MIXING IT

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 5, 6 July 1928, Page 7

MIXING IT

STEEPLECHASING AND HURDLE - '-'■■'■■■'■■ ■■■-■■■ I RACING.

In New Zealand horses are asked ... quite-often, to, x-ace over hurdles one day at, Ellerslie and the steeplechase country' a day. or so. afterwards, and that this is not unreasonable is shown by the dual successes in..the- Great . j.-vNortherns of? Sir .Roscberry, Locheila, and El Gallo. When the Eiccarton Meeting comes round, however, the more formidable Kiccarton, country, and the fact that the; steeplechase is .•; decided first as against thi. hurdle race at Ellerslie, has prevented so far. any one horse from winning the Grand Nu-.-"lio'nal double in one season, but it is oil the cards that the attempt will bo , ' ' m.'ide by Glendowie tbis year. Apparently much the same applies in Melbourne''to Flemington as against the other courses,'but there have been ■'..-exceptions..-.-,There the ■ hurdle• race is : decided/first, .and there is always an : appreciable interval. It docs not seem, likely that the big •jumping double of the season —the Grand i National Hurdle and Steeple—will be attempted, by the, one horse-this year (says the Melbourne "Globe"). Some years ago, when steeplecbasing was more difficult; than it is totday, owners aspired to win both Nationals with the same representative, but, as can be quite understood, this great 'feat was rarely accomplished. Kedleap.proved the most notable exception, lie won both races in 1892. Some of the authorities who .'.disliked-. seeing jumpers "mixing it,", that is, going over hurdles to-day and fences to-morrow,• shook1" their beads '..doubtfully when Kedleap went out for the.big cross-country.event a.week after his second .victory in the Grand1 National Hurdle. Race. They feared'he might be tempted to take liberties with the stouter timber after his experience of the-.batten?. . . . . , ; A GREAT HORSE. ! But-Kedleap's connections had no misgivings ' about it. ;They had backed him confidently■ .for the-double, feeling sure that neither the hurdles nor .the .fences would, give him any. trouble. The result fairly justified this estimate. .In this case, however, it should not. be forgotten that Redleap began his career on the. Turf as a fencer.' It was not exactly an encouraging start, for he hit one of the jumps and dislodged his rider.- It was discovered after this that he was good enough to go into the beist "little stick" company,1 and he won two Grand National Hurdle Races before, again turning .his attention to .cross-country ivork. ■ : Redleap was - such a remarkable horse in inauy'ways, .that it .miglit not be quitefair to accept his standard in', judging, the ordinary jumper, but he'is not, by: any ■means;- the only horse who has'-iom-bined hurdle racing with .steeplechasing in the samo' seaton. However, it must be. admitted, that the experiment'has hot been tried often at Flcmington. for the reason that the formidable fences coulr' nevev be trilled with. ' ,-aMost of Uie other courses tell a different story in this connection, Cauliield especially. A glance through the "Australian" jumping records will show that it, is riot a troublesome, lift'from hurdles to fences when the stouter, obstacles* are 'not on the Flemington or Williamstown pattern. Several, horses, have "mixed it" with success' at Cauliield, but may not have "proved quite as much at home if they had been called upon to face the

big country at headquarters at short notice. It is, perhaps, just as well that there are still fences' that a comparatively "unmade" jumper cannot tackle with impunity. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. As the late Alee Taylor,'the Burrumbeet trainer, =who had to do with jumpers all his life, used to say, horses of average intelligence will' not mistake a fence for a hurdle. There may be brainless animals with a fancy,; for going through everything that comes in their way, but as a rule a jumper who has been confined to the battens will recognise that greater effort is required when an obstacle in the shape of big timber looms up in front of him. Even accomplished hurdlers who do not mind taking a little risk at their o%yn game are inclined. to steady for a while when introduced to the higher game. They know well enough, that methods that will suit one department may lead to disaster if practised' at steeplechasing. r Coming directly from the hurdles, through which they can see daylight, they may be deceived by a "blind" fence on first approaching it, but the error is soon discovered. • ■ ■