RACING NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 21718, 12 May 1934, Page 9

RACING NOTES

RACING. May 19.—Eangitikei R.C. .May 19.—Ashburton ’C.R.C. March 19, 21.—Te Kuiti R.C. May 26.—South Canterbury J.C. June 2, 4. —Otaki Maori R.C. June 2, 4, 5. —Dunedin J.C. . June 2, 4. 6.—Auckland R.C. June 9. —Foiton R.C. June 14, 16.—Hawke’s Bay J.C. June 16.—South Canterbury J.C.

FAMOUS AMERICAN TRAINER’S VIEWS. Experiences, observations, ami opinions of a horseman who won more money in twenty years than any trainer ever won in a lifetime with light harness horses are likely to be of interest. Particularly is this so, says the ‘ New York Herald-Tribune,’ when trotters developed and driven by him have lowered world’s records for colts of all ages, and set the limit of speed for aged horses at a point where it has now stood unbeaten and unapproached since 1922.

Thomas W. Murphy, who retired from the sulky a few years ago after at different times he had sustained fractures of seventeen ribs, not to mention arms, legs, collarbones, and pelvis, protested the other day against the use of “ gameness ” and “ endurance ” as synonymous terms by one of a group engaged in talking horse. “ It’s a mistake that nearly everybody makes,” he declared “ to say a horse isn’t game merely because he can’t repeat or go a long distance as well, as some other horse can. That is a matter of endurance, not gameness. “ Let me illustrate. You may take two, gamecocks, one of them known to be as game as they make ’em, but not equal to the other in endurance. The one: that can stay longest is likely to win, but the game onp will fight to the death, even after he is tired but and completely at the mercy of his opponent. That’s gameness for you. “Horses are,the same way. There was Roya M’Kinney. She had that wonderful burst of speed characteristic of so many of the M’Kinney family. She would try to the last stride, but she couldn’t go the route, and while she had speed enough to beat 2min she never made a record -'faster than 2min 7}sec. “ I bought her for Henry Oliver to breed to Peter Scott because of her tremendous flight of speed and nervous energy. Peter Scott was a rater that could carry his clip from end to end. Of course he made a record of 2min ssec, but he had no such electric burst as the mare.

“By breeding lloya M‘Kinney to Peter Scott, Mr Oliver got Rose Scott, I min 59Jaoe, Scotland, Imin 69Isec, and the pacer, Highland Scot, Imin 59Jsec —three faster harness horses than any other mare ever .produced. It was a happy cross. “ Miss Bertha Dillon was another of those high-pressure trotters, and look at her colts by Peter Volo—Hanover’s

[By St. Clair.]

June 21, 23. —Napier Park R.C. June 23. —Ashburton C.R.C. June 30.—Oamarn J.C. TROTTING, May 14.—Waikato T.C. May 19.—Wellington T.C. June 24.—Canterbury Park T.C. June 24.—Hawke’s Bay T.C. Juno 9.—Ashburton T.C. Juno 20, 23. —Auckland T.C.

Bertha, Imin 59iscc, and Miss Bertha Hanover, 2miu. Yes, and 1 think Sandy Flash was the fastest one of the family. He never got a mark better than 2min I4lsec, because he couldn’t stand training, but he was a two-minute trotter if I ever sat behind one.”

The late A. J. Keating, for many years presiding judge in the Grand Circuit, having expressed the opinion a short time before he died that Guy Axworthy, 2min BJsec, sire of fbur 2min trotters, was not a game horse, Murphy was asked what he thought about it, as he had driven Guy Axworthy to his record.

“ I believe he was game,” the famous trainer replied “ Of course he acted like a quitter in that , race at Lexington, but there was a good reason for it. John H. Shults sent him the fastest record he could make in a race. “He was ailing so bad in one of his front pasterns, between the ankle and the hoof, that two vets who examined him for me said it was useless to go on with him, as he would never get to h race. The fastest mile I had driven him was in 2min loisec at Columbus, a week or two before starting him at Lexington. “When the chance came to win the second heat there I drove him out in order to got a fast record, and, of course, he couldn’t repeat. Not many four-year-olds had beaten 2min BJsec back'in 1906. but that was really no measure of Guy Axworthy’s speed. 1 had let him step quarters well within himself in thirty-one seconds as a two-year-old. There is no telling how fast he could have gone if he had been sound.” THE TEST FOR THREE-YEAR-OLDS. Not a few of the leading critics in Australia are prepared to maintain that the quality of racehorses of the present day is in advance of that of past years, hut a , point that can bo submitted by those who hold the opposite view is that the three-year-olds of the present day are not as a rule tested in anything like the same manner as in clden times, and this supports the view that there is a lack of true stamina (writes “ Phaeton,” in the Auckland ‘ Herald ’). Among the performances of .notable three-year-olds Carbine’s five races at each of the Flemington and Randwick Autumn Meetings in 1889 stand out prominently, for on each occasion ho had to race twice in the one day. At Flemington he contested the Newmar-

ket Handicap, six furlongs; Australian Cup, two miles and a-quarter; Champion Stakes, three miles; All-aged Stakes, one mile; and the Loch Plate, two miles, and at Randwick he was produced in the Autumn Stakes, one mile and n-half; Sydney Cup, two miles; All-aged Stakes, one mile; Cumberland Stakes, two miles; and A.J.C. Plato, three miles. The combined distances of those ton races, run within the space of a few weeks, amounted to 18[ miles. Carbine’s son Wallace can also he cited among the threc-yoar-okls who stood up well to a severe test. At Flemington in the autumn of 1896 ho contested the St. Legcr, one mile ami three-quarters; Australian Cup, two miles and a-quartcr; and Champion Stakes, throe miles, and in each race ho had to be called upon for the last bit, a dead iicat in the Champion Stakes with the four-year-old Quiver, when the then existing record for three miles was reduced to 5.23 J, showing that the test was searching. -Taken to Randwick in the following month, Wallace contested the St. Legcr. Sydney Cup, Cumberland Plato, and A.J.C. Plate, winning three of his four engagements.

Another colt tracing to. Musket on the sire’s side who made a good response to demands at three years old was Strathmore, a sou .of Nordcnfeldt. In the autumn of 1892 he won the V.R.C. St. Leger, ran second in the Australian Cup, and won the Champion Stakes and All-aged Stakes. It can also be contended that in the old days three-year-olds were found capable of standing up to a severe test in a series of races run over a comparatively short period, thus showing them to be endowed with remarkable recuperative qualities.

A RACING ROMANCE. Possibly no more romantic story has over been told of the antecedents of a famous racehorse than that of Golden Miller, who won a great Grand National on March 211 for Lord Quceusborough’s daughter, Miss Dorothy Paget. In 191.4, when war was declared, a young officer quartered in Ireland went to the door of a County Meath farmer with whom ho had had some horsedealing transactions. He said he had been mobilised and was going to and would the farmer keep a mare for him until ho returned? The farmer did not oven know the name of the officer, but ho said he would keep tho mare. The officer went to Franco and never returned, nor was the farmer ever able to trace him.

Some years later the marc was put to the stud, and she foaled the horse that has now achieved fame as Golden Miller.

Not thought much of as 4 a yearling, ho was sold for something like £IOO to a Limerick farmer, Mr Quinn. This gentleman kept him a couple of years, and Mr Robert Gore, who has won Grand Nationals with Jerry M. and Covertdbat, went to Ireland to buy him, but found he had been forestalled by Mr Galway Greer, who bought him for £3OO.

Mr Basil Briscoe, who had just come down from Cambridge, was then starting training, and ho asked his friend, Mr Hick Farmer, the well-known Lci’cestcr dealer, who was going to Ireland, to buy him a horse. Mr Farmer saw Golden Miller and bought him for £SOO. Mr Briscoe was not impressed by

tho horse, for he was a great lanky, searccrow-Jike individual. He began to pick up, however, and when lie had shown ' some racing merit Mr Briscoe sold him to the late Mr Phillip-Carr.

Not long afterwards Miss Paget was bringing some of the Whitney millions, which she inherited from her American mother, into racing, and she gave £6,000 for Golden Miller, id is career since has been one of dazzling success, for he has won her no fewer than throe Cheltenham Gold Cups and now the Grand National. His victory in record time stamps him as one of the groat steeplechasers of the century. Miss Paget’s luck is in strange contrast do that of her cousin, Mr -John flay Whitney, whoso Thomond .11. finished think it was tho third time in a few years that he had a horse placed in the Grand National, and ho has yet to win it. American wealth played a great part in the 1934 Grand National, for Mr Snow, the owner of Uolaneige, who finished second, comes from the United States, although ho has long lived in Kngland. More than 1,700 guests toasted tho success of Miss Dorothy Paget at a banquet and carnival in the Adclphi Hotel in Liverpool on Grand National night. Miss Paget was present, with Wilson, the jockey, and Mr Basil Briscoe, the trainer. Tho banquet room was decorated with her colours, and contained a replica of the National course.

JOTTINGS. Nominations for the Dunedin Jockey Club's Winter Meeting are duo next Friday at <5 p.m. Nominations for the South Canterbury Jockey Club’s Meeting to be held on May 26 are due on Monday at 9 p.m. Tho cabled result of tho Kentucky Derby makes no mention of Mata Hari, who was the ante-post favourite a few weeks ago, as the result of her excellent two-year-old form. However, as only one filly lias ever .won this race, and that a long time ago, it is not surprising that Mata Hari missed. On French courses at Enghicu and at Maisons Laffitto tote hackers can insure against falls by paying 50 centimes, or a franc more, for a five-franc ticket, according to whether the event is a hurdle race or a steeplechase. Should, the horse fall, the backer receives back his bet; and at the meeting at Eughien the clerks were kept very busy returning money invested on horses that fell.

Mr T. H. Lowry has experienced bad luck with the ' handsome chestnut yearling colt Iliad from Kilted, whom he purchased for 550 gs at the last annual thoroughbred yearling sale at Trontham. On his arrival at Hastings it was seen ho wat lame behind. He has been receiving treatment, and it is hoped he will yield to it. Bubbles, the police horse which for the last seven years has led tho Derby winner from tho course to tho pad-' dock after the race, will have a now rider next Derby Day. Inspector Norfolk, who rode him on those occasions, retired from service in March. “It is rather a wrench parting from him after all this time,” he said, “ but I am comforted by the thought that ho will bo in good hands.” In the House of Lords last month, while moving the second reading of the Government’s Betting and Lotteries

Bill, the Secretary for Air, the Marquis of Londonderry, said that, human nature being what it was no Government could put an end to gambling, and would he. foolish to attempt it. But the regulation and control of gambling by clear legislation was a responsibility which no Government, least of all a National Government, had a right to evade. One of the jockeys to whom the \icloria Pacing Club refused to issue licenses in the spring of 1932 was Neville Pcrcival, who won the Melbourne Cup of 1931 on White Nose. The club has refused to lift its ban, and Pcrcival these days is making his living by conducting a lading school in Melbourne. He is said to be doing well with the school, which eaters for adults as well as children. Some of the leading trainers are sending young apprentices to it. A Melbourne newspaper remarks that “ schools like that conducted by Pcrcival arc bringing people back to the horse.”

Under tho heading 1 Optimists Who Got the Yearling Bargains,’ “ Pilot,” writing in the Sydney ‘ Referee,’ says; “ It is the optimist who makes a success of tho racing game, and the place where optimism finds its greatest expression is at the yearling sales. Phar Lap, who won £66.738 in prize money, cost a paltry 160 gs as a yearling. Gloaming changed hands at 230 gs, Eurythmic at 310 gs, Windbag at 150 gs, and David at 40gs. ■ Optimism that panned out most successfully was exemplified by Mr G. D. Greenwood’s racing ventures. At 230 gs ho secured Gloaming, and ho secured Biplane for 375g5. Tho whole of the racing game is built on the taking of chances, and undoubtedly the greatest gamble of all is the yearling market. Mr D. J. Davis had no idea what sort of a pig in a poke ho was buying when he gave Telford permission to hid for a Night Paid—Entreaty yearling early in 1928. Phar Lap was tho great prize.” Moloney, the rider of Delaneigc, who finished second in the Grand National Steeplechase, like all professional Irish horsemen, lias since childhood dreamed of nothing else but of riding a Grand National winner. For years he has had no superior at Aintree, but lie has yet to win the great race. This was the third time that he has finished second. On tho other occasions ho was on Easter Hero and Grcgalach. Imagine his feelings when between the last two fences he was in front, with only Golden Miller near him. “ My horse,” he said afterward, “ was still going on the bit, and I saw that Wilson had his whip np on Golden Miller. Nevertheless, I knew that he would beat mo if wc both jumped the last fence, because Golden Miller can worry on when tired more stoutly than my horse. That is just what ho did. Never mind, my turn will come. I’ll win it next year, and on Dolancige, too.” Delaneige, with Moloney riding, finished fourth last year, after promising to win half a mile from home. , From time to time New Zealand sportsmen have had the opportunity of expatiating on tho growing list of dominion-bred winners of classic races in Australia, and tho record certainly is an imposing one. Particularly in the last few years, however, the list of Commonwealth-bred winners of, the dominion’s juvenile classics has been growing, and is now of considerable length. Red Manfred is the subscribe his name, and ho has the distinction of being tho first Australian-

bred winner of the Great Northern St. Leger and the third foreign horse to win both Derbies. The three-year-old record is as follows ; —New Zealand Derby : Gloaming, bv The Welkin, 1918; Black Ronald, by Magpie, 1923; Bronze Eagle, by Brazen, 1931. Great Northern Derby: Tun Whiffler, by Tim Whiffler (S.), 1881; Fitz-Hercules, by Yatteudon, 1882; Nelson, by King Cole, 1884; Sextant, by Robinson Crusoe, 1888; Gloaming, 1919: Bronze Eagle, 1932: Bed Manfred, by Manfred, 1934. New Zealand Oaks: Punkah, by Cooltrim, 1918; Korokio, by Redfern,' 1931. Great Northern Oaks: Helen Portland, by Dorchester, 1907; Trossida, by Tressady, 1917. Great Northern St. Leger: Reel - Manfred, 1934. Wanganui Guineas: AchilleS, by Medallion, 1902; Ladv Medallist, by St. Alwyno, 1909; Gloaming, 1919; Red Manfred, 1933. Avondale Guineas: Landslide, by Kenilworth, 1920; Laughing Prince, by Quantock, 1927.