WINTER CUP WINNER

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 35, 10 August 1933, Page 8

WINTER CUP WINNER

MOUNT BOA'S LATE START

EXCHANGE FOR SHEEP DOG

Mount Boa, surprise winner of this year's Whiter Cup at Riccarton on Tuesday, is now ten years old, and although he was not the-veteran of the field, that .honour' being taken by the 13-year-old Buoyant, he was .the only horse that had previously started twice in the race. Two years ago he was one of the favoured section under 9.0 (9 stone minimum), and last year he carried 8.11, but on neither occasion did he finish in the money. His triumph finally came when least expected, at an age when most horses are done with flat racing. ! As with bo many other winners of important races, a story of j romance attaches to his career. What happened in his very early days is not at present asccrtainable, but before he began racing as a five-year-old he was acquired by Sir. A. Aubrey, of South Canterbury, in exchange for a sheep: dog, said to have.been an. animal of good'value. At that point in' his career, he might, easily have, become no more than a shepherd's hack, but, as things have turned out, a much more renowned future was1- in store for him. ~'..,...... ■;. . . Mr. Aubrey handed him. to :T. Hobbs, 'of Waunate;.ta'train late in.the 1028-20 season,' when,' as.previously noted,.-he was already five years of age. He was soon showing prouiise in his wof^/and at his first §'tart he wop. a,noV|ce . race. afc.the South 'Canterbury Meeting• on/ July 25, 1929. Still, ;even/ then . few > would have predicted anything beyond ri. useful hack future for him. " . • ' ; .' •'THe;next 'season he was,' raced considerably to, gain , four further successes, including .a hack; six-open,: sis double at Tapanui. The following term he was at' his best, winning eight races, including the St. Andrew's/Handicap* (D.J.C. Summer), Dunedin Cup : (D.J.C. Autumn), Provincial Handicap (D.J.C. Winter), and Wyndham Cup. That season he also caught the eye of .Wellington racegoers by running, two.excellent seconds to Cadland in the W;R.C. January Handicap and* to Full Feather • iii the W.R.C. Summer Handicap, but ' he seemed always' to be. striking trouble %'■ subsequent racing at Trentham, ',■•''. •...', ''■'>.:'■', '.-' ■ Up till his Dunedin Cup ', win it was Considered that a mile was far enough for him, .but, like bo /many; of Balboa's stock, he ..lengthened his range with age, and ,the next season he tackled (unsuccessfully) the New Zealand Cup. In that term he won three1 races, including the Timaru Cup and, the D.J.C.', Tradesmen's Handicap, and at. the N.Z. .Clip iMeeting, following his'race in the Cup, he ran a good third t6 Arrow Lad and Spoon in the. Criterion. After that meeting he was spelled, ; when he reappeared in the autumn he had been transferred' to the ownership of Mrs. R. Fleming, whose colours he 'is still carrying. Last season lie began racing promisingly again by winning the D.J.C. Ranfurly Handicap and the South Canterbury Flying Handicap, but, after( a further success in the South' Canterbury Handicap in the autumn, he showed signs of losing some of his former galloping ability, and a little over a month ago he was given a turn at hurdling, running thirds at Waimate arid South Canterbury at his only two essays. Ho was also entered for hurdling events at the C.J.C. Meeting, but a week or so ago ho gave a, glimpse of his old form in his track work, and it was detided to allow him a further opportunity of earning distinction on the flat, especially as he had been slipped down to the minimum in the Winter Cup. The result will provide one of the landmarks in the history of the race. , His full racing record i& as' follow.s:— Starts. Wins. Stakes. At s'yours ~ i 1 87',& At. 6 years ~.; 2"> ' 1 • 3iu At !*,J'ears :U X 1772 At<"B.J*cars ~:...'..,: 3!> ■'* 442 At,,9t«:ars 3-1 3 470 At.lft/jcars! ....' 1 J- "00 . V-'i'OtalS H3 r -SO £3303Vi' Mount Boa does not figure, in the Stud Book. 'His dam, El Sorclla, is By the Clanraiiald horse Cannic Chiel from Granct'Duchess, a mare of apparently unknown' breeding. His sire,. o£ course, is the. Varco horse Balboa, a. winner of.the. New Zealand "Derby and the Auckland Cup, and a very successful sire of'winners' in the far south; among the most notable of his previous many excellent horses' probably being the Grand National Steeplechase winner Snowfall, the Grand National Hurdles winner Membo, and the very solid and consistent winner Black Duke. '■■■»■ El Boa, a mare who was raced also with success in the south till recently, is a year younger full-sister to Mount Boa, and on several occasions the pair battled for honours in the same races, with Mount Boa not always gaining the1 better of the tussle. " ■ Mount Boa has been1 trained throughout his career by T. Hobbs at Waimate. He is a washy chestnut with a lot of white about him, somewhat similarly marked to Snowfall, but he is a very solid little customer, with a devastating finishing run at his best. His record might have been even better had he not been so wont to get into all the trouble offering in the running of so many of his races. He has been ridden a lot by A. H. Eastwood, and he enabled this jockey to register his first Winter Cup win on Tuesday. ■ '