TROTTING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20901, 16 December 1929, Page 16

TROTTING.

FIXTURES. December 26.—Ashburton T.C. December 20.—Gore T.C. December 20. 27.—Westport T.C. December 26. 28.—South Wairarapa r.c. December 27. 28. 31.—Auckland T.C. December 28.—Winton T.C. December 30.—Inangahua T.C. January 1, 2.—Canterbury Park. January 3.—Westland T.C. January 4, 6.—Greymouth T.C. January 11.—Timaru T.C. January 25.—Wellington T.C. January 25.—Te Aroha T.C. j January 30, February I—Forbury Park By Sentinel. Country King has not apparently been pleasing the critics since he went to Addington. Gold Jacket and Torpedo Huon had an easy work-out over a mile and a-half 2 l }., Th V rsday of la3 <: week. They went 3.27, the last half in 1.6 1-3. Gold Jackets poor display at Addington is said to have been due to striking a quarter, but apparently she is working soundly again. At ■ a meeting of the Canterbury Uwners and Breeders’ Association held last week a letter was received from the Union Steam Ship Company, in answer to a request from the Association, stating that the company could not agree to a reduction on the return freight of horses from Wellington, as the low rate now charged compared fai ourably with that, charged for other transport. Regarding the request of the Association for a reduction of the overtime charges, the Union Company stated that it. was willing to reduce it to an all-round charge of 5a per head for. horses handled on Sundays and holidavs. The offer was accepted with approval by members . ’ * Bonny Logan is a likely visitor to the Auckland meeting and she will be taken p° rt WM y JL 1^?‘ I F eß > while her trainer, Jf. Holmes, will have other horses engaged at southern meetings. Bonny Logan Jrress), and though she is generally regarded as a crack sprinter she has wins over two miles to her credit. The Auckii Cup may he a bit beyond her, but all will depend on the way the race ,8 . Bonny Logan may not be a dyed-in-the-wool stayer, but she is consistent and honest. The three-var-old pacer, Pro Bata, claims an- engagement ln .„ tbe <. £ rea * Northern Derby, but he "ff} not be taken. north. TU, H lu ke ’ s ? a y: o wned horses Raima and The Shrew have been under tne care oi J. Kennerley at Te Awamutu for several weeks past,, and (eay s “PicaoffJ r «? ain in his charge until ™^r Auckl l nd Trotting Club’s sum“e _ r J “bating, where they are well engaged. Raima gave evidence of being on improved horse when he won briP Park 7 W 4 ' 38 4-34 4 ' 5 at Ale *andra ttst P on th, and on the strength of this performance is likely to be one of the favourites for the Rowe Trotting Umif d Vfi hlCh T 8 18 £ lc ! Iy P laced on thi t -3 ®' , The chestnut trotter will to repeat the effort to be a tough nut for the opposition to crack. iJ C '°ji ,n 8 J 0 rc ?°f t3 ' the Auckland racial? a ?A trotting clubs merely tolerate the 10s totalisator. or do not. have one at £“• i? S ° utb Island it is the backPi\ b “. 81ness - , The Auckland C r ub ? oes n °t provide a 10s totalisator for lawn patr9ns, who may go to the outside to invest, but in the U insi!fc! y W,U be able to colle ct dn -In the past there was at times an atmosphere of suspicion about the form ot a horse who ran. say, indifferently, on when handled by an mifashionable pilot, and won with a fashionable pilot later at the meeting. The change of drivers, however, was deemed a sufficient explanation of the improvement. This state of affairs led to the creation of rule 207, which reads:— Unless with the consent of the stewards, the .same rider shall ride and the same driver shall drive a horse throughout a meeting. In the case where a change is made from saddle, to harness fL han lr« to saddle at the same meetia horseman may be substiluted without appplication to the r6w r l ß; ii T,r - D l Vlded always that the same rider shall ride or the same driver shall “T Jve throughout the meeting. Where the . stewards consent to a substitute, notice shall immediately be given to the public on the course. If a breach of this rule be committed, tie owner or the trainer may be each fined a sum not exceeding £5 and/or the horse may be disqualified for the race The Canterbury Owners and Trainers’ Association wishes to have tins rule amended or dieted. Tne rule stands, as a stigma on the sport, and any inconsistency traceable to a change of horsemen should receive the same attention as if a change of pilots had not taken place. Horsemen aware that after the close ot the Lexington meeting a number of stables remained there for the purpose ot starting horses for records, among these latter being .Hanover’s- Bertha (2.0. Z.o*). felt certain in advance that, given favourable conditions, the filly would establish a new. championship mark for two-year-olds (says the Horse Review). This opinion was abundantly verbified when the daughter of Peter Volo (22( ami Miss Bertha Dillon (2.24), on Tuesday, the loth, trotted a mile in 2.2 flat, thereby shaving off three-quarters of a second from the record established bv her wonderful rival. Main M'Elwyh (2.2 J), eight days before, when he defeated her in the Lexington Stake during the second week of the Kentucky breeders meeting. She went to the quarter in SOisec, to the half in 1.1. to the three-quarters in 1,31}, and home in 2.2. Both the first and the last half were trotted exactly alike, in 1.1. while the middle half was trotted in I.o}, The quarters, separately, we're: First SOlsec, second 30}scc, third 30}.sec, fourth SOJscc. The evenness of the rating and the beau tiful manner in which the filly comported herself deepens the profound impression which her performance created. Horsemen recall that no three-year-old has trotted below 2.2} this season, and no four-year-old below 2.2}, and, comparing these sets of figures, they realise that something wonderful beyond precedent has occurred. At the beginning of the season the two-year-old record stood at 2.4. and was of six.years’ standing, Mr M’Elwain having placed it there back in 1923. while in 1927 Fireglow had just equalled it. Very few critics expected to see it lowered this season, for the two colts named were hold to he speed marvels aucli as appear only at rare intervals. Yet we have seen that mark beaten not once, but four times, and two full seconds taken off it! Never before hag tile world’s two-year-old record been lowered as many as four times in one season since it was placed below 2.30. In 1877 So So and Orient, between them, made four reductions, but when they were done the mark stood at 2.31 only. In 1891 Arion made three reductions, but in his era 2.10 was ns yet unachieved—though the fact that he went in 2.10} to a high-wheel sulky made his performance equal to several seconds faster time under modern conditions. The Hanover Shoe Farms are to be most heartily congratulated on the performance of their marvellous filly, which is all the more notable because of the fact that she was virtually out of commission for weeks in midseason, and the task of bringing her •ack to form not only, but of shaping her for record-breaking, a doubly difficult one.