RACING REMINISCENCES

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 305, 24 December 1926, Page 12

RACING REMINISCENCES

ECHOES OF ELLERSLIE. INTERESTING INCIDENTS RECALLED. GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST. F. D. Jones, who rode Bobrikoff in the 1912 Cup, trained Malaga when the son of Boniform won nine years later. i Ariel won 4 ihe Cup three times, but on each occasion carried the colours of a different owner. The biggest dividend returned in the Cup was by Nelson, who in 1885 paid over £50, but on that occasion the totalisator tickets were £2 each. F. Davis, who rode Lottie to victory in 1894, the first mare to ever win the Cup, has since trained winners of the same race in Bobrikoff and Balboa. The only occasion there was a deadheat for first place in the Cup was in 1923, when the judge was unable to separate Te Kara and Muraahi. Nelson and Ariel each won the Auckland Cup on three occasions. In 1885, when Nelson won the first time, the warship Nelson was at Auckland, and the sailors were on Major F. N. George's horse to a man.

Two years in succession R. J. Mason trained the winning double, Cup and Railway, for Mr. G. G. Stead. In 1901 St. Michael and Cruciform were the successful pair, and the following year Mason did the trick with Siege Gun and Orloff.

Sir George Clifford has never yet succeeded in winning the Cup at Ellerslie. He went very close in 1903, when his three-year-old Treadmill beat all but Wairiki.

It is difficult to imagine a winner being omitted from the official racecard sold on the day of the race, but this happened when Manapouri won a hack event at Ellerslie.

Bluejacket, who won the Cup two years in succession, 1899 and 1890, was sold on the eve of his first Cup to Mr. A. F. Scott, whose colours he carried to victory. The following year Bluejacket raced in the name of his trainer-owner, Mr. P. Cbaafe.

The time record for the Auckland Cup is held by Karo, who won the race in 1919 in 3.25. Only a few months prior to the meeting the daughter of Demosthenes was purchased by Mr. G. D. Greenwood, whose colours she carried to victory.

Since 1896 the only occasions the winner of the A.R.C. Royal Stakes has been owned by Aucklanders were when Prince Soult won for Messrs. Foss and Steuart, in 1912, and in 1923, when Queen March won for Mr. Eliot R. Davis.

The heaviest weight carried home in. the Cup was 9.12, by Nelson, when he won for the third time in 1888. It is a concidence that the Cup has never been won by a horse carrying the minimum of 6.7, or 7.0 since the latter was made the minimum.

The only occasion when a horse was barred on the totalisator. in Auckland was in 1893, when St. Hippo won. He was owned by Mr. L. D. Nathan, and backers had to try and pick the second horse, St. Hippo being barred on the machine.

When Despised won the Great Northern Steeplechase he was responsible for ing a sensation. Not only was he the rank outsider of the field—he paid £93— but he came to grief at onerof the fences on top of the hill, and was remounted, to eventually win comfortably.

Auckland has not had the honour of providing the winner of the Great Northern Derby since 1905. On that occasion Gladstone won, a hot favourite in Nightfall, owned by Mr. Stead, falling near the mile and a-half post—three furlongs from home. Perhaps some day the full history of that race will be written up.

When Cunieform won the Royal Stakes in 1906 there were only four starters, but three dividends were paid out. At that time the rule covering classic races was that two dividends were declared when there were four or more runners. It so happened there was a .dead-heat for second place behind Cunieform, and consequently three dividends were paid.

Not many years ago a trainer then located at Ellerslie had in his team a two-year-old and a winner of the Great Northern Hurdles. At one meeting where the two-year-old was engaged the trainer saddled up the hurdler by mistake, and did not know till he was leading the candidate into the birdcage before the race.

It is generally admitted that one of the greatest races ever witnessed at Ellerslie was the Auckland Plate of 1901. There were only three starters, Seahorse, Explosion and St. Ilario. For the full mile and a-half Seahorse and Explosion ran locked together, Seahorse winning by a head. Over the last six furlongs J. Gallagher used his whip continuously on Explosion.

On one occasion at Ellerslie the staff whose duty it was to remove the hurdles after a hurdle race left one. of the fences up. Nobody noticed the hurdle, and the next event, a flat race, was started. Suddenly near the half-mile post the crowd were startled to see the field jumping, and though the majority had never been over a fence there was not a fall. Doris won the race, but the stewards decided that it should be re-run, and the owner of Doris would not start her again. The second time the winner was Eve.

One of the greatest performances in connection with the Cup was Bobrikoff's win in 1912. When the field had gone seven furlongs and came past the stand the first time the "Black Demon," as Bobrikoff was sometimes called unofficially, was fully half a furlong behind the next horse" and nearly a furlong behind the leader. However, that did not stop him from winning, and at the end he won from the Auckland-owned La Reina. Bobrikoff must have covered the last six furlongs of the race at a phenomenal speed.