SUPERIOR STANDARD

Evening Post, Issue 149, 20 December 1935, Page 20

SUPERIOR STANDARD

AUSTRALIAN RACEHORSES

REASON FOR IMPROVEMENT

: Although Dominion trainers who have recently been returning from Au^Vtralia still speak with enthusiasm albeit •somewhat reserved, about the possibilities of racing in the Commonwealth, the opinion is fairly unanimous that /the path to success across the Tasmau is steeper than ever it was before, and •that one must now have a horse well .•above the average to exploit the rich , prizes and the betting"ring on Australian territory. These travelled train;ers are in common in their view-that -during, the last few years the racehorse in Australia has attained an average - considerably higher even than the avsraga of the Dominion's best horses; ■and, in contrast to ,days not so very Ion? ago, they are not now very anxiols 'to1 do further immediate campaigning away from home. With such, unanimity of opinion, it is hardly likely that Dominion owners in the next year or two. will be very euthusastic about raiding. Australian territory, especially as the views expressed are .thoroughly well backed up by the results O f the ] ast two periods in wnich horses from New Zealand have gone across to Sydney and Melbourne The recent spring campaign, with only '^t^^ Or. two,exceptions, was a very complete and expensive failure for the visitors. The horses sent over wer.-> 1™. 0? 11 \ he best the Dominion could find, but they were no match ■ for the^ best .of the Australians at the scale pi handicapping they had to face. VIEWS OF TRAINERS. ■ The assertion made by H. B. Lorigan " -:SSJ^!? ret.url}. a knight ago afte? a ; sojourn ,of three and a half years ~.in Sydney—that the Australian ..racehorse now averaged definitely : h igner class than the visiting New Zea,%land horse—has been confirmed by ths ;; Awapuni trainer G. W. .New in an opinion given a few days ago. New -had horses in Sydney both in the autumn and in the spring, and he •jound races much harder to win than .they previously were. His last team ■;?JS2 *wa* d PasasS. e acr °ss. but he real'4hs ' tii at *e yun lf they had been at ..their best they would have had to ,Pc very carefully placed to have sueC6CQ6u> ' ■ - . , V.^tis New's opinion that the present t-tu t rd u ln. Sydney is 10 per cent. , higher than it is here. The improve ."•Jnent .has come about in recent years. ■He attributes it partly to the exten siye . purchases by Australian owners fr our annual yearling sales, and part-■:-I?,totthe wider importation of valu- ■ able_ brood mares and . high-blooded stallions from England. It is also his ©pinion that there should be some big bargains at Sydney and Melbourne sales m_ the next few years, not among 'the high-priced lots, but among youn«. sters with obviously excellent breeding who. have not done so wall as others and may therefore be ac quired at, a moderate figure. ; JSew states that he will not. be taKmg any horses over for the autumn ..racing. . While the standard' is so ■high in Sydney the venture would be too much of a gamble. Legatee and his other horses will dp the rest of their racing this season in the Dominion. ; CHAMPIONS ONLI ; These views are also borne'out in a measure by the interview given by -the Takanini trainer P. E. Pope on his return from Sydney and Melbourne, where the horses he took over in tha spring have remained, some having been disposed of. Pope certainly states that, "although a trip to Aus* tralia.with a team of horses is an expensive item at the outset, once one has settled down it proves to be not nearly as expensive to race as in the Dominion, transport charges being ridiculously cheap in comparison with the cost, of travelling here,'" and he adds that "taking all things into consideration, Australia is by far the best place for a man with horses"; but he then goes on-to add: "It was a great experience, but for all" that I am not particularly keen.to return there."/ .'One gathers from what Pope says that Australia is a great place in which to race iT one. has a champion. But what a champion one must have! The horses he .took over, who included Gay Blonde and Gay Sheik, were ad high quality as the Dominion- possesses at Dresent. : If such horses cannot be placed to advantage, what chance fravi horses of-any-lower calibre? • -• EvenT". E. George's exceptionally strong- team; in charge of the- most experienced hands and .with the Dominion's ' best ; jockeys to ride them, could.win only, one. small novice event, on'tHe recent •trip. ■;,--, ;-<-v.\ ■•■■■ ■: . ~.,; .■-, ~-j . .The-best.performer;among the New Zeaianders ,who went over to Australia during the, spring' was Link Divine. But she developed into a class'■filly,1 and it is possible that the three-year-old fillies in Victoria at present may ,not quite measure up to the general, mean of Australian thoroughbreds. The Wingatui trainer S. G. Ware.was also able to.place a couple of members of his team for useful wins, but he,harl to: .feel his way for some time before; success came. '■'.'"'■' "j. WEBSTER'S RETIREMENT? ■:: Another New Zealand trainer, the .redoubtable A. D., Webster, protagonist in several very profitablel raids on the Australian ring in recent yearns, has found his trips anything but profitable in the last year or two. He went over in the spring with apparently 'a strong team, but, even allowing that .he had ill luck with' Red ManireU, who, by the way, is thoroughly enjoying himself at present back in "his old paddock at Woodville, he could ■win. on a casual glance at the records, .only one race with the twpiyear-old Martinborough. Now 'Webster, announces that he niay give up training hbfrses , and: ■ will confine ■ his future activities;to the stud he. is building .tip,; with the Night Raid horse Wheiiko at its head. • • ' If the Australian standard, based on the! production of its own ■ studs', and thei.purchase of the best horses atthe annual Trentham yearling sales, ; is at present so, much above our, own,; how ihuch; superior may it not rbecome'in . .theinext few!years? During the.'past twelve months ialone AustraliariVstudmas'ters have Umported more high-class stock from England: than ever before-. The stallions alone'that have been brought out arc perhaps the most valuable array that have ever been imported into Australian territory during any; twelve months in the history of ■the .Commonwealth Turf. They jcaay not all be a'success, but there are certain'to be some among them who will .'advance the production quality of the studs. Their stock will be making their appearance at the sales in two years time. ! Latest exchanges from Australia are still; announcing the importation of further highly-bred sires from England. Only this month Mr. Peter Tyson has acquired for his Islay Vale Stud (Vic^ tbria) the young Blandford horse Lord Paramount, a son of the Phalaris mare Hegemony, breeding equal to the best that* England will sell. Lord Paramount is the third son of the phenomenal English sire Blandf ord to be bought for Australia this year. Haririerc, a full-brother to the Derby winner Trig, was imported by Sir Hugh Denison early in the year, and Madagascar is already established at the stud in New South Wales. Although prices are not divulged, it is understood that very high figures were required for most of these horses. Such stallions should before long be raisin? the Australian thoroughbred standard *yen higher than it is at present.