Moifaa triumphed at Aintree after Riccarton failure

Press, 9 August 1985, Page 20

Moifaa triumphed at Aintree after Riccarton failure

Iri 1836 an English innkeeper. a Mr Lynn, inaugurated the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase which in 1843 became the Liverpool and National, and in 1847 the Grand National.

Within 40 years of Lottery’s first win in the famous’ race over Aintree near Liverpool New Zealand had its' own Grand National Steeplechase, and the first successful jockey was a man who also had links with the hotel trade but has a more enduring place in history for his association with the champion Carbine. He was Dan O’Brien, an ebullient Australian who partnered Medora to beat onh’ two rivals in the first running of the New Zealand Grand National on the Willowbridge course near Waimate on Mav 18. 1875. Levanter and Moifaa were

famous New Zealand-breds to run in both the English and New Zealand Grand Nationals. Levanter won the 1897 New Zealand Grand National under 12.1. but his chance looked slim until an unexpected turn of events late in the race.

Dromedary was leading by a wide margin when a

lad slipped under the rail and ran on to the track. A policeman vaulted the fence to rescue the boy and ran right into the path of Dromedary, which fell. Levanter capitalised on the situation by outstaying Mutiny to win.

Levanter started in two English Grand Nationals but fate dealt unkindly with him

in one of his bids. The race was run in heavy fog and Levanter missed a fence, yet managed to finish fourth after losing valuable time while being taken back to complete the course. Moifaa cut the big Aintree fences down to size to win the 1904 English Grand National. Yet he had failed to get around Riccarton before Mr Spencer Gollan sent him to England.

Overseas writers still resurrect the story of how Moifaa was shipwrecked, swam ashore, and arrived at Aintree within hours of the race.

It makes great reading, but Moifaa was never shipwrecked. Perhaps those old-time writers, attracted more by the colourful than the accurate, seized the opportunity to tell of Moifaa swimming about in the

ocean when they discovered he was sired by Natator. What is true is that Moifaa’s dam had changed hands for 10 old cows, worth at the time about 20 pounds.

There was one New Zealand steeplechaser involved in a shipwreck on a voyage to New Zealand, but that was Kia Ora. He was rescued from a rocky island near the coast of South Africa, treated for injuries, and sent on to England. But there was no fairytale end to that story. The biggest sensation in the last 30 years of the New Zealand Grand National history came in 1968 when Mosque, one of the three runners for the late Mr Bill Hazlett, was first home by a wide margin only to lose the race when his rider, Ron Weaver, weighed in light.

Teak became the winner and Mosque's stablemate Eiffel Tower was second. Eiffel Tower had won the Grand National Hurdles twice before his bid to win the Grand National Steeplechase. As winner of a Wellington Cup and also one of the most sensational Great Northern Steeplechases on record, Eiffel Tower has a place of eminence on the list of New Zealand’s most versatile stayers.