HORSES OFF TO AMERICA

Press, Issue 30996, 28 February 1966, Page 5

HORSES OFF TO AMERICA

Unless there has been a change in the flight plan for the Flying Tiger Line’s CL44 the 20 horses—l 7 of them from New Zealand and three from Australia—which left Christchurch Airport on Saturday night bound for the United States should be in quarantine in Honolulu this morning. Loading the 500,000-dollar cargo in the huge, specially equipped, long-range freighter went almost without a hitch. But there was a race to get the plane and its cargo airborne in time to prevent an additional 12 hours stop-over in Christchurch. Because of a delay in Sydney the aircraft—originally due at Christchurch Airport at 10 a.m.—did not touch down until 3.55 p.m. Unless it was in the air again by 10 p.m. the crew had to take a compulsory 12-hour rest period in Christchurch. They made it with 17 minutes to spare. SWINGING TAIL The large crowd seemed fascinated as the hydraulically operated hinged tail of the aircraft swung away from the main body of the aircraft. This section housed Music Man and Amendment, two of the three horses—the other was Whispering Beauty—which had been loaded in Australia.

Loading the local contingent

began about 5 p.m. Rothesay, the heaviest horse—he weighed 11501b —was first on to the plane.

He was followed by Ipiana and Orbiter. The last two aboard were Peerswick and Muntaz Ozil, a two-year-old thoroughbred filly. This halfsister by We Don’t Know to the Ricearton sprinter Sabell, was bought for 500gns at the 1965 National Yearling Sales at Trentham. The other horses loaded were Gay Robin, Anarca Direct, Glen Direct, Smokeover, Van Rebeck, Avante, Forshy, Cloudage, Idaho, Terri Lee, Wairau King and Trysail. TOOK 31 HOURS The whole loading operation took about three and a half hours. It was 9 p.m. before the tail-piece was swung back into place. By 9.30 p.m. the last of the four Rolls-Royce Tyne turbo-prop engines roared into life and 15 minutes later the aircraft was heading for Nandi, in Fiji, just five hours away. The flight schedule allows for a 12-hour stop at Nandi for refuelling and the crew’s rest. The flight from Nandi to Honolulu will take about nine hours. Flying time from Honolulu to San Francisco is expected to be six and a half

hours and the final hop, from there to New York, should take about the same time. Orbiter, the glamour horse

of the consignment—a New York syndicate paid more than 100,000 dollars for him —will be in the charge of his former Christchurch owner and trainer, W. L. Bagrie, on the trip. Mr Bagrie will remain in the United States to help prepare Orbiter for a series of international races which will begin at Yonkers Raceway, New York, in Aprilil. FELT “TERRIBLE” Asked how she felt about the loss of Orbiter on Saturday night, Mrs Bagrie replied: “Terrible. There was a lump in my throat when that aircraft tail-piece swung shut. But it isn’t as if I won’t see him again.” Mrs Bagrie will go to the United States towards the end of next month to see Orbiter race in the international series. The Australian horses were accompanied by the Perth trainer, P. Coulson. Other attendants were Messrs R. Miitchell, of Cambridge, and R. L. Williams, a son of Idaho’s former Greenpark owner-trainer, L. A. Williams. Mr C. G. H. Irvine, an In-

vercargtll veterinarian, was also aboard. The only horse to which he had to administer a tranquilliser before take-off was Gay Robin. “It was only a precautionary measure,” said Mr Irvine. “He is a coilty type and just needed quietening.” LECTURING IN U.S. After the flight Mr Irvine will remain in the United States for six weeks. He will spend some of that time lecturing at a university in California. Although not the largest haul of horses by the airline the present one is certainly the longest. Mr J. Barbera, one of the two cargo-masters in the seven-man crew, said on Saturday that the aircraft had previously carried 22 Arabian horses from Spain to Colorado. The cost to Yonkers Raceway of the present charter is not known but on the basis of previous charters it is assumed to be somewhere between the 60,000 and 80,000 dollars. The last charter flight—when six horses were flown from Australia and New Zealand to the United States in a DC4—cost Yonkers Raceway 23,000 dollars.