Notable Colours Again Conspicuous At Ellerslie

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 205, 30 August 1941, Page 4 (Supplement)

Notable Colours Again Conspicuous At Ellerslie

HPHE success of Brandon Hall in the Greenmount Hunters' Steeplechase and the Ladies' Bracelet at the Pakuranga meeting again brought to the fore colours which, for many years, were formidable on Dominion racecourses—the emerald green jacket and gold cap of the Hunterville sportsman Mr. Jas. Bull.

As far back as 1919 Mr. Bull won the Great Northern Steeples with Master Lupin, who comfortably defeated that great jumper Waimai, winner of the big event a year earlier. The Hunterville sportsman went close to taking the double that year, as Master Lupin also ran a good third to H. de Latour's imported horse Cynic (A. J. McFlynn) and Ewen Alison, jun.'s Thrace (S. Henderson) in the Great Northern Hurdles.

Other great jumpers raced by Mr. Bull were The Native and Omahu, the latter a black horse by Maniapoto. Omahu won two Wellington Steeplechases in succession, and also the Lincoln at Christchurch two years running. In those days,, to see the green jacket and orange cap in a race was to know that Jas. B. held a strong hand.

Of recent years, however, the Hunterville owner has raced but sparsely, and his wins have been few and far between, so that it came as somewhat of a surprise to see him taking a double in one day with the same horse.

Brandon Hall, a seven-year-old gelding by Agent General—Red Lassie, was solidly supported in both events, the stable fully anticipating his successes, particularly the one in the Greenmount.

One of the first to congratulate Mr. Bull was another veteran, none other than the Waikato sportsman, Mr. R. Hannon, making his first appearance at a meeting for several months. The genial Richard does not enjoy good health these days: in fact he has recently been confined to bed for over four months.

There was a time when his cream jacket and crimson cap .carried almost all before them in this province, and it is safe to state that no more popular colours have ever been seen in Auckland. Mr. Hannon went mighty close to winning' the Northerns with different horses, notably Roman Abbey and Mill o" Gowrie, but the thick end of the purse always eluded him. King Lupin, winner of the Railway Handicap in 1913, Sir Solo's Auckland Cup year, Tinopai, and that great lightweight rider the late "Snowy" Robinson, were other public idols to carry Mr. Rannon's colours. Like Mr. Bull, the Cambridge owner races very little nowadayi, and his sole representative at the Pakuranga was Pyrenees. It was not Mr. Hannon's lucky day—for Pyrenees fell in the Httnt Cup.