OWNER'S BIG CLAIM

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 147, 23 June 1937, Page 15

OWNER'S BIG CLAIM

INJURY TO DERBY HORSE

United Press Association—By Electric Telegrapli—CopyrlKlu. SYDNEY, June 22. Evidence today in the case in which Henry Edgar Russell, owner and trainer of the colt Mala, is proceeding against the Commissioner of Road Transport and Tramways for £2000 damages following injuries the horse received when struck by a tram on the morning of the A.J.C. Derby, was directed to show that Mala was very excited after the tram mishap. • He required hosing on the course before the Derby and appeared slightly lame, it was stated. Russell, in evidence, said he was sure he was going to saddle a Derby winner with Mala, but the accident upset the colt and made all the difference 'between win and loss. On the following day, the colt walked short on the front leg as well as the hind leg. The New Zealander, Keith Raymond Guthrie; who had charge of Mala on the morning of the accident, said Talking beat Mala in the Derby. Gold Rod was third. Guthx'ie declared he had not heard a veterinary officer tell Russell on the Randwick course that Mala was quite fit to take part in the Derby. Asked by Mr. S. E. Lamb, K.C., who is appearing for the Transport Commissioner, whether it would be cruel to start a horse which was lame, Guthrie replied that it would appear so, but it was done every day in the week. Maurice McCarten, jockey, rider of Gold Rod, described the running of the Derby. He said Mala finished well and on his Derby run would have been a good thing for the Clibborn Stakes, from which he was scratched. Mala finished well in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and in the Melbourne Cup, but he was sore after the Cox Plate. This condition might in some way be connected- with the injury received in the tram accident. The hearing was adjourned.