N.Z. poor relation in trotting history book

Press, 3 July 1986, Page 30

N.Z. poor relation in trotting history book

By

G. K. YULE

New Zealand emerges as an extremely poor relation in "Silks and Sulkies,” which, according to the dust cover, is “the complete book of Australian and New Zealand trotting." The historical section of the book is dominated by Australia, with some fascinating stories about the pioneers of the industry in that country. The author, Max Agnew, attributes the founding of the InterDominion Championship series solely to the efforts of Mr John Stratton, of Perth, with no mention being made of the equally important contribution towards its introduction by Mr H. F. Nicoll, of Ashburton, the then president of the New Zealand Trotting Conference. Ignored also is Mr Nicoll’s tremendous contribution as an-administrator in New Zealand; nor do the names appear of two other'such notable leaders as Mr Allan Matson and Mr Charles Thornes, both of Christchurch, who won the battle against racing interests to introduce legalised off-course betting to the country, years before it was even being considered across the Tasman.

One victory to New Zealand is acknowledged. That was the memorable 1960 Inter-Dominion Championship Grand Final at Harold Park, Sydney, won by that “mighty imp,” Caduceus, trained and driven by Jack Litten, at the expense of the New South Wales champion, Apmat, trained and driven by Bert Alley.

The race was marked by aggressive driving on the part of both Litten and Alley. According to Agnew, Alley had no doubt about who was to blame for the trouble, “while no doubt Litten has a different point of view,” he says. Immediately after the race Alley lodged a protest, which drew an ugly response from the record crowd of more than 50,000 crushed into inadequate facilities at Harold Park.

The protest was dismissed in a few minutes without a proper hearing, no evidence being taken from one or two Australian drivers who sided with Alley.

“Worried officials apologised to the connections of Apmat, but they claimed they feared a riot if the race was taken from the favourite. As it was the record crowd had already caused considerable damage to the stands as Harold Park was not large enough to cater for them," says the book. Be that as it may, it is probable a full-scale and properly conducted, searching inquiry could have found fault with the tactics of both horsemen. Official action against both Litten and Alley or the disqualification of both horses could well have precipitated a riot which would have made the protests during the 1981 Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand look tame.

The writer was one of those in the official enclosure awaiting the outcome of the inquiry, the atmosphere being one of the most frightening that could be imagined. The cheers that greeted the announcement that the placings had not been changed continued for some minutes, drowning out attempts by the course commentator to introduce the official presentation to the connections of Caduceus.

The imbalance in the book is shown in the chapter headed “trail blazers,” which includes the names of 53 notable administrators and participants. Only eight New Zealanders are included.

A handful of the major successes of Maurice Holmes are listed, but there is no mention of his feat of becoming the first horseman to achieve 1000 victories: and Cecil Donald, the first to train 1000 winners in New Zealand and recognised as one of the most skilful trainers ever, does not secure a place on the list.

It is much the same on the list of “all-time greats.” Fewer than 25 per cent of the 52 horses named hailed from New Zealand. Neither' ‘Johnny Globe nor Harold Logan, two of the most famous "personality" horses to grace race tracks in this country, are considered worthy of a place. There is no excuse for two mistakes in picture captions. One of the.most spectacular race smash photographs taken in this country was that at Oamaru in 1969. The caption says the incident occurred at Christchurch. Gammalite is shown winning “the 1982 New Zealand Cup,” whereas his great victory shown in the photograph was achieved in the Auckland Cup of that year.

Informative sections devoted to the heart score of racehorses and the inheritance factor in this comparatively new procedure, drugs and their abuse, heat training and breeding principles cover wide ranges and are written in layman’s language. Trainers have for years been using heart scores and heat training, and more recently they have been applied to human athletes.

The importance of science in the training of horses and athletes is emphasised and the great similarity of this field between horses and humans is clearly shown. The shortcomings in the book are offset by dozens of magnificent photographs in both black and white and colour.

Published by Doubleday Australia, Pty, N.S.W., “Silks and Sulkies” sells for $49.95.