Even Stevens

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30044, 31 January 1963, Page 10

Even Stevens

Everyone will rarely be glad that Even Stevenr, the New Zealand winner of the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups, does not have to be destroyed because of his training injury. Few racehorses in recent years have so captured the public’s imagination, particularly in Australia, where reports of his accident displaced the more serious news of the day. In this Even Stevens, like other great horses before him, has been an excellent advertisement for New Zealand in Australia. The successful appearance of New Zealand horses on Australian tracks has also helped in a very real way to maintain the friendly

contacts between the Dominions on either side of the Tasman Sea. But even if Even Stevens had not been a famous horse, noone would have liked the thought of his destruction, or of that of any relatively young animal for that matter, though it is sometimes necessary to prevent unnecessary suffering to a creature lacking human reasoning power. In their relief that Even Stevens is to be reprieved, New Zealanders should not forget, however, that his accident brings disappointment to the Queen Mother, who had hoped to race him in Eng-1 land. Though he will live, we hope, to a ripe old age, his racing days are over.