ANGRY SCENE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 5

ANGRY SCENE.

INCIDENT AT RACES. DISAGREEMENT WITH DECISION. EIXERBUE DEMONSTRATION. After the running of the Great Northern Derby at EUerslie yesterday there was an angry scene outside the judge's box, a section of the public evidently being of the opinion that Martara had either won or should have been in a place. Immediately the numbers went up placing Essex first, Trench Fight second, Quadroon third, and Cerne Abbas fourth, a crowd collected on the course proper near the judge's box and commenced to call out for No. 6 (Martara's number) to be put up. When the placings remained unaltered the crowd commenced to hoot and count out the judge. "What about Martara ?" they cried. The demonstration was continued for a time, but after the horses went out for the next race the crowd gradually dispersed. In the race Trench Fight led for most of the way, and was followed into the straight by Essex, Martara, Cuetos, and Quadroon. Trench Fight came out a little, while Martara went out very wide. Essex came through on the rails and joined Trench Fight, and this pair were fighting it out with Quadroon and Cerne Abbas next, when Martara came with a dash on the extreme outside. The great majority of those on the members' stand concurred with the judge's decision. However, some patrons on the lawn and the main stand thought that Martara had been missed by the judge, and the whole matter resolved itself into the question of the angle from which the finish was viewed. A mistake was made by the judge in the first race, the EUerslie Handicap however, when he placed Spearcourt third instead of Fox Moth. Spearcourt was sixth.