DONEGAL FINDS END OF THE LONG LANE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 109, 10 May 1941, Page 3 (Supplement)

DONEGAL FINDS END OF THE LONG LANE

(By WILLIAM J. BYRNE.)

It was somewhat strange at Franklin to see two horses thai Ui not won a ract for vjeli over two years fighting out the finish t fa Onewhcro Hurdles, and Glen Abb, Cappy and Prival, recent winners, and comparatively lightly weighted, beaten off.

It mipH br .irrv.cd <h;;t (he rir?ht inference to be drawn froir ij e fact !'• dial !nc ''"' r< ", i '" cl " sle not muc h good, and although this may he- Irue. i< should not be overlooked that Mr. Jim Bull's Donegal, who?"- vi> lory it_ was on this occasion, was regarded ,|, r( j C years <-° ■'■; nnr of . ,nr most Promising hurdlers in the land, wh'le the v- il bred Night l-lawk is only a newcomer to the jumping £amc

it wa? r ' n ''""'■ '•:"■. ''~:., ;.■;';, h 1 pnnc?"il '"" !'■' ' ,; .' '■- v double at.Trf'yi:;;,.. .--,,_ ' ■■;' r ™ : j) 3 B p. 51 /.S '*••?' ! ' ■•'•■■r-n>'«-nt A f s ii i '',;■ -'• :"■'■, ■'.-,'Jdness t'l ■nfrrfpring w"'-' ■■ ' •"' ! ' ; ''- r l ,rc ' l pn XiX Hawk. \ir.-irc!' <1<- .-ri'iini in <] .hpfare hn " k ''- tr i from ' Kin*"-- ,hr ' "t* 1 ;- ;;■, ; vHochm. i ! ' :iv - I 'cat en o H-.ncjral if I" i-" ; ; ; "< V" 1 " ir> la-'* fence cleanly, aim m -ha: < use he ; v would have nri:i-]ir-.J his lirst win 0 jncc he won rho (irand.-tand Hanrli- c "an at Awapuni on Dc-rnibcr 21. p iohs. i 7he win for Mr Hull's preen * n.-kct and gold cap w.k nothing if j [ ■■of popular, for ;h< veteran sports-, c ', n3n lias bpon as.-o"iatcd with the $ ■iort for about half :i century and j , ilia colours have heen carried by . \ •nmc fine jumpers. ; i Remember Master Lupin? He • r ..4; one of Jim Bull's horses and he . ? ! v r>3 set for the Great Northern ■liouble" in 101 r >. Nearly brought ; j ;; off. too. despite the fact that he j had never been over the ••hill." I , ■v.cntion that fact because the ; iuirdle? was regarded as an easier j•; rropos'tion for him than the big f •eeples. which he won. after being j ] liVaten into third place in the : 1 curdle rare by Mr. 11. do Latour's ; t Irish-bred horse Cynic, ridden by the : ( late Alf. McFlinn. Ewen Alison, j ; '.in., taking third place with Thrace. • | Sam Henderson, a fine all-round ! ' ,-orseman then, and nowadays a 1 postal official, in the saddle. ; Another iamous jumper raced by Mr. Bui! was Omahu. a black horse 1 ijy iianiapoto. winner of a Sydney j . Metropolitan in the days when the j .-.te-6. G. Stead regularly sent a ; vam across the Tasmart, invariably inning some of the plums of the Australian turf. Omahu was backed ! ; ■-.punters throughout, the Dominion 1 bring off the double in 1921, but •: went under to Fisher f\V. Bow- j in the hurdles, and Sir RoseTry was too good for him in the . orthern Steeplechase. However, • won the Wellington 'Chase in WA and 1925; also the Lincoln at T' Tarton twice in succession.

' r hi'rc yoar> ago Mr. Bull held a hU,'h opinion of" Donegal, who is by Nigger Minstrel, own brother to the illustrious Desert Cold, from Rio' Act. but the sreldin.s? became unsound and cave his trainer considerable trouble. That was after he had won the double at Trenlham, alread\ referred to, but Frank Tutchen. a daring cross-country rider in his day. got him right last season and when Donegal raced at the last winter meeting at To Kapa Mr. Bull confided in me: '1 thought this fel.ow 'Donegal' was going to prove himself a good one. He is taking a long time to come right, but he may do so next season." Shortly after that. Donegal ran - second to Survalyon in the Rcmuora I Hurdles at. Ellerslie. and after one | other start he again developed j symptoms of unsoundness and was j turned out. for several months. 1 Franklin being his first start since, j He pulled tip all right after his race ! at Pukekohe. and may yet justify Mr. Bull's opinion. Night Hawk is a different pro-1 position hut. judged on his showing j at, Franklin, he is certainly w'ell j worth keeping in mind for events i ahead. When he was trained by j Mrs. Jimmy Campbell at Riccarton i a couple of years aero, he won two ; races as a three-year-old. and after he had passed the post at the head 1 of the field in the Grandstand Handicap at Awapuni on December 21. I 1938. a bright career was predicted j for him. But he also went wrong. I Which was a pity, for he had run a ' mile at Riccarton in 1.37 1-5 to beat a big and strong field. The five-year-old son of Night- ' j march had only one start last seaI son and he was then acquired by . j Mr. J. D. Simpson and given to : Ivan Tucker to train at Ellerslie. ) Tucker has great faith in Night I Hawk, and he knows just what is ! required of a horse to win at j Ellerslie. He won the Great NorI them Steeplechase on Copey and, a j year later, the Northern Hurdles on ! Make Up, in addition to which he : earned a fine reputation riding over j the more difficult Flemington coun- i try in Melbourne. i There are distinct possibilities about Night Hawk. 1