PERILS OF AGUA CALIENTE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 303, 7 December 1931, Page 2

PERILS OF AGUA CALIENTE

PHAR LAP’S POSSIBLE VISIT. SHREWD TRAINERS TO BE MET. (By '‘Khedive" in the Sporting Globe.) If Phar Lap is sent to Mexico it will not ho all plain sailing lor the man in charge of the wonder horse, whether that person be Tom Woodcock, his constant attendant lor the past two seasons, or H. 11. Telford, who is joined with Mr. D. C. Davis in ownership of the gelding. Men engaged in the preparation of horses at Agua Caliento are pronounced by Mr. Charles Wright to be the shrewdest and most resourceful trainers in the world, An Australian visitor could

rely on cordial hospitality, but he would be seriously disadvantaged by unfamiliarity with local conditions anil lack of knowledge as to how to overcome difficulties. Many years have elapsed since Mr. Charles Wright came to Victoria from the United States. He brought out trotters for Messrs A. and G. Tye and the late Mr. J. B. Zander, making several tripe to and from America before finally settling there. In America gallopers are classified as “runners,” while the term “harness horse” embraces both trotters and pacers. Though ho specialised in harness horses. Mr. Wright came into close touch with runners in the States, and gained intimate knowledge of the methods of their mentors. Melbourne trainers of high repute, Lou Robertson and D. J. Price, avail themselves ol his friendly advice on occasions. By special invitation, Mr. Wright went down to the “Braeside Park” establishment at Mentone, and had a yarn with H. R. Telford concerning the nature of racing tracks at Agua Caliente, the climate of that locality, and the class of fodder obtainable there. Ho explained • that the climate is much the same as that ol Victoria, and that Phar Lap would find little difference as regards fodder. Horses are fed on oaten hay and grain. They have no meadow hay in America. Alfalfa (or lucerne) is given to draught horses only. It is deemed unsuitable for runners (gallopers), being apt to tie them up in the wind. Green stuff fed to runners consists of Timothy grass, rye grass and maize blades. In the opinion of Mr. Wright, Californian oaten hay is seven times at nutritious as Australian hay. No chaff is fed to runners, who race solely on oaten hay. On the voyage to America—if he be sent there —Phar Lap will be fed on New Zealand oats and probably a little chaff. Races in America—and, of course, at Agua Caliente as well—are run on dirt tracks. The basic soil is covered with from 2in to 3in of black, sandy loam, the purpose of which is to minimise concussion on the legs of the horses. During the progress of a race meeting, which sometimes extends over 100 days, the track is watered overnight, and in the morning a light brush or drag is drawn over the surface. “I prefer the dirt track to grass,” says Mr. Wright, “and consider it to be faster than Australian turf, though apt to be slippery after rain. To meet such a contingency, American trainers ‘rough’ their horses so that they wiL not slide. This ‘roughing’ consists of caulking the shoes, or treating the edger, in such a manner as to make them grip. When Papyrus, the English Derby winner, was matched against Zev 'at Belmont Park in 1923, wet weather prevailed. Sam Hildreth, the trainer of Zev, in a really sporting spirit said to B. Jarvis, the trainer of Papyrus, ‘Rough your fellow.’ However, Jarvis was afraid to depart from his established practice, and Papyrus was completely out of his element when the race took place.” If Mr. Wright hid mapped out a tour for Phar Lap he would have sent him to the eastern portion of the United States, where the Kentucky Derby is ran, rather than to Agua Caliente. “In the east,” he says, “there is a better class of sportsmen—millionaire owners, with big teams of horses, whose management is entrusted with implicit confidence to trainers. Agua Caliente is the Monte Carlo of the United States. Every gambling game in the world is played there, and ‘the sky is the limit.’ An Australian visitor would be up against shrewo people all the time. He need have no fear of malpractice. On the contrary, he could depend on ready help in time of difficulty, but the outfits there, while they would break their necks to help a comrade, are so shrewd that they could out-figure a visiting trainer who was inexperienced in local conditions. “High-class thoroughbreds, such as those in the east, are rarely seen at places like Agua Caliente, yet those in action are hard to beat over distances up to a mile and a quarter on a mile track of circular shape, where every horse is flat out from the time the flag falls. Phar Lap has been accustomed to long galloping stretches, and has never been pressed from start to finish. In America he would bo accepted as a class horse. I am not afraid of Mexican rivals beating him, as a horse, but I do think that the superior knowledge of their trainers would be a determining factor.” Continuing Mr. 'Wright pointed out how different things are in America from what they are here. The American trainer who leaves home with a team of horses for a carnival of 100 days figures on racing each of them at least once a week, and cannot bother to send back one that goes wrong. The only time a horse is turned out or given a let-up, as in Australia, is when it is fired and blistered.