THE FANS GET A TASTE OF SPEED DOCTOR PELTZER BREAKS EVEN

NZ Truth, Issue 1263, 13 February 1930, Page 17

THE FANS GET A TASTE OF SPEED DOCTOR PELTZER BREAKS EVEN

Downs Australian Golding- Over Two Furlongs In

, International Relay Race At Wellington

ATTEMPTS 1000 YDS. RECORD AT CH'CH

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Athletic Writer)

: Peltzer. came, he saw, and he conquered. Doubts were freely expressed m Wellington before last Saturday as to. whether the world's record-breaker could give of his best after his strenuous travelling. " After . his appearance the doubts had vanished, and the Doctor of Economics was acclaimed as the "wonder runner." ' v

thousand Wellingtonians attended { the meeting and though the great majority did not see what they really hoped— the • Australian Golding defeat Pe'tzer — they saw enough to make their generosity award-Pel tzer the acclamation his fine 'performance entitled him. They also saw the local boy, Jack Fleming, from ;the 5 yards mark defeat Golding m a slashing quarter-mile cut out m 50 1-5, they saw Peltzer win a wonderful half-mile m I mm. 56 3-5 sees., and. they saw the - cycle idol, Frank Grose, win a trio of easy victories. Rarely have we a world's record breaker to entertain us; rarer still for him to be a Doctor of Economics and a freak m the fact that he was given up as a hopeless rheumatic subject when young. Of Peltzer it must be admitted that he ■was temperamental and nervous to a degree. Failure to appreciate this got him into hot water m Australia, but a little niore circumspection and quiet handling avoided any repetition of the trouble m New Zealand. tn the half-mile he conceded •tarts up to thirty yards,' but most interest centred In Don. Evans, the Talhape "find," who figured on the ten yards mark. Evans showed clearly enough that he is a runner of class, but he showed also that he Is woefully short of experience. By sprinting round the field m berseck fashion at the 300 yards mark, he threw into the winds the sprint that he should have been conserving for the finish. When tackled m the straight he was all m and finished well^back. Peltzer, on the other hand, ran with consummate judgment. The spasmodic sprinting of the New Zealanders opened tip a gap m the first round, but the visitor's easy stride wound up his effort m the second and he ticked off runner after runner to take the lead thirty yards from home to finish with another fifth of a second up his sleeve. Qoldlng, the v visiting Australian champion, made an impressive figure when he faced the gun In the Invitation quarter- mile. Bronzed, over six feet tall and with great length of leg, he looked every Inch the trained athlete. He could not,, however, give the five yards to Jack Fleming, which was asked of him, and Fleming hit the tape about three yards to the good m the: excellent time of 50 1-5 <n« sees.! It 1 will be recollected that Fleming has run 50 sees, from scratch arid... the indications are' i that he is right back to liis best form. I The next time he meets Golding he" will be off the same mark and a battle royal should: ensue. The quarter-mile relay race consisted •of Peltzer versus Golding, Emton and Mexted versus Stevenson and Tuckwell. 'Golding won the toss and took the inside position. . . i The crowd near the, start set up a clamor for him right away, so much so that Peltzer's nerves started to get a bit frayed and he held up a hand to enjoin quietness. This 4vas readily granted. Peltzer shaded the gun fet the first attempt and was recalled. He apologised to the starter. Golding was first away at the second start and

proceeded to make- the pace -a crack-, er. In this he played Into Peltzer's hands, and though the Australian led by five yards at one stage Peltzer gathered this up nicely and burst to the front m the straight to lead home by a yard and a-half. The crowd was obviously disappointed, then better feelings came uppermost and the winner was awarded applause for his sterling victory. Lermond, the great American miler, over the radio expressed the opinion that lack of experience defeated Golding and m this he was right. However," Peltzer is now quits, and is content" to let it go at that.

Golding was keen to have another race m Christchurch, but Peltzer adopted the attitude that the' >' controversy ■ is -now settled. Various times have been announced for this race, but "Truth" made it 47 3-5 sees to the change-over; which means that the 440 yards was cut out m 48 sees. Really wonderful running m all truth. The young German, Emton (or Obermuller), was beaten m a 100 yards scratch race for juniors m which he got the worst of the start, but he won the long jump with a fair start. His best run, however, was m the relay, when

from Stephenson he increased the lead made by Peltzer and sent Mexted home a winner. Some very fine cycling by Frank Grose added an \ extra relish to the meeting. This boy seems to be a "shots eye" for the championships. Miss Kench (Wellington), and Miss Greagor (Wanganul), provided some interesting racing m the ladles' events. Peltzer failed m his attempt to lower the world's 1000 yards record at a special meeting staged ■ at Lancaster Park, Christchurch, on the following Monday night m honor of his flying visit to the city. In view of the conditions, a strong cross-wind and heavily turfed track, it was surprising that the doctor went on with his Intention to attack the record. Nicholls, Harley, Smith and Bain made the pace a cracker from the pistol and the doctor lost rather than gained ground m the first lap. Entering the last circuit he still was forty or more yards behind the second to last man and was standing up the leaders fifty or more. 300 yards from home the visitor made a supreme effort and cut down the field. Well down the straight he passed Harley, but Nicholls, who received 25 yards handicap, was still going strongly m front and won by sevon yards m 2.16, Peltzer's time was 2.16 1-5 and was announced as the fastest ever done In New Zealand, but Peltzer complained bitterly after the race that the 1 arrangement of the handicaps left too big a gap between him and the next man, thereby deprlv ing him of assistance over the first lap. 'Ac t v ally, however,, if handicaps had been any easier Peltzer would have had no show of reducing the record. He volunteered to run later m the quarter handicap, but requested that the handicaps be eliminated and it be made a scratch race. The officials held to their original decision, keeping a short limit of ten yards. Bullivant, from ten, and Bishop trom eight, went out and made the pace. A furlong from home jreiLiser looked to be hopelessly out of it, but he gave a sterling exhibition of sprinting, and tenaciously hung on. In an Homerick struggle down the straight he still had leeway to make up, but with a' supreme final effort he got up to win brilliantly on the post from Bishop m 51 2-5. Emton was beaten by four yards by MacFarlane m the secondary schools 100 yards invitation m 10 2-5.