Mistake On Starting Board Affects Winner's Price.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 76, 31 March 1941, Page 10

Mistake On Starting Board Affects Winner's Price.

y UV- really K underfill ||,i\\ Illlf.p|c.-C,'ll giiicidcuts I'iin iiffect |i!;iiis. All in |sf;:nee occil ITcd ;it the ( iiuiliririgc Trotfting (ln!i'- meeting on Saturday in the Jlirst event, ili" Introductory Handicap. ■The Takanlni trainer. !•'. J. Smith, hud flwo ji.si-.-e-— in Ihe race, Vausoll. with Imoo'l form t<> recommend him. and |.'- ;• rkliiiL- I'uinter. with no form at all. iTlte pair \\.i~ o-.urketed in tile race feard and it mi::ht palely be r-aid thu' ■had Vaneon gone to the po.-t and not I'cii! c:iup!cd with any otii'.r horne, ho Iwoiild ha\o been a -TCrnd favourite. I ft might 11 <>t be giving away any ij~ecret \< <-:i y that the owner of SparkJling Pointer, Mr. V. A. Bridgens, had jprepar-d himself to have a lavish helpii'iig of the t>-talisutor pool, anticipating !|,i fairly good dividend. To assist in tliw !|i\":111-Ijll1jll v.'a-s withdrawn from the race.

So all war* pot. and it was just a ] matter of S-parkiiny Pointer doing 111.■ | de-cent thiisj; hv leading the opposition home. lint this time every thing did not work out '"according to plan,'' a« the 8.8.C announcer would eay. When the starters were hoisted on lit* starting hoard Vanson, who had been withdrawn, was shown as a runner and the driver given as F. J. Smith. funtera marked their race cards accordingly and dipped deeply into their pocket*, to 'be on Vanuun, accepting Spai'kliiig Pointer in the bracket as just something thrown in for good measure. At one stage the bracket was paying about evens. When the attention of the secretary was called to the error nil the starting board it was accordingly rectified, and Vnnaon's number eli-mi-"i.ated, but of course by this time considerable betting had been done. With Varuson out the price of Sparkling Pointer began to drifti, but.he was still a little under 5 to 2 when he left the harrier. But for the error mode in I limiting Vaneon as a starter Sparkling i'uinter would undoubtedly have returned ft better price.