TROTTING American Gives Trophy For The £2000 Sapling Stakes

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28250, 11 April 1957, Page 5

TROTTING American Gives Trophy For The £2000 Sapling Stakes

A trophy donated by Mr Robert Critchfield. owner of Gay Acres Farm, Ohio, will be presented to the owner of the winner of the £2OOO New Zealand Saplin? Stakes, which will be run on the first day of the Ashburton Trotting Club’s winter meeting on June

The trophy—a replica of a trotting horse in action—has an ivory base.

Negotiations for the trophy started in October between the president of the Ashburton Club (Mr A. J. Nicoll), the Auckland studmaster (Mr Noel Simpson), and the town historian of Goshen, New York (Miss Betty Sharts).

The trophy arrived in New Zealand recently and will be brought south next week by Mr Simpson, who will be attending the national yearling sales in Christchurch. Mr Critchfield, donor of the trophy, is a barrister in Ohio. He has been interested in trotting for many years, his main hobby being straight-out trotters. With his brother. Mr H. Critchfield, he raced a Hambletonian winner in Demon Hanover, which is now meeting with considerable success at the stud.

Mr Critchfield had hoped that the trophy would have been attached to a race for trotters, said Mr Nicoll yesterday. However, his club had no suitable race on its programme and his committee had thought it appropriate that it should go to the owner of the winner of the Sapling Stakes, the richest classic race in New Zealand, and the most important two-year-old race in New Zealand or Australia.

The Ashburton Club is secure a trophy and it will be sent to the United States, said Mr Nicoll. It will be presented to the winner of the 10,000 dollar race at Grand View Oval, Cleveland, Ohio. This race will be known as the New Zealand Pace. The form the Ashburton trophy will take has not been decided, but it will be something symbolic of New Zealand.

Earlier this season, the Auckland Trotting Club received a similar trophy from the United States. Known as the William Cane Memorial Trophy, it was presented to the owner of the winner of the Great Northern Trotting Derby. Entered for Roxburgh A number of Canterbury horses have been entered for the Roxburgh Trotting Club’s annual meeting on April 22. They include Combine, Sure Maggie, Jean Able, Ebonite, Scrooge,

Triad, Fontenoy, Fame, Banquier, Finestra, Francora, Skydale Jackaleen, Globetrotter, Rimu Lass, Leighton Lass and Te Rangi. To Resume Driving H. Purdom, jun., is to resume driving at the Hawera meeting next week. Purdon was disqualified for five years for assisting another trainer in the administering of a drug to a horse. Six months ago the New Zealand Trotting Conference reduced his term to three years. This ended on March 31 of this year.

Trainer InjuredP. Tapper, the Gore trainer of East Dome, a candidate for the New Zealand Pacing Stakes at Addington on Saturday, broke a thumb last week-end and another driver will have to be engaged for his horse. East Dome, a four-year-old entire by. Free Fight from Grattan’s Child, has not raced since he won at Nelson on February 4. He is a very speedy young pacer and he will be an interesting candidate for Saturday’s race.

Rola Veyor’s Lapse D. C. Watts did not appear to be properly in the sulky when

the barriers were released for the Rothschild Handicap at Ad-: dington last week. His horse. | Rola Veyor, ran out and lost all! ; chance. Rola Veyor had shown • good form in his previous starts, 1 and he could easily upset calcu- ■ lations in the Plains Handicap, the second leg of the double on ; Saturday. When he ran wide, , Rola Veyor wrecked the chances ’ of La Mignon and Banjo.

Yearling’s Record The Local Light—Blue Revue colt which broke the world record for a yearling pacer over: one mile at Addington last Saturday was on Tuesday hailed by the “Sydney Telegraph” sports columnist as the “Todman of the Trots,” says a message from Sydney.

The columnist likened the feat of the colt to those of Todman, Australia star two-year-old galloper, which has already been proclaimed the Commonwealth’s “horse of the decade.” The columnist said the colt’s time of 2min 9 l-ssec in a mile time trial, clipping more than ssec off the previous world mark of 2min 142 sec, by Royal Lady II in the United States 18 years ago, “if correct,” could make him

“the greatest potential pacing champion of all time.” The colt’s future will attract world-wide interest, he added.