Mountain Lion jumps into history

Press, Issue 33846, 19 May 1975, Page 8

Mountain Lion jumps into history

Mountain Lion, a horse considered a racing write-off two j’ears ago, yesterday jumped and galloped his way into turf history as winner of the New Zealand Grand National Centennial Steeplechase, an event run at Willowbridge to mark the first running of the Grand National 100 yean? earlier.

A crowd estimated at 6000 . saw Mr and Mrs Joe Brown’s grey Kurdistan gelding lead : for much of the way and win jby four lengths from Master ;Jack, which beat Paulborough I by the same margin. “A fitting climax to quite a wonderful day,” is how the Prime Minister (Mr Rowling) described the race before congratulating all concerned. Brian Kennedy-the Wingatui trainer of Mountain Lion, also put Arthurton into the race and elected to ride that horse, the mount on Mountain Lion going to the successful Allie Robinson. Kennedv realised Mountain Lion had the stronger chance, but did not anticipate his own early and painful departure from the race. KEPT LEAD Arthurton was squeezed for room at the very first fence, put in a bad jump, and bumped Kennedv to the ground. Robinson allowed Paulborough and Master Jack to go ahead of him for a time, but with little more than a round covered he had Mountain Lion in front — a lead he only very briefly surrendered afterwards.

Mountain Lion, like Koral, and Kumai, is a grey bv Kurdistan, and shaped like a future jumping star in his early racing over fences for Mr and Mrs Brown.

But hopes for his future faded two winters ago when he was taken to Auckland for the Great Northern meeting. “Everything went wrong with him — his legs, and his back, and we had to leave him up there for four months before he was fit to travel home,” Kennedy recalled yesterday. POOR SHOWINGS

After a spell Mountain i Lion was able to come back I for another campaign last but he reacted badly to penicillin treatment for a boil and subsequent perform- : ances were lack-lustre affairs. Yesterday’s centennial celebrations, so strenuously and imaginatively prepared for, needed only good weather to crown so many labours; and the fitting reward was a dav of summer-like heat, with good footing over some of the ground on which the first 1 National was run and conI tested by two horses, Medora and Tommy Dodd, in 1875 (Medora won). But good though the footing was yesterdav it did not supply the lightning state of going that would have been indicated by the posting of 1:6.4 as the official time of the Willowbridge Maiden Flat Race over 1200 metres, the first of the events for thorouehbreds yesterday. Either they ran short of the true distance, or the official stopwatch “went mad.”

Half an hour before the centennial steeples Mr Rowling unveiled a plaque marking the scene of the first Grand National, and a few minutes later Game Call, winner of the 1966 National, was paraded down the straight by A. Cowan, who partnered -him in his big triumph at Riccarton. And as Bill Hillis had done with Koral before the running of the one hundredth Grand National at Riccarton last August. Cowan caught the spirit of yesterday’s occasion by jumping the brush double in the Willowbridge

straight on the old Trovato! gelding. Tlie result of the feature race:

N.Z. GRAND NATIONAL CENTENNIAL STEEPLECHASE 5275 plus sweepstake, plus trophy valued 565() to the winner; about 4000 m. MOUNTAIN LION A. J. and Mrs Brown’s gr g 9 yrs by Kurdistan —Arnurna 66kg A, K. Robinson 1 MASTER JACK J. Wigley’s b g 9 yrs 63.5 O. Anning 2 PAULBOROUGH T. A. and Mrs Dickson’s b g 9 yrs 65 Mr K. Langford 3 Others in finishing order: Scotland, Notefree, Aidershot. Arthurton lost rider. Four lengths, four lengths, five lengths. Trainer: B. P. Kennedy, Wingatui. Time: 4:50.