RIDERS SCARRED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 7 December 1940, Page 3

RIDERS SCARRED

CONTACT WITH BARRIER ( PALMERSTON N., sth December. I Some of the jockeys who rode at the Feilding Jockey Club’s Spring Meeting j were presented with momentoes in the ! j form oi burns sustained through making contact with the starting tapes. It | is stated that at the start of the Novice! | Sakes on Monday the tapes failed to; !go up when the barrier was released 1 | and the horses had to go through. The j I tape, which was described as something like a strong fishing line, broke near the inside post and it did quite a lot of! damage before il swept clear. P. Atkins, rider of Araiti. who started from No. 4 position, had his mouth cut and a tooth broken, and G. R. Tattcrsall, who rode Cheetah. No. 11 position, had his neck deeply seared in two places. There is another cut on the end of his nose. On the first clay of the meeting Sea Link bolted through the tapes and T. Winiata sustained lacerations to his neck. It is claimed by experienced jockeys, most of whom carry scars resulting from injuries received at the barrier, that the tapes used by the great majority of clubs are much too strong.