A DEAD HORSE.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 19400, 28 August 1928, Page 10

A DEAD HORSE.

WHAT WAS IT WORTH? experts differ. Was Florrio Huon, a trotting mare which was killed in a street collision last year, worth £6OO, as ilie two owners claimed, or was it dear at £SO, as Maurice Kenrick Whale and his solicitors contended? This was a question that a jury was asked to settle in tlie Supreme Court, yesterday afternoon, when Frederick Martin, of Christchurci, press ng« ut > and Maurice O'Connell, of Tai Tapu, saddler, claimed from Maurice KenncK Whale, of Christ church, clerk, the sum of £6OO as damages, in consequence o a collision on November 2nd, 192 (, between a motor-car driven by the aefendant and a mare and gig dr^ el \ t Frank Needham. It was claimed tfet the collision, which occurred at "ie corner of Fitzgerald avenue and Kiver road, was caused, by the uegligenoe ot the defendant in that he f^ledtokecp was enough to satisfy the plaintiffs

fiSert evidence was called by both , paS, and while some ) experts_a- ; serted that the mare would have been a g6od bargain at £6OO. others declared that £SO or i?o would have been more than it was worth. The case lasted the whole afternoon, and the jury, after Half an hour's retirement, awarded the plaintiffs -£IOO, which was the amount paia int Hi B C Honour Mr Justice Adams was on the Bench. , Mr R. Twyneham appeared for tne plaintiffs, and the defendant was represented by Mr A. T. Donnelly, who had with him Mr K. M. Gresson. Question of Value. Mr Twyneham said that the defendant had admitted that it waß through his negligence that the collision had occurred and the only issue for the iury was that of the value of the ammal, a very well-known trotter, known as Florrie Huon. The mare was by Wildwood Junior out of Alice Huon, and a full sister to Olive Huon. At the time she was destroyed the mare had had only one season's racing and had been off the track for nearly 20 months. She was six years of age when she started racing, and her performances and pedigree suggested that she was worth £6OO. The first witness was O'Connell, one of the owners, who said that the mare was bought in 1923 for £2OO. He doubt, ed if £6OO would have bought her when she died. ~ . To Mr Donnelly: This was witness's first experience as an owner. He had no technical knowledge of horses or of trotting. At two or three country race meetings where he started the horse, it had won £6O in stake money, but none of its performances made it eligible for big meetings. It had had two secondhand ft third. On account of an injured knee the horse had been out of action for 20 months.. i Is it not a fact that you can boy a good maiden trotter, only three years | old, and not seven, for £200? Mr DonI nelly asked. i Witness: I don't know. Mr Donnelly: You race this horse six times against the rag tajr and[bob tail of trotting horses and ; wm. £SO in place money. It hurts its knee, and is out of action for 20 months, it is seven years old, and it goes up in value from £2OO to £6OO. Why!— She was showing speed all the time. ,- ' - - Why are you asking the jury, to give you £«oQ!—She had most of her time in front of her. ..,.,, -m-' "And a good deal behind her," Mr : Donnelly retorted. "My witnesses are eoing to say that this horse was dear •at £SO. Can you tell us why you ought i to get this money?" ■•-.'. Witness: Well, it was improving. Mr. Donnelly: How?—lt was improving with age. . ' But doesn't a horse go back with age?—lt all. depends. . Mr Twyneham: Where can one take a maiden trotter to start xacingP---You've got to take them to the small country meetings for a start.

Cheap at *6OO. Frank Needhamv baker, of Stan, moro road; said that he had bred the mare and sold her gtfour years old to the plaintiffs for £2OO. She was three aid a half years old when witness r °You e aUo n bred Olive Huon, did you not?';' asked Mr Twyneham. "Yes, and George Htion and Huon D Witness said that Olive Huon won most of her money after she was seven years old, while George Huon never went on a track until after be was S: He was of opinion that Flome Btoon would have W better any of them. At. the time she_met with the fatal accident Flome Huon was sound and ready to go back to work. He reckoned she would have been cheap at £6OO. The owner of Olive Huon had said that he would not take £IOOO for his mare. . . Mr Donnelly: What considerations would guide you in putting a price on a trotting horse ?~Breedmg, o workouts, constitution, and how its sisters and brothers would run. .. ■ ' Supposing the horse hrd run itself. Would jou take that into consideration?—Of course. • ... . . Well what is the most important consideration?— Performances. . Yes that is the main thing, isn t itr Trotting trials are notoriously deceptive, aren't theyP-Sometimes. The Nelson Test. "Yes, sometimes! It is a fact/' Mr Donnelly persisted, "that at Nelson and Banks Peninsula the very poorest trotters race, don't they? »_ „ Witness: You generally take a maiden horse to Nelson. And if ther can't .win there they can't win anywhere else, can tneyr 1 — Well, do you know any other place in where they are sfower than, at Nelson and MotukararaP—- * wXßangiora. We'll give you that in. Is it a fault in a horse that it knocks itself in racing?— She'd never done that before. . , , . Mr Donnelly: Never numl about that. Isn't it a grave fanlt.-'—xes, but she only did it once. "That was enough to put her out for 20 months," Mr Donnelly remarked. ' • Witness said that the mare would have won a lot of money, as she was ; getting a better education. Mr Donnelly: Ana on the sixtn start she knocked her knee and put berself out. Bovr was that for eduea- | "It was a bad track," witness said. I Harry Frost, horse trainer, of New Brighton, said, that the mare was worth £6OO if a penny. "It costs money to get a good horse nowadays," he added.

"Young and Improving." ' James N. Clarke, borse trainer, of New Brighton, said that he considered the horse a good maiden and worth anywhere between £SOO or £6OO. Mr Donnelly: How do yon arrive at that?—" She was a young and improv\ing mare, and her full sister, Olivo

Huon, won about £I4OO the last season she raced." Witness added that he had been greatly impressed with the mare's form the day she struck herself. "Yes but she knocked her leg, didn't she*" asked Mr Donnelly. "The best horses will do that," answered the witness. Mr Donnelly: Would you let any client of yours buy a horse at anything like that figure?— Yes, I would advise any client of mire to pay £SOO. Mr Donnelly B:iii that they were only desirous of paying what was a fair price, bnt his witnesses would say that the horse was worth only £SO on its performances. Other Opinions. James Bryce, trotting trainer and driver, said that from £SO to £75 would be a great price for the mare. She was a Wildwood Junior mare, and there were not many of those mares that reached. good company. She had not been able to win at Nelson, which was the fastest track on which he had ever raced a horse. '<They are only the cheap priced horses there," witness j said. "You wouldn't take a decent horse there. They are the slowest class ■we have. If a horse couldn't win there I'd sell him very cheaply." Witness added that with performances like that the mare would have to be taken to Kaikoura and places like that to race. He would think that at seven years old the horse would be done for racing. Mr-Twyneham: Is it not possible for any horse to strike itself on a bad track ? Witness: A good horse wouldn't do it. He knocked his knee in a race a donkey would have won. It was the worst race I have seen. If he had been a good horse he wouldn't have needed that leg at all. Mr Twyneham: He could have won on three legs?—Yeß. Mr Twyneham (sarcastically): And I suppose if it had been a very good horse it would have won on two legs. Witness said something about a horse winning by running backwards. «'£so More Than Value." Edward James Smith, farmer and horse trainer, said that in 1925 he won the race Florrie Huon had won at Motukarara with Logan Lass, and had sold the horse at £SO. He thought £SO would be more than the value of Florrie Huon; the fact that she had started six times and not done better than 3.37 showed her to be no good for racing. He had started his own horse six times and it had won only three races. It had 3.33 against it, and the best it had done was 3.30. At seven years a horse would be on the down grade. George Sydney Simpson, trotting journalist, said that he had had fifteen years' experience with horses. He estimated the value of Florrie Huon at £SO to £75 on its performances, which, he said, were very poor. Judgment was given with costs to the plaintiffs for the issue of the writ (£6 4s) and disbursements and costs to the defendant for preparing for trial as on a claim for £6OO with disbursements.

THREE HORSES FALL. ENQUIRY AT ROSEHILL MEETING (tJKITBD MtEM ASSOCIATIOK—B* ELECTRIC TKIiIOBAJH— COPXEIijHT.) (Received August 27th, 9.25 p.m.) SYDNEY, August 27. Three horses fell at Rosehill in the Granville Stakes. Randella, ridden by A. Montgomery, fell when approaching the first turn, and Nagrada, ridden by Toohey, appeared to come down over him five furlongs from home. Amplifier, ridden by Reed, also fell, lue jockeys escaped with slight injuries, but Randella was so badly hurt that it had to be destroyed. . The jockey club stewards enquired into the accidents and found that the fall of Randella was caused by undue crowding and the fall of Nagrada was the result of the horses being unable to avoid Randella. Owing to the contradictory nature of the evidence, the stewards were unable to attach blame to any particular rider or riders. They also found that Amplifier's fall was caused by getting on the heels of the horse in front, but there was insufficient evidenoe to show whether any particular rider was at fault.—Australian Press Association.

RACEHORSE SALES. (Received August 27th, 11 p.m.) SYDNEY, August 27. At the racehorse sales Bicolour, a half-brother to Windbag, realised' 525 guineas.—Australian Press Association. • WAIAU RACING CLUB. ANNUAL MEETING. •The annual meeting of the YTaiau Racing Olub was held in the Library Hall on Saturday evening. The president, Mr T. 0. Robinson, occupied the chair. ' Before commencing the business the president moved a vote of condolence with the relatives of the late Major J. A. Northcote, 'which was carried in silence, members standing. ' A vote of sympathy with Mr 0. Neale in hie recsnt severe illness, coupled with a hope that he would soon be restored • to health,, was also passed. ■ The annual report and balance-sheet, which were adopted, showed the club to be in a sound position. The receipts for the year, including a cash credit balance brought forward of £65 10s 3d, amounted to £333 17s, and the expenditure £316 8s lid, stakes £142 6s 6d, printing' and stationery £23 3s 4d, building and other improvements £B7 7s lid, miscellaneous £63 lis 2d, leaving a cash credit balance of £l7 8s Id. The assets were £632 18s Id, with no liabilities. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows:—Patrons, Mesdames D. Rutherford and H. Dampier-Orossley, Messrs G. W. Forbes, M.P., W. J. Smith, G. Fulton, M. Bethell, D. L. Rutherford, D. 0. Macfar-, lane, G. Beid, S.-L. Rutherford, J. Black, T. 0. Eobinson, W. Harold Atkinson, and E. P. H. Burbury; president. Mr G. 0. Eutherford; vice-presidents, Messrs H. Dampier-Orossley, L. B. C. Macfarlane, R. Gould, and K. Fettigrew; advisory stewards, Messrs G. N. McLean and G. L. Rutherford; judge, Mr G. Reid; starter, Mr 0. Neale; hon. surgeon, Dr. jp. B.'Smale; clerk of course, Mr R. Crampton; timekeepers, Messrs W. Hill and A. 6. Creed; handicapper, Mr "W. Hill; clerk of scales, Messrs K. Pettigrew and H. W. P. Rogers; treasurer, Mr A. J. Sunckell; auditor, Mr H. W. D. Rogers; secretary, Mr H. T. Knight. On vacating the chair the retiring ; president, Mr T. 0. Robinson, thanked members for their hearty support during his three years 5f offlce. Mr A. J. Sunckell, on behalf of members of the committee, presented Mr Robinson with a case of pipes, suitably engraved, as a mark of appreciation of hiß services. Mr Robinson briefly and suitably responded. Mr E. Neale was elected a member of the club, and the resignation of Mr Le Clerc Latter was accepted with regret. Six members wore-struck off for non-pay-ment of dues. Messrs A. Ward, R. G. Black, P. Cullen, and J. Torrance were elected as racecourse inspectors. It was decided to hold the annual race meeting on January Ist, 1929, the programme to be the same as last year. The following donations were promised for the coming year:—Mrs H. Dampier-Orossley £35, Duncan Rutherford Memorial Stakes; Mr G. 0. Rutherford, the Waiau Oup; Mr W. J. 'Smith, cup value £5 5b for Amuri Trot; Mr 3. Black, cup value "£5 for Highfield Trot; Messrs H. Dampier-Orossley, T. C. Robinson, J, L. Macfarlane, 0. Deans, E. P, H. Burbury, S. L. Rutherford, D. 0. Macfarlane, ~W. O. Rutherford, and D. L. Rutherford, each £5, and Mr W. Harold Atkinson £3. After the conclusion of the meeting, at the invitation of. the retiring president, a social hour was spent, when the übubl toasts were honoured.-