar brought to his progeny.  It should have been apparent to all of us who watched how gallantly he fought with Affirmed time after time.  Blessed with just a little more ability, Affirmed was able to hang on and beat him.  Had the abilities of this pari been reversed, would Affirmed have hung as tough in the stretch?  I believe that Alydar would have fought just as hard against Secretariat, whose ability apparently exceeded either of the above. Thinking back to hounds with this burning Desire, I remember years ago Shorty Thorne bought a pup from Sam Wooldridge.  He was by Tom Crowe out of NC(b) Ch. Gay Lou.  She by Flying Heels.  I believe he was about five or six months old when Shorty got him.  He was a little undersized, but strong and blocky built.  He took to running readily, and from his first race on, it was apparent that he had something extra.  Although his mouth was not too good and he was not overly fast, he made it all up in his desire to get the job done. I recall when he was only seven or eight months old, we were hunting at our shanty on Oak Fought's farm.  It is a remote hunting place, difficult to reach in good weather, and at that time at least a two-mile up-hill walk.  We generally only went there on the weekends as it was so difficult to reach when you had to go back for hounds. We had a good race on Saturday night, but failed to get several hounds in, one of which was Shorty's pup which he had named Tim Crowe.  Sunday evening we gathered all of them in except Tim.  We went back a couuple of times during the following week and on both occasions, old Tim was pounding away on a fox by himself, and we failed to catch him. The following Saturday night, we loaded our stock and went back to look in earnest.  We jumped a fox right away, but Tim did not set in as we fuly expected.  Along about ten o'cock, we saw a light on Keyes hill across Silver Run from us, and in an hour or so, "Possum" Jones, a young farmer boy, came to the shanty, leading old Tim on a piece of baling twine.   Obviously, Possum sought some little reward as he could have turned Tim into the race and saved a walk of several miles.   The poor young hound looked like the wrath of the gods, skin and bones and sore feet gave evidence to the kind of week he had put in.  In any event, we were delighted to see him as he was to see us.  We gave him a little feed and shut him up in the shanty, not wishing to take a chance on losing him again.  Believe it or not, as soon as our hounds camein hearing, he began to whine and raise the dickens to go to them.  After awhile, it became apparent that we were not going to be able to hear anything under those circumstances; Shorty broke down and turned him loose. to make this a real fox-hunter's tale, I should tell you that he outran all our hounds.  That really wasn't the case, but he did hang in there until the fox was holed, and then came in with the other hounds. This hound has as much desire as any hound I ever saw.  He was a good enough individual to win second H.G.A. at the Ohio State, but he was never the kind to outrun everything, but always to keep looking for more foxes and to run as long as the fox would run. Looking back, I wonder why we did not breed more bitches to him.  I guess we could not call him outstanding except in his desire, and I now believe that is the greatest trait of all.  He was bred to a few bitches, and I really don't know that he ever got a sorry pup. I guess I should acknowledge that in our kennel a little bit of envy may have entered in to it.  We were pushing the Shaver blood, and Tom Graham was pushing the old line Walkers, all of us with reasons that appeared justified at the time.  I'm sorry we didn't recognie what we had available until too late. Shorty got a bitch called Spindle Top Mollie, through Sam Wooldridge, when the Spindle Top Kennel had a dispersal sale.   She was a beautiful big bitch, but would not run worth a nickel at night. I have seen her run all day and outrun about everything we had in daylight.  Looking back, I'm convinced that she was "moon-eyed" and could not see well at night.   Shorty bred her to his Stardust (Buzzard Wing ex Hortense) and raised a beautiful litter of pups.  One of these, called Flying Fortress, was an outstanding running bitch.  She was bred to Tim Crowe, and from this cross came old Thorney, one of the best all-around hounds ever in our country.  He could run fast and run long.  And when all the others had given up finding a fox or a cloudburst would drive the hounds in, just have faith.  Old Thorney would sooner or later bring a fox around for the more timid souls. I could go on and on, like any other fox hunter.  I never owned a hair of any of these, but I would have been proud to do so.  Just one more quickie.  Tim was bred to a little blue speckled bitch whose breeding defied registration.  They raised a litter out of her--Jim Crose, Teenie, and several others that could really set the woods on fire. Tim had the desire and apparently the ability to pass it on.  Through the years, I have noticed several others that built a reputation on their offspring without benefit of an advertising blitz.  I recall a hound with such a reputation in central Kentucky in the World War II years called Frank Dawson.  Take Gangster Jake, whose pups were cleaning up long before any advertisement ever appeared.  How about CH. Hornet, who must be classed as one of the most powerful sires in our times. I did not know these latter hounds personally, but I'd gamble that each of them had something extra in the way of desire. As Paul said about charity.  Without it, all else is as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.  A running hound without desire will leave you crying in the night.