INJURED JOCKEYS

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 137, 6 March 1941, Page 11

INJURED JOCKEYS

Condition Improving NOTES AND COMMENTS

Death Of Mr. Ernest Alison (By The Watcher.) The jockeys R. TV. McTavish and A. C. Messervy, who were injured in the mishß.P which occurred in the Pukekohe Handicap at the Franklin Racing Club’s summer .meeting on Saturday, are making satisfactory progress. The judicial committee of the Franklin Racing Club opened an inquiry on Saturday into the falling of Aero King, Trilliarch, and Softly, in the Pukekohe Handicap, and it was adjourned sine die, so that the evidence et McTavish may be taken.

Owner Disqualified. At a meeting of the Auckland District Committee this week, 11. L. Martini was adjudged guilty of a breach of Rule 33b (1) (h) and Rule 334 (1) of the Rules of Racing in connexion with the horse Flylite, and the committee resolved that he be disqualified for five years as from March 4, 1041. Rule 33S (1> (h) covers “wilfully and corruptly supplies any false information,” etc. Rule 344 (.1) affects entries in the unpaid forfeit list of the Conference or other allied racing bodj. Ajax Sale Tomorrow. Australia’s champion Ajax conies up for auction in Melbourne tomorrow. Carterton Races. Though fields are light, and there is opposition in the town of a queen carnival at Masterton on Saturday, the Carterton Racing Club has received an assurance from owners that their horses will be present, and the annual meeting will be held at Clareville. The track is in good order, and Wellington patrons can arrive on the course in ample time for the first race by the Wairarapa mail train, leaving at 7.50 a.m.. Rarotonga. Mr. Douglas Clark, Waikare, Featherston, writes:—“Your recent paragraph about my horse Rarotonga being a failure on the flat when trained at Opaki is hardly fair to A. Jenkins or Rarotonga, as in the four months before being sent north he won over £5OO in stakes, and a very nice trophy. Through being badly meuthed, he hung out very badly on lefthanded courses, which was the reason for sending him north, and it has been a surprise to more than me that he did not win a good handicap up north.” Death of Mr. Ernest Alison.

The death occurred last Sunday of Mr. Ernest Alison, son of Mr. E. TV. Alison, sen., who was well-known for many years as an owner and breeder of thoroughbreds. Mr. Alison was educated a’t the Devonport District School, the Auckland Grammar School, and Queen's College (of which the late Dr. McArthur was headmaster). He joined the staff of Messrs. Gillies and Colbeck, barristers and solicitors, and subsequently, with his brother Ewen, founded the legal firm of Alison and Alison. About 30 years ago Mr. Ernest Alison retired because of illhealth, and lived privately. He took a keen interest in horse-racing, and for ninny years was a member of the committee of the Takapuna Jockey Club. Among the horses be raced were Landslide, Appellant, Bully, Tiresome. Sheffield, and Housewife, and among those he bred were Mystic Peak (a good performer in Australia), Tybalt, Ti-tree, and Opuatia, who won at the Franklin meeting on Saturday. Mr. Alison leaves a widow and one daughter. Doria. Doria was a surprise scratching from the Peninsula Cup. There was nothing amiss with her, the reason being that she has been showing slight effects from racing and galloping on hard ground, and her owner decided, in view of a trip to Trentham, 'not to take any risks with her.

V.R.C. Third Day. The autumn meeting of the V.R.C. will be continued at Flemington today with the third day’s racing. The principal race today is the King’s Plate, of £lOOO, w.f.a., one mile and three-quarters. A Happy Experierce. In returning thanks at the presentation ceremony after the Peninsula Cup on Saturday, Mr. George Gould, breeder and owner of the winner, Not Out, said he would like to tell a little story concerning himself. As a boy, about the same age as the rider of Not Out, he went to his first race meeting, which, incidentally, was on the Motukarara racecourse. He took a fancy to one horse parading for a race, and after some hesitation invested £1 on him. When the machine closed the figures revealed that there was only £1 against his number. The horse won the race, and Mr. Gould said he had the pleasure of going to the paying-out window singlehanded and collecting more than £lO4. That was his first experience of a race meeting, and naturally he had always since held a high regard for the Motukarara course.

Night Pilot Improved. Even allowing for the fact that Night Pilot secured a lucky run on the r rails when the leaders swung wide at thedurn, the three-year-old was responsible for a nice performance when he won the Dynes Fulton Memorial Handicap at' Pukekohe on Saturday (reports the “New Zealand Herald”). It might not have been easy for him if he had not secured such ai fine run, but he would have been unlucky to lose, and more is sure to be heard of him in the near future. Night Pilot is to compete at New Plymouth this week, and if started in the Taranaki Cup on Thursday in preference to the Okato Hack Handicap he should be very hard to beat with 7.3. Don’t Forget. Don’t Forget marked his reappearance after a two months’ absence by an encouraging win over seven furlongs on Saturday. He had done a lot of useful work in the last few weeks without being asked to go seriously against the watch, and the manner in which lie set the pace and held on promises well for his trip to Trentham, where he may contest the Thompson Handicap and St. Leger Stake s. ■ -