A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 14 June 1935, Page 3

A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY

COUNTRY PICNIC'S PRQfiENY

ALL GREAT ‘ ‘MUDLARKS’ ’ BARGAIN. I'OR -MAORI OWNER (Byl “Childers.”) The s.uccesk of ' HproWhcnua in 'the York Handicap and Free Air’s excellent second to Stanchion in flic Great Northern Hurdles once -. again draws attention to the.-great -run of luck the Maori owner-trainer, Mr 11. Rama, has had with tho progney of the Taranaki•bied mare Country Picnic, who to rather unfashionable- sires has' l producedthe winners of'-many thousands of pounds. Pufclurs'Cd for <rf a- song” by. Mr Rairja just on fifteen ygars ago, she has since earned rcecrgiilfloh 'las', one; of. the best dams pf. wiifter Ita.ndicappcrs; in Ne\y ■Zoaland’s ’racing kistpry. -.

Bred 'by ' Mr'-’, J.V; A, Goodson,:' -.of. Hasvcra, .•Gdpntry. Life was,,foaled; in 1909. A rather-unusual -touch is. lent to her breeding in that her dam Cuisine was a useful.- performer -in 'the pony' ranks at Auckland before .lier-rulining' earned the clfsp.legsu.ni of the stewards, result in’g: in* KcV ’d’iS'ijuiflilicUtipli. was- t licit'fir'blight .to Taranaki for tjie. unregistered iiicpiings, which .were rather plentiful in. this district at the time, and raced with success under the •name,-.of Luiiine,,. ;Malcd witli !Byl\ ia Park,. Cuisine produced Country Picilic, Who was placed iu training but noser: raced. .. . i - - -■ ■ ';-- ‘

Country Picnic was retired to the stud "when' a ..four-year-old, her first'foalbeing -Perfect Day (by'•Guiaii ; foftc)y l! d smart 7 mldiflc 'distance., performer both in Taranalu and tho' Auckland district, where ho i did all of his. lat fei -lacing, A heavy track at Kllcrslie svas his long suit and it svas there that lie ssou a great part -of his total stake earnings of over £3OOO. On nt>' less than five further occasions svas Country Picnic mated with Guianfortc/ but she svas unable to beget another .of Pqrfcct •Day’s calibre. ' In'lOrj she foalpd 'Country Air, 1916 Lo .Forte,. 1917 Country Lii’o,- 19IS Take: Take and 1920 Pua,wfiato.All svefe ’Winners,'.but in Jgio.d--crate company only.

In ' I.92o’Country Pibtiic aiikl CouTifir/yAir were" Acquired by their present owner, :Mr Harry" Rama, ho at the time' was livingM'n Hawera, svlierojh'ei trained a horse':pr two of liis osvn with' moderate success. He decided' onMy change of sires, for.. CountiT Picnic, sending Jier to Antagonist .(Soult —Miss

Annie) and the result of that mating] svas Iloariri. In 1925 Rama left Hawera for Ellerslie, taking -with him histwo brood mares and young stock, and if . is improbable that- even the ..Maori osyner-tra iner himself so m uch as dreamt at the time of the successful future in store for him. Hoariri'-soon became one of the bestmudlark sprinters of his time and, although by no means a big horse, carried welter weights to victory time and again in the best of company. Follosving in the footsteps of Perfect ifay, he found Ellerslie a happy hunting ground, especially. in the winter; his three sue cess ism svins in the A.R.C. Visitors’ Handicap being a really noteworthy feat. Taneriri and Wild Country were

Gouiitry Picnic’s next two foals, both, being by Antagonist. Taueriri was a consistent winner' in middle distance company, upholding the family record at Ellerslic by always putting up liis besU performances on that track. It was at Ellerslic that he won' his first race, while his most important success -was. in the A.11.C.. King Georgo Han-, dicap in 1930. In all lie won just over £3400. 'Wild Country was a winner among the Hacks, but did not conic up to the standard of her brother. " in i!)0(j Mr llama decided on another change of sires, sending Country 1 icnic to Acre, and from this mating was produced ManawhenUa, whose form is till too recent to need detailing. As a tlnec-ycar-old he rose from the maiden ranks to first-class open company, his first' really important success being in the A.R.C. Members’ Handicap—anj evciit which lie won again the follow-ing-year, while he also won the A.R.C. York Handicap. Following a successful Australian campaign, in which Manawhcnuaput up the best performance of his career to ruu fourth in the;Melbourne Cup, lie returned to the .Dominion only to moot with an untimely death. His total winnings exceeded £IOOO, but had his career not been cut short it is likely that lie would have added considerably to this. Horowhenua was Country Picnic’s next foal (also to Acre) and since he commenced racing last season lie has proved another great proposition for his owner-trainer.. His victory at Ellcrslie last Saturday brought his winnings up to the £IOOO mark and, as he is now only a four-year-old, he gives every indication of at doubling this total. - While she has not done as well at the stud as her mother, Country Air has left several winners, including the useful Airtight, Free Air and Horotiu. The latter pair have both raced in the interests oi Air Rama who, of course, also bred them. Free Air stays on really well and with a second in the Great Aorthern Hurdles and a third ill the. Grand National Hurdles to her credit, she must be given an excellent chance -of*-winning a big event before long. Horotiu only commenced racing this season, but judging by the manner iii which lie opened his winning account lat the Hororata meeting in December I he should make gouft.

• Thus the stock of this bargain niare Country Picnic have won almost £lB,000 in stakes, the greater part of which has gone to Mr Kama. With Horo* whenua and Country Air s foals racing well at present, there appears to be

every possibility of her tally reaching the £20,000 mark—-surely an outstanding record. Country Picnic was sired by Sylvia Park (St. Legcr—Atalanta), out of Cuisine by Cuirassier (Musket — Frailty), out of Vasator by Captivator, out of Vacillation by Iynottinglcy, out of Atalanta by Dainty Ariel.