FROM STUD AND STABLE Diligent Research But All For Nothing

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32308, 28 May 1970, Page 4

FROM STUD AND STABLE Diligent Research But All For Nothing

What’s in a name? Mr and Mrs A. G. (“Sandy”) Wigley, of Waimate, might be seeking the answer to such a question.

A few months ago they did their “home work” in earnest in search of a name for their two-year-old Mel-lay-Cadmean gelding which had joined the stable of J. L. Barr at Riccarton. They came up with Mene-i laus, who in Greek mythology 1 was the husband of Helen. It'! was Helen’s desertion of, Menelaus in favour of Paris, [i a Prince of Troy, that led to the Trojan wars. By the time Mr and Mrs,’ Wigley were going to their i] bookshelves in search of ai< suitable name. Mr J. H. I« Grigg's good two-year-old filly, J Helen of Troy, had burst! upon the scene. t The Wigley's found more tor Interest them while they|c delved into Greek mythology. 1 !

Cadmean, the name of the dam of their youngster, is derived from Cadmus, a king who won a costly victory in battle, hence a Cadmean victory. ' Disappointment After so much diligent research Mr and. Mrs Wigley would have had only a just reward in being granted the name Menelaus. But the name to come back from the New Zealand Racing Conference was Meneleus, which is neither one thing or another. The Wigleys sought to put the matter right but by the time their letter was answered their two-year-old had embarked on his racing career and it was thought that a change from Meneleus to Menelaus would cause further confusion. So Meneleus it will continue to be for the youngster which established himself as one of the most promising of the South Island's first-

season performers with a brilliant win at Waimate last Saturday. Well Named New Zealand racing has already had a Menelaus, He was well named, being by Martian from Lovelorn, and had a record to match. In 1917 he won the New

Zealand Cup by a head from Johnny Walker, which was racing in the same ownership of Messrs V. and E. Riddiford. Later that season Menelaus won the Wellington Racing Club Handicap and ran second to the famous Desert Gold in the Awapuni Gold Cup. Menelaus attempted a second New Zealand Cup victory in 1918 but finished third behind Sasanof, which two years earlier had become the first New Zealand bredowned and trained horse to win the Melbourne Cup. Sasanof, another of the great Martian breed, set the

seal on his fame at the 1918 New Zealand Cup meeting by beating Gloaming, then a three-year-old, at weight-for-age in the Stead Memorial (Stakes, ode mile and a quarter. Gloaming had won the New Zealand Derby the day Menelaus ran third in Sasanof’s New Zealand Cup. Great Double Sasanof’s feat of winning the Melbourne-New Zealand Cups double was to be repeated a few years later by Nightmarch. But Sasanof might never have entered the Melbourne Cup records only for one of very few postponements in the history of the great race. Sasanof, then a three-year-old, had won the Chelmsford Stakes and the A.J.C. Spring Stakes and ran third in the Caulfield Cup. But there were some doubts whether he would get a start in the Melbourne Cup when he was jnjured shortly before the colourful Flemington carnival. Fortunately for his connections Melbourne had so much rain that the V.R.C. decided to postpone the Cup from the traditional first Tuesday until the following Saturday. Those few extra days made all the difference, and Sasanof won handily under' the light weight of 6.12 for Messrs W. G. Stead and E. S. Luttrell.