TROTTING STABLE VISITS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 186, 11 September 1914, Page 2

TROTTING STABLE VISITS.

TERRA NOVA LODGE.

The practice of naming their stables after some equine celebrity that has Thought fame to the establishment is a common one with trainers of trotting Worses. It is a nice compliment to the prowess of the animal so honoured, and in the ease of Terra Nova -Lodge is a thoroughly deserved one. If ever a lorse has helped to build up a trainer's reputation, that equine*is Terra Nova, and the mentor "Jack" Messervey. It •was mainly through this wonderful old "battler that Messervey got his first start as a trainer, close on ten seasons ago; indeed, only for him the now wellknown mentor may never have taken up Iris present calling. And' what a wonderfully consistent stake-earner the •ever-green son of Young Irvington has "been. Season after season he has been "well up in "the money," but, alas! it would now appear that his days of usefulness are o,ver. Some weeks ago, when Tunning out, he got tangled up with a •cover that came adrift, and in his struggles got his legs so terribly cut about as to make his complete recovery

a matter of speculation. Situated within easy distance of the New Brighton racecourse, the present Terra Nova Lodge is a comparatively new establishment, the stables of which are up-to-date in every particular. At present Messervey's team is neither a large nor select one, and I am sure that all trotting"enthusiasts would be pleased to see this painstaking and capable trainer have a long-deferred turn of fortune 's wheel. The only well-known horse of Messervey's team at present in commission is Little Tib, who, like Terra Nova, has been racing for a long tifne. Unfortunately, he is not blessed with the best of constitutions, and is very nervy. No sooner does his mentor get him almost ready to race than he goes off his feed. Consequently his preparation is , never a thorough one, and it is this that has earned him the reputation of being • a. non-stayer. ' Even so, Little Tib has lueen a most consistent performer, and, better-constitutioned, would undoubtadly have -taken a very high place m the circle of select two-milers. Few Worses that Messervey.has handled have given more early promise than Goodchild. In private he could do anything, but when jtfCame to racing, he always cut a sorry figure. Like his halfbrother, - Te Kuiti, he is a straight-out trotter, and has plenty of size and an attractive style of getting oyer the ground. Just at present he is laid aside with a,h injured foreleg, and no sooner does he get over one trouble than he contracts another. , An unnamed son of Willowwood and Lady Pauline gives promise of turning out well, and, on breeding, he can hardly fail to go fast: So far he has not done much work, but evidently knows how to handle.himself. Lady Pauline, his dam, 3s a full sister to Belle Vue, and a halfsister to Wildfxower, both of whom took fast records during their racing careers. A recent addition to Messervey's string is the South. Canterbury-owned Stanley 's Discovery, by Stanley from Dodo. Like others of his sire's progeny, the best of whom was Discoverer, he has

plenty of substance, but so far has failed to win a race. For a stallion he is remarkably docile, and is .on the improve". Norfolk Child is well, if not favourably, known to racegoers, and I am ifraid his mentor will have a job to get i race out of him. Another member of Messervey's team that can almost be written out as a racing proposition is Onward, that is, unless he could be supplied with a new set of legs. During his twelve seasons' racing the game little son of Electioneer has been a fairly consistent stake-earner, and surely deserves the privilege of being pensioned off as far as racing is concerned. T. FROST'S ESTABLISHMENT. There are few more experienced trainers of trotting horses in Canterbury than Tom Frost, and few that have had si*teh an array of talent through their hands. It is nigh on a quarter of a century ago that Frost first took service in .the late Henry Mace's famous stable adjoining the New Brighton racecourse, where for some years he acted as assistant to F. Stace knd J. Milne.- With the latter's retirement to start on' his own account Frost was promoted to the position of mentor, a- position that he showed his capabilities for by topping the prize-list on two consecutive occasions. During the time he was associated with the Brooklyn establishment the genial Tom had to do with the handling and education of such early champions as Mambrino Abdallah, Pansy 8., Berlin Abdallah, Candidate, Allerton, Bro'okholm, AJmont, Weary, Jessie Palm, Peak, Bob M., Moonbeam, Director, and others, whose success fully demonstrated the perfection of their early tuition. On severing his connection with Mr Mace's establishment, v Frost set up as a public trainer, andi present?day racegoers well know the amount of success that has attended horses from his stable. AN ASSORTED TEAM. At the-' present time the New Brighton. mentor has the boxes in his commodious stable, situated about" a mile and a-half from the New Brighton racecourse, all occupied. Though there is ziot a real top-notcher, such as Red Mac, amongst the lot, they are at least a collection, the majority of -whom have yet to hav& their names in: scribed amongst the <list of -winners. The first to come under my notice, on the occasion of a recent visit, was a

three-year-old gelding by "Driftwood from Elsa Huon, who claims full relationship to the. speedy Huon Drift. A chestnut in colour, lie looks to have done a fair amount ;of work, and when his time comes to race he should be found capable of emulating the deeds of his elder brother. He is a particularly good-actioned pacer, so'tru&in: his stride as not to require boots of any kind, an unusual qualification in one of the diagonal gait. Of altogether different conformation is Lodestar, the giant son of General Lyons and Eulogy. Siuce going into Frost's stable, this horse has improved wonderfully, as demonstrated by His achievement at the New Brighton Trotting Club's Autumn Meeting, he got to the. end of a mile and a-half in 3.46. He has been kept up to the collar, and though ;by no means a beauty he should be capable of showing Btill further improvement when next

asked to sport silk. Annie Dillon, the three-year-old daughter of Harold Dillon and Electric Lass, is one of the unfortunate ones. The early death of her dam necessitated the filly being handfed, which is seldom attended with the most satisfactory results. Then, only a few weeks ago, she got one of her legs cut open almost to the bone, necessitating seven stitches being put in. Thanks to a splendid constitution, she quickly overcame these disabilities, and is now in steady work and evidently thriving on it. Annie Dillon is one of those easygoing sort that can usually be depended on to reproduce their private form when asked to do so '' for keeps,'' and she lacks nothing on the score of breeding. A SPEEDY PACER. Since joining his present mentor's team, Wingatui has been responsible for at least one performance that on three occasions out of four would have been rewarded with winning brackets. This was when Young Tohu outstayed him in the Trial Handicap at New Brighton last autumn, and the time he recorded in that event has kept him of the money ever since. It was want of stamina rather than lack of speed that cost him the race under notice, and. Frost has left no stone unturned in the interim to remedy the deficiency. At present the son of General Mac is looking in great heart, and I shall be surprised if his trainer's care and attention are not duly rewarded in the near future. Though she has as yet failed to earn "racecourse distinction, Alice Huon has given sufficient promise in several of her races to suggest that possibility being realised before long. There is not a great deal of her; in fact, she is little more than a pony in stature; but she has a rare constitution, and never puts a foot wrong in her work. Like most of Frost's charges, she handles herself so truly as to almost do without the service of boots. The last to come under review was an aged mare by Don Carlo froni a Berlin mare, who has the distinction of being the only member of the establishment to favour the trotting gait. She has just had a foal by Petereta weaned, and has only recently been taken in hand, consequently she does not show to the same advantage as some of her stable mates. TEMPLAR.