RACING Hely Seeking Licence To Ride In Races

Press, Volume C, Issue 29516, 18 May 1961, Page 4

RACING Hely Seeking Licence To Ride In Races

J. H. Hely’, who is training at Cambridge, has applied for a licence to ride in races. Hely broke a leg in a race fall nearly two years ago and had to give up riding because of this injury and increasing weight.

Until that time he was rated the best jumping rider in New Zealand, and had topped the list of jumping riders three times.

Hely’s best season was when he rode 50 winners, including fiat successes, in the 1954-55 season.

The year before he rode 17.

Hely will probably ride at the Great Northern meeting and there is every chance his

mounts will include Patrick Molloy in the Great Northern Steeplechase, a race this horse won last year. Hely has ridden winners of two Grand National Steeplechases, and, strangely, they were both South Island jumpers. His first Grand National winner was Young Prince, which was owned by Mr J.

H. Grigg and trained at Washdyke by E. P. Corboy. Three years later Hely won the race on the brilliant Gore jumper Cogitation. Hely rides every day at Cambridge, where he has a big team in work, and he expects to be able to ride at 9-7 when he takes up race riding again. His best winner smce he took up training was Gitano. not a top-class horse but a very good one when the tracks are heavy.

Gitano had conditions to suit him in the Great Northern Derby in 1959 and beat some highly-rated three-year-olds.

Gitano recently transferred to the Te Rapa team of Ray Cotter, w'ho is having a very successful season.

Hely is at present training a very good type of Jekyll filly, a sister to the winner Fangie. She is tall and has not been asked for much yet, but is expected to do well as a stayer later. “W.D.” Leads A message published on Monday from "The Press” correspondent in Dunedin said that W. D. and R. J. Skelton were level with 70 wins each on the jockeys’ list after the racing on Saturday. This was based on statistics published officially last week, which have since been found incorrect W. D. Skelton has 70 winners this season and R. J. Skelton 86. Neither managed to ride a winner at Ashburton on Tuesday. Slack Pace There was no improvement in the track or anything of the kind to account

for the fact that the staying hacks at Ashburton went 2 3-ssec faster than the openclass horses in the Ashburton County Handicap on Tuesday. The difference was simply this: the hacks were racing in earnest from the start, and the open horses were not, and did not until near the seven furlongs. Middle-distance races that develop into sprints show the limitations of some riders as judges of pace. More to the point, such races do much towards making form valueless, both before and after. Fences Renewed Brush fences on the steeplechase course at Waimate have been completely renewed this year. Appreciation of the good work done by a working bee comprised of members of the committee of the racing and hunt clubs who had recently travelled to Waitati and cut the manuka to fill the jumps, was expressed by the president (Mr V. J. Meehan) at a recent meeeing of the committee of the Waimate Racing Club. Mr Meehan paid special tribute to Mr C. E. Leighton for his co-operation and assistance. The committee has decided to have one double at its meeting next week. This reversed a previous decision to operate an on-course double as well. With two jumping races on the programme the running of two doubles ■would present many difficulties.

On display at the committee meeting was the gold cup, valued at £lOO, which will go to the owner of the winner of the Waitangi Champion Hack Handicap.