HARDY ANNUALS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 55, 8 March 1929, Page 7

HARDY ANNUALS

AGE NECESSARY FOR AINTREti

The publication of the weights for the world's steeplechasing event, the Grand National Steeplechase at Aintrce, to bo decided on the 22nd of this Inontli, has given "Augur," of the "Sporting Life," the opportunity of discussing past and present 'chasing notabilities. He shows that the tried and trusted brigade are the friends ot the hatulicapper when he conies to frame his weights, i Mr. Tophum, who is responsible for the handicaps under National Hunt niles at his home meeting at Liverpool, may never see greater success attend his efforts thaii was recorded lust November, w'nen^ the first three in the Grand Seftou 'Chase were separated only by heads. And yet, having regard to the difference in distance, it was a skilful adjustment of the previous year's Grand .National weights which brought Sprig, Bovril 111., and LSright's Boy together, ..two lengths dividing lirst and third; and then, in the race of 1926, it was not until the Until obstacle had been crossed that Jack Homer got the best of Old Xay Bridge .and Bright's Boy. To the layman, who may be visiting Aintrce for the first time, and who looks first at the "country," which has to be travelled twice, with thirty obstacles en route, and then at the. spectacle of between thirty and forty starters, this probably seems to be uncanny handicapping.' But results sucli as these are a tribute to the compiler's judgment, and, although luck has also a say in the matter, I fancy that if the history of this unii[ue contest was closely examined it would be found that the luck has been evenly balanced. DEPENDABLE HORSES. Of course, the handicapper's best friends, as one might call them, are those staid old warriors which are 'chasers lirst and all the time. In the >old days Frigate, Why Not, and Manifesto came under this category,' and to them have succeeded, in very recent times, such as Old Tay Bridge, Sprig, and Bvight's Boy. Dependable animals like these generally work themselves into the real race by their fencing powers alone, so that while it will be appreciated that a fault or a misfortune at some obstacle can mean the loss of the winning chance, you need only a clear atmosphere on Grand National day to be able to realise that it is the accomplished fencer which makes the journey so much shorter, in a manner of speaking. Hence it is that the same animals have, year after year, come to the fore in the last stage of the fighting. Even some of the old reliables can make a slip. If the cross-cutting Easter Hero had not been in last year's Held, it is likely that vastly more horses would Lave been standing in the second circuit. Yet Sprig and Bright's Boy were at fault and out of the fray before Easter Hero ran m° " SUCCESS OF OUTSIDER. j Then Sergeant Murphy was responsible for bringing down several with himself one year, and so one can imagine that amongst owners who have made up this year's subscription to 121, there are many who say: "Well, previous winners can fall just like the small fry, and I've got a horse very likely as good as was Tipperary Tim before he ran last year." There were 42 runners last March, and one of the "cracks" of the party, a previous spectacular winner over a portion of the course, was alleged to have brought half that number to grief. In the sequel, a despised outsider won. Much lamentation! In the previous year there were only five fewer starters, of whom twenty-eight failed to get round. But as the favourite, Sprig, was first home, there were no complaints. Since wealthy patrons of 'chasing, domiciled on either side of the Atlantic, have sprung up during recent years, on the look out for another Sergeant Murphy or another Jack Homer, it is likely enough, as I wrote in connection with last year's Grand National entry, that certain nominators put their horses in hoping to find purchasers before the day of the race. But, when wo find a rather elderly recruit from Uie hunting field like Bovril 111. so nearly winning, which was the case in Sprig's year, and when another 100 to 1 chance, Tipperary Tim. and his rider are proof to the test of the erstwhile Canal ditch —which has since been filled in for the benefit of timid jockeys—it is hardly surprising that owners of horses which are I sound and can jump .will continue to subscribe, notwithstanding the big running fee and the restricted scale of weights. They can, furthermore, point to the fact that' a partially-trained animal, Glenside, was the only one to get the course the year he won —simply because he fenced better than did so many of the others — and 1 no one would dispute their contention that, although the difference between top and bottom weights is only 2st 71b', the best of the former fall well below Liverpool's championship standard. WHAT JOHN CORLETT WROTE. And the big entry is a "grand internationale" response to the promoter's enterprise hi seeking to make value of the race commensurate with its standing amongst the world's great sporting events, and to help in developing anew the breeding of horses of a former, and much higher, class. And, in a sporting sense, the present is a vast Improvement upon that of which the late Mr. John Corlett wrote in the early eighties:. "The entry for the Grand National is the smallest (41) that we can remember, and steeplcchasing would almost seem to be played out. ■'Anyhow, not more than 5 to 2 is forthcoming against Linde's powerful lot, and even at this early period (midJanuary, weights still to be published) the race looks like a match between Linde and Captain Machell." At this stage I am only glancing at the more familiar names in Mr. Topham's handicap, just published:. Since, his. two faux pas—the other :was' in the. Paris 'Chase-r-Easter Hero has been; hurdling, which, while : having gained him championship rank at that branch, may have also had a sobering influence upon his style of fencing. . . / NO LIKING FOR KOKO. Grakle thus improved after having been similarly remiss. These two are abnormally speedy horses, arid Grakle was well fancied as a five-year-old, while from last season he has been advanced only 41b, which is consistent with his age. Yet I would like to see both over the bigger obstacles again before taking sides with either. Sprig is this time taken above Bright's Boy. The latter was the better of the pair two years ago, and when horses get to the age of. ten and, upwards, and have run as consistently against each other as these two have done, I prefer the younger, which in this case is Bright's Boy, and by a couple of years. These have got the round under similar weights, and yet the weights are' high f.or horses which cannot be called firstraters, and to whom a simple mistake with such a burden may b% fatal. Koko is one with whom I shall certainly not row. in. Numerous falls—two of: them-at: Aintrce. and the second a crurnplcr—have apparently impaired his

confidence. Great Span, far the more reliable, has> .still Ijcuii advanced a stone from last year. iSuch ])t'O]iiot.ioti invites a little study as to his prospects of recompensing lor liis misfortune, grievous though this was. Thus he has to give 7Jb more to the younger Maguelonne. The latter, now seven years old, should have made much headway between one "National" nnd another, although her last season extended to June, and her hard race in the Paris 'Chase was the third of its kind in succession. Hilly Barton is allowed -lib from Great Span. The American horse would need all that., I think, iti the ordinary way. but as his Liverpool ell'ort was by far the best of tlie series arranged for him, it is quite likely that,, at that time, he was only just completing the acclimatising process, and he has been sent over much earlier in readiness for the forthcoming occasion. But he has gone up 101b. whereas Master Billie, who has got the course, is advanced only Gib, to the very congenial mark, in all the circumstances, of 11.0. AN "INJURED INNOCENT." Master Billie was one of the injured 1 "innocents" in a sporting sense last year, when his starting price was the absurdly short one of 5 to J. Tn the race of 1927 Master Billie lasted until four fences from home, but I gathered that ho was not going so well when, ho came down as was Bright's Boy, but Bright's Boy began training very late that season, and was not seen on a course until the beginning of March, while he had two more races before going to Liverpool, so that he was getting through a lot of strenuous work in a very short period. Whether or not it was to his greatest advantage he was beaten two lengths by Sprig, whom he can now meet on 41b better terms, and he is the same age as Master Billie, who now receives slb less from him. Considering, moreover, that Bright's Boy conies from .12.7 to 12.4— a drop of some 'consequence when a horse is near the head of a "National" handicap—an, advantage seems to rest with him, and he lias been a really good third on two occasions,, respectively four lengths and two lengths behind the winner. It was in the 1!)2G race that Master Billie was sixth, and he was then receiving 221b. They are now .handicapped at 181b, and although Master Billie probably, never looked as '.veil as he did last March, he does seem to get on.tbe wrong side of the luck somehow or other. Bovril 111., who divided Sprig and Bright s Boy two years ago, has the same weight as was allotted him last March when he was unable to run, but the other two horses named can meet him on rather easier terms, so that unless he has improved the more, which is hardly likely at his time of life, I should Bright's Boy against him. The handicapper has . evidently taken the February form of Bovril 111. into account, when that animal was sound and when he beat Patron Saint, with Bright's Boy unplaced, at .Birmingham. Patron Saint, like Trump Card, who was on.- the >n->ot, but did not contest that race, may prefer sound■ tjoing, and the Birmingham track was very heavy that day and suited Mr. Pennington's veteran. But the previous "National" form generally beats all other running for guidance to a future occasion. Parenthetically, Patron. Saint, at 12 0 is charged only the weight of a good six-year-old, but -there is a matter of 161b in the handicapping between him and kasy Virtue, of the same age, and the latter holds an Irish reputation which seems to entitle him to respect.