THE MARTIAN BLOOD

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 117, 13 November 1935, Page 8

THE MARTIAN BLOOD

THREE N.Z. CUP PLACINGS

FEATURE OF LATEST RACE

The result of this year's New Zealand Cup, could they but have lived to witness last Saturday's contest at Riccartbn, would have brought great pleasure to. the late Mr. J. F. Buchanan and the late Mr. C. G.. Dalgety, two fine sportsmen who were for many years closely associated with the Canterbury Jockey1 Club and with the breeding industry, of the Dominion. Not many in the' large crowd who saw Saturday's. race would ..have realised that the three places were : filled .by descendants of Martian .mares, two ,of them sisters./.. ' ' . . '" It was at Mr...Buchanan's Kinloch Stud, at Little River; that; Martian spent his stud life, building up a remarkable record as a sire of'stayers. The New Zealand Cup bears lasting tribute to Martian's influence in this direction. In a period of eight years he had six winners of the Cup. Warstep dead-heated for first place and Ardenvohr, Menelaus, 'Sasanoi.'Vaga-" bond, and Royal Star' won outright, in 1911, when Menelaus was successful; two other Martians—Johnny Walker and. Snub—filled the places. ..Martian left no son to worthily fill ms place as a sire, the best of his tew,colts who have left winners being Warplane; but his daughters have done their part nobly at the stud. CUDDLE'S ANCESTORS. ..Among the English importations of the late Mr. Buchanan was Trichas, a daughter of • the. brilliant Thrush from Creme Simon,, by St., Simon. Mr. Buchanan mated Trichas with Martian and secured Caress, who became the daln of Cuddle, the latest New Zealand Cup winner. Caress was raced only as a two-year-old, carrying the well-known Hawke's Bay colours of the Douglas Estate, but she was not a winner, though four times second Cuddle's sire, Psychology, who was a Tracery horse imported by Mr. T. H. Lowry, did not distinguish himself as ai,iSlre of stayers. so it seems reasonable to ascribe to the Martian in?iu^ c .the stamina that enabled Uiddle to outclass the opposition over the final stages of the Cup, after she had made practically all her own running. In the early days of Martian's stud career, the late Mr. Dalgety patronised him freely, with great results. The Stepniak mare Stepdancer was mated with Martian for several years Stardancer and Warstep being two of the resulting progeny. Stardancer did not do much racing, but she was a brilliant galloper and she dead-heated for first place in the Stewards' Handicap, a race won a year later by her sister Warstep, who went on to a great race record, which included a dead heat in the New Zealand Cup, and an outright win in the Auckland Cup, besides successes in numerous other races over a distance. Warstep had a number of foals, none of her own class, though Footfall was a good performer who ran third in Rapier's New Zealand Cup. Warstep, when nineteen years old, produce,d Vanestep to Weathervane, a sire whose stock have not been solid, so here again .the Martian -influence may be credited;with--'providin'gtthe%tamina ! that enabled Vanestep -to run second m. the New Zealand Cup,' a race in which her dam, Warstep, dead-heated for'first place'twenty-one years ago. Although, Stardancer was not given the chance to rival the racing deeds of her famous sister, Warstep, she became a great matron. Her first foal, Starland, by Nassau,' won the Auckland Cup: Later came Starland's sister Spotlight, whose mating ' with Silverado produced Argentic, third in Saturday's Cup. Stardancer and Warstep did all their racing for- the late Mr. Dalgety, who also had both mares at his stud until he dispersed it in the autumn of 1930, so he was responsible for the breeding of Vanestep and Argentic. At that dispersal Warstep, with 'Vanestep at foot and in foal again to Weathervane, was bought for 150 guineas by. Mr. G, D. Jobson, of Gisborne, whose colours Vanestep now carries. The younger full-sister was named Warvane, and she also has been a winner of several races to date. Warstep's last two productions, still to race, are by Hunting Song. PRICE QUICKLY RETURNED. Cuddle commenced last season as a hack, but her rise to open company was rapid, and. following her success in the Marton Cup on New Year's Day, she went on to very good form up to a mile and a quarter. Though not a winner at any longer distance till last Saturday, she ran second to Vintage in the last Wellington Cup. In all her races last season Cuddle carried the colours of the Hastings trainer C. J. Stowe, who held the mare on lease from Mr. J. A. Hennah her breeder. ' It was for Mr. R. J Murphy, however, that she won the New Zealand Cup, as he purchased her early in September, just before the Cup nominations were taken, the price paid being 600 guineas, with three contingencies of 100, 50, 50 guineas, to be paid after her first three wins, two of which have already now been recorded. She was sent to Trentham. to the stable of T. R. George, who was at that time in Sydney, and until his return last month his head man, P. Reardon, had charge of the mare's preparation. George has for some years been one of New Zealand's most successful trainers, but he had not previously been associated with a New Zealand Cup winner, though a year ago, when Steeton won, Might was in third place. L. J. Ellis, who piloted the Cup winner on Saturday, had previously won the race on Oratrix, also owned by Mr. Murphy, for whom Concentrate, a brother to Oratrix, ran second to Nightmarch two years later. Mr. Hennah, the breeder of Cuddle, has resided all his life in Hawke's Bay, where for many years he has been closely identified with the racing game. He has raced horses successfully at different periods, one of them being Captain Jingle, with whom he won the Grand National Steeplechase in 1912, and another being Gold Mag, with whom he had several successes a couple of seasons ago in Australia. Though not a regular visitor to Riccarton meetings, he was on the scene to see Cuddle win on Saturday, being in- early with congratulations to Mr. R. J. Murphy On Monday he had the personal gratification of winning the opening race with his own horse Padishah, who is a younger half-brother by Chief Ruler to Cuddle, and who now promises, after being disappointing in his earlier racing, to develop form of a class possibly approaching that of his relative.