ON THE FENCE AT LADY'S MILE

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 135, 9 June 1926, Page 10

ON THE FENCE AT LADY'S MILE

ROADSIDE FAMILY PICNICS. WATCHING THE STEEPLECHASE. "It is such a pleasant thing," remarked an old gentleman to a representative of the Auckland "Star," "to see the family sitting together all in a row." "My impression is," said the pressman, "that the good old practice of the whole family sitting together in church is in danger of dying out." "I did not refer to attending church," was the reply. "I was speaking of the mother and chickens all roosting side by side on the fence at Ladies' Mile in front of the Ellerslie racecourse. Even the baby was there in its pram near the fence post. It had its bottle and did not interfere with the family party. I suppose the reason father was not there would be because he was at work. The people seemed to be enjoying the free view very much. I heard one lad yell out 'Llewellyn!' and I asked a sharp looking young fellow who was standing near at hand if the horse of that name had any chance. You know I am not a racing man, but I gathered the impression that the young gentleman was prepared to give mc a few pounds after the race if Llewellyn came in first, provided I would hand him a pound, to be retained by him, if the horse lost. He seemed such an obliging young chap that I felt sorry to have to refuse him, but you see I was not going to stay, and it occurred to mc that I might not be able to find him when the race was over. "However, I became so intereeted in watching the crowd that I remained longer than I had at first intended. The whole of the front of the fence to the racecourse in Ladies' Mile wag densely packed with vehicles. A number of the people had thermos flasks with them, as well as others ot a flat shape that seemed made to fit the hip pocket. They had also brought luncheon with them, and were evidently out for the day. When I came back in tWe afternoon bo many cars were standing about that the traffic was blocked, until an inspector arrived on the scene and cleared the fairway. One lady was very indignant when told to move her car. I saw the eharplooking young man was still about. He seemed to know a lot of people in the cars, for he passed from one to the other between the races, and was making entries in a little notebook. I thought, perhaps, as it was a cold day, he was taking advantage of the opportunity to get orders for coal and firewood. Grannie had arrived to join one family party. The old dame seemed to know a lot about the horses. She shouted out their names, and also those of the jockeys. Standing near was a much younger woman, who yelled loudly to a certain jockey to be sure and win, as she was backing his mount. 'Look at Dick; aint he going lovely?' cried out one excited woman. 'Go it, Flowing Bowl,' was another oft-repeated cry by a young woman who did not seem to know there was another horse in the field. On a big two-horse lorry a crowd of men were standing and shouting like wild Indians.

"Two horses fell at the double jump, and I could not help noticing how little interest was taken in the important question of whether or not the jockeys were injured. Most of the crowd still shouted after the horses that were going on, but one woman did remark: 'Poor fellows, they are both up again, though one is limping badly.' I came away feeling that if racing is the sport of kings it is equally enjoyed by the rank and file of the community."