TURF

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 12905, 4 July 1936, Page 11

TURF

diverse results. !(• big ONE-MlLfc RACES. WHYTE HANDICAP AND WINTER . - • CUP. . • .. Between two of the most important mile races of the winter season, ■ tlio Wellington Racing Club’s Whyte Handicap and the C.J.G. Winter Cup, run within a month of one another, ■there is,' strangely enough, very little historical association, as far as the results go. This is rather remarkable, for the conditions of ■weight and footing common to both events in nearly every year are held to favor a particular type. jii the Inst 10 years no horse has von both these races .and. in two instances , onTy , has the. winner of , one been placed in the other. Fast Passage was widely regarded as being the victim of bad tactics, when she lost the Whyte Handicap to Royal -jfijjl'ngal in 1932, but she carried ihe csy at Riccarton and subsequently proved herself one of the best mares t.i race in New Zealand, in spite of the fact that, for a lengthy period she .suffered from a. muscular complaint. Two years ago Davolo was successful in the Whyte Handicap, and was well supported to win the Winter Cnp; but, he had to strike his colors to an outsider, Princess Doreen, who had been a disappointment in the Rmbazon Handicap... History Repeats itself. History repeated itself last year, when Horowhenua, as the result of a clean-cut success in the Whyte Handicap, was backed and beaten on the Canterbury course. Horowhenua was favorite at Trentham as the result of his York Handicap victory at Ellerslie, and ; Lord Yal, chief fancy but unplaced at Ellerslic, was third in the Trentham: event for the second pvveessivp year.. , the Wellington winter meetings have been famous, or notorious, for large dividends, the re-, cord of favorites for the Whyte Handicap .in the last decade is a good one. That period has ,seen the success of first selections in Paddon, Wnhora and Horowhenua, and the placing of, five others, namely, Passionate, Nukumni, Mendip, East Passngfwifnd All Humbug. It would not be surprising to sec a closer association between the form cl the Whyte Handicap, and ■ Winter Cup this year than generally- has been evident, as 13 horses claiming engagement in the Trentham mile have been entered for the cup. The most important are four at the top of the Trentham scale—Big Dook, Dongar van, Pakanui and Epris. Nine Scratchings. When the acceptances appeared nine horses were withdrawn from the Whyte,Handicap, including HorowhoW. The most noticeable feature of handicap is the position of. Dungarvan, who ;has also .been left in the Stewards’ Handicap. His rise in the weights has been very rapid, although ho has won only two open races. At tlio W.R.C. autumn meeting last Uareh. in the Champion Hack Cnp, one milo and three furlongs, Maine beat D.ungarvan by a head, with Riptide third. . One. Whetu, the topwhight, also ran. Whereas Dungarvan gave the winneivonly one pound, ho lias now to concede Maine 161 b.

Big Dook is expected- to he improved by his recent racing in Hawke s Ray, while the form of Pakanui, in spite of recent defeats, and of Epris, n winner at Oamarn, is deserving of close consideration.

HARDY HORSESWINS NOT RARE. CONSISTENT RIDERS. The floodgates of memory have been opened for old-time racing en tluisiasts by the feat of, Little Ruse in winning consecutive races at Tauranga on the King’s Birthday “Sundridge” in the “N.Z. Herald ), and it is found that the performance, although rare, is not at all unique m the annals of the N.Z. turf. The -achievement of the pony mare Annoyed has been noted, but one need go bach only to February, 1932, to find that the Chief Ruler mare Awaken performed a similar feat. n m second day of the Egmbnt Racing Club’s summer meeting Awaken, ridden by K. Voitre, won the. Norman by Handicap, seven furlongs., as airoi ite. -The next race oft the. programme was the \Vaim ate Handicap, six U 1 loftgs, find Awaken, carrying a seven pounds penalty, won a three-horse 'a3ce easily from Orapai, the favori e, and tlpld Dawn. W. J. Broughton ivaS her pilot on that. occasion., s Awaken, iyith Voitre in the, saddle, hail won 'the Whareroa Handicap, eight-and adialf furlongs, on the first day,- she had-the additional honor of scoring in three races on ponsecutive days. . Her owner, Mr A. Alexander, alSo carried off the , Tonks Stakes, eight timl.. if-half furlongs, . with SUvefmine on tho second day and both horses were trained by J. Brown.

I V Three Races on End. b jS 'N v It may he safely claimed that AWnlcbnl-s holds the palm rim. doT modern- racing conditions," but the hardihood-: of the. agOd gelding CreiHd’sViKihg at Rbtoruh ’ih Fobt-Uary of

thfe' following year,' deserves • passing mention.- At that meeting he contested three consecutive races, running third in the Tarawera High-weight and being unplaced in tlie Flying Stakes and Ohinemu.tu Hack Cup. To an earlier generation belonged the mares Mollyliawk and Lillie, and both became famous for winning three races a day.

On St. Patrick’s Day, 1596. at the Ohinemuri gathering, Lillie, owned by Mr P. JoneS and ridden by W. Perry, was an easy winner of the Karangahalce Handicap, six furlongs, the Flying Stakes, five furlongs, and the Forced Handicap, one mile. There was an interval of. two races between tier first and second appearances and one race intervened between her second and last contest. Mr Jones and Perry had a field day on that occasion, for they were associated in the same afternoon with the double success of Leona, who woii the first event, the Maiden Plate, one mile, and the fifth, the Pony Handicap, s'ik furlongs. As Perry also rode the cup winner. Tit, and Captivity, who carried off the Waihi Stakes, 10 furlongs, he won seven races, the whole of the flat-race programme, his mounts covering a furlong short ef seven miles. Record of Molfyhawk. Lille at' this time was a four-year-old. She was by 1n go mar from Lady Bird (ono of three mares of that name appearing in Vol. I. of tho New Zealand Stud Book), by Fevo ■ from Polish, by Day and Martin. , An equally fine achievement for horse and rider was that put up at tho first spring meeting of the Auckland Racing Club in the 1896-97 season, held in conjunction with the Pakuranga Hunt. On September 113 tho aged .mare Mollyliawk, by Natator, won the Hunt Club Members' Hurdles, two miles - the Farmers’ Steeples, once round the steeplechase course; and tho Ladies’ Bracelet, onco round; these being the fifth, seventh and eighth.races on the card. Mollyhawk, who was owned by Miss Roberts, svas ridden in all three races b\ G. Paul, of Te Awamutu, more widely known in connection with those good horses Te Kara, Aussie and Awarere. , Mollyliawk carried 10.6. 11.7 and 10.7 in her respective appearances and a fortnight later she scored, again, with Mr Paul in the saddle, in a Ladies’ Bracelet at Avondale. , Winning the Card. With reference to W. Perry’s feat in riding seven winners in the one day. available statistics show that the best race-riding performance was that of tho English champion jockey, Gordon Richards, in 1933, in riding 18 consecutive winners in process el compiling his total of 269 .successful mounts for the season.

At Newmarket in 1877 F. Archer rode six winners in an afternoon, and at Lewes, in 1882, he repeated the performance. C 4. Fordham, a contemporary, rode six winners and deadheated for first in another race. In tho run-off Fordham lost. To come nearer home, at Townsville (Queensland), on July, 29, 1929, W. Thomas won all seven races, and at Moorefiekl, on March 30, 1930, K. Bartlo rode .six winners and a second.

Probably the nearest approach to Richards’ dozen winners was .reached bv the New Zealander J. W. Dooley, who at the Beaumont, annual meeting i i,April, 1.931, rode all six winners of the galloping events on the first, day, five being, favorites, and on the second day rode the runner-up in eacli flat race. At Porangahau races on December 2/,-1910, "Whitaker. piloted the winners of the six events in which lie was eligible to ride.

SOUTH ISLAND CLAIMANT. TWO RACES FOR TWO OWNERS. Another claim, this time from the South Island, has come forward for tho nclusion of a horse in the New Zealand list of consecutive winners. An exchange states- that at Riccarton on November S, 18S3, Mr M. 11. Smith’s three-year-old filly Rnbina won the Selling Race/after Which she was bought by Mr D. O’Brien for 220gns. She was started in the next race, the Flying Handicap, and won again, seebrid place being filled by the favorite, Hippodamia, carrying, the colors of Rubiha’s former ownei.

Rnbina, an Australian-bred mare by Kingsborongh from Etiquette, developed into a good performei, the Great Autumn Handicap being among her successes.

•At the stud her first foal was Vandal, a-useful but unlucky horse. On one visit to Forbury he ran second in the. Dunedin Gup, also in the chief handicap on the second and third days. Carbine was a yearling that season. Florrie, the second of Kubina’s foals, won the Derby and Oaks at Ricearton. When 20 years old Rubina produced Machine Gnu . to Hotchkiss, and ho proved a brilliant sprinter and great weight-carrier.

There are signs that Prince Acre will bo Well..baeked again ,ior tho Stewards’ Handicap at Trontham on a race'which ho, won last year. 1 jvhep. favorite;.©. . His interim fqrm has net been,, good, but he; recently showed sigps of.:doing bettor, nnd'be fs probably .one of, those horses £ require -real winter, going..,, HO Was a shade .Unlucky last July not to win a ; .double at the meeting, and. hg },o one of tho most interesting gallopers on,the track on arrival.

“TATTERSALL’S.”

ROMANTIC RISE. MOST FAMOUS NAME IN RACING Ono day there came into the sanded yard, of a building hard by Hyde Park Corner (London), a tall, red-faced man dressed at the height of fashion. A horse sale was in progress, atiJl Richard Tattersall, a thick-set litfcio man, was holding forth on the merits of the animal at that moment being trotted up and down before the crowd of jockeys, men-about-town. peers, and horse-lovers. The newcomer wore a lugubrious expression, and so soon as the sale was over he beckoned Richard Tattersall and the two passed into an inner room.

“What can I do for you, nvlnd ?’ . asked the famous . dealer in horses. “I’m selling Highflyer, Tatt,' gulped the nobleman, “and I want you to put him up at the next auction.” For a moment Old Tatt, as everybody called him, blinked., Then lie said: “And the reserve?” “Two thou, five hundred,” replied Lord Bolingbroke. Champion Changes Hands. Tattersall whistled. He knew Highflyer well—who did not? For Highflyer in those i days—rather more than a century and a-half ago—was a name to conjure with in. Turf circles. Then ho fell into thought and, having proffered his noblo client a glass of wine, he said: “I would like :to buy Highflyer, m’lud, only the i question is: Where could T find so

much money?” i Tn those days the golden sovereign was worth around what. .£8 is worth to-day, and never had so high, a price been asked for a horse. But Tattersall. former headgroom of.,the Duka ■ ot Kingston, had won for himself a first-rate reputation for straight dealing.

“If you want the horse,” said the peer, “then I’ll wait—if you can let m.e havo enough for what I need at the club.” So Tatt became owner of the most famous horse of the day without paying, cash. Ever since he had loft the service of the Duke of Kingston and. settled ns a horse dealer near the Park, things had gone reasonably well with Tattersall. And with, this horse he made a fortune. Like most horselovers, he did not forgot his fourfooted friend. “Whatever happens, ’ lie used to say to his son, Edmund. “.Highflyer is not to he sold.”

■ He said this so often that his son replied one day: “Wliv not write that down, sir. in ease we forget your orders?”

Ignoring the sarcasm, tho old fellow slapped his thigh. “I will,” he snapped. “I will have that lettered and put under his portrait.” • And ho pointed with his stubby forefinger at the great canvas of his favorite that hung in his private room. ■

Some years later Tattersall, having been authorised by the Prince of Wales to sell his stud, found himself not only a rich man, lmt one likely to be richer. He decided that ho would establish his family, and to this end ho set: about making a pla.-e for himself in tho country.

Ho .called in a good architect an 1 had a. baronial home designed. He bought land on the Isle of Ely and soon saw himself master of a fine liqme set in fine gardens. “And what, sir,” asked his son, Edmund, “are you going to call the place?” “What name?” puffed the old man. “What name if not ‘Highflyer Hall,’ fcov!”

And so there was perpetuated the name of this great horse for all time Go to-day into the room that has succeeded the first private room of the first Tatter,sail’s, and you will see, hanging as it hung so long ago, this horse’s portrait and beneath it this legend: Highflyer Must Not Be Sold.

By the time he was sixty TattersaU was a really rich man. He was accepted everywhere, and ■•.■ numbered among his friends the Prince or Wales, afterwards George IV., whose horses he had once sold. When the ninety-nine-year lease of the , Tattersall ground was up (St. George’s Hospital stands where it stood), Tattersall moved farther West. . /"

In those days Piccadilly had a tmi gate at the Hyde Park Corner end, and the road to Knightsbridge was a leafy lane. With a shrewdness that never deserted him, Old T'att bad predicted the westward trend of the city; bis son remembered. The new , buildings made their appearance j where Knightsbridge now. meets the ■ Brompton Road. | To-day. of course,' Tattersall’s is much-tnore than a mere horse mart. , It is the place Where the pdds are | determined and the starting prices I are fixed for every event in the jlanl. Its subscription rooms are regulated by the Jockey Club, and. throughout tiio whole world Tattersall’s is -for • horse lovers what Lloyd’s, is '.or those whose business is with the spa. J ; Now, after 170 years—it Was foim- ' ded' in 1766 have .to hn-1 a.new home, Wliervor that home may be, one thing is. certain:' in it there will be a place for a : certain picture and, beneath it, a place for a certain legend. , , For, .so long as there is a Tattersail’s there will bo a memorial to the horse that laid the foundations of the ’ famous institution’s property.