Gentleman John Was Gift To Young Owner-Trainer

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27911, 7 March 1956, Page 5

Gentleman John Was Gift To Young Owner-Trainer

trotting

Gentleman John, surprise winner of the £12.500 Inter-Dominion Championship Grand Final at Harold Park on Monday evening, was a gift to his trainer-driver, E. J. Rothacker. His father, V. Rothacker, gave him the horse as a foal, because he wanted to interest his son in trotting. E. J. Rothacker, who is 26. gave his family their first win in the series. The Rothacker family has had a long association with trotting in Victoria, and a relative of E. J. Rothacker, G. W. Rothacker, is one of the leading trainers and drivers in the State. W. C. Rothacker has also had considerable success this season. Gentleman John did not run a really bad race at Harold Park. He won his first qualifying heat from another lightly-supported candidate in Hedonist. and then finished fifth in his other two heats. He had previously run his best races in front, but on Monday •he was restrained in the middle of the field all ihe way. He finished with a tremendous burst of speed to beat the New South Wales candidate, Mineral Spring, in the last 10 yards. Before the meeting, Gentleman John had won a little more than £lO.OOO in stages, and his successes in Sydney have brought his earnings to more than £20.000. E. J. Rothacker is a farmer, and prepares Gentleman John on a property about 120 miles from Melbourne. Because of farm duties, he was late in getting his horse ready for the championships. Gentleman John had been in work for only about 12 weeks before the meeting opened, but in that time he had raced with success in Victoria. During the New Year holidays, he finished a good fourth in the A. G. Hunter Cup, a race which he won 12 months earlier. He won a heat of the Victoria Cup, and finished second to Grand Monarch in the £2009 final. Grand Monarch was driven by G. W. Rothacker. By New Derby Gentleman John is a seven-year-old gelding by New Derby from Park Pool, by Globepool from a mare by Directway, which, according to an Australian publication, founded a useful winning family in Victoria. Now rising 30 years of age, New Derby is still at the stud in Australia. He has had considerable success as a sire for many years, and his mares are reported to be ’breeding on well. One of them, Seal Globe, is well known in New Zealand as the dam of Dictation. New Derby was got by the immortal Globe Derby from a New Zealand-bred mare, Greta, by Wildwood Jun., from Atwood’s Dam, by Prince Imperial from a thoroughbred mare. Globepool, the sire of Gentleman John’s dam, was also by Globe Derby, so his pedigree contains two strains of this great blood. New Derby was bred in Victoria by the late Mr A. G. Hunter, who did much to establish trotting in that State. . Mineral Spring went close to repeating the feat of his sire, Springfield Globe, which won the Grand Final in Tasmania in 1939. That year the stake for the final was £lOOO, and Springfield Globe paced the mile and a half m 3min 21 l-ssec. Mineral Spring was one of the youngest horses in the field, being a five-year-old. He has compiled a great record in New South Wales in the last few seasons, and he should soon make amends for his defeat on Monday. Caduceus. favourite for the race, and one of 4wo New Zealand representatives, was not disgraced by being beaten mto third place. He conceded 24 yards to the two horses which finished m front of him, and had little in his favour in the running. His Placing was worth £950, and with £2za earned as a result of placings m qualifying heats, he must have paid expenses on the trip. Like Mineral opring, he is a five-year-old. Pa ra Step, from South Australia, J 1 a T T forw ard showing to finish tourth. He qualified for the final with

a win at 200 to 1, which is thought to be the longest price of any horse winning at a trotting meeting in Australia. Before his win, he was the outsider of the 45 horses in betting on the final, being quoted at four-figure odds by some bookmakers. After his win, the odds were quickly reduced, but he was still outsider of the 10 horses on Monday. He was the only South Australian horse to show up in the series.

Although trained in New South Wales, Blue Gamble, which finished fifth, was bred in New Zealand. He is a nine-year-old horse by the Jack Potts horse, Gamble, from Navy Blue, by Man o’ War. Navy Blue is also the dam of Blue Revue, Petty Officer, Chief Officer and Black Wings. Blue Gamble won two qualifying heats and finished fourth in another. He is one of the best of the progeny of his sire to race in New Zealand or Australia. He has some outstanding efforts to his credit, particularly over sprint distances. Three Foals Die C. L. Rhodes, a Christchurch ownertrainer, had bad luck when he lost three foals recently. One was a colt by U. Scott from Safety Pin, the dam of Secure; the second a colt by Lucky Hanover from Bel Hamed, the dam of Amen Ra; and the third a colt by Fallacy from Freefield, the dam of Merry Gold. Thelma Globe The Springfield Globe mare, Thelma Globe, is booked to leave Sydney for New Zealand on March 15. She was originally booked to return home immediately after the last day of the Inter-Dominion meeting scheduled for February 25, but because of postponements, this date had to be advanced. Thelma Globe was one of the favourites for the final after her good win on the second night of the meeting. Her performance on Monday was rather disappointing, but apparently she lost ground early, and failed to improve. Moss Hall Back The Prebbleton trainer, A. M. Purdon, arrived back in Christchurch yesterday with his Inter-Dominion Championship candidate, Moss Hall. Purdon has a big team in work at present for the Addington Easter meeting later in the month, and he could not wait any longer in Sydney. Moss Hall travelled well on his return to New Zealand, and he may race at Addington. He failed to strike form at Harold Park, but he improved with every race. He found difficulty on the turning track. Purdon also took the trotter Armidson to Sydney. He won at Bankstown with him, and he was placed twice at Harold Park. Win for N.Z. General Grattan brought a change of luck to New Zealand stables when he won the First Consolation Handicap at the Inter-Dominion meeting. The pace was very slack for most of the way, and General Grattan outsprinted his opponents to win by a length and a half. General Grattan had been a little unlucky not to qualify for the final. He improved with every race at the meeting. He finished ninth in his first appearance, fourth in his second race, and second to Para Step in his final qualifying heat.

General Grattan, which is raced by Mr J. R. Henderson, of Hamilton, is a nine-year-old stallion by Josedale Grattan from the Frank Worthy mare, Jean’s Best. He was unsuccessful on a previous visit to Australia. His form in New Zealand had been disappointing before his departure for Australia, but last September he won the Ferguson Handicap at Epsom. Brucus, Heather Brigade, and First Variety, all of which were bred in New Zealand, finished third, fourth, and fifth respectively in the Second Consolation Race, which was won by Saloon Bar in 2 2-ssec slower time than that recorded by Gentleman John.