RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33873, 19 June 1975, Page 23

RANDOM REMINDER

THERE’S ALWAYS A FIRST TIME

Most men who have had life-time associations with the racing of horses become accustomed to the harsher facts of life. Ii is a stoic character indeed who can accept the habit of rising at five o’clock on mid-winter mornings to ride the horses, or supervise the training of beasts which often show no inclination at all to make their proper contribution to the sport of kings. And anyone who has been years in the racing game' knows there is a wide acceptance of unusual drinking habits among a strong section of the trade. There is an inclination, for instance, towards what are known among the devotees as shorts. There is also a hard core in this business who

can handle the shorts with the greatest of ease; there are even some who regard any addition to the basic ingredient as an insult to the manufacturers, and themselves. If a racing man has also had a long period of service in the hotel trade, one would expect him to be able to cope with almost any situation. But there are failures, even in the most unexpected circumstances.

The man we have in mind had been in the racing business many years ago. Then he applied himself to the hotel industry, with conspicuous success. But now he is back in racing as a trainer. And at a meeting in Dunedin he won a major race with a horse he owned and trained. It was the- case for a mild celebration, at the

home of another with whom he was staying. Next morning he packed up ready to drive back to Christchurch. At 8.30 am his host suggested they should have one for the' road. He produced a bottle of well-known design. It has a black label. The successful owner was poured a drink; he added some milk, and tossed it down, for he was anxious to start for home. It was one of the most dreadful moments of a long career. For his host's wife had been very busy in the previous days about her domestic duties. That explained why their guest, at so unpropitious a time of day, had swallowed a glass of milk and mint sauce.