THE LATE JAMES KEAN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2371, 10 August 1899, Page 35

THE LATE JAMES KEAN.

It was about 1873, writes " Phaeton," that Kean arrived in this colony, and the first New Zealand-owned animal that he trained was ' the late Mr John Smith's mare, Maid of ! Honour, whom he took down to Canterbury. i Ho had no luck, howaver, with tho < beauti- ] ful daughter of Fairy Queen, for she went amiss at Riccarton just when he had her ripe. , The late Sir. Hercules Robinson (who at that time was Governor of New Zealand) aud the ■ Hou. George M'Lean, entering into racing i partnership, Jameß Kean was selected to act ■ a.s trainor. He was not long .in training an in.port&nt winner for the two gentlemen named, for in the autumn of 1881 Lady Emma carried the Zetland spots to victory in the Great Autumn Handicap. When the follow- , ing autumn roled round, Kean- was again in i evidence with Lady Emma, with whom he i landed the Dunedin Cup, D.J.C. Handicap, I and Forbury Handicap ; and two years later i lie again won the two first-named races with j the game little daughter of Yattendon, who i carried the colours of the Hon. G. M'Lean j in her' latter victories. In 1886 Kean came I up to Auckland, and entering into an en- ! gagement to' train for Mr John Marshall, one of the .first that he had to try his hand upon was Pe.arl Shell, with whom . he won the A.R.Ch .Welcome Stakes and Great Northern Foal Stakes ; and in the following year he secured, the last-named race with Oorunna, who was the property of a wealthy \uplcland syndicate that raced for several seasons under ■ the name of Mr C. Beresford. That great fine horse, Cuirassier, was entrusted to Reanf and he had the satisfaction of seeing the son of Musket land the Great Northern Derby and St. Leger Stakes of 1869 for the Messrs Duder. In the Auckland Cup of 1889 Kean claimed the winner, Leopold, who won in the colours of Mr Beresford, and in the following autumn I he scored with Dolosa in the Taranaki Joel ey Club Handicap. The Beresford syndicate hayI uigt decided to close the oartnerihip, Kean,

in the winter of 1890, decided on a visit £<T Australia, and the team he took with him, across the water consisted of Cuirassier, Leopold, and Dolosa. 111-luck attended the campaign, both in New South Wales_ and Victoria, and, to add to the complications, Kean' himself fell ill. Returning to Auckland in the summer of the same year, he soon had a team; round him at Ellerslie, and in 1892 Dolosa, who had treated him to many a keen disappointment, made some amends by carrying his colours to victory in the A.R.C. Handicap. Tho game little Lottie was one that proved a good servant to him, and the daughter of Muskapeer's winnings being raked in at a time when, as the poor old fellow waa wont to Bay, " the exchequer was low," she had a warm place in his heart. In the autumn of 1894 Lottie carried his colours to victory in the Easter Handicap. In the spring of the same year Kean took Lottie down to Riccarton with a view to the New Zealand Cup, and she very nearly succeeded in winning thafc important event, as Impulse was the only one in front of her at the finish, and it waa a mighty close thing between the Auckland pair. Poor old Jim often told me that his mare would have won had she not been interfered with by another horse at a critical juncture of the race, and by all accounts it was a most valid contention that Kean setup. By landing the Auckland Cup in the following month, some of the sting was 1 aken out of, Lottie's Canterbury defeat, and as her owner was very sanguine that afternoon, he no doubt troubled the pencillers a bit. In 1896 Kean landed another Cup, This was the Egmont Cup in which race the little-thought-of . Vat-, tenfeldt carried his colours to viotory. Kean did not confine his efforts to the training of flat racers, for, when he held sway at Kohirnarama, lie put many a jumper through hia, facings, and his representatives scored a good number of successes in that department. In 1887 he prepared the winner of the Great Northern Steeplechase in Silvio, and two yeai's after he landed that race again with his own horse, Don.