Compton rides three winners in Sydney

Press, 20 August 1984, Page 33

Compton rides three winners in Sydney

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney The expatriate New Zealand jockey Bruce Compton was the toast of Sydney punters and hoisted himself into the top of new season’s jockey rankings with three wins at Warwick Farm on Saturday. The former New Zealand champion opened his account on the remarkable New Zealand six-year-old, Tross, made it a double with the former New Zealand youngster, Royal Troubador, then capped it by bringing home a sprinter, Buena Gold. The performance of Tross, a Moss Trooper gelding which did not begin

racing until two months ago, had the trainer Paul Sutherland reaching for comparisons with the. legendary Phar Lap. Despite travelling poorly for most of the 2200 m journey in the $20,000 Spring Cup, Tross worked his way through the field from last to sprint to the line a length and a quarter clear, notching his fifth win on end. What made his run remarkable, said the trainer, was that the horse had not fully recovered from his previous win. Sutherland said after the face that a veterinarian had told him during, the week that the horse would “have to be a Phar Lap” to win

the cup. He said the horse was dehydrated and flattened after his last-start win, and his blood count was “terrible.” But it came right for the race. “We probably don’t know just how good this fellow is and I will immediately be sending him out for a spell,” Sutherland said on Saturday. “He has trained right off and I just can’t believe how the horse could win so well today." Tross has not been nomiated for any of the rich spring cup races in Mel-: bourne and will be aimed! instead at the 3200 m Perth j Cup on January 1. ‘ I