Big Buyer Suggests Sales At Night

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31588, 27 January 1968, Page 6

Big Buyer Suggests Sales At Night

The Adelaide trainer, J. B. Cummings, who spent $120,650 for his clients in the purchase of 17 youngsters at Trentham, had one firm impression of the forty-second national sale of yearlings.

“If New Zealand wants to retain the interest of the Australian buyers it must reduce the number of days of the sale,” he said. “If this means selling at night so much the better,” said Cummings, who passed through Christchurch on his way back to Australia. Cummings said there would be night selling at the South Australian sales next month, yet in his opinion facilities at Trentham were immeasurably better than those in Adelaide. “The Trentham sales pavilion is the best I’ve seen for selling at night,” he said. “They have night selling in other countries, and it must come here. The only alternative would be a big reduction in the number of horses entered for the sale. Perhaps the more backward and less

fashionably bred ones could 1 be kept for later sales, such < as the one in the Waikato.” j Cummings said trainers 1 such as himself and T. J. ( Smith, of Sydney, could not 1 afford to spend long periods | away from home when they 1

were preparing big teams. Cummings will be back in Adelaide today to saddle several runners for races at Victoria Park, a central city racecourse in Adelaide. The three-year-old Ben Lomond had been “streets ahead” of any other race-

lorse he had seen in New tealand. “He’s one horse I’d [ladly take back to prepare dr a Melbourne Cup,” said ’ummings, who has performed he almost incredible feat of >reparing the winners of the ast three Melbourne Cups, ind has supplied the runnersip in two of those races. Galilee, the most famous of he Cummings-trained Melloume Cup winners, has been lut of action since last mtumn with a leg injury. After several months of reatment in Sydney Galilee eturned to the Cumming’s table about a month ago, and s in light work. It is doubtful f he will be prepared for my major race until next ipring.